Gen wrote up the order and tallied the bill. Sophie paid with her credit card. “Thanks for everything,” she said to Gen.
“My pleasure. It will be delivered as promised on Saturday evening.” The other woman smiled. “So this is really a wedding cake for you, isn’t it?” she asked, trying again for inside information that didn’t exist.
Sophie gave up. Ever since her uncle’s retraction, everywhere she went, people asked when she was getting married. They complimented her on snagging such a hot bachelor, and they all refused to believe the truth: that she and Riley were not a couple.
In time, everyone would see it was true.
LIFTING WEIGHTS was Riley’s way of blowing off steam. That he needed to stay in shape during the off season was an added bonus. Right now he had to vent angry, frustrated energy or else he’d explode, he thought as he tied his sneaker laces, ready for a workout.
“Sophie called you to apologize?” Mike asked from his seat on the bench in the locker room.
Riley nodded. “For her uncle publicly linking us together. For the fact that-and I’m quoting here-her uncle’s display must be cramping my fucking social life.” Riley kicked at the floor.
“You added the word fucking,” Mike said.
Riley nodded. “Sophie Jordan wouldn’t curse like that, especially not when leaving a message. Just like Sophie Jordan wouldn’t step out of her comfortable controlled world to take a chance on what might be the greatest thing that ever happened to her.” His voice rose to a fevered pitch. “That being me,” Riley said, in case Mike wasn’t paying attention.
His teammates in the locker room turned and stared.
“Man, you’ve got it bad. Does she know?” Mike asked.
“Are you kidding?”
Already finished with his workout, Mike rose and began stripping down for a shower. “Hell no, I’m not kidding. Does Sophie know you’re in love with her? Did you ever tell her?”
Riley paused. Had he? Had he ever said the words aloud? Or had he turned on the charm and hoped she’d figure out what he was trying to convey? Just as he’d hoped she’d know that the other women he’d flirted with before meant nothing to him while she was the real deal.
“I’ve been treating her like she was a mind reader,” Riley muttered.
Mike grinned. “I’m loving this. The ladies’ man needs help.” He let out a whoop of laughter.
“I’m so glad you find my life amusing.”
Mike wrapped a towel around his waist and started for the showers. He took three steps and turned. “Did I help get your head on straight?”
Riley nodded.
“Glad to help.” Still grinning, Mike walked away.
Riley leaned against his locker, preoccupied with thoughts of all he hadn’t said and done for Sophie. Something he had to rectify immediately.
To hell with his workout. Riley dressed and was out the door in record time. Unfortunately, the reporters knew his daily routine and accosted him outside on the sidewalk. It was early in the off season for the press to be hounding him, but not unusual for them to cluster where the team worked out.
“Hey,” Riley said, pausing for a minute. “Any chance I can catch up with you all later?” he asked in his most affable tone.
“Are you off to see your fiancée?” one of the reporters asked.
Riley laughed. “Real life’s so boring you guys need to make up stories?”
“Didn’t Yank Morgan say you’re involved with his niece?”
“I don’t recall him defining that involvement.” Riley began to push through them so he could search for a cab on the street.
Another reporter tapped him on the shoulder.
Riley turned. “How about we schedule an interview?” he asked, anxious to see Sophie face-to-face.
A redheaded woman he recognized from eSports Network suddenly appeared in the crowd. “Since you don’t want to talk about your social life, would you be willing to discuss your real father instead?”
Riley froze. “What did you just say?”
The woman, whose name was Veronica, shoved a microphone in front of his face in search of the elusive sound bite. “I asked if you’d sit down with me to talk about your biological father. Spencer Atkins is your father, isn’t he?”
“Where’d you hear that?” Forcing air into his tight lungs, Riley treated her to his best grin under the circumstances.
“Are you denying it?” she asked.
“I’m questioning your source.” Because he couldn’t for the life of him imagine how the truth had leaked out.
Whereas normally the reporters shouted out questions, vying for supremacy, the redhead had stunned her fellow reporters into silence. Apparently she had a scoop and he’d bet the revelation had already hit the news on her station.
She cleared her throat. “You know I can’t reveal a source. Besides you’re the one in the hot seat, Mr. Nash.”
Riley’s throat burned with pure anger at whoever had violated him and his family this way. “No comment.” He stormed through the reporters and hailed a cab.
A yellow taxi approached quickly and he jumped inside. But instead of Sophie’s address, Riley headed to his apartment in order to call his parents in private. Damage control had to come before his love life.
RILEY DIDN’T HAVE to call home. As soon as he stepped into the hallway and neared his apartment, he heard his phone ringing. He unlocked the door and ran inside, grabbing the portable receiver right before the answering machine picked up.
“Hello?” he asked breathlessly.
A quick glance at the machine told him he already had five messages. Definitely not a good sign, he thought.
“Riley? It’s Dad.” His stepfather’s voice traveled through the phone lines, barely containing frustration already evident in his tone.
“You heard?”
“Everyone has heard. The question for me is exactly how such a thing got out.”
Riley heard the familiar sound of grinding teeth, a habit Harlan had never broken in stressful situations. In his chosen profession, he had many of those.
“I was mobbed leaving the gym,” Riley said. “Damn reporter took me off guard. I never saw it coming.” He took a deep breath. “How’s Mom?”
Harlan let out a prolonged sigh. “As well as can be expected. Her friends here didn’t realize she’d been married once before. We didn’t hide the fact-it had just never come up. And since we wanted Spencer’s name buried, it seemed prudent to just look forward, if that makes sense.”
Riley nodded. “It does.”
“It’s really the fact that Atkins is gay that is causing an uproar.”
“Mom didn’t know, so that should minimize the impact.” Neither had Riley, and now that the news was public, he’d have to deal with the fact on a more personal level. One he had pushed to the back of his mind.
“No matter how you look at it, there’s an embarrassment factor for her, but she’s a strong woman. She’ll survive and do it well,” Harlan said with pride.
Riley smiled. “You love her,” he said, not realizing he’d spoken aloud.
“Since the day I laid eyes on her.”
“She was lucky to have found you. We were lucky.” Funny, he thought, how in times of crisis, a person came to appreciate the things he had in life all the more.
A long pause followed. “I feel the same way, son,” Harlan said. “Believe it or not, I tried to spare all of us this pain. And not just because of my position and career.” Emotion caused Harlan’s voice to crack.
Riley’s throat filled as well. “I need to make sure Lizzie’s doing okay with the fallout, but give Mom a kiss for me and tell her I’ll call later.”
“I will,” his stepfather promised. “I’ll also make damn sure I find out who leaked this scandal and see to it that they pay.”
“It was bound to come out. Secrets can’t stay hidden forever.”