But as they walked away, Mia heard Riley and Cassidy and a couple buzzed about by the reporters. She winced.

She should have tried harder to extricate herself from Nathan’s embrace. Now, instead of reporting on Nathan’s great performance in the game, all they were going to talk about was the two of them. She could already imagine the headlines tonight and tomorrow.

Dammit.

They all headed down the hall toward the parking lot. Nathan walked her to her car.

“See you at my parents’ house?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I want to talk to you tonight.” He looked around, then reached down to entwine his fingers with hers. Just his touch was a calming balm to her nerves.

“Yes, me, too.”

He inhaled deeply. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

“That would be such a bad idea.” For so many reasons.

“Would it?”

“You saw the reporters in there, didn’t you?”

“I did. So what?”

She tilted her head to the side. “They could still be lurking.”

“In the parking lot?” He looked around. “I don’t think so.”

“You have a lot to learn about the media, Nathan.”

He laughed. “Whatever you say. I’ll see you in a few.”

They made their way over to Tara and Mick’s house. On the way there, Mia couldn’t empty her head of all those reporters. Of their whispers and all the cameras focusing on the two of them.

Why did it have to be such a big deal who Nathan dated? Or if he dated anyone? And why did the thought of the reporters and what they were going to write consume her with dread?

She pulled up in front of the house and pulled up social media.

And she had her answer.

Some of the sports feeds had already picked up the story—with pictures.

Is Nathan Riley dating Mia Cassidy?

Riley + Cassidy. A New Dynasty in the Making?

How Will Nathan’s Love Life Affect His Game Play?

As if those weren’t bad enough, there were worse ones. Is Mia Cassidy Courting Nathan Riley for Her New Sports Management Company? And Mia Cassidy Building Her Sports Management Brand by Getting Close to Nathan Cassidy.

Shit.

Mia gripped the steering wheel. Shit, shit, shit. One innocuous photo of Nathan with his arm around her and suddenly there were multiple headlines about his love life. And even worse, accusations of her getting close to Nathan in order to build her business. Nothing on his stats, or how well he was playing for the Sabers, but on his love life. And on her using Nathan.

Goddammit.

She could handle herself just fine, could diffuse talk about her using him for her company. But she couldn’t let the focus shift from Nathan’s play onto the two of them. Publicity of any kind that wasn’t game related, especially now, was not good for Nathan’s career. Nothing should pull focus from football.

She looked over at the house. Everyone was there.

If Nathan had been one of her clients, she’d tell him to take a step back from the relationship, to focus on football.

The season was about to start and that’s where his head had to be—where all his attention needed to be.

She knew what she had to do.

She pulled out her phone and sent him a text message.

Have a headache. Going home. Tell everyone I’m sorry I can’t make it.

She put her car in gear and started for home.

Her phone pinged on the way but of course she couldn’t answer when she was driving.

She didn’t answer her phone after she got home, either, not even when it rang. Instead, she changed into shorts and a T-shirt, poured herself a glass of cabernet and settled in on the sofa with her planner and her laptop, working out her plan for next week.

It was time she focus on work, too. She had to put her attention on her job and not on the man she . . .

Well, it was time to concentrate on other things.

She was deeply into planning the week when her doorbell rang. She sighed, knowing who it was.

Dammit, Nathan.

She got up and opened the door. He didn’t even wait for an invite, just walked inside.

“You don’t have a headache.”

She closed the door. “How do you know I don’t have a headache?”

He turned to her. “First, you look amazing. Second, you squint when you have a headache and you’re not squinting. Third, you have red wine on the table over there and you always drink white when you have a headache.”

Damn the man for knowing her so well. “Fine, I don’t have a headache.”

She went over to the sofa and sat down. He followed, sitting next to her on the sofa. Or as close to her as he could since she had her paperwork spread out everywhere.

And she wasn’t going to move it, because she needed the barrier.

“So why did you blow off the party?”

She shrugged. “I had work to do.”

“You could have said that. But I still don’t think that’s the reason. Something’s bothering you.”

“I just needed to be alone.”

“Why?”

Break it off, Mia. Be quick and brutal about it and break it off.

Just the thought of it cut her sharply. But she knew she had to do it. “I don’t know, Nathan. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. You’re busy, I’m busy. You’re about to start your season and I have so much going on. I just don’t think this is working between us.”

The shock and hurt on his face was evident. And she hated it. She wanted to take it all back, but she wouldn’t.

“Wait? What? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about us. I need a break.”

No, no. Not a break. She needed to make it more final. A break indicated that they might get back together. She needed to remember the press. She didn’t want any more of that. It wasn’t good for Nathan’s career. “I mean, not a break. I just need . . . I’m sorry. I need to not see you anymore.”

He just stared at her as if she were some alien that had crawled out of a human body. Which was exactly what she felt like.

Because she was lying. To him and to herself. And the hurt look on Nathan’s face made her want to crawl onto his lap and cry and tell him she was lying, that she didn’t mean any of what she’d just said. She wanted to tell him she loved him. Instead, she was breaking up with him.

“You are so full of shit,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“What’s really going on, Mia?”

“I just told you.”

“No, you didn’t. You made up some bullshit story about work.”

“It is not bullshit.”

“When did you stop trusting me, Mia?”

His words shocked her. “I’ve never stopped trusting you.”

“Haven’t you? Because it seems to me the closer we get, the further you pull away from me. You used to tell me everything. Every thought you had, every feeling you felt. Hell, even shit I didn’t want to hear sometimes. And now you’re feeling a lot of things but you’re telling me nothing. You’re holding back. So why don’t you trust me anymore?”

His words hurt like a knife going through her heart. Because he was right. She had always told him how she felt. And now, when she really needed to tell him everything, she couldn’t. Because in order to protect him she had to lie to him.

“I do trust you. And I am telling you the truth, Nathan. I need you to take a step away. This is all too much for me. Being with you is pulling my focus away from my work and I just can’t do it. I mean, look at all of this.”

She waved her hands over her file folders and her planner and her laptop. “I have so much work and I’m neglecting it because I’m spending all of my time with you. And I just can’t do that. I have to put all my attention on my company. I’m afraid I’ll fail because I’m not giving it the focus that it needs. I just don’t have the time for a relationship right now. I’m sorry.”

Again he gave her that look of disbelief. For a few seconds she thought he was going to push at her again, to tell her she was lying to him.

She’d continue to fight him, because even though he didn’t know it, she was fighting for him. For his career and for his future.