Page 19 of All In: The Price We Pay

She smiles. “I’m quite happy. When Parker told me you were my date, I got excited. I love hockey.” She watches me with wide eyes and shakes her head, laughing. “Sorry. I don’t know anything about hockey, but it’s nice to watch.”

I tilt my head slightly. “If you say so, I guess it must be true. I’m not really into aesthetics and stuff like that.”

She pats my forearm. “You don’t have to be.”

I flinch slightly, and she studies me.

“Is that okay? Touching you? I’m not sure exactly when the paparazzi are coming, but we should try to present ourselves a little cozy.”

“Of course. Sorry, I didn’t mean to react negatively.”

“It’s fine.”

“Hey, um, have you done this before?” My nerves are getting the best of me, and I fiddle with the sleeves of the shirt Parker brought me.

She glances at me again with fearless blue eyes. “Yeah, I have. I have a standing arrangement with Parker. He’s part of my social media team. His work feeds directly into my brand. It’s exhausting having to do it all myself. And if something went wrong, I need him anyway.” She pauses. “Do you want to . . . talk about why you’re here? I mean, we don’t have to. But I’ve done this a bunch of times, and I find that if you open up to the other person, the photos turn out better, too. And let’s put it this way: we can blackmail each other. We should be on the safe side. Besides, we’ve both signed the NDAs. Everything said on these dates stays between us.”

My eyes widen involuntarily. “You’re very . . . direct.”

She grins. “I work in a fast-paced business. And we don’t have much of a choice, do we? But you don’t have to tell me anything. I don’t always do it either. Sometimes you don’t click with people right away. But this time, Parker did well.”

I nod slightly. “Thank you for the compliment. I feel right at home with you.”

It is a slight exaggeration. I don’t feel right at home anywhere in the world except on the ice. And with Parker.

Valentina flashes her Hollywood smile, and I can’t help but return it. “Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know.”

I immediately feel cornered and lean away from her.

“Hey, hey.” She pats my hand. “I didn’t mean it that way. You don’t have to tell me any secrets. Nothing major. Just something funny we can talk about the next time we meet.”

“Yeah, sure.” I laugh nervously.

She squeezes my hand again, then pulls her arm back. “You’re tense.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

She grins. “Let’s check the menu. We’ve got to order something.”

“I’m getting hungry, too.”

Valentina tilts her head thoughtfully. “Hmm.” She continues reading the paper menu in front of her and goes on. “That’s kind of my problem. For my last movie, I had to gain quite some weight by my standards. Now, for my current role, I’ve had to drop way below my normal weight.” She bites her lip.

“Oh.” That’s the best I can come up with.

“You probably read about it online, anyway.” She lifts her head and glances at me questioningly.

“Um. No. That news slipped right past me.”

Her mischievous grin returns. “Nice.” She turns her gaze back to the menu. “To speed the whole thing up, I resorted to weight-loss injections.” She sighs. “Against the advice of everyone who truly cares about me. And, inevitably, it completely triggered my eating disorder.” She grimaces. “The constant comments online and even out on the street kept pushing me further and made everything worse.” She shakes her head and puts the menu down. “Oh, well. A brief stint in the hospital later, and the scandal was in full swing once again. And I lost a damn role. They say I’m unreliable. But I think it’s very responsible to take care of your health and seek help.” The blue of her eyes shines. She challenges me.

“You’re absolutely right.”

She tilts her head slightly. “You don’t seem convinced.”

“But I am.” I nod firmly. “It’s just . . . sometimes I have to play even if I’m injured. But those are things that heal again. Hockey can’t be postponed. I completely understand why you did that, though. It’s brave and the only right thing to do.”

“But the same standard doesn’t apply to you?”