Felicity Song sat in her office at DaVinci PR Firm and stared at Kade Kincaid’s gorgeous face on the television screen. The starting quarterback for the Texas Titans stood with an air of grandeur. His chiseled features, penetrating blue eyes, and blond hair made it clear why fans affectionately called the man Zeus. He had the look of a warrior, and in the football stadium, he was definitely akin to a god.

The reporter pushed a microphone at him. “So Kade, word on the street is that you and the Triple Threat are making a big showing at the bachelor auction tomorrow night to raise money for the children’s hospital in Dallas. Are you excited about this?”

Kade dipped his head, cracking a smile. “Well, I don’t know how excited I am to be sold.”

The reporter laughed. “I’m sure many beautiful women will bid on you.”

“These things aren’t really my scene,” Kade admitted, “but when I heard it was for a good cause, I agreed. It’s a great opportunity to come out and raise big money. You know, there are lots of kids who need our help—for their surgeries, to pay for their therapy …”

As he talked, Felicity sized him up on camera. She’d only been assigned to be part of his PR team a week ago, but she’d been studying him nonstop since then. It was hard not to be intimidated by him.

“Well …” The reporter turned to the camera. “I think it’s a great thing you and your buds are doing. Tell me, is your brother Anthony going to be part of this auction tomorrow?”

“What?” Kade’s smile faltered.

Felicity’s heart rate kicked up a notch, and panic propelled her to her feet. It was her job to notify Mr. DaVinci, who would immediately notify Mr. Kincaid, if his brother had been spotted in town. This was not good. Kade’s brother, Anthony, was also a quarterback—the starting quarterback for the Houston Sentinels, the Titans’ hottest rivals.

The clip was time-stamped almost exactly an hour ago. With growing trepidation, Felicity scrolled through her alerts on Google, Twitter, and Instagram, searching for news on Anthony Kincaid.

The reporter didn’t seem to notice Kade’s slip. “It has been reported he is in town this week, and we thought maybe he’d be another bachelor on the chopping block, so to speak.”

She found it. Gah! Anthony had tweeted out to his fans he would be making a trip to Dallas. Dang it!

Kade’s smile widened, and Felicity recognized it as fake. “I’m not sure what my brother has planned, but if he is coming, we’ll get him sold too and make even more money for those kids.”

The reporter laughed, and the clip ended.

Trembling, Felicity shut her laptop. Crap. Being part of the Kincaid team was a bigger job than she’d anticipated. Kade’s father was an oil tycoon and tight with Mr. DaVinci, the owner and boss of everything here. He’d been pretty specific on what her job was: notifying him when she heard anything about Anthony.

It all felt so stupid to her. Why couldn’t Anthony let his brother know when he was coming? Why couldn’t the family just text each other? But Mr. DaVinci had privately told her there were family issues they didn’t want to make public. The brothers didn’t get along, although they didn’t want their problems splashed all over the news.

Felicity cringed and thought about how she’d been preoccupied since she’d seen the foreclosure notice on her mother’s counter. Her mother would lose her house if Felicity couldn’t come up with the hundred grand to make it current by the end of the month.

Putting her hand to her heart, she pulled in a long, slow breath. She had to keep this job. It was her fault her mother was losing the house. Those had been her medical bills, and it was her fault she hadn’t done this job right.

Her boss burst into her office, looking pale. “Did you see the latest clip on Kade Kincaid?”

Feeling uncertain, she nodded. “Just looked it over, sir.”

Mr. DaVinci loomed over her desk. “Well, apparently, it mentioned his brother coming to town. You were the one assigned to keep the team updated as to the whereabouts of Kade’s brother, and you clearly dropped the ball.”

She sat there silently. What was she supposed to say?

Fortunately, Mr. DaVinci was cut off by a commotion coming from the lobby. She followed him as he rushed out to meet Kade Kincaid, and Felicity found herself again comparing him to a thunderous Zeus. He wore a black leather jacket and held his helmet in a death grip, crackling with frustration. She surmised he had been on his red street bike—the one he’d bought and shown off last month.

He glowered, turning to Mr. DaVinci and pointing at him like he was challenging him to a duel. “You!”

Mr. DaVinci, ever the PR master, put on a fake smile. “Well, hello, Mr. Kincaid. What can I do for you today?”

Kincaid’s features were tight, controlled. “I thought we had a deal. You would alert me immediately when my brother came to town.”

What did you do when the gods came for their duel? You placated them as best you could. Mr. DaVinci gestured to Felicity’s office. “Would you like a drink? Are you hungry? Why don’t you come into my associate’s office and sit, and we’ll talk about this.”

Felicity felt her heart rate jump, and her face stretched with a rubbery smile as Kade’s eyes met hers.

“Fine.” For all his anger, Kade Kincaid looked astoundingly unruffled. In fact, she’d seen that look of determination on the field when he pulled his helmet off before a huddle. He stormed past her and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I had your word,” he said gruffly, keeping his attention on Mr. DaVinci, who followed and stood next to the front of her desk.

Mr. DaVinci spoke calmly. “I can assure you, Mr. Kincaid, that no one knew Anthony was coming to town until that video clip.”

Felicity admired Mr. DaVinci at that moment. It was hard to deal with unrealistic expectations, and he was obviously good at managing them.

Mr. DaVinci turned to Felicity. “Sir, Felicity is on this, and she is the best. She doesn’t miss a beat. If she says no one knew, no one knew.”

Felicity shifted as Mr. Kincaid swung his gaze to meet hers. A charge went through her, like she could feel Zeus reach down and touch the earth with his lightning bolt. The man was, for lack of a better word, intense. Fierce. Every bit the warrior she’d been watching almost nonstop for the past seven days. On the field, he was a pure strategist, often being called a second coach. He could read the defense like he had a crystal ball, and it had earned him a reputation for getting through impossible defenses.

Mr. DaVinci’s mantra for dealing with his famous clients popped into her mind: You’ve got to fake it ’til you make it. The first time she’d sat down with him, he had explained in detail that these people don’t shy away from weakness; they chew it up and spit it out. If you are confronted by a client you are the least bit intimidated by, you fake it. Mustering a pleasant expression, she held her hand out. “Mr. Kincaid, nice to meet you.”

He cursorily shook her hand, then turned back to Mr. DaVinci. “You better explain to me what happened.”

Felicity tried not to take the snub personally. He clearly didn’t want to deal with her.

“We’re not sure, Mr. Kincaid.” Mr. DaVinci’s tone was the perfect blend of professional and disconcerted.

Striking out faster than she could track, Kade pounded a fist onto her desk, rattling the whole surface and causing her new vase to fall and crack on the floor. “How could you let this slip through the defenses?” he demanded. The sound of glass breaking didn’t even faze him.

Felicity stared at the special vase her mother had given her last week as congratulations for getting her new job. She fought the urge to cry.

Mr. DaVinci looked at the glass and then cocked an eyebrow at Mr. Kincaid. “Keep your temper in check, please.”

Mr. Kincaid let out a breath and clenched his hand into a fist, standing. His lip turned up in a snarl. “Another mess-up, and we’re done. My business will be gone, and I’m sure you know that means my father’s business will be gone, too.” Trudging away from the desk, he whipped on his sunglasses and turned back, still staring at DaVinci.

Mr. DaVinci kept his poker face and stood, but didn’t follow him. “Breathe, Mr. Kincaid. Everything is handled.”

Mr. Kincaid let out a long breath and tugged off his sunglasses. “We need to talk about Sheena Galloway. She’s still causing me issues. You need to make sure she doesn’t bother me tomorrow night at the auction.”

“Of course.”

“That woman might have had her way with other quarterbacks like Roman Young and Sam Dumont, but keep her out of my sights. She’s toxic, poison, tainted. I went out with her once. She’s crazy. I don’t want her around.”

Mr. DaVinci nodded. “I understand completely.”

Mr. Kincaid pushed a hand through his hair. “As for my brother, I can’t be blindsided by him again. I can’t. That’s the one condition I asked for when I agreed to sign on with this firm.”

“We will have one of our best people at the auction to make sure everything turns out perfectly, and you’ll know the next time your brother is in town. You have my word.”

Barking out a laugh, Kade swung his gaze to Felicity. “If she’s the one who handled notifying me before, it appears ‘your word’ is in trouble.”

Felicity’s breath hitched inside of her chest, and she bit back the urge to tell him off—not just for doubting her, but also for breaking her vase. Feeling like a scullery maid, she bent to pick up the glass. “It’s handled.”

“I guess we’ll see,” Mr. Kincaid said.

Felicity stood, wanting to demand an apology, wanting to shove the job and walk out, wanting to be anywhere except here. But as she well knew, she usually didn’t get what she wanted in life.

Mr. Kincaid lifted his chin and looked down his nose at Mr. DaVinci. “Your butt is on the line, DaVinci.” He said the words like he would say it to one of his fellow players on the field.

Mr. DaVinci glanced at Felicity. “Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Kincaid. We won’t let you down.”

Kincaid’s eyes narrowed and swung toward her. She met his gaze, feeling every bit as angry as he appeared to be. She wondered if he would say something threatening to her. Luckily, she was not a small woman, standing at roughly five ten. His six-three frame didn’t intimidate her in the least. No, if someone asked her what intimidated her about Kade, she would have told them it was his intense blue eyes. Hard and dark when he was unhappy or displeased with a play on the field. Serene and calm and almost light when he was happy and talking to an interviewer about his recent project—learning to fly helicopters.

Abruptly, he turned and left. She and Mr. DaVinci watched him make his way through the lobby and down the hall to the elevator.

Once Kade was out of earshot, Mr. DaVinci turned to her, wearing a stern look that said he knew he had the upper hand. “Well, Felicity, I believe in accountability. I believe people should have a chance to clean up their messes. So here’s the deal. Make the man happy, and you keep your job. But if he’s upset even for a second, if I hear one tiny whiff that he might pull his business after tomorrow night, you’re gone.”

Felicity didn’t flinch. “Sounds great,” she said, her jaw aching from holding a fake smile.

“Great.” Mr. DaVinci rushed out of her office.

Putting a gentle hand over her racing heart, Felicity felt the beats slow as calm determination filled her. Mr. DaVinci had thrown down the gauntlet, and she had no problem picking it up. She worked well under pressure. The times people gave her the worst odds were the times when she rose up and left them gaping after her.

She would make Kade Kincaid happy, because that was her job. But as she bent and picked up the precious glass, she couldn’t banish the thought that he was the biggest jerk she’d ever met.

Keep reading for a sneak peak at The Second Chance Groom.