Thousand Yard Bride Read Online Free

was up for the challenge.
    I'd had one week before my new job at SportsFire. To prepare, I'd read up on all of Hunter’s and the Hawks’ stats. To counter the stress of starting a new job so fast, I spent my last free days hitting the rock wall at ClimbTime Gym with Lanie—my younger sister, best friend, and climbing partner in crime.
    We’d gotten into rock-climbing in college. Lanie liked that it kept her fit in spite of all the partying she was doing back then; I liked that it allowed me to blow off steam. I’d always been an overachiever, and in college the stress got to me.
    I found that challenging myself to make it to the top of a rock wall—or better yet, a mountain—was both difficult and fulfilling. After doing it so often, I started to associate rock climbing with my career. I wanted to climb the corporate ladder so badly. I wanted to make it to the top of everything I did, literally. That’s what made my fall from Sutton P.R. so devastating.
    I hadn't seen Lanie in some time, so I wasn't exactly surprised when the first question out of her mouth as we stretched in the gym was, “So, what happened with your old job? I thought it was going great. And now all of a sudden you’re leaving?”
    The wound was fresh, talking about that whole mess wasn't doing much for my stress—but I could never keep Lanie in the dark. “It wasn’t by choice. Chloe set me up. You know the model Camille von Ella?”
    “The one who just checked into rehab?” Lanie asked.
    “That’s her. Well, she was Chloe’s client, and when Chloe found out she had fallen off the wagon, she passed the account to me. I thought I was getting promoted! Chloe didn’t mention the drugs. Then Camille collapsed on a runway, broke down at a photoshoot, hit a paparazzo while driving her SUV under the influence, and lost all her other endorsements within a few weeks. She was a walking disaster, even when she couldn't walk.”
    Lanie winced. “I guess Chloe didn't take the heat, then.”
    “Nope. Just me. After I figured out what was going on, I convinced Camille to check into rehab. She’s a really sweet girl, so I was happy she did that, but the damage was already done,” I said as I put on my climbing harness.
    “I can’t believe Chloe would do that to you!"
    “I should have known better. This is public relations, and you can't work in it if you yourself look bad. Chloe would stop at nothing to protect herself.”
    Brushing her hair back, Lanie said, “She sounds awful. Guess you don't have to work with her anymore, so there's some light in this tunnel. New question. How'd you get this other gig? I didn't know sports were your thing.”
    That got a laugh out of me. “Remember Dan from college? He works at SportsFire. He hooked me up, but warned me that this would be a hard job. Actually, the exact words he used were something along the lines of throwing me into the flames to see if I could swim.”
    “That doesn’t even make sense,” Lanie said.
    “Didn't have to. Fire is bad, it's always bad." We started up the wall, my voice straining. "I guess I should have seen it as a warning. It'll certainly be a challenge."
    "You like challenges," she said, rushing to climb faster than me. I took her cue, racing up the wall and letting my anxiety start to fade.
    "Yeah," I said, huffing. "I just have to convince Hunter Daniels to lose the bad boy act. But really, how hard can it be?”
    Lanie laughed so loud it echoed through the gym. “You do look at the internet, right? I don't know if that boy can be tamed.”
    The internet was my enemy right now. Everything about Hunter was half-naked or full on nudes, sex scandals, and over the top parties; the guy was a headline generator. “Once he realizes that there's more to life than partying—that his career is more important—he'll clean up. He has to.”
    “He strikes me as one of those guys who thinks they’re invincible. That nothing will ever catch up to them,” Lanie said as she gained