I stop to talk to a couple of people before I make my way over to Becca. I can hear chatter all around me, but as I get closer to her table, I hear her voice now.
“So what you are saying,” Becca says, setting down her champagne glass, “is that my stocks in my company are going to go up if you take me as your agent?” I stop in my tracks and watch as the rookie smirks at her.
“Yes,” he says. “I’m up and coming, and if everything goes according to plan, I’ll be in demand.” I hold my breath.
“Let me just fill you in on something,” she says, turning so she can see him face-to-face. “My stock is already skyrocketing, and it has nothing to do with you or whatever you think you bring to the table. Which, as of right now, are only empty promises,” she tells him.
He opens his mouth to speak when she puts up her hand. “Furthermore, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Deflate that ego of yours just a bit more because, in one shift, you can be yesterday’s news. With that said, I think I’m going to pass on the offer to be your agent.” She turns around, leaving David with his mouth hanging open as she picks up her glass of champagne and drains it.
“Well, then,” he says, getting up, “good talking to you.”
She smiles at him, and I step up before she chews him up and spits him back out. “Hey,” I say, walking up. Becca looks up at me, and I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever noticed how beautiful she is. Her green eyes are almost the color of an emerald. “Becca,” I say, sitting in the chair in front of her. “David,” I say, and he nods at me before walking away. “That was …” I say, shaking my head. “I think he’s going to cry.”
She rolls her eyes. “You would not believe the shit he said,” she says and smiles at the waiter who replaces her empty glass with a full one. “Thank you.” I see that her eyes lighten up just a touch when she smiles. “You think I was too hard on him?”
I’ve known Becca ever since I became the owner and showed up at her first meeting with us. We’ve gone toe-to-toe before, and we can both be cutthroat for the people we believe in. Usually, we are on the same page, and even though we’ve disagreed, we’ve always stayed professional. “He needed that,” I say of David. “His numbers lead him to believe he’s invincible on the ice, and that can be dangerous.”
“Well, you know what they say. The higher up you are, the harder you fall,” she says. “Sorry.” Shaking her head, she leans forward, and I see lace under her jacket. And for the first time in I don’t know how long, I find I’m interested in seeing what else is under her jacket. “It’s been a day.”
“Don’t I know it,” I say and put my hand up for the waiter. When he comes over, I order a beer.
“Whoa,” she says, and I look at her.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink at an event,” she says, and I lean back in my chair. “Usually, it’s a bottle of water.”
“I’ve spent a whole week going over my budget,” I say. She leans forward, and I smell citrus.
“You don’t need a beer,” she says. “You need a bottle of scotch.”
I laugh, knowing she’s right. “I’ve never heard you laugh.”
“That’s because every time I sit down with you, I feel you squeeze …” I’m about to say my balls, but something stops me. “My neck.”
Her laughter sends shivers up my arms. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” She drinks more of her champagne, and I wonder if her lips taste sweet. It’s only when I have that thought do I stop staring at her. Where the fuck is all this coming from? I’m afraid to say anything with the direction of my thoughts. “I let you win sometimes.” She hides her smile with her champagne glass.
“Sometimes.” I shake my head, hoping to clear out the idea of her naked in front of me. “And then sometimes …”
“And sometimes it feels like I’m kicking you in the ass.” She tilts her head slightly to the side, smiles, and then shrugs. “It might be why I’m good at my job.”
“Without a doubt,” I say. “I’ve sat with many agents.” I grab the beer bottle and bring it to my lips, taking a pull before I choose my next words. The coldness of the beer hits my tongue.
“Wait,” she says, holding up her hands before I continue talking. “If you are going to give me a compliment, I’m going to tape it and then write it on my calendar.” My head goes back, and I swear I haven’t laughed that hard in forever.
“Now it’s my turn to say I’m not that bad.” I look at her.
“The last time we sat down in your conference room, you called me egotistical,” she says. It takes me a second to go through my memory and find that moment. I’m shocked by just how many memories I have of her.
“I’m sure I didn’t say those exact words.” I roll my lips when she gasps.
“I believe your exact words were come down out of the clouds, Becca, and stop being so fucking egotistical.” She points at me. “Okay, maybe not exactly, but you definitely called me egotistical.”
“What are you two laughing about?” Miller says, pulling out the seat beside me and sitting down. Layla walks over to the other side of the table, pulling out her own chair and sitting next to Becca. I watch Becca turn and look over, smiling as her hair falls forward. My hand itches to reach over and move it so I can see her eyes.
“We are talking about the last time Nico paid me a compliment and called me egotistical,” she tells Miller.
“Oh, I remember that,” Miller says, snapping his fingers.
“No, you don’t.” I shake my head, rolling my eyes.
“No, I do,” he says, looking at Layla. “I was there. You two were discussing my contract.” He then looks at me. “You were pissed with her demands. I thought the vein in your head was going to explode. You called her egotistical.” He laughs. “Becca didn’t even bat an eyelash. All she did was shrug and tell you she’s been called worse.”
“Yes,” Becca says, slapping the table. “I knew I was right.” Her laughter is contagious, making me smile. “We should have bet.”
“I was not that heated,” I point out, and Miller looks at me in shock.
“Dude,” he says, “let’s just say that day I was happy I was on Becca’s side of the table.”
I roll my eyes. “It was not that fucking bad,” I say.
“That’s okay,” Becca says, leaning over the table and putting her hand on mine. I think she’s done this before. In fact, I know she’s done this before. But now her warm, soft hand on mine feels like an electric shock going through my body, zapping my brain. “I really have been called worse.” She leans back in her chair, taking her hand off mine. “One owner called me a swingy scummy wormy bitch.” I look at her with my mouth open as she laughs about it.
“What did you do?” Layla asks, intrigued as much as I am.
“I smiled at him, and then the next day, I sent him a box of worms.” The three of us laugh so loud people look over at our table.
“So this is where the party is happening,” Ralph says, pulling up a chair and sitting at the table with us. “What did Miller do this time?” he asks, and his question has merit since Miller is usually the one making us laugh. I watch Becca as Miller fills Ralph in. The little sparkle in her eye makes her eyes look gold on the bottom and green on the top.
The waiter comes over and grabs her empty glass, and when he goes to put another one down, she shakes her head. She turns and catches me watching her. “Did you drive here?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.
“No,” she says, leaning forward. Her jacket opens just a bit, and even though about fifty people are here, my eyes are only on hers. It feels as if we are the only ones in the room. “I have a strict two-drink maximum.”
I cock my head to the side. “Really?” I lean forward. “Is there a reason?”
“Well, besides the fact that no good choices are made when one drinks?” She smiles and winks at me, and I can only imagine what bad decisions she’s talking about. But I know one thing—I will be finding out exactly how b
ad these decisions are.
Chapter 5
Becca
“Well, besides the fact that no good choices are made when one drinks?” I smile at him, which I’m doing a lot tonight, then I wink at him. Holy shit, am I flirting with him? Wait a second, why am I flirting with him? What is going on right now?
“You’ve got to give me something better than that,” he says, and I look at him. I mean, really look at him, and it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time. His brown hair is long on top and short on the sides and the back, and it looks like it took him two seconds to run his fingers through it. His blue eyes get a bit lighter when he laughs, almost like the amber of cognac. When he leans forward on the table, his biceps flex under his blue sweater.
“Ugh.” I throw my head back. “Why?”
“Because I don’t think I’ve ever seen you make one bad decision since we’ve been in business with each other.” I tilt my head to the side, looking over at Miller and Layla, who are holding hands across the table. Ralph has pulled Candace onto his lap and is whispering something in her ear. “So tell me,” Nico says, and I turn my attention back to him. “Give me one example.”
“Oh, God.” I think about it for a second. “But if you ever throw this in my face, I will …” I point at him, and he holds up his hands and crosses it over his chest.
“Scout’s honor,” he says, smirking.
“You were never a scout, Nico.” I lean back in my chair and cross my legs. “Fine. Four months ago, I went to a Celine Dion concert,” I tell him, and I can see his eyes change color to a soft blue. “I had a couple more vodka drinks than I should have, and well …” I put my head down. “I can’t show anyone the videos because all you hear is my screaming and singing in the background.”
He laughs, clapping his hands together. “I would never peg you for a Celine fan.”
“Yeah, well, I wish that was the worst of it,” I say, and I suddenly wish I didn’t have a two-drink limit that I stick by, especially at a work function. It’s one thing to enjoy a bottle of wine at home on my couch, but it’s another thing to do it in front of my clients. “The next morning, I woke up …” I lean forward, and I see his eyes go back to a darker blue. “Naked. Next to me was a black baseball cap with diamonds all over it with the word BOSS across it.” He rolls his lips to stop from laughing. “I even have a picture,” I say, grabbing my phone and opening up my photos to search for it. I find it on my Instagram and show it to him.
He takes my phone from me, and our fingers graze each other. And just like before when he put his hand on mine, a shiver goes up my spine. He looks at the picture, and he zooms in. “That hat is very …”
“Shiny?” I say. “Bright?”
“You ever try to wear this hat out in the sun?” he asks, and I shake my head and laugh.
“They should not allow you to buy merchandise after the show.” I point at him. “Especially if you buy more than one thing.”
“What else did you buy?” he asks.
“A T-shirt, mug, calendar, a sweater, and a poster,” I say, and he is trying so hard not to laugh. “It’s not funny.”
“I’m just wondering where you hung the poster. Is it in your bedroom or office?” he asks, and I flip him the bird. I see him doing a couple of things with his fingers.
“What are you doing?” I ask, and he hands me back my phone.
“I followed myself on Instagram,” he says, and I look down to see that he also requested to follow me. When I look back up, he has his phone in his hand. “You can accept now.”
“We’ll see,” I say, putting my phone away, and he glares at me.
“Whatever you say, boss,” he says, and it’s my turn to glare at him. This time, his eyes turn almost a grey when he laughs. He holds up his hands. “I was kidding.”
“I’ll remember that the next time you ask me for something,” I say, and he shakes his head.
“Well, this was fun,” I say. We are the only two left at the table while everyone else mingles. “I’m going to head out.”
He looks at me. “I can drive you,” he says, getting up, and my eyes fly down to his zipper. That is the first time in my life I’ve ever done that. I whip my head up so fast that I have to hold on to the table. “You okay?” he asks, and I wonder if he caught me staring at his package. I’m so distorted by this that I forget to tell him that I already have a ride home.
“Yeah,” I say. “My foot was asleep,” I lie to him as we make our way over to Ralph and Candace. We say goodbye to them, and I feel the heat of his hand on my lower back coming through my jacket. We walk out of the restaurant, and the cool air hits us.
“This was really nice,” he says, his hand still on my back, and I stop at the entrance of the restaurant. “Like really nice,” he says, and he’s looking at me differently.
I hold my purse with both my hands, and I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I’m suddenly fucking nervous, and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe the champagne was not good or spiked.
“I haven’t had this much fun in a long, long time,” I say. He leans closer to me, and I don’t know why my heartbeat speeds up. Or why my hands get clammy or why my stomach feels like it’s a fish out of water flopping all over the place.
“Well, since Celine,” he whispers. I go to push him with my hand, and he grabs it. “I’m kidding,” he says. Standing really fucking close to him, I look up at him, and even with my heels, he’s still taller than my five-foot-seven frame. I never realized how tall he was before.
Both of us stand here, not saying anything when a car pulls up. “That’s for me,” I say, looking at the driver getting out of the car and coming over to open the door for me. “Thank you, Nico,” I say, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. The musky smell of him hits me right away. “For the laughs.”
“You are most welcome, Becca,” he says, and I step away from him and walk toward the waiting car. “Oh, and, Becca?” He calls my name just as I get to the car door. I turn to look at him over my shoulder, putting one hand on the door. “Your secret is safe with me.” He smirks. “Boss.”
I throw my head back and laugh while I flip him the bird. “Have a nice night, Nico,” I say, ducking and getting into the car.
I wait for the driver to close the door before I let out the deep breath I was holding in. I put my hand on my stomach as I look forward and see the driver climb into the car. I don’t look out my window, but I feel his eyes on me. As we pull away from the curb, I turn to see that he is watching the car drive off.
I look out the window the whole time on the way to my penthouse. “Don’t get out,” I say when we pull up out front. Opening the door, I get out and walk into the lobby. The security guard gets up to walk me to the elevator. “Have a great night, Robert,” I say when I get into the elevator.
I slip out of my shoes as soon as I close the door behind me and walk up the steps to my bedroom using only the moonlight to guide my way. My phone beeps from my purse. I turn on the light as I toss my purse on the couch in front of my bed.
Sitting down, I take the phone out and see it’s a text from Nico.
Nico: If I sing “My Heart Will Go On”, will you accept my follow request on Instagram?
I laugh, going to my walk-in closet and taking a picture of me wearing the hat. I bend down so he can only see the top of the hat and not my face. I send him the picture, and it takes him two seconds to answer me.
Nico: That is going to be my screen saver.
I laugh, shaking my head.
Me: Have a nice night, Nico.
I put down the phone and undress. After tossing the clothes into the wash, I go to bed. The next morning when I’m on the treadmill, I get a message from Manning.
Manning: Call me when you’re up.
I press call, and he picks up right away. “How are you up? It’s like six in the morning.”
“Is that what you wanted me to call you about?” I ask, huffing out, turning the speed of the treadmill down
in case I have to talk.
“I was wondering if we could schedule a meeting,” he says, and I worry something is wrong. His tone is tight, and I immediately stop my treadmill. My heart beats fast, and it’s not because I’m running.
“Are you in trouble?” I ask. I’m ready to help him in any way he needs it. Manning was the first big name to sign with me. He was the first one to take a chance on me, and I will never forget it.
“It’s nothing serious,” he says, and his voice goes low. “I mean, it’s serious, but I will explain later tonight if I can.”
“Come over whenever you want. I’m home all day and night,” I say.
“Okay, I’ll call you before I head over,” he says. We hang up, and the whole day I’m on pins and needles. When he shows up after eight that night, he looks ragged.
“What in the hell happened to you?” I ask, and I can see he is going through something.
“Can we sit down?” he asks. I nod, leading him into the penthouse and gesturing to the couch.
“Okay,” I say, sitting in front of him. “You are really scaring me.”
“I want to leave Murielle,” he says of his wife.
“Okay, we can do that. I have the best divorce lawyer on speed dial,” I say. “We dated for maybe a week.”
“It’s not that easy,” he says. “Last time I did that, she ran away with Jax.” He mentions his son. “And the only way she would come back is if I promised not to bring up divorce again.” He looks down and then up. “I met someone,” he says, and I see the anguish all over his face. “It hasn’t been long, but in this short time, I know I don’t want to let her go.”
“I don’t know what to say,” I say, sitting next to him.
“Murielle is having an affair with her trainer, and I have all the proof from the house camera.” My mouth opens in shock. “And I could blackmail her with it, but then …” He shakes his head. “I don’t want to use those pictures of her in my house.”
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