The Devil in Denim

by Melanie Scott

  Ramona was quick, Maggie had to grant her that. “There’s no show. We have a united front. We both want this sale to be approved and for the Saints to keep going from strength to strength so we can keep paying your clients.” She snapped her purse shut. “I’d think you’d want that too.”

  “I want my clients to go where they get the best deal.”

  “Best deals aren’t only about the money, you know that. We treat our players well. They like playing for the Saints. Just ask Brett.”

  “You don’t have to tell me that. I’ve been trying to get him to jump ship for two years.”

  Maggie knew that much. Hana told her about Brett’s other offers every time he got one.

  “What can I say? New York is pretty hard to give up.”

  “Hana didn’t grow up here, maybe she wants to be closer to her family.”

  “I think being away from her family is one of her favorite things about New York.” Hana’s mom made Hana look positively laid-back. Maggie knew Hana preferred living where there were no surprise family visits. “But who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and Brett will decide he wants a change of scenery.” Not while Hana was living and breathing, but it wouldn’t hurt Ramona to think she had some chance of changing his mind, if only to get her to drop the subject.

  And if she couldn’t get her to drop the subject, she’d just change it altogether. “Did you come here with someone?” Maggie asked as she opened the door to the bathroom and held it for Ramona.

  Ramona nodded. “Yes. Will Sutter.”

  Crap. It seemed Ramona and Will were more than just acquaintances. Maggie had hoped they’d just run into each other here, not that they’d actually come to the game together. What was Ramona doing hanging out with Will Sutter?

  “You two seem to be getting along,” she said neutrally.

  “Yes,” Ramona said. “And here he is now.”

  Maggie kept the grimace off her face as she turned to see Will striding down the hall toward them.

  “I thought I’d have to send out a search party,” he said when he reached Ramona’s side.

  “Sorry, I got sidetracked. Look who I found.”

  Maggie smiled politely at Will as he nodded. “Will. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “I was sorry to hear about your dad,” she added, taking Will’s hand to shake when he offered his. She couldn’t remember if she’d mentioned his dad at the party.

  Once again, Will held her hand just a little too long before he released it. “Don’t be. He was a mean old son of a bitch. Dropped dead on the golf course, so he probably died happy which is more than he deserved.”

  Maggie blinked, not sure how to respond. “I see. Still—”

  “Left me all his money though, so that’s something,” Will said with a satisfied smile that made Maggie somehow want to go and take a shower. “No more asking for handouts.”

  You could have gone and got a job, Maggie thought. She couldn’t throw stones at Will for being the child of a wealthy family but she at least had worked for the Saints since she’d been old enough to make herself useful. She’d started off by filing for Shonda and the general manager’s office and worked her way up from there. But Will … She tried to think if she knew anything about what he’d done before and after he’d worked for them. Nothing came to mind. She, and most of the other women involved with the Saints, had been glad to see the back of him, and then she’d been occupied with college and life.

  “That must be nice for you,” she managed.

  A cell phone shrilled to life—not hers—and Ramona held up a hand. “Sorry, I have to take this call.” She snapped a Bluetooth headpiece onto her ear and wandered off down the hallway, leaving Maggie alone with Will.

  “So what brings you to the game?” Will asked.

  “I’m here for work.”

  “Here with Winters?” He smirked at her. “You two looked cozy at that press conference. Smart move, getting in with the boss.” He winked. “Seems like you’ve changed your tune.”

  “I’m not getting in with anyone. I’m here to introduce Alex to a few people and that’s it,” Maggie said icily.

  “Sure,” Will said. “Always figured that Saint Maggie thing was an act. You were a bit skittish when I knew you but you’ve grown up since then.” He looked her up and down. “You look good.”

  “I have to go,” Maggie said, unwilling to talk to him any longer. She’d forgotten exactly how he could make her skin crawl. What the hell did Ramona see in him, anyway?

  “Now, now, don’t rush off. Doesn’t hurt you to be friendly, does it?”

  She summoned a smile with an effort. “No. But I’m here with someone and it’s kind of rude to leave him alone for all this time.”

  “Alex Winters is a big boy. He’ll survive.”

  She wasn’t sure she would. Not without kicking Will in the shins as he so richly deserved if he didn’t get out of her way very soon. She moved to step around him and he blocked her. She stepped back, the hairs on her neck prickling uneasily. “Get out of my way, Will.”

  He smiled down at her but there was nothing friendly in the expression. “Don’t be rude, Maggie. Doesn’t pay to burn bridges in business.”

  “I’m not burning anything, Will, I’m just asking you to get out of my way.”

  “Or what?”

  “Or I’ll show you what I learned growing up with many overly protective guys who didn’t like the thought of other men bugging me.”

  He didn’t move. “You think you can take me?”

  “I think I can make you sorry you didn’t let me by,” Maggie gritted, ignoring the fear in her stomach. Ramona was only about ten yards down the corridor after all. They were in a public place. Sutter wasn’t dumb enough to actually cause a scene, was he? He’d always been a dick but not an idiot.

  “You should be nicer to people, Maggie. You never know what might happen.”

  “Maggie?” Alex’s deep voice came from behind Sutter and she felt the knots in her stomach ease a little. She knew she could handle Sutter on her own but that didn’t mean she wasn’t glad of a little reinforcement.

  Sutter turned and saw Alex and promptly moved out of Maggie’s way. She walked past him and joined Alex.

  “I thought you’d abandoned me,” he said. “You missed a touchdown.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was just catching up with Ramona. And Will here.”

  “Will Sutter,” Alex said. “I knew your father a little. Sorry for your loss.” He held out his hand.

  Sutter took it, and Maggie thought she saw him wince a little at Alex’s grip. She tried to ignore the flare of satisfaction in her stomach at the thought.

  “How do you know Maggie?” Alex asked.

  “I worked at the Saints for a year or so.”

  “You like baseball?” Alex asked. He released Will’s hand but Maggie noticed he kept himself between her and Will. And that he wasn’t giving anything away about what he knew about Will.

  “Love it. Actually thinking of getting more involved again.”

  “Wouldn’t think you’d have time now that you have your dad’s companies to run.” Alex sounded just faintly patronizing, as though Will couldn’t possibly handle even that much. Maggie hid a smile. As much as she found Alex’s “lord of all he surveyed” manner annoying, it was funny to see him turn it on someone else for a change.

  Will’s smile grew a little fixed. “Oh, I’m handling things just fine, Winters. After all, those businesses have been in my family a long time. I’m not new to all this.”

  Maggie bristled a little.

  “Family businesses are tricky,” Alex said. “They often fall down in the third generation or so. I’ve bought a few in my time.”

  “The Saints being a case in point?” Sutter said.

  “There’s still a Jameson with the Saints,” Maggie said.

  “Not running things though, are you?” Sutter said. “Besides, your deal isn’t approved yet, is it, Winters?”

&n
bsp; “Merely a formality,” Alex said.

  “You think you have the votes?”

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting,” Sutter said, glaring up at Alex. He ran a hand over his close-cropped head and peered up the hallway. “Looks like Ramona’s done with her call, I’d better go join her. We’re here with my mama. Doesn’t do to leave the ladies alone too long.” He smirked at Maggie. “But you seem to know all about that, Winters.”

  Maggie narrowed her eyes at him but he nodded at Alex and moved around them both, walking rapidly toward Ramona.

  Maggie blew out a breath when the two of them disappeared around the curve of the hallway. “Jerk,” she muttered.

  “You got that right,” Alex said. He was frowning, his gaze, like hers, looking in the direction Sutter had taken. “Was he bugging you?”

  “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Maggie said. “He’s a jerk but he’s not an idiot. Too public a place for him to try his grabby act if that’s still his act. Still, thanks for coming to look for me.” She smiled at him, remembering Sutter’s face when Alex had gotten in his shot about family businesses failing in subsequent generations. Though from what she remembered of Corinne Sutter—Mama as all her children and her husband had called her—it wasn’t likely that she’d let Will ruin things. Tom used to call Corinne the power behind the throne when he’d dealt with Sutter senior. And Jack had been a lot tougher than Will. Still, the Sutters—thankfully—weren’t her problem. “Can’t imagine what Ramona’s doing hanging out with him but there’s no accounting for taste, I guess.”

  “Indeed.” Alex nodded his head back toward the box. “Shall we go see if the Giants are going to pound the Steelers?”

  “I think it’s the other way around,” Maggie shot back.

  “You care to make a wager?”

  “I don’t think I can afford your stakes.”

  “Who said I was talking about money?” He reached out and pulled out his phone with a wicked grin. “Why don’t I text you some ideas?”

  Chapter Twelve

  The drive back from the stadium seemed to take forever. Alex had sent her several text messages throughout the game that had had her blushing and trying not to squirm in her seat. And now, here in the darkness and closeness of the car, she was trying to make up her mind whether to be smart or whether to indulge what her body wanted her to do.

  Sleep with Alex Winters.

  Sleep with her boss.

  Sleep with the man who’d taken over her life.

  She’d kissed him, touched him, let him touch her, yes, but somehow she’d managed to keep him at arm’s length, in her head. But letting him into her bed—letting him into her body—would mean that she couldn’t do that any longer. She didn’t think he was a “one great night of sex and kick him back out of bed” sort of guy. The fact that she was even contemplating doing this meant that he had a pull that was stronger than that.

  Plus, she was in serious danger of just plain liking the man. She liked the way his brain worked, liked working with him. She liked the way he treated her and liked the way he’d come to find her tonight and had sent Will Sutter on his way. Sure, she’d been perfectly capable of doing that herself but it was nice to feel like someone was in her corner.

  But still. He was her boss. You didn’t sleep with the boss and expect anything other than trouble to result.

  And that was without trying to keep the world from finding out about what you were doing because you were being followed by the media and being scrutinized every time you appeared in public.

  She’d managed it tonight, managed to make it look like she and Alex were just friends. She’d deflected the inevitable question that one of the reporters they’d crossed paths with on their way out of the stadium had asked with a smile and a quip about Alex being a slave driver who forced her to watch football. But the closer they became, the harder the deception would be to pull off. Couples gave themselves away in a thousand small ways. A glance here, a stray touch there, a shared smile at an inside joke.

  Someone would find out.

  Someone would tell.

  And then what …

  That was the part she didn’t know.

  What happened next.

  God. She didn’t even know what she wanted, let alone what Alex might be thinking.

  She shouldn’t even be thinking about this at all, but still … Her gaze strayed over to him, to the flex of his fingers gripping the wheel, one hand idly tapping to the soft drumbeat coming from the stereo as he guided the car through the traffic snarls as though they weren’t even there. The movement of his hand was arresting.

  Up. Down.

  Up. Down.

  She remembered those fingers against her skin. Soft. Hard. Skillful.

  “You’re quiet,” Alex said suddenly.

  “Too much adrenaline,” she said. “That game was a close call.”

  “If you get worked up like that over a sport you’re not even interested in, what are you like at Saints games?” Alex asked.

  “Terrible,” Maggie said. “There’s pacing. And shouting. And I bite my fingernails when Hana isn’t there to smack me. Once I tossed a can of soda accidentally and broke one of the viewing screens in the owner’s box. Dad wasn’t happy.”

  “Maybe we need to build you a little padded viewing room all your own?”

  “Some owners and managers can’t even watch the games,” she said. “So I’m not completely hopeless.”

  “It’s part of the fun though, isn’t it?” Alex asked.

  “What is?”

  “The tension.” He pulled the car to a stop at a signal and turned to face her. “The unknown.”

  Her stomach squirmed. What did he mean by tension? “Are we still talking about baseball?”

  “Why, Saint Maggie, what else would we be talking about?”

  “Football,” she shot back. He laughed and took off as the light turned green.

  “Chicken,” he said, when the traffic settled back into a steady stream around them. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  She did. But she still didn’t know if she wanted talk about it. “That’s not what this is for you, is it? The thrill of the unknown?”

  “This? The Saints?”

  She shook her head. “No. This thing we’re not supposed to be talking about. It isn’t just the chase? Or some weird male thing … you know, screw the old owner’s daughter, stake your claim or something?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Alex?” she prompted.

  “Just give me a minute.”

  “What?”

  “Well, you just kind of indicated that you might sleep with me. It’s distracting.”

  Shit. He was right.

  “No I didn’t.” She was trying to remember what her point had been. “I was trying to ask what you saw in me.”

  “You don’t want me to answer that right now, do you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well,” he said. “It might have something to do with the fact that you’re gorgeous.”

  “You’ve dated women far prettier than me.”

  “Not really. And none of them could hit a baseball like you.”

  “Take many of them to the batting cage, did you?”

  “Not many of them were that interested.”

  “Surely there are some sports fans among the society gals.”

  “Maggie,” he said impatiently. “Do you really want to talk about my old girlfriends?”

  Her stomach tensed again at the g word. “I don’t know.”

  “As far as I can tell, you want to know if I’m going to bolt for the door about five minutes after I come,” he said with a sideways glance at her. He flicked on the turn signal and Maggie realized that they’d reached her apartment building.

  Of course, Alex being Alex, there was a parking space about twenty yards from the building door. The Jeep slid neatly into place and Alex jerked on the handbrake. “Is that about right?”

  �
�Um, yes. I guess so.”

  “Then the answer is no. No, I’m not.” He twisted in the seat, so that he was facing her. The light from the street was barely enough to see his face. “How about you?”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. Are you intending on kicking me out of bed and pretending like it never happened?”

  “Like that’s ever happened to you.”

  “You might be surprised. And that didn’t answer my question.”

  She twisted a piece of hair around her finger. Did she really want to answer? Once she did, if she told the truth, there was probably only one way tonight was going to end. The tip of her finger started to turn red, then white.

  “Maggie?”

  “No.” She sighed and let the hair go. “No, I don’t intend on kicking you out of bed.”

  “Good.” He smiled then the expression faded. “Not good? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just…” Her gut churned. She didn’t even know how to explain what she was thinking.

  “Yes?” he prompted.

  “It’s just that I’ve got all the downside here. If this goes wrong.”

  “How?”

  “You’re my boss. If this gets out, I’ll be the one who’s sleeping with her new boss, desperate to hang on to her job. You’ll still be the rich guy who scores the hot chicks. I’ll be the loser. And if we break up then … I’ll be the loser who was dumb enough to sleep with her boss to try and hold on to her job and lost them both.”

  “I’m not going to fire you if we stop sleeping together.”

  “No. Maybe not. But it’s not going to be pretty. I don’t take this … lightly.” She made a frustrated gesture between them. “It feels…”

  “Important?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Maggie, you’re not the only one with downside here. If I screw this up, then I’ll lose you.”

  “You’re only worried about losing your secret weapon.”

  “No. No. I’m not.” He leaned forward. “The way I see it, we have two choices here. We do or we don’t. At least tonight. So tell me. What do you want? If you want me to walk you up to your door, kiss you good night, and then go, then that’s fine. Well, not fine exactly, I’ll probably spend the night in a cold shower, but it’s okay if that’s what you want. Or else I can walk you up to your door, you can let me in, and then we can see what happens.”