The two men exchange a look, each pull out a stool, and sit down at the island.
“What are you doing?”
Duke rests his elbows on the granite. “Getting a front row seat to the show.”
I laugh. “There’s not going to be a show. I’m only going to explain that we don’t do business that way.”
Cash matches Duke’s position. “Like we said, we’re here for the show.”
“You two are ridiculous.”
Cash shrugs. “Maybe.”
Duke nods. “Probably.”
A car door slams outside, and two of the three stooges grin and bump fists again.
Definitely ridiculous.
Nineteen
Cash
Duke and I are being casual, but the truth is, we’re here in case this guy gives Tiger a hard time.
“Tiger, Lou’s here.” The big man I accused Tiger of screwing around with—not my best moment—escorts a guy in khakis and a wrinkled button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow into the room.
“Hey, Lou. Thanks for coming by.”
Lou plops his tattered satchel onto the island. “I’ve already explained everything over the phone. I’m not sure why I had to make a trip all the way out here. Speaking of which, I saw your billboard on the way into town. Geez, somebody really doesn’t like you. A couple of your teeth are blacked out.”
I catch the flash of irritation on Tiger’s face, but Lou must’ve missed it because he keeps talking. “Anyway, I hope this doesn’t take long. I’m a very busy man.”
This guy’s only been in the room for a minute, and I already hate him. What a dick.
Tiger doesn’t react to this douchewad’s comments, only reaches into the box and withdraws a piece of tile. “Lou, this isn’t what I ordered, and you know it—”
“I’ll be damned.” The guy turns his back on Tiger and extends his hand to me. “If it isn’t the Bullet himself. I’m a huge fan.”
I take it and he pumps it up and down like he’s trying to get water from a dried-up well. I pull my hand away at the first opportunity. “It’s always good to meet a fan.” It’s my go-to response when I’m approached, but I can’t deny that I deliver it with less enthusiasm than normal. “This is Duke Wayne, my trainer.”
“Nice to meet the man who keeps this guy in the game.” Lou slaps my bad arm like we’re old friends.
Tiger exhales and extends her hand toward Lou. “Cash, this is Lou Howard, our tile sales rep. Lou, Cash is the new owner of the house.”
“Is that right?”
I can practically see dollar signs flash in the salesman’s eyes. I motion to Tiger. “Don’t let me interrupt. Y’all go ahead with your business.”
A smirk slides across Lou’s face like the grease of an oil slick. He puts his hand on one of Tiger’s crossed arms, but is still looking at me. “I’ve told Miss Tiger here that I understand how she could make the mistake of thinking she ordered one thing, but accidentally ordered another, but I promise this is the product she requested.” He lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that’s loud enough for the whole room to hear. “The order forms are complicated, she probably got confused. Construction’s not really a woman’s game. Kind of like sportscasting isn’t a woman’s game either.” He winks at me. “Am I right?”
Is this guy for real? What 1950’s misogynistic hole did he crawl out of? I cross my arms over my chest, which I know is intimidating. “No.” Hadn’t I basically said the same thing to Donny yesterday, but somehow hearing someone else say it makes it sound like the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. “I believe Ms. Lyons was speaking to you.”
The guy’s shell-shocked face would be funny if I didn’t have the urge to rearrange it for him. He turns back to Tiger, and he’s still touching her arm. “As I was saying, you simply got confused when you placed the order, Miss Tiger.”
Miss Tiger doesn’t say a word, only stares at the guy’s hand until he removes it. When he does, she picks up a piece of paper from a folder she retrieved from the box. “Lou, I have every piece of correspondence and every purchase order for this job. I’ve highlighted our emails here”—she picks up another piece of paper—“and as you can see on the purchase order for this tile, I clearly ordered something besides this inferior product.” Her voice isn’t angry or sugary sweet, it’s steady and confident.
She holds her hand out and James places a tablet in her open palm. “Also …” A quick finger swipe, and the screen comes alive. “You can see that on your own website, this product is priced lower than the product I ordered, and yet I was still billed for the more superior material.”
“Like I said, it’s easy to get confused.” Lou speaks as if Tiger hadn’t just nailed his ass to the wall. He picks up a piece of tile and holds it up to her. “Let me explain. It’s easy to confuse the two products because of the similar markings. You see here.” His stubby finger slides over the tile. “But this is just as good a product as the one you say you ordered.”
“Lou, we seem to have a breakdown in communication. So let me be blunt.” Her slender fingers take the tile from him. “You have until tomorrow morning to make this right and get me the tile I ordered, or I’ll be forced to go with someone else.” She flashes him her beauty pageant smile—if a she-wolf wore a beauty pageant smile—and places the piece of ceramic back into the box. “And when I say I’ll be forced to go with someone else, I mean Lewis Construction will no longer use your company as a preferred vendor.”
The red-faced man shoves his finger in Tiger’s face. “You don’t have that authority. Wait until I talk to Donny about this.”
James, Duke, and I all make similar sounds of displeasure.
“Call him. I’ll wait.” Tiger leans her hip against the island and crosses her arms.
That seems to take the wind out of his sails. Lou stares at the box of tiles, then glances up at the badass boss lady in front of him. “Tiger, what do you expect me to do? There’s no way I can get the product here by the morning. It comes from outside Austin.”
“You can if you pick it up and deliver it to me yourself.”
“But that’s five hours away.”
She nods toward the door. “Then you better leave now. Be safe.”
“But—”
“See you tomorrow. James will show you out.” She turns her back on the guy and puts an end to their discussion.
Once James and Lou are out of the kitchen, Tiger pulls her ponytail out of her hair tie, flips her head over, and scrubs her scalp. When she flips her hair up, she sees us staring, and I can tell that for a moment she forgot we were there.
“What?”
“I think I’m in love with you.” Duke speaks like he’s mesmerized.
Tiger laughs, but I don’t find that near as funny as her. I know Duke. The stronger and, frankly, meaner the woman, the more he loves them. That’s why he generally goes for sweet women, because he knows there’s no chance of anything serious happening.
“Shut up.” I shove him, and he has to catch himself to keep from falling off the stool.
“Yes, shut up.” But there’s far less heat in her command than mine.
This woman. With her hair falling in waves down her back and around her face, she’s breathtaking, but that’s not what has me fighting to stay in my seat and not go to her. It’s the whole package. She’s so freaking smart and competent, it’s intoxicating.
She wags her finger in Duke’s direction. “I’ve got your number, Duke Wayne.”
I clear my throat. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, he’s nothing but trouble.” Her affectionate expression irritates the shit out of me.
Duke rests his chin in his hand. “The best kind of trouble, sugar.”
Okay, I’ve had about enough of this. “Are we going to work out or what?”
“Work out. I made a call, and we can use Dr. Hansen’s office to do your massage therapy.”
I nod. “Thanks for doing that.”
�
��You’re a massage therapist too?” Tiger’s put her hair up again, and I can’t help but be disappointed.
“Yeah.” Duke cuts her a look and waggles his brows. “The package just gets better and better, right? Sure you don’t want to reconsider that ‘friend zone’ thing?”
She wads up a piece of paper and throws it at him. “You’re incorrigible.”
“That I am.”
I’m jealous of the easy rapport they have with one another. How does Duke do that? I hate that he gets her smiles and I don’t.
I stand and pull on Duke’s shirt. “Come on, dickhead, let me grab my stuff, then we can leave Tiger to her business.”
“Fine.” I’ve heard three-year-olds who whine less.
She gathers up her papers and heads for the back door. “You don’t have to run off. I have work to do at my place.” Her gaze moves around the mostly gutted house and she barely suppresses a laugh. “Make yourself at home.”
“You’re hilarious.” I mean it to be light and flirty, but it lands like the clang of a hammer hitting an anvil.
Her laughter trails behind her. I’d be happy that I made her laugh, but I know she’s laughing at me, not with me.
I see Duke staring after her and decide to take some of my sour mood out on him. “Seriously, man, get yourself together.”
“Did you see how she handled that jackass? It gives me hope that she could handle me too.” He elbows me in the side. “Know what I mean?”
I do know what he means, and I know he’s joking around, but the homicidal haze I’m glaring through doesn’t get the joke. “I’m not paying you to ogle my project manager.” The words are harsh and bitter, and I can’t take them back. “Shit. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You’re right, you shouldn’t have.” He jerks his head toward the back door. “I’m not serious. I was mostly giving you a hard time because it’s clear as day that you’ve got it bad for her.”
“It’s complicated.”
He laughs. “Aren’t they all.”
“Listen, man, I’m sorry about what I said. I was out of line.”
He slaps my good shoulder. “It’s okay, I’ll take it out on you during our workout.”
Great.
The reek of old jock straps, mildew, and sweaty teenage boys permeates every corner of the Ryder High locker room. I haven’t smelled anything this bad since I went to college. You just don’t find this kind of stench in a Division 1 university, and certainly not in the pros.
Shame. Because underneath all of the foul aroma is the sweet smell of school spirit, and a naive hope that you can take on the world and win. I’ve missed it.
Evidently, so has Duke, because he takes a deep pull of the fetid air into his lungs. “Ahhh, nothing like the smell of ass in the afternoon.”
“Nothing at all.” I laugh and throw my bag on the closest bench. “Let’s go say hi to Coach Freeman.”
Duke places his bag next to mine. “Wasn’t he coaching when you were in school?”
I lead us to the office at the end of the room. “Yeah, he was the defensive coordinator my senior year.” I laugh and shake my head. “Poor guy, he was only a few years older than most of us, and we gave him so much shit. It’s a wonder he still speaks to me. I was the king of the smartasses—every pun intended.”
“No. Not you.” Duke’s fake surprised tone is an indication that I’m not the only smartass in this duo.
Josh Freeman meets us at the door to his office. “You still owe me a vehicle, King. I had to sell mine because it smelled like dead poultry.” He shakes his head at Duke and says, “Little shits stole my keys and filled the cab of my truck with chicken feathers.”
I laugh and shake my head. “That’s got to go down in Ryder High history as the best practical joke ever.”
“Did you get caught?” Duke looks from Coach Freeman to me.
I try to stifle a laugh. “Not officially.”
“Shithead. Everybody knew it was the whole offense.” My former coach tips his head to me. “Led by you know who, but Coach Rhodes wasn’t willing to bench his star players.”
“What can I say?” I hold my hands out to my side. “There are privileges to being number one.”
Coach Freeman extends his hand to Duke. “Josh Freeman.”
“Duke Wayne.”
“Good to meetcha, Duke.” Josh turns to me. “You guys are welcome to all of the facilities. The kids are going to lose their shit when they see you, though. I hope you’re ready for that.”
“I don’t mind. And thanks for letting us work out here.”
“No problem, though I have no idea why you’d chose Ryder High School’s weight room over the facilities at Thunder HQ.” He holds his hands up in a what do I know gesture. “But whatever floats your boat.”
I make a noncommittal sound. No way I’m sharing how worried I am that this injury can’t be rehabbed. Only Duke knows how bad it is. The team doctors know it’s not great, but they’re paid to make sure we play, so they don’t ask too many questions.
Josh grabs his clipboard and whistle. “I’ve got off-season practice. If you get a minute, come out to the practice field and say hi.”
“Will do. Thanks again, Coach.”
He glances at Duke. “Make sure he keeps the poultry out of my weight room.”
Duke laughs and slaps Josh on the shoulder. “I’ll do my best, but you and I both know, the superstar does what the superstar wants.”
“Hello, I’m standing right here.”
“Not for long. I’m about to work your ass into the ground.”
“I’ll leave you to it.”
Coach leaves and we change into our workout gear.
“You ready to do this?” Duke stretches his neck from side to side.
I breathe out a huge gust of air. “Yeah, okay.”
His hand comes down on my good shoulder. “Don’t worry, Cash. We’ll get you back.”
I nod and try to rein in my anxiety. The thing is, I don’t know if I’m anxious because I won’t be able to rehab my shoulder back to health, or that I will.
Twenty
Tiger
“Hey, boss man.” I gesture around the interior of Wayland Estate. “As you can see, your humble servants are hard at work.”
“You know I love it when you call me that, right?”
I laugh because I know the absolute opposite is true of Donny Lewis. He hates it, and that is precisely why I do it. “Shall we all bow and kiss your ring as well?”
“You’re a real smartass, you know that?”
“What can I say? We all have to play to our strengths.”
“Too bad there wasn’t a Miss Smartass USA competition, you would’ve won that one too.”
“Ha-ha. What can I do for you today?”
“First, thanks for taking care of that tile thing with Lou earlier today. From what I hear, you handled him perfectly. If that little pissant pulls that shit again then you have the authority to go with another company. No questions asked. That’s not how we do business.”
Warm, sweet satisfaction flows through my veins at his faith in me. “You’re welcome, and I don’t think we’ll have any more trouble with him, but I appreciate the vote of confidence. What was the second thing?”
He puts a set of plans on the kitchen island like he’s presenting me with an Academy Award. “We got the Anderson project.” The happiness in his expression is contagious. He really wanted that job.
“That’s amazing.”
“Yeah, but they want to start next week, so we’re going to need another crew. Can you handle that, or do I need to get Maggie to take care of it?”
I grab a pen and my notepad. “I can do it. How many do we need?”
“The job’s about as big as this one, so the same number as you have here. What is that, six?”
I jot down a few notes. “No problem. I’ll start making calls this evening.”
“Thanks, Tiger. You know how much I appreciate you, right?”
“Shut up and take the compliment.”
The grin that pulls at my lips is made up of pride and satisfaction at a job well done. “Thank you.”
The back door opens, and a sweaty football god enters with much less swagger than he had the last time I saw him, which only ups his appeal. As soon as he sees Donny, the strut is back in place. “Donny Lewis, how the hell are ya?”
“Cash King, you ol’ dog.” The two men share a bro hug, and I gag on the testosterone in the room.
“I’m good.” The quarterback tunnels his fingers through his damp hair, and I swear to God I might’ve gotten pregnant from that move alone. It’s not fair that one man can possess so much … everything.
Donny leans a hip against the counter. “How long are you in town?”
Cash glances at me, but I can’t read the look in his eye. “That depends on Tiger.”
“What?” I don’t mean to shout, but that’s how it comes out.
The look Donny gives me is one part confusion and ninety-nine parts amusement. “Do tell.”
Cash’s big hand rests on the island next to me. “She’s roped me into helping with the rec center.”
“I’ve done no such thing.”
I may as well not have spoken.
“Really? The way I hear it, you were the problem with the rec center.”
“That was a misunderstanding. Tiger will have her money early next week.” He expels a huge put-upon sigh. “But to make up for the problem with the money, I’m making myself available for her to use any way she sees fit.”
The water I swallowed jams in my throat, and I choke.
Homecoming King Page 12