Catch - Deborah Bladon Page 0,17
but I don’t get a word in.
“I set up a meeting with Fletcher Newman tonight,” he goes on. “He’s a potential new client. I want you to be there.”
It’s a work dinner.
Regardless of what I feel, I can’t refuse to show up. “Let me know when and where, and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll text you the details as soon as I’m cleaned up.” He motions toward the elevator. “I’m going to get the heck out of here before anyone else shows up.”
I glance at the watch on my wrist. He needs to hurry. My colleagues will be arriving at any minute.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he calls over his shoulder as he sprints to the elevator. “If anyone needs me, tell them to sit tight. And if Pace calls, hang up on him.”
I let out a laugh. “I’ll talk to him.”
After jabbing a finger into the elevator call button, he turns to face me. “He’s bad news. You’re too good for him, Maren.”
Before I can ask what he means by that, the elevator doors slide open, and Everett appears.
“Is that glitter on your face, boss?” he asks with amusement in his tone.
Keats moves around him to board the elevator just as Everett steps off. “What do you think?”
With that, the doors slide shut, and Everett turns to face me. “Do I want to know what the hell that’s about? Or do I file it under Keats being Keats?”
I laugh. “Is Keats covered in glitter a regular thing?”
“That part is new.” He laughs. “So is that extra bounce in his step. You must have something to do with that, Maren.”
Office gossip is the last thing I need, so I shut it down with a shake of my head. “I’m only here to clean up the messes.”
Everett looks past me to the glitter-covered floor of Keats’s office. “Good luck with that.”
Chapter 13
Keats
What’s that bullshit about the best-laid plans?
I had my day planned out to the last second, but that was blown to hell when Berk called as I stepped out of the shower. He asked if I could watch Stevie because she had a mild fever when she woke up, and he didn’t want to send her to school. The regular sitter had an appointment booked. I’m next on the list, so I lucked out.
Instead of spending my day chasing after new clients, I played video games with my niece while she teased me about the glitter she saw in my ear. I cooked a frozen pizza I found in Berk’s freezer for lunch, and I sneezed my way through Sully taking a nap in my lap before I piggybacked Stevie to my townhouse for the afternoon.
Berk would have taken the day off to be with his daughter, but he had a meeting with Nicholas Wolf and his agent. The novelist is looking for a new publishing house to work with, and Berk made the shortlist. I’m proud to say that my friendship with Nicholas’s brother, Liam, played a part in that. Signing Nicholas would take Berk’s business to the next level. I want that for him.
I told my brother to make sure he got his ass home before six because I have plans at seven. Once he assured me he’d be home at least two hours before that, I sent Maren a text telling her she had the day off.
I told her to meet me at Nova at quarter to seven.
Securing a table at one of the most popular restaurants in Manhattan at such short notice is easy when you’re friends with the owner. Tyler Monroe launched Nova a few years ago, and it’s found its niche in the crowded culinary market of New York City.
It never hurts to have connections in the hospitality industry when you make a living wining and dining elite athletes.
“I wish someone would convince my dad to get me a phone.” Stevie tosses me some serious side-eye from where she’s curled up in a chair next to the fireplace.
She made a mad dash for the library as soon as she kicked off her sneakers after we bolted inside.
In addition to this library and the massive living room with attached dining room, this townhouse has a chef’s kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a self-contained one bedroom unit on the upper floor.
I purchased it when Layna was first diagnosed because I thought my brother and his family could live on the lower two floors while I took up residence on the top floor. I wanted