little too smug. “And Wilson?” The man turned, his smile dropping when he caught her frown. “Jared Penn had twelve touchdowns on the ground last season and never fumbled.” He frowned, head tilting. Gia glanced at Cat, barely containing her grin. “My assistant is much prettier than that actress he dates. You have no excuses.”
“No doubt, Miss J. Don’t worry.”
Gia moved to her desk, grinning as Cat and Kenya disappeared behind the rush of her heels against the tile floor and the ding of the elevator. She wasn’t upset that her assistant was with someone now. She knew the woman would still maintain her professionalism. That was the difference between them—Cat had the luxury of dating any player she wanted. Hers wasn’t a position that held any real weight. Cat handled no contracts. She brokered no deals. The woman was smart, savvy. She kept the wrong people out of Gia’s hair, kept her on time for her meetings and on notice when chaos was starting. But she could go home at night and turn off her brain. She didn’t have to worry about maintaining her distance outside of this office.
Gia did and she’d failed miserably at keeping herself free from the distraction Kai created.
What was worse? She’d failed to keep him out of her head.
He loved her. She’d repeated that thought a thousand times since he spoke those words to her two weeks before. Gia had committed his expression to her memory. She knew exactly how soft he’d kissed her, how measured his control was when those words came out of his mouth.
They’d been like a curse, weaving inside her heart, twisting around all the dank, dark spaces left vacant and hollow for so long. And she knew she’d never be able to say them back. Not if she wanted to stay in this office. Not if she wanted her lineman to honor his contract.
“Motherfucker,” she muttered, head falling back as the lights in the cityscape below began to grow brighter. Two weeks and not a word. It was good, she’d told herself. It was for the best. So why had she found it impossible to get a decent night’s sleep in her new cottage?
Why had she spent three hours every night for a week watching Kai’s film like a stalker, just to bring back the image of his face, to remind herself what it had been like to kiss him, to have him over her, inside her?
Gia jumped, the loud, shrieking ring of her phone scaring her. The number on the screen came from the familiar mid-city number and accompanied Les McAddams’ pink, chubby face on her screen. She didn’t let more than two rings sound before she answered.
“Les, how’s it going?” she asked, walking to the bar next to her bookcase. Even a small conversation with this man would require a drink.
“Gia, I’m glad I caught you,” he said, his voice breathy. “Looky here, my cousin Lenny been talking to Coach Noble from Duke…”
“Okay…” she said, waiting for the punch line as she poured two fingers of bourbon.
“Turns out, Coach heard that Denver is gunning for his placekicker. You hear anything about that?”
She sipped her drink, hitting the speaker button before she rested her cell on the window seat next to her as she sat. “Reese mentioned her father has been working with a couple…”
“Now, Gia, don’t bullshit me,” Les said, laughing, though Gia knew better than to believe he found anything funny. “You know damn good and well the Broncos are trying to steal our thunder. They are trying to pick Coach’s new girl…that Reynolds girl.”
Many of the old guard, Les among them, had made such a stink when Gia had brought in Reese to try out. Now here he was implying that Reese was some sort of prized unicorn he didn’t want anyone else to have. “You saying you want me to replace Reese Noble?”
“Hell no,” Les said. His voice sounded so thick Gia could almost see both of his chins moving when he spoke. “I’m saying I want you to get Reese up there to the Draft and have her announce that pick.”
She leaned against the window, drinking long and slow. “We have no say so in who…”
“I got it worked out. Buck Milken is organizing the announcements in the commissioner’s office. I want Noble announcing Reynolds.” She saluted him, giving her eyes a roll before she began to down the last of her drink. “And I think we should get Wilson and Pukui in