her, as though checking to see if anyone could hear her. “The girl.”
Gia smiled, wondering if her new assistant was always this discreet. Gia intended to reward her if she was. “Thanks, Cat. I appreciate the update.” The girl in question had done some hurdle jumping herself. Gia hoped she wouldn’t mind a few more.
“I can get rid of these boxes for you,” Cat started, reaching for the flying pig, still sitting in the black velvet box.
“No.” Gia stopped her, picking it up. “This stays with me.” It was still pristine, just as flawless as it had been the day she got it. “This doesn’t leave my desk, okay?”
“Understood, ma’am.”
“Good,” she told Cat, her grip relaxing around the box as the woman walked away.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” the assistant said, turning on her heel to face Gia once more. “Coach Mills wanted you to meet with Pukui, the new linebacker. He has a custody situation and wants to discuss an extended vacation.”
“Why doesn’t his manager contact me?” Gia replaced the pig on the table, flipping through the itinerary Cat had given her.
“It’s Mr. Pukui’s assertion that the discussion shouldn’t take more than a half hour of your time, if you wouldn’t mind and he’s very much opposed to giving his manager two hundred dollars for a half hour conversation he can manage on his own.”
Gia couldn’t blame him. “Fine,” she said, rubbing the inside of her ankle before she dismissed her assistant. “Set up a time…”
“Oh, he’s here now.”
“Wait…”
But the woman was out of the door and Gia spotted her depositing the flattened boxes she’d grabbed from her office and nodded as she spoke to someone she couldn’t see on the other side of the partition blocking her office from the waiting area. Linebackers. Players. Gia swore she was cursed by them. That mess had started early, at eighteen if she was honest with herself, but by now, she’d learned how to handle them.
Most players were all the same. They wanted field time and they wanted to be paid well for it. They wanted endorsements and they wanted the support of their fans and faculty. Most of all, they wanted loyalty.
Gia respected that, understood it, knew how to handle these guys when they came to her angling for extended vacations or pull with the coaches on who played for how long.
Two quick knocks on the door and Gia waved the guy in, frowning when her shoe slipped from her foot. She stood, trying to work her heel back in, her attention on her shoe and not the tall form walking toward her. Two awkward steps and she was around the desk, offering her hand to the linebacker, only just looking up at him as he took her hand in his.
“Mr. Pukui…”
“Miss Jilani,” he greeted, voice thick and so deep Gia swore she felt it rumble inside her gut. The man watched her, his attention on her fingers, then up her arm before he brushed a thumb over her knuckles.
It took Gia two full seconds to realize she hadn’t released his hand or been able to stop staring at his face. She’d seen handsome men before. Plenty of them. But she’d never seen one like him. Round, thick lips, a mild cleft chin and deep dimples in his cheeks.
There was something about this man Gia couldn’t quite place. Something she knew would leave her distracted if she let herself focus on it.
“So, Mr. Pukui,” she managed, forcing a smile. “Please, have a seat and we’ll discuss this vacation.”
He nodded, sitting straight, body relaxed, but strong as he began speaking. But Gia couldn’t focus, couldn’t quite understand what about this man had piqued so much of her attention in such a short time. He was handsome, but a lot of men are. He had a nice smile and was well spoken, but that wasn’t it either.
“So, there is an issue, you see just for that two week period…” he went on, shifting in his seat as Gia continued to stare, continued to zone out everything but that nagging constant feeling that there was something significant she was missing.
Pukui paused, jerking his gaze up, meeting Gia’s eyes before he leaned forward, elbows on his knees and that’s when she spotted it. The same rough leather cord. The twisted knot holding the pendant in place. The linebacker adjusted, pulling on his collar and the necklace broke free, the dark stone slipping onto his chest.
She had seen this piece before. Once, a long time ago, Luka