SEVENTEEN
IF THIS WERE A ROCK
CONCERT INSTEAD OF A WEDNESDAY afternoon baseball game in
Milwaukee, the girl with the huge tits in the second row along the
first-base line would be lifting up her shirt and flashing her
goods at Gavin.
Instead, she’d held
up signs proclaiming her love for him, her boobs bouncing up and
down as she held the sign over her head.
He loved fans,
especially the out-of-town ones since the visiting team was
typically booed.
But this woman was
having a wet-panty party in her seat for Gavin, and he was loving
every minute of it, despite the ribbing he was taking from his
teammates in the dugout.
“Dude, you should
definitely get her number.”
“She’s done
everything but fling herself on top of the roof of the
dugout.”
“I’ll bet you a
hundred bucks she’ll be waiting for you outside after the
game.”
No way was he taking
that bet. He’d seen plenty of groupies before, and blondie up there
was a class-A fan girl. He was flattered, but he knew better than
to indulge the fantasies of the crazies. She probably kept a room
filled with his photos and an ice pick under her
pillow.
After the game he
and a few of the guys headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for
dinner and drinks to console themselves after a tough loss.
Sometimes it was easier to lose a game by six runs than to drop a
close game. This one had been a nail-biter until the bitter end,
and they’d had guys on first and third in the top of the ninth, but
they couldn’t bring them home.
“Bats were cold
today,” Dedrick said. “Or at least mine was.”
“Wasn’t just you,”
Gavin said, lifting his glass of beer and taking a couple long
swallows. “I couldn’t hit for shit.”
Tommy took a drink
and sat his mug on the table, grimacing. “Pitching didn’t help
much, either. Bailey couldn’t hold those two runners in the third,
I couldn’t help him out in the fifth. I didn’t last but two
innings. My relief sucked. Must be a full moon or
somethin’.”
Gavin lifted his
glass. “To a better game tomorrow.”
They clinked
glasses.
“Couldn’t get any
worse than today,” Dedrick muttered.
“Well, yeah, it
could,” Gavin said. “But it won’t. Tomorrow we kick their
ass.”
They drank beer, ate
burgers, and moaned about the game some more. Dedrick and Tommy
called it a night and went back to their rooms. Gavin hung out in
the bar, too restless to pace the confines of his hotel room. There
was a night game on, Atlanta and Tampa Bay, so he sat at the bar
and watched the game, switching to soda after having one more
beer.
A knockout brunette
pulled up a barstool next to his since the bar was pretty full. She
ordered a drink, pulled out her phone, and started punching
buttons.
Gavin judged her to
be in her mid-twenties, no doubt in town on business since she had
her hair pulled up like Elizabeth styled hers and she wore a suit
and some fancy shoes, same as Elizabeth.
She frowned at
whatever nonsense was happening on her phone.
“Problem?”
She glanced up and
offered a smile. She had nice brown eyes.
“Client canceled our
meeting.”
Gavin nodded. “Hate
when that happens.”
She laughed. “Me,
too. You in town for business?”
“You could say
that.”
She held out her
hand. “Judith Stafford. I’m a marketing rep for Lincoln Aluminum.
And you are?”
He shook her hand.
“Gavin Riley.”
“Nice to meet you,
Gavin. Who do you work for?”
“The Saint Louis
Rivers baseball team.”
Her brows rose. “Oh.
You’re a baseball player. No game tonight?”
“No. We played
Milwaukee this afternoon.”
She let out a soft
laugh. “I’m so sorry. Not a big sports fan, obviously. I should
probably be drooling or squealing or something, shouldn’t
I?”
He liked this woman.
“Not required, really. Not everyone is a fan.”
She half turned in
her seat, enough to showcase a set of spectacular legs. “So did
your team win or lose today?” she asked.
“We
lost.”
“I see. So you’re in
the bar drowning your sorrows.”
“My teammates and I
were earlier. Now I’m just having a soda and watching another game.
I’m not big on spending the night in a cramped hotel room. I hate
day games.”
She nodded. “Worst
part of travel is the hotel rooms. I usually go to the mall to kill
time, or do the same thing you do—either hang out in the restaurant
or the bar. It’s a shame you already had dinner, or I’d invite you
out and we could see the city.”
“I don’t get to see
too much of any city when we play. It’s usually just in and out,
and again, a lot of hotel rooms.”
“Sounds like my
business, though I do get to eat in plenty of local restaurants.
Schmoozing clients, you know.”
“So you travel a
lot?”
She nodded. “Around
the country. I’m director of sales, so I’m on the road probably
three-quarters of the year.”
“Yikes. How does
your husband feel about that?”
Her lips lifted.
“That’s why I don’t have one, at least not yet. Maybe when I find a
man willing to put up with the craziness that is my job, I’ll cut
the travel back some. And then again, maybe not.”
“You need to marry a
baseball player. They’d understand that travel schedule, plus you
wouldn’t be leaving a guy at home all the time. At least not until
the off season.”
She smiled, showing
white, even teeth. “Is that a marriage proposal?”
He choked on his
drink. “You move fast, Miss Stafford.”
She picked up her
own drink and took a sip, then crossed her legs. Gavin had been
around enough women to know that was a sign of
interest.
She was drop-dead
gorgeous, she smelled good, and she was throwing off signals that a
guy would have to be blind not to notice. She was smart and fun to
talk to, and if he played his cards right, he could have Judith
Stafford in his bed tonight.
The problem was, a
certain feisty redhead kept entering his mind. She was the only one
he wanted to take to bed, the only one he wanted to think
about.
What the fuck was
wrong with him anyway?
“And what about you,
Gavin Riley? How does your wife feel about you traveling all the
time?”
“No
wife.”
Her eyes positively
sparkled now.
“But there is a
woman I’m seeing. I’ve been seeing a lot of her the past couple of
months, actually. She’s on the road a lot, like you, so she
understands the whole travel thing.”
And just like that,
the light went off in her eyes. She uncrossed her legs and slid
them under the barstool. A sure sign that screamed hands off, even
though her smile was still friendly.
Friendly and polite,
but she was making it clear that their fun conversation was
over.
“She’s a lucky
woman. And I think I’m going to head upstairs, get out of my
professional clothes, and watch some television. Nice to meet you,
Gavin.”
“Nice to meet you,
too, Judith.”
After she left,
Gavin finished his soda and paid his bar tab, then headed up to his
room. He took out his cell phone and scrolled through the names,
smiling when one came up.
He had a sudden urge
to talk to Elizabeth.
THERE WAS NOTHING
THAT FIRED UP ELIZABETH’S COMPETITIVE spirit more than a roomful of
other sports agents.
The conference on
networking, negotiations, and social media was right up her alley.
Everyone in her industry was here, and this was her chance to get
caught up, to fill two days and nights with nothing but what drove
her.
She and her fellow
sports agents didn’t get together all that often other than maybe
seeing each other at the drafts and banquets, and they were usually
too busy with their clients to say more than a brief hello. Of
course there were her peers from the agency she worked at, but they
were still competitors. Her goal was to be the top of the upper
echelon, even within her own company. And so far she was doing just
that.
Plus it was a great
learning experience. She was on top of social media, had a Twitter
presence and her own Facebook page where she listed the goings-on
of all her clients. She wanted prospective clients to know what she
was doing and who was on her client roster. Young players today
were all online, and if they wanted to find a sports agent, that’s
where they looked. She was no dummy. She knew how to play the game.
It was all digital. College players weren’t going to drag out the
Yellow Pages to look for an agent.
But there were
valuable workshops to attend on salary caps for rookies, improving
your negotiation skills, waging the war on arbitration, and dealing
with labor relations. There was so much more to being a sports
agent than just signing and keeping great players. Often it was
like maneuvering in a minefield, and a good agent stayed on her
toes and made sure he or she kept abreast of all the current legal
and contractual ramifications.
Of course her agency
had great lawyers to sort out the legal aspects of a player’s
rights and contract. But Elizabeth wanted to be as knowledgeable as
possible, so these annual meetings were essential.
“Soaking it all in,
Elizabeth?”
She gritted her
teeth, turned, and put on a professional smile for her arch
nemesis, Don Davis. “Don. How nice to see you.”
He flashed his
oh-so-white-and-no-doubt-capped teeth, adjusted the cuffs of his
perfectly tailored shirt under his impeccable dark and ostentatious
suit that went with his very expensive tie. His slicked back black
hair made her think of some mobster out to threaten her to pay up
in three days or she’d be found in a dark alley missing a few
fingers. Or maybe he resembled a high-class pimp. She couldn’t
decide. Even his tan looked expensive. And spray-on.
“I’m surprised
you’re here, Elizabeth, being as cutting-edge as you are. I would
think you knew all there was to know about agenting. Of course you
have suffered a couple of setbacks recently, haven’t you? So maybe
a refresher is in order.”
Prick. How she’d love to dig one of her stilettos
deep into his balls. “Oh, I’ve more than made up for anything I
might have allegedly lost, Don. But thank you for your
concern.”
“Always need to stay
on your toes. And look over your shoulder.”
She offered up a
smug smile. “So should you.”
He gave her a
condescending laugh. “I don’t have anything to worry about. I keep
my clients happy.”
She patted his arm.
“You keep thinking that, Don. Lovely talking to you, as
always.”
She brushed past
him, not interested in playing the game of one-upmanship with him.
He’d taken more than enough of her time already, as well as her
clients. He could be as smug as he wanted to be, but payback was a
bitch and Elizabeth had a long memory for those who had screwed her
over. Granted, Mick had fired her, and he had a right to select
another agent. But did he have to go with the one person Elizabeth
hated the most?
Mick had done that
on purpose.
“Elizabeth!”
She heard her name
and turned, searched across the crowded hotel lobby and waved at
Victoria Baldwin, one of the few other female sports agents she
knew. She waved at Tori and they headed toward each
other.
“Ugh. This place is
a nightmare of testosterone,” Tori said. “I’m barely surviving with
my uterus intact.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“I know exactly what you mean. Do you have time for
lunch?”
Tori pulled out her
phone and punched a few buttons, checked her calendar, then lifted
her gaze back to Elizabeth. “Yes. The next workshop I want to
attend isn’t until one. I’m starving and my feet are killing me.”
She looped her arm around Elizabeth’s. “What I wouldn’t give to do
this conference in my sweatpants and bunny slippers.”
Elizabeth arched a
brow. “Somehow I can’t see you trading in your Louboutins for pink
bunny slippers.”
Since the lunch
crowd hadn’t yet piled in, they were seated right away at a table.
Tori fell into her chair and kicked off her shoes. “Oh, honey,
you’d be surprised how schlumpy I am when I work at home. I was
serious about the fluffy slippers. You, on the other hand, probably
live in heels.”
Elizabeth offered a
sly smile. “I do love my heels. Probably because I’m always on the
defense and have to prove that I’m a woman.”
“Isn’t that the
truth?” Tori smoothed back tendrils of her mink brown hair and
tucked them behind her ear.
The woman was
absolutely gorgeous. In her early forties, she’d sacrificed a
husband and family for her career. When she came on the scene as a
green college graduate, Elizabeth had done her best to emulate
Victoria Baldwin’s drive for success. Even though Tori worked for a
competing agency, she’d taken Elizabeth under her wing and shared
many secrets about being a woman working in a predominantly male
field.
Elizabeth adored
her.
“God forbid we
should dress comfortably around these sharks. We have to work three
times as hard as they do to be taken half as seriously. It’s a
jungle and getting worse all the time. But in sports agenting and
attracting the young up and comers, at least the boobs come in
handy.”
Elizabeth snorted.
“And you certainly have those.”
Tori accepted the
glass of iced tea the waiter brought. They ordered their lunch,
then Tori leaned forward. “Look, honey, I’ve got almost ten years
on you, age wise, so I’ve got to use whatever is in my arsenal to
secure the talent, you know?”
“Tori, you’re also
one of the most savvy agents I know. You paved the way for women to
get into this business. You showed us how to bully our way in and
force the men to accept us, showed us that sports was a field we
could master and that it wasn’t owned by the men.”
Tori shrugged.
“Thanks, Liz, but it’s still a battle. A lot of the young guys
still want to sign with a man.”
Elizabeth narrowed
her gaze. “Oh, come on, Tori. You must need a nap because that’s
the biggest line of bullshit there is, and you’re the one who
taught me that. Athletes want to sign with an agent who’s going to
get them the best deal. And we’ll get them the best deal. Besides,
we’re prettier and we smell better. And then there are the
boobs.”
Tori laughed.
“You’re absolutely right. I’m just having a hellish day. I should
be having a cocktail instead of an iced tea.”
“I can fix that.”
Elizabeth signaled for the waiter, and they ordered martinis.
“We’ll drink to women agents kicking ass. I’ve had a particularly
hellish few months myself.”
“I heard that
asshole Don Davis took some clients from you.”
“Well, one was my
own damn fault because I was blind and stupid. The other followed
because of Mick’s name, I’m pretty sure.”
“Hmmm.” Tori tapped
a long, manicured nail on the table, accepted the cocktail the
waiter provided, and took a sip. “Do tell. What did you do to screw
up?”
“I got too greedy
with Mick Riley, and I messed with his nowfiancée who was his
girlfriend at the time. I didn’t think she was good for him, and I
tried to intercede.”
“Oh. Bad move,
princess. Never mess with a client and his woman.”
Elizabeth raised her
glass. “Amen to that. Lesson learned the hard way. I figured out I
don’t know everything. Imagine that.”
Tori laughed. “Well,
our egos do get the best of us sometimes, and we like to think we
can walk on water, cure cancer, negotiate the best contract for our
client, and do it in killer high heels.”
“When will we learn
we can’t have it all?”
“Why can’t
we?”
Elizabeth shot Tori
a direct look. “Do you? Do you really have everything you’ve ever
wanted?”
“Of course. I have a
career I love, tons of money, a great apartment in New York,
incredible clothes, amazing friends, and I take ridiculous
vacations. What more could I want?”
“So you don’t feel
like you sacrificed a husband and kids to get what you
wanted?”
“No. I date fabulous
men all the time, have great sex, and then I boot them out the door
when I get bored with them. And I don’t have a single maternal bone
in my body. My younger sister has three beautiful children whom I
adore and can visit in Connecticut whenever I feel the need to
cuddle little ones. Believe me, that cures me of any feelings I
might have ever had that I was missing something. And men have
about a six month shelf life in my world.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“So you’re perfectly content.”
“Perfectly. But it
sounds like you’re not. Biological clock ticking?”
“I never thought so
before. I was always happy with my life.”
Tori took a swallow
of her martini. “That must mean there’s a man in it who’s making
you think of husband and babies.”
“Oh, hell
no.”
Tori laughed. “Liar.
It’s written all over your face. My God, Elizabeth. You’re in
love.”
“I am not. I’m in
lust.”
“Lust never makes
you think of babies, Liz. Maybe you’d better reevaluate this
relationship you’re in.”
“I’m not in a
relationship.”
“Again. Liar.
Written all over that beautiful face of yours. Time to sit back and
figure out what you really want out of life. Maybe a career as a
sports agent isn’t it.”
“God, Tori.
Sometimes I hate you.”
Tori smiled at her
over the rim of her glass. “No, you don’t. You love me because I
never lie to you like you lie to yourself.”
Shit. She was going
to have to work harder at keeping her facial expressions in check,
or the next thing she knew Gavin would find out how she
felt.
And that could
never, ever happen.
ELIZABETH FELT BOTH
PENSIVE AND REENERGIZED after her lunch with Tori.
How could she have
ever thought that she didn’t like women or that she put more value
on her relationships with men than with women? She could have never
had a conversation with a man like she’d had with Tori today. No
man could understand the drive and ambition and sheer willpower it
had taken to rise to the top like Tori did. Nor could any man ever
understand the yearnings Elizabeth had. Yet with one look at her
face, Tori got it. She may not have the same cravings Elizabeth
had, but she identified.
There was nothing
like a little female empowerment to spark the creative juices, as
well as a cold slap of reality across her face to make her realize
that maybe she couldn’t have it all.
She loved her
career, had loved it since the moment she’d stepped foot through
the agency doors as a green newbie not knowing what the hell she
was doing but knowing this was the only thing she’d ever wanted to
do with her life.
She’d loved sports,
had always loved them. She loved contract law and marketing, and
the marriage of all three meant being a sports agent was a win on
all counts. She couldn’t see herself doing anything else for the
rest of her life.
Until the night
she’d slept with Gavin. And every night since, she’d felt a tug in
her priorities. Her wants and needs were starting to shift, and she
was beginning to think of other things besides her
career.
And she wasn’t
certain if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
All she knew was
she’d been at this conference for three days and she was missing
Gavin. He was on the road, too, and had texted her and called
her.
Like it or not, they
were in a relationship, for whatever that was worth.
It was starting to
feel like it was worth a lot.
And that scared the
hell out of her because her world was tilting on its
axis.