AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s good to see you, Maggie,” Will said.
“What brings you to New York, Will?” Maggie asked. Will’s father had died about twelve months ago. Sutter Industries had its roots in the Texas oil industry and its head office was in Dallas. And, as far as she knew, that’s where Will had gone home to when Tom had fired him from the Saints … what, nearly a decade ago?
“Well, I ran into Ramona on her vacation,” he said, watching Maggie with an odd expression in his eyes. “Reminded me it had been too long since I’d been to the old Big Apple. Is your dad here tonight? It would be nice to say hello.”
“No, he couldn’t make it.” And for that, Maggie was suddenly thankful. She hadn’t had a lot to do with Will back in the day but she hadn’t liked him. He’d made a few not-so-subtle passes at her even though she’d been seventeen and dating Ollie. He’d been pushy and arrogant and not in any kind of good way. The fact he had come here tonight made her instincts prickle, no matter what he said about just running into Ramona. He’d never struck her as the type to forgive and forget.
But Tom wasn’t here and, as long as Will behaved himself, there wasn’t much he could do to disrupt the party. Most of the current team wouldn’t even know who he was.
Despite her good intentions, Maggie found herself lingering as the party started to break up. She’d done her duty, stayed on the more, joining Alex and Mal and Lucas—doing her best not to spend more time with Alex than the others—as they worked the party, talking to the players and their wives and girlfriends, making small talk and getting to know everyone a little bit better. Maggie steered conversations toward topics of interest, filled in awkward conversational gaps, and kept an eagle eye out for anyone who was looking bored and disgruntled. She’d watched with a vague sense of relief as Ramona Clarke and Will Sutter had left around half past ten. And she’d made sure the caterers were doing their jobs and directed the drinks waiters toward people’s favorite drinks and, in a few cases, told them to cut people off.
Ollie was one of them. She’d forgotten how he tended to let loose in the off-season, and after watching him down one whisky too many and send a disapproving dark gaze toward her and Alex when they were talking with Indy Jones and Moira, she moved over to Hector and had a quiet word that resulted in Ollie being herded from the room and put in a cab home before anything could happen. The last thing she needed was Ollie getting mouthy with Alex because of his stupid possessiveness. For one thing, if he pissed off Alex enough, then he might find himself traded. And for another, she didn’t need any rumors about her and Alex getting started at the club.
Hana joking with the other WAGs was bad enough—though there was no avoiding the wives-and-girlfriends grapevine in a club—but as long as she didn’t give them any fuel for the fire they’d lose interest and move on to the next topic of speculation soon enough. But if the players got the wrong idea about her and Alex, then there could be all sorts of trouble.
If they didn’t trust her, she couldn’t do the job that Alex was paying her to do. That was the last thing any of them needed.
Still, here she was lingering. She told herself it was just fulfilling the role any hostess would play at a party as she farewelled people and then made her way to the kitchen to make sure the caterers were wrapping things up.
She found Mal there, making himself coffee and eating leftover desserts from a platter that hadn’t been cleaned up.
She halted at the sight of him but he smiled at her and beckoned toward the tray. “Still hungry? These little caramel things are pretty good.”
Maggie shook her head but joined him at the long stainless steel counter, leaning forward and taking the weight off her aching feet. Stupid shoes. They were pretty but pretty never quite equated to comfortable at the end of five hours on her feet. Still, she could hardly slip them off and go barefoot, as tempting as that thought was. It wasn’t her house.
Mal ate another pastry in two bites and took a mouthful of coffee to wash it down. “You did good work tonight,” he said. “Thanks.”
Maggie shrugged a shoulder. “It was fun. And nothing I haven’t done before.” Saints parties she could manage in her sleep.
He regarded her over the mug. “Well, you made things easier for the three of us. Did you have a good time?”
“Sure. I like spending time with the team and everyone,” Maggie said. “They’re family.”
“Even family drives you crazy sometimes. Is anyone giving you a hard time about the sale?”
“Not so far,” she said. “People are still adjusting to the news, I think.”
“And how are you adjusting?” Mal asked. “Alex talked you into this and he can be a little … single-minded.”
Maggie looked down at the counter, at the fuzzy warped reflection of her face in the steel. Was Mal apologizing for Alex or trying to subtly feel her out about something else entirely? She hadn’t spent enough time with him yet to judge his signals. Or know anything much about him. She really needed to sit down with Shelly and find out what she’d learned about all of them. Shelly had said that Mal was the mystery man, but he seemed like a good guy, albeit of the strong, silent action-man variety. “I won’t say it’s not strange. Or that it’s what I wanted, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do a good job for you all.”
“Okay,” Mal said easily. “But don’t let Alex get his way on everything. If you disagree, don’t forget to let Lucas and me know. As much as Alex likes to think he runs the universe, the three of us are in this together.”
Maggie smiled, liking Mal more than ever. “I will. How did the three of you meet, anyway?”
Mal paused in the act of reaching for another caramel thing. “Alex didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head.
“Ah. Well, then. Short version is we met at college. University of Texas.”
Maggie frowned. “I thought he went to Yale.”
Mal nodded. “He graduated Yale. He started college in Texas though.” He drained his coffee in a couple more quick gulps. “And any more than that, you can ask him about. Now, I’m going to hit the road.” He came around the counter and smiled down at her. “Are you okay to get home?”
“I’m fine. I’m going to make sure everyone’s gone and then I’ll get a cab.”
“Alex could call his driver.”
