Page 92 of What I Like About You

Another Epilogue

Three weeks later

“What the hell, Tripp?” Felicity Sutherland exclaimed, bursting into her brother's office. She could feel the fury radiating through her entire body. Most conversations with Jonah Davenport put her in a bad mood, but this last one had pushed her over the edge.

“Hello to you, too, Flick,” Dalton drawled. “How nice of you to visit. Yes, I would love to catch up, but as you can see, I’m in the middle of something.” He gestured to the two gentlemen sitting in the guest chairs in his office.

Felicity recognized the gentleman in the seat closest to her as Britt “Cowboy” Callahan, the Technical Director of the Atlanta Rising Football Club, the new professional soccer franchise Southland Holdings had recently started. The tall, dark, and gorgeous gentleman to his left, however, was someone she didn’t recognize. That wasn’t the new coach, was it? She’d only seen the guy in passing a few times, but she didn’t recall him being this good-looking. If he had been, she would have remembered.

“Miss Sutherland,” Britt greeted her, his Texas twang shining through his words.

“Hi,” she bit out. She didn’t have time for niceties. “Tripp, we need to talk.”

“I’m having a meeting with my staff. I’ll call you when we’re done.”

“They’re just employees. I think they’ll understand if you need a moment to discuss family business.” And that’s exactly what this was—family business. She realized she would always play second fiddle to “the heir” as her father kept referring to her brother, but she was not going to stand for someone else to weasel their way into this company. She was a Sutherland too.

“We’re right here,” the stranger said with a faint accent she couldn’t place.

“I am aware,” she retorted, not daring to look his way. She didn’t need to see those soulful hazel eyes she’d already caught a glimpse of to know he was trouble. She was on a mission to prove her worth and didn’t have time for sexy foreign men.

“We’ll give you two a moment,” Britt said, gesturing to the other man. “We’ll be outside when y’all are done.”

The two men made their way out of the office and closed the door behind them. When she was sure that they had stepped far enough away from the door, she turned to her brother and glared at him.

“You’re giving the job to Jonah?” she squealed.

“Flick, I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. And I thought you said this was family business,” Dalton said.

“It is. You can’t give him that job! You said I could have it! I’m the Sutherland!”

“First off, this is what you interrupted my meeting for?” he sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We really need to work on your idea of an emergency. And I didn’t tell you that you could have it. I said we could talk about it. Which, by the way, is more than I told Jonah.”

“That’s not what he’s telling people.”

“It’s fucking Jonah, Flick. He runs his mouth, we know this,” Dalton said, throwing his arms up. “He feels he’s owed the job. I told him that he wasn’t the only one interested in it, and when the time came, I’d figure it all out. That time isn’t now. Big D is still around, in case you forgot. Or are you just wishing him into the grave that much faster?”

“That’s rich coming from you, Tripp,” she snarked.

“If there is nothing else, please send Britt and Gunnar back in. We have actual business to finish up,” Dalton said, putting an end to the conversation.

Felicity glared at her brother again, knowing that right now he would not listen to a word she said. But she had earned this job. Their father might not think so, but she knew she could prove to everyone that she had what it takes to run this team.

She was a Sutherland after all.

* * *

Gunnar Gracin anxiously stood in the little lobby outside Dalton Sutherland’s office. Er, Tripp Sutherland. He wasn’t exactly sure what to call the new boss. The young man had introduced himself as Dalton, but most of the staff seemed to refer to him as Tripp, as not to confuse him with the other, older Dalton Sutherland. Damn, this was confusing.

It had only been a couple of months since he was announced as head coach of the new Atlanta Rising Football Club. They hadn’t even played a game yet, and here he was already worried about his job. All thanks to the biggest bombshell of his life.

He was beyond thrilled about this opportunity to help build this club from the ground up and to show off his skills as a manager. This was a big deal for a kid from a small coastal village in Croatia. He’d worked hard for this chance, and after spending the last six years running a youth academy in Ireland, he was ready to take the next step in his career. Working with his former Liverpool teammate Britt “Cowboy” Callahan didn’t hurt either. Their other former teammate, the infamous Cullen Cruz, was also on board to help with training camp once that got up and running in a few weeks. Cullen had spent the last week here with his fiancée helping them come up with some plans for camp. But that was all potentially in jeopardy now. How could three words change everything so fast?

“So, that’s Felicity Sutherland,” he said, trying to make conversation as they waited. Looking at Cowboy, he expected a colorful response, having heard stories from others around the team already.

The look on his buddy’s face did not disappoint. With a laugh, he said, “That’s her. Sparkling personality and all.”

“She’s quite the stunner,” Gunnar commented, thinking back to those long legs that led to the rest of her gorgeous figure.