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I startle when hands slide around my hips and lips land on my neck. “Hello, gorgeous.” Nathan’s voice fills my ears. I melt into his embrace, the exhaustion from the day catching up to me.
“Hey, yourself,” I greet, turning halfway so I can kiss him.
“Been a busy day?” he asks.
“I’ve been moving since I walked in the door. I can’t even begin to tell you the last time it was this crazy in here.”
“That’s good. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Yeah.” I yawn. “My bed is calling my name.”
“A few hours before you can go to bed, we’ve been summoned to my grandmother’s.”
“Oh, I’m aware. She came in this morning and already told me all about how we’re expected at dinner tonight. She told me to come over as soon as I left here so we can have some extra time to talk before everyone else arrives,” I tell him.
Nathan laughs. “She told me the same thing when she called me this morning asking when I was going to tell her I was in town. How she found out, I’ll never know; it isn’t like we went anywhere after landing.”
“I told her I’d need to go home, first, to shower and change. I didn’t want to show up smelling like the bakery.”
“You smell good enough to eat,” he teases, leaning in to sniff my neck.
“Still doesn’t alter the fact I’d like to shower and change before dinner. A shower might help to wake me up, because I’m seriously not sure how I’m awake at the moment. I’m kinda glad today was so busy and I didn’t have time to slow down. It kept me from falling asleep on my feet.”
“Then let’s get you home and showered. The earlier we get to Grandma’s, the earlier we can get out. Plus, we’ll have the excuse that I have to get to the airport, and you have to get home to bed to get up early to open the bakery tomorrow.”
“Okay, let me just grab the deposit so I can drop it at the bank on our way by.”
I head into my office, grabbing the deposit that Lacey put together for me earlier. I check around, making sure everything is put away, then stop and make sure everything in the kitchen is turned off. I don’t need to forget to turn an oven off and have a fire start overnight.
“Ready?” Nathan asks as I join him out in the lobby.
“Yep, double-checked the kitchen,” I tell him. I follow him out the door, stopping to lock it up for the night. I walk across the parking lot and drop the deposit in the night drop. The bank is still open, but I just don’t have the energy to go inside and wait for them to make the depost right now.
“How about I drive you home, you look exhausted,” Nathan offers, taking my keys from my hand. I don’t even argue, I just open the passenger door and get in. I watch as he adjusts the driver’s side to fit him. I giggle at how far back he moves the seat. I don’t think I’ll even be able to reach the pedals when I get back in, at that distance.
“What did you do today?” I ask once we’re on the road.
“Did some work, I had a conference call for a few hours this morning, then I spent another few hours on the phone, hashing out details with Leo.”
“A new deal, or something you’ve been working on for a while?”
“Actually, this is a new proposition. We were approached with an offer to start up a new sports team. We’ve been in talks with the league, and figuring out all the logistics of what it takes to start a team from scratch. It is a hefty price tag, plus, all the logistics of having an arena, practice facility, the support of the region, amongst so many other things.”
“Wow, sounds interesting. Do you think you’ll do it?”
“We’re leaning that way. We’re waiting to hear back from the league on the next steps, and an invite to the owners meeting. They meet only once a year, so it will be months before we even know some information. If everything is approved and we’re allowed to move forward, and the team actually gets accepted into the league, we’d be looking at a few years before we actually start playing.”
“That long?” I ask, a little shocked at the amount of time.
“Yep.” He chuckles. “It isn’t something that can be done overnight. Not only do we have to assure that we’ll have all the facilities in place, but we’ll also have to have fan commitment. One of the steps is to put tickets on sale, and if we get enough people to commit to become season ticket holders, then we can move to the next step. They aren’t actually charged, at that point, but they sign binding contracts with the intent that we’re moving forward and will become a full-fledged team.”
“Sounds very interesting and stressful at the same time. Lots of moving parts, as well.”
“It will be a learning curve, that’s for sure,” he muses. “I’ve already learned so much and we’ve only been discussing it for a couple months. Today’s conference call with the league commissioner went well, but also just ended with a hurry up and wait outcome.”
“When do you think you’ll know more?” I ask as he pulls into my driveway.
“We don’t. As open-ended as that answer is, it is the god-honest truth. We just have to sit back and prepare for the next call that will hopefully be the next few steps that we have to follow to pursue this opportunity.”
