AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Katie looked over her shoulder and gave Ellis a reluctant shrug, then shot a shy smile at the guy who was indeed staring back with interest. He did have swagger. The kind successful men exude. He was dressed nicely too. Clean and put together, not too feminine, not too frat boy, hair styled, shoes clean. He was the type of guy she could imagine herself ending up with.
So why not go talk to him? Why not sidle up next to him at the bar in her little black dress and let him buy her a drink? Landon couldn’t be her excuse. She couldn’t put her life on hold for a guy who was completely forbidden. Who could only lead to heartbreak. That would be ridiculous. That would be…silly.
Yet the glum realization had set in: No one could ever be as thrilling as Landon Ryan.
From: Anjali [email protected]
To: Katie [email protected]
Subject: VIP Box TODAY!!
Katie,
Lori and I have decided that Dr. and Mrs. Rhodes will be taking the VIP box for the game this evening. I've attached a list of their food and beverage preferences as well as a complete list of guests. Their support has been tantamount to our fundraising efforts and they should be treated with the highest regard. I'll expect a follow up email with ideas on how we can further recognize Mrs. Rhodes and show our appreciation at the banquet.
Anjali Khatri
Director of Community and Charitable Relations(Acting)
chapter 11
The VIP box at JTM Industries Stadium was legendary: right above the home team dugout, half-indoor, half-outdoor, state of the art technology, a complete bar with mixologist, and any food or drinks the VIPs requested at any point in the game. The nice ones just wanted a fresh round of hotdogs in the fourth inning. The difficult ones demanded surf and turf, Cuban cigars, or their favorite chicken chow mein in the bottom of the eighth.
Katie and Ellis traded off overseeing the box, and both generally preferred it for no other reason than the opportunity to wear business attire instead of the boring Maverick polo shirts and khakis they wore when working on the field.
Katie read Anjali’s email about the Rhodes party while still in bed and, under normal circumstances, she would have been screaming into her pillow. Today however, she welcomed the patronizing tone and all the extra work that came with accommodating twenty-two extra VIP guests last minute. With expensive tastes no less, according to the two-page attachment.
"Bring it on," Katie murmured to herself, because being busy with VIP-related tasks was about the only valid excuse she could come up with for handing off the pregame meet and greet to Ellis and Craig The Intern.
She’d been up half the night agonizing over seeing Landon for the first time since she’d hung up on him. It had been easy to avoid him at yesterday's home game since she had the day off, but today was going to take some creative maneuvering. Anjali, in her quite obvious ploy to annoy Katie, had actually done her the biggest favor.
Yet, despite her plans to evade the Mavericks’ star player, Katie found herself tugging on a skirt that clung a tiny bit tighter than she would normally wear to work, with a blouse that dipped a bit lower on theneckline. And she might have spent a little extra time on her hair and makeup, but overall, she thought she’d been subtle. Sexy, but not over the top.She reconsidered when she walked into the office.
"Oooh, hot mamma!" Ellis whistled. "What has gotten into you missy, looking particularly fabulous today?"
"Oh, no, did I overdo it? I’m going to the bathroom to tone it down."
"Don’t you dare. You are kil-ling it," Ellis insisted with two snaps of his fingers. "What’s the special occasion?"
"Nothing really, just a good hair day, I guess. But in case you haven’t heard, I will be running the VIP box tonight for miss Stella Rhodes and twenty-two—yes, you heard that right—twenty-two of her closest friends."
She held up her iPad and showed him with a quick swipe the laundry list of requests. Ellis’ cringe of sympathy did not bode well for the night ahead considering he’d been working with Stella for the past week on the player portraits for the auction.
"Oh, that’s actuallymissusRhodes," he said. "She’s married. To a doctor, if you haven’t heard, and if you haven’t, she’ll let you know. Ugh, Kat, that woman is a bitch-and-a-half. But her husband…ooh honey, a hunk-and-a-half."
Katie never got the chance to see the hunk. Dr. Rhodes didn’t show, but Stella was as overtly seductive as Katie had imagined: dark red hair, hourglass curves for days, complete MILF level sex appeal. She’d probably had zero problems coaxing out that flirtatious smirk in Landon’s portrait.
As expected, she and her friends were the worst kind of VIP guests: entitled, rude, and gaudily loud despite all their overwhelming claims to be classy. They made Katie hustle the entire game, sent her on so many concession runs that she missed hit number fourteen in Landon’s streak, and called her by the wrong name until she wanted to pull their extensions out.
"Kathy, we need more champagne. Lots more."
"Kristy? Oh Kristy? More caviar."
"Kathy? My friends need some t-shirts for their kids. How can we get those autographed too?"
The knife to the gut came in the bottom of the eighth during Landon’s last at bat. Katie was gathering up empty glasses and couldn’t help but overhear as Stella gushed to her blonde minions.
"Ohhh ladies, he’s not anything like you’d think when you get to know him. If you think he’s hot in his uniform, you should see him stripped bare. Then he looks back at you with those eyes…oh my, I was done for, girls."
