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Holly smiles at both of us, then sinks to a perch on the edge of a nearby armchair. “Congratulations on the kid. But we need a spin.”
Beck takes a seat at my side and drapes a protective arm over my shoulders. “A spin?”
“Well, the team doesn’t want to give up on you, Beck. They have years invested. You’re a legacy player. A dynasty builder. And yeah, there are a lot of nasty rumors percolating out there, but we can handle them. I promise you this: I’m very, very good at what I do.”
She’s serious now, that friendly smile replaced by a clenched-jaw determination that makes me like her even more.
“Right,” Beck says. “Okay. So then…”
“So!” Holly claps her hands. “Here are my thoughts. Life is an adventure and a guy like Beckett Daniels has lived all of them. He cliff dives, wind surfs, jumps out of airplanes, scores buzzer-beater goals. But he hasn’t had anyone to share his adventures with. So this is his latest and greatest adventure: parenthood. And he’s found the perfect woman to adventure with.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Believe me, I’m not perfect.”
Holly turns her gaze on me. “That’s the beauty of it: you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be perfectforhim. Be the happy couple. Play it up. Enjoy it. Go to a red carpet movie premiere. Put on something hot and make Beck look good while he accepts awards from this or that or the other organization. Beam up at him like he’s everything you ever wanted in a man, and let the cameras capture him looking back at you like he’d eat you out of the palm of his hand if there weren’t so many people watching. Hell, he might do it evenwithso many people watching.” She winks, then adds, “And just from the three minutes I’ve spent looking at you two, I’m starting to think there won’t be much acting involved.”
I blush beet-red and withdraw my hand from where it was resting on Beck’s thigh. Beck, of course, just chuckles and pulls me closer into his embrace.
I glance over at Holly and see that shadow pass over her eyes again. There’s definitely a story there. A sad one, if I had to guess. I can’t imagine why. She’s so bright, so smart, so effusive. Less than one commercial break since she walked through the front door and I’d already go to bat for her.
It helps that her plan seems so hopeful, in the best way possible. Painting Beck as a family man after all the bullshit he pulled that got me hired in the first place, redeeming him in the eyes of his fans and the greater Seattle area… it could work.
Itwillwork.
Holly has more details about the X’s and O’s of her “Better Beck” plan. She runs us through the upcoming calendar of events we could consider for public appearances, some lifestyle photoshoots and magazine spreads to participate in, yada yada. Beck and I are both rapt at attention the entire time.
It’s only when Holly excuses herself to use the restroom that I finally catch a breath.
Beck squeezes my shoulder. “I like her,” he says.
“Me, too. She makes Viv look like a horse’s ass.”
“Nah,” he demurs with a laugh. “Viv does that to herself.”
Before I can answer, Holly is back, sliding into her chair and leaning toward me. “I have a confession to make: I didn’t pee in your bathroom.”
I’m back to where I was when she first strode in here: blinking dumbly and saying, “Uh, okay.”
She laughs, the sound of it like a little bell. It’s a very dainty giggle from such a vibrant personality. “I only pretended to pee so I could call my boss.”
“You could’ve called your boss from right here.”
“Not for what I wanted. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“What would have made me uncomfortable?”
She leans forward, eyes gleaming. “The fact that I’m about to offer you a job.”
My jaw drops. “Oh, that’s so nice?—”
She holds up a hand and I fall quiet. “And here’s how it’s going to go. I’m going to offer you a job, and you’re going to say,Oh, that’s so nice, but I couldn’t possibly take your pity deal,and then I’m going to say it’s not a pity deal, and you’re going to insist that it is, and then I’m going to reply by writing a number down on this sticky note right here, and I’m going to slide it across the table to you, and you’re going to pick it up and see how much money I’m offering and you’re going to realize that pity wouldn’t cover half of it. Which means that I want you to work with me for your own merits. Because you being nice isn’t enough to justify the number on this sticky note right here. You beinggood,however, is all the justification I need.”
My head is spinning like a carnival ride. “I… Uh… Okay. I think I need a second to process.”
Holly laughs again, just as musically as the first time. “Don’t think. Just say yes.”
“I just… I’m good? Good atwhat?How do you even know that?”
She clasps her hands together on her lap and scoots a little closer. “Sloan, do you know how many professional athletes there are in North America?”
