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“Um… a lot?”
“‘A lot’ is exactly right. The four major sports leagues alone have over four thousand players. Do you know how many of those players need someone like you or me to keep them on the straight and narrow? To get them to where they need to be, to portray them how they need to be portrayed? Do you know how much that kind of service isworth?You’ve got a skillset and a résumè that is worth its weight in gold, Sloan. I want you on my team.”
My mouth is totally dry now. She’s so serious, so earnest. Forget just going to bat for Holly Everly—I’d jump off a cliff for her, with the bottom sight unseen.
“I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around all this,” I admit sheepishly. “I just… I mean, what you’re saying makes sense. I guess I just don’t know if I’m as ‘good’ as you seem to think I am.”
Her eyes do that thing where the intensity and brightness ratchet up even higher. “Honey, I’m starting to think you’re even better. Look at this macho man you’ve got holding you together like you’re Princess Humpty Dumpty.” She points at Beck, who, to my surprise, actually chuckles. “Before you entered the picture, he was a toxic dump of publicity—no offense, Beck.”
“None taken.”
“But then you show up, and he goes from notorious bad boy to Mr. All-American and, now, Daddy All-American. Brilliant. I applaud you.”
She might have a point. I’ve never been one to toot my own horn. Not too long ago, I was a waitress slinging pancakes. My world has just changed so fast and so constantly that I’m only just now realizing that I don’t knowwhothe hell I am anymore.
But I’m still here, aren’t I? I’m still here and I still have Beck.
Maybe it’s time to start taking some pride in how far I’ve come.
Beck leans in and warns, “Just FYI, she isn’t going to be this up close and personal with any of her other clients.”
Holly grins. “I’ll cut their hands off myself if they wander.”
She looks back at me like she’s waiting for my answer. I still feel deliriously high. Like this whole thing is a dream.
Beck has to nudge me. “Sloan. She’s waiting.”
That’s when I gush, “I would love a job! Oh, God. You have no idea how much I would love that.”
Holly laughs and shoves her chair back hard enough it falls over. We ignore it as she hugs me. And this is a real hug. This is enthusiastic and excited. It’s a winning game hug and I feel like I have.
We work out the details, which includes a pay raise and a company car, and then she breezes out much in the same tornadic fashion with which she blew in.
I glance at Beck. “I got a job.”
He nods. “So I saw.” And while I’m out of this world happy, he’s subdued.
“What’s wrong?”
“If the job gets to be too much, you’ll quit, yeah?” It isn’t a question; it’s a demand. “And you’ll still have security with you when you leave the house to work.”
Old Sloan would’ve bared her fangs at him being possessive. But it’s just his way of showing love. He wants me safe; he wants me happy. Those are good problems to have.
“This is going to be good, Beck. I can pay your dad back—on my own terms.That’s a good thing for both of us. As far as the team is concerned, you can’t afford to get into any more trouble and I have a feeling an association with the infamous Bloodhound of the wrong side of Seattle would be front page news and your ticket out of this town.”
Even if he can’t see it right now, I can. Leaving in shame. Packing up and sneaking out in the dead of night. Leaving behind everything he’s worked so hard for.
This is good. This is a fresh start. This is the beginning of a new era.
Holly Everly might just be my guardian angel.
37
SLOAN
By the time I wake up, Beck’s sitting up in bed, clutching his cellphone like it’s the throat of someone he hates. I make a noise to get his attention before I touch his shoulder lightly because I’m fairly certain that startling him might end in my gruesome demise.
He turns to look at me, tries for a smile, but ends up looking constipated and in pain because of it.
