Even the Score

by Beth Ehemann

  When they heard what was in the basket, they practically crawled over the top of each other to get up the ladder as fast as they could. After the kids had gone to bed the night before, while Gloria started sweating over her made-from-scratch cinnamon-roll recipe that she usually saved for Christmas morning and other special occasions, I’d climbed up into the tree house, swept it real good, and laid out a soft blanket for us.

  Once the kids were up and we were all seated, I opened the basket. As the smell of cinnamon floated out into the air, the three of us all closed our eyes and sniffed at the same time. Gloria’s cinnamon rolls were like heaven in food form. I set out the plates that she’d packed, then the cinnamon rolls, bacon, and the container of grapes. The kids wasted no time cramming fluffy pieces of cinnamon dough with warm, gooey icing into their mouths, and I wasn’t far behind.

  After a few minutes of nothing but chewing noises coming from the kids, Logan set his cinnamon roll down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Dad, why did you do this?”

  I shrugged. “I haven’t been able to hang with you guys as much as I’ve wanted to so far this summer, and now that I hired someone to help out, I thought it’d be fun to surprise you guys. Sometimes something simple like cinnamon rolls in a tree house is perfect. Just what the doctor ordered.”

  Becca frowned at me as she licked a blob of icing off her lip. “What doctor?”

  Logan, who was old enough to understand what I’d said, looked at her and chuckled before glancing up at me again. “I’m glad you did this, Dad. It’s fun. Can we do it again next week?”

  I laughed out loud. “If you can talk Gloria into making cinnamon rolls again, I’m in!”

  A while later as I was driving to work, I found myself thinking about how much time I’d been spending lately on picking out my suits and cologne in the morning. Having Danicka in the office was . . . different. Working with a woman was no big deal to me, I’d had Ellie with me for a few years now, but something about Danicka made me want to try a little harder.

  I liked her. I liked her a lot, in fact. Since she’d started working with me, I could feel the electricity zapping in the air as soon as I stepped out of the elevator. If she was out meeting with a client, I found myself staring at the elevator, anxiously waiting for her to get back. If she was sitting in her office, I’d been making up excuses to knock on her door or walk by to get paper from the storage room that I didn’t even need, just so I could catch a glimpse of her through the crack of the door.

  It was an unnerving feeling, really. I hadn’t been interested in any other woman since Blaire and I had started dating over a decade ago. It also didn’t feel like the best idea to have the first woman I was interested in postdivorce be my new partner, but I couldn’t control it.

  When the elevator doors slid open, just like the few days before, Ellie’s desk was empty. I heard chattering coming from Danicka’s office, so I quietly went to mine and immediately looked for my daily e-mail with my schedule on it. It wasn’t there.

  I leaned to my left, where I could see straight across to Danicka’s office. “Hey, El!” I hollered loudly.

  Immediately she jumped up from the chair and hustled over to my office. “Sorry, Andy. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “No problem, I just got here. Do you have my schedule for today yet?”

  Ellie pinched her eyes shut tight and gritted her teeth. “I’m so sorry. I was celebrating with Dani this morning, and it totally slipped my mind. I’ll go do it right this second.” She turned to rush from my office.

  “Ellie!”

  She whipped back around so fast I thought she was going to keep spinning and drill herself right into the floor.

  “Celebrating what?”

  “Oh!” Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands together. “Remember last week when you told me you’d heard that Kyle Keegan had fired his agent and was shopping around?”

  I nodded.

  “And remember you told me that he’s been turning down agents all over the country? You said you even called him but couldn’t get a firm yes or no for an interview?”

  I nodded again.

  “And remember when you said you were—”

  “Ellie,” I interrupted. “Today, please.”

  “Sorry.” She shot me an embarrassed grin as she tugged on the sleeve of her button-down shirt. “Guess who has an interview with him today? Dani! He’s coming. Here. In an hour. Eeeeek!” She made fists with her hands, hopping up and down excitedly.

  My head jerked back as all the muscles in my upper half tensed. “He’s coming here?”

  “Mm-hmm, in an hour.”

  “Holy shit.” I sat back in my chair and gawked at Ellie with my mouth open in disbelief.

  “Okay.” She smiled awkwardly after a minute of me staring at her, expressionless. “I’m gonna go get your schedule ready now.”

  I wasn’t really staring at her, more like through her. Kyle Keegan was a baseball player who was only four months into his rookie season as a hard-hitting right-handed first baseman, and he’d already hit twenty-two home runs. He was well on his way to possibly breaking the rookie home run record by an American League player. That record had been standing since 1987, six years before Kyle was even born.

  I got up from my desk and made my way over to Dani’s office as calmly as I could when what I really wanted to do was sprint across like an excited kid running toward the pool on a hot day.

  Her door was open about halfway. “Knock, knock . . .” I said, knocking quietly as I opened it and walked in.

  “Who’s there?” she answered without looking up from her computer.

  “The agent who doesn’t have a meeting with Kyle Keegan.”

  “The agent who doesn’t have a meeting with Kyle Keegan who?” She couldn’t hide her smile as she turned my response into a joke.

  “Very funny, Douglas,” I said sarcastically as I sat in the chair across from her desk. “When did you manage to score this interview, and why didn’t you tell me?”

  She finally looked over at me as she licked her lips and shrugged. “I was working late one night last week, and I felt a little brave, so I made a call and told him I’d love to talk to him while they’re in town. He was really quiet the whole time I was talking. At one point I thought he’d hung up.” She reached up and tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear, revealing tiny little silver hoops. She had cute ears. Who the hell had cute ears? They were weird little cartilage-filled skin flaps that hung off the sides of your head, yet hers were adorable.

  “Yo! Earth to Andy . . .” Dani waved her arm in the air, catching my attention and bringing me back.

  “Sorry.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I zoned out, dreaming about your interview.”

  She narrowed her eyes, looking at me like I was a bit crazy. “I told him just to come by and chat, no strings. He said okay. That was it. I’m not even sure it qualifies as an interview, but I still came in early to prepare as much as I could.”

  “Ah! So that’s why you were parked in my parking spot?” I joked. The words were out of my mouth before I realized it might have sounded shittier than I meant for it to.

  Her eyes snapped over to me. “Your parking spot? I’m sorry,” she apologized sincerely. “I didn’t even notice the sign.”

  “Well”—I shrugged—“there isn’t a sign, that’s just where I’ve always parked.”

  She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, pushing her breasts together. “There’s not a sign?” she challenged, arching one eyebrow at me. “Then I do believe it’s the early bird who catches the worm.”

  I stood up from her desk without saying anything, half annoyed and half turned on, and sulked back to my office.

  CHAPTER 14

  Danicka

  Pacing back and forth in my office, I coaxed myself to take deep, calming breaths as I watched the second hand on the wall clock go round and round and round. Waiting for Kyle Keegan to show up was making me more anxious than
I had been in a very long time. Over the past several years, I’d conducted hundreds of interviews, and one of the things I’d learned was that it was the young men that scared the crap out of me. Not in a literal, worry-for-my-safety kind of way, but they were more eager to roll the dice and still see what was waiting for them outside of your office. The older, more seasoned athletes were the ones who knew there wasn’t always going to be another agent waiting for them around the corner. Kyle was young, he was good, and he knew it. I had to be better.

  “Are you ready?” Ellie’s voice broke through the silence of my office.

  I sighed and shrugged. “Hope so.”

  “You’re going to do great. I mean, look at you.” She motioned down and back up my body. “How could he not love you and want to sign today?”

  Tilting my head to the side, I planted my hands on my hips and pursed my lips together. “I know, El, but I want him to sign with me for me, not for my tits.”

  Ethan, who’d been passing by my office, stopped at the word tits and took a couple of steps backward to my doorway. “Whoa! Good morning!” He grinned devilishly.

  “Good morning, Ethan. Keep on walking.” I laughed and sat back down at my desk as he stuck his bottom lip out and disappeared.

  “It’s almost time. Good luck.” Ellie raised her eyebrows and grinned at me. “You got this.” She turned and walked out my door, pulling it shut behind her.

  I glanced up at the clock for the millionth time and decided that I had just enough time for a quick call to my dad. No one’s pep talks even came close to his.

  The phone rang twice before he picked up. “Hey, kid!”

  “Hey, Dad. I’m not waking you, am I?”

  “Dani.” He laughed. “It’s after ten here. I’ve already been up, surfed, showered, ran to the grocery store, and taken the dog for a walk on the beach.”

  “Ah! You’re right. Early bird and all that. I should’ve known better.”

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of receiving a call from my superstar sports agent daughter, anyway? It’s not too often these days that you call me first.”

  “I have a big meeting this morning, and I’m just nervous. Killing time, I guess.” I didn’t want to tell my dad I needed a pep talk; I just wanted him to give it to me. Didn’t parents kinda sense those things anyway? It’s like dad code or something.

  “A big interview?” His voice rose with curiosity. “With who?”

  “You might not know him . . . yet. Young kid, baseball player. Kyle Keegan.” With the phone at my ear, I pulled my hidden floor-length mirror out from behind the bookcase and studied my reflection.

  Should’ve worn the blue shirt.

  “Kyle Keegan!” my dad hollered loudly in my ear. “He’s been all over SportsCenter lately. He’s all they’re talking about. He’s like the home run king!”

  I couldn’t help but giggle at my dad’s excitement. “I know.”

  “And he’s coming there? To see you?”

  “Thanks for the confidence boost, Dad,” I said drily.

  “Sorry. I’m just excited for you. I can’t wait to tell those young assholes down at the gym later that my girl had a meeting with Kyle Keegan.”

  “Dad, could you not brag to the other kids at the playground until I’m sure there’s something to brag about?” I joked.

  “Deal. But if you sign him, can you get me some autographed baseballs? It’ll up my street cred.”

  As I sat back down at my desk, I dropped my head in my hands. “The fact that you just used the term ‘street cred’ already means you don’t have any, Dad.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He chuckled. “Back to this interview, why are you so nervous?”

  I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “Well, for starters, my father, who only watches sports for the gambling, knew who he was, and second, he’s very sought after right now. My boss even called him last week and tried to get an interview, and was turned down.”

  “Wow, that’s great, kiddo. Why are you nervous, then?”

  “I want this, Dad. I want this bad. I just started with this company, and I feel like if I swing for the fences on the first pitch and miss, I’m gonna be benched.” I lowered my voice. “However, if I hit it out of the park, I’m gonna do a little victory dance as I run around the bases, that’s for sure.”

  “What about this boss of yours? You haven’t said a word about him . . . or is it a her?”

  “No, it’s a him. His name is Andy Shaw.”

  “And?” he asked sternly.

  “And what?”

  “And do I need to fly there and kick his ass like the other guys? Those douche brothers or whatever they were called?”

  “They were the Leighton brothers, and no, you don’t have to fly here. Stow the gun, Daddy, Andy has been very respectful so far.”

  Unfortunately.

  “Hm,” he groaned skeptically. “You just let me know if you need me there, and I’m there. Anything for my girl.”

  “Liar,” I teased. “You just want to come here to meet Kyle Keegan.”

  My desk phone rang loudly, causing my heart to plummet all the way to my shoes. “Hang on, Dad,” I said quickly, before setting my cell down and picking up the office line. “Yes?”

  “Ms. Douglas, Mr. Keegan is here to see you.” Ellie’s super professional voice made me laugh because I was so used to her being her goofy self in my office.

  “Thank you, Ellie. I’ll be right out.” I hung up the office phone and picked up my cell again. “I gotta go, Dad. He’s here.”

  “Wait,” he pleaded. “Can you put it on speaker and just let me listen? I promise to be quiet.”

  “Good-bye, Dad,” I said with a laugh as I hung up on him.

  So much for that pep talk.

  I quickly hid the mirror back behind the bookshelf and took a deep breath as I straightened out the wrinkles in my skirt. “Okay, Dani. He’s young, not much younger than you. Be tough, be strong, and tell him what you would’ve wanted to hear at his age,” I said to myself. “Ha! Suck it, Dad. Who needs your pep talks?”

  I opened the door to my office and strode out as confidently as I could. Kyle was standing near the waiting area, talking to Andy, who was grinning from ear to ear. I’d watched him interact with athletes enough over the past few weeks to know that his salesman face was on full force. He was agreeing and laughing, harder than he usually did, at everything Kyle was saying, and it annoyed me. I’d worked too damn hard over the last week to get Kyle to come in and meet with me for Andy to swoop in and steal my deal. From behind Kyle’s back, I narrowed my eyes at Andy as I walked up to their conversation.

  “Hi, Mr. Keegan. I’m sorry to keep you waiting.” I looked him square in the eye as I held my hand out.

  He shook it and smiled back but didn’t say anything.

  I put my hand gently on Andy’s arm. “Hopefully this guy didn’t bore you too much while you were waiting.”

  Kyle’s lips curled up, and he cracked a big smile as he looked from me to Andy. “Actually, no. He was just telling me what a big help you’ve been and that I’m in great hands with you.”

  “Oh.” I jerked my head back slightly, trying not to let my surprise be too obvious. “Well, thanks for that.” I nodded at Andy before motioning toward my door. “Why don’t we go into my office?”

  As he walked past me, I stepped in right behind him, turning right before we got to my office to see Andy still standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching us.

  When conducting an interview, I look for clues from the person I’m talking to as to what they really want from me. Kyle Keegan was a quiet, awkward young man who clearly relied on other people to run a conversation. When I asked him a question, he’d either give me a one-word answer or simply nod his head. The only tiny bit of information he’d given me was that he was obviously a total mama’s boy, and the only reason I knew that was that in the ten minutes he’d been seated in my office, he’d already brought her up three times. I wasn’t a m
other myself, nowhere near it, but I had to go with what I knew.

  “You’re at a crossroads in life and career right now, Kyle. The agent you pick could really help—or hurt—your career.”

  “Mm-hmm.” He nodded again.

  “Let me tell you what I think my job is as your agent.” I leaned forward, putting my elbows on my desk, and folded my hands in front of me. “Imagine that you’re in a car, driving down the road that is life, and I’m in a helicopter, flying up above you. You can’t see the potholes, broken-down cars, and lane closures that are in your way up ahead, but I can, and it’s my job to make sure you drive around them and stay in the safe neighborhoods. Know what I mean?”

  He nodded again as an innocent grin formed on his lips, making my heart soar. Thank God something hit home with that kid.

  By the end of our conversation, I couldn’t get him to shut up. He told me all about his mom’s amazing peanut butter cookies and his three little brothers. That poor kid had better find a good girl and marry her quick or the fast-paced athlete life was going to chew him up and spit him right back out. I really didn’t want him to be filling out an application to manage a Starbucks ten years from now. He continued to chatter happily as I walked him to the elevator and shook his hand once more. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Andy appear in his doorway.

  “I’ll have my mom send an e-mail as soon as I get home to get the ball rolling on everything.” Kyle grinned like a goofy kid as he pushed the Lobby button in the elevator panel.

  “Sounds good, Kyle. Can’t wait to get started.” I smiled, waving good-bye as the doors closed.

  As I turned to face Ellie, she threw her hands in the air and rushed around her desk, wrapping me in a tight vise hold.

  “That sure sounded like a yes,” she said in a muffled tone against my shoulder as we swayed back and forth.

  I closed my eyes and squeezed her back. “Thanks. I’m so excited. I had to work for that one. That poor kid had no idea what he wanted.”

  “Congratulations,” Andy said from behind me.

  I let go of Ellie and spun to face him. “Thanks.” I sighed and bit my lip. “I’m really excited for that one.”