A limousine was waiting to take the two of them to the hotel, and Bob and Janice Lattimer went to a fully staffed house on Palm Island that had been rented for them for the weekend.
It was a half-hour ride from Signature Aviation at the airport to the hotel. And when they got to the Ritz-Carlton, there was more press. It was apparently a big deal that Valerie Wyatt was there. Other stars would show up for the weekend, but her presence was definitely making a big splash.
She knew from their schedule that they were attending a luncheon at The Restaurant, and there would be a press conference before it where Jack was expected to speak. She didn’t have to do anything except be there, and he had meetings that afternoon. She was hoping to do some shopping on her own. Dawn had surprised her and said she knew Miami, and had told her where to go.
Jack had an enormous suite, and she had a similar one across the hall from him. The living room of hers was handsomely decorated, with a beautiful view of Miami and the ocean, and the bedroom was comfortable and huge too. He came across the hall to check on her and make sure she was settling in. He looked distracted and busy, but was attentive to her in spite of it.
“Everything good, Valerie? The way you want it?” he asked, looking concerned.
“It’s terrific,” she said, beaming at him. “I’m feeling very spoiled.” He was impressed that she was so easy about things. He knew that some women as important as she was behaved like divas and nothing was ever good enough. Valerie was appreciative of everything the network did, and loved her suite. “Is there anything I can do to help you?” she offered.
“Yeah,” he said, looking tired as he sat down. The leg was bothering him, although he didn’t want to admit it, and he was more tired than he had expected to be. He didn’t have all his strength back yet, although he looked great. “Go to these meetings for me. I’ll go down to the pool and sleep.” She laughed at the suggestion, and he came back half an hour later to pick her up, and by then she had changed. She was wearing a pink silk dress and high heels for the lunch. It was sexy and pretty, but in good taste. The women he usually brought with him had to be carefully monitored so they didn’t embarrass him wearing see-through dresses, and a thong to the pool. It was a lot easier having Valerie along, and a whole different scene.
They arrived at the luncheon in a white limousine, and Jack was part of the press conference, as expected, talking about what the fans could look forward to and how he thought the game would play out. And they got just a brief clip of Valerie and asked her what she thought of the Super Bowl so far, and she said she thought it was just great. They didn’t need more from her than that.
After lunch, her own car picked her up, a white Escalade, and she disappeared to Bal Harbour, and browsed through all her favorite shops, everything from Dolce & Gabbana to Dior and Cartier. The shopping center was terrific, and she did a fair amount of damage and bought three bathing suits, a pair of sandals, and two sweaters, and then went back to the hotel for a massage.
She didn’t see Jack again until seven, when he stopped by her room, and with a loud groan lay down on the couch in her suite. He was so tall, his feet hung off the end.
“God, I’m beat, and it hasn’t even started yet.” He knew the next few days would be insane. They always were.
“Do you have time to take a nap?” she asked, with a look of concern. She was wearing a white terrycloth robe and looked relaxed after her massage. She’d had an easy afternoon.
“Not really,” he answered. They had to leave in half an hour for a cocktail party. Some of the big football players would be there, and he had to attend. Jack had a double role here, as a retired Hall of Fame player, and as a star sportscaster, and he had to go a lot of places to wear both hats. He forced himself back off the couch a minute later, and went to his own room to get dressed. He would much rather have stayed in the suite with her, ordered dinner, and watched a movie on TV. But there was no chance of that.
He came back in a black Prada suit with an impeccable white shirt, looking very stylish, and she was wearing a short black cocktail dress and towering high heels. They made a handsome couple, he noticed in a mirror they passed as they left her suite.
“We look pretty good together,” he commented.
“You’d look good with anyone, Jack,” she said, smiling at him, and he leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“So would you, pretty lady. I’m just happy that it’s me.”
“You don’t miss the miniskirts and rhinestone bras?” she said, and he laughed.
“Not likely. And that dress looks pretty short to me,” he said, referring to what she was wearing. It was short, but fashionably so, and showed off her legs, as did the heels.
They both drifted into the crowd and lost each other at the cocktail party, and were photographed, although separately, and an hour later they were whisked away to another dinner event at The Forge, attended by many of the major players, their wives, the owners of the teams, and just about anyone important who was in town. It was quite a scene. There was dancing afterward, but all the players left immediately after dinner. It was nearly one in the morning by the time Jack and Valerie could slip away and go back to the hotel. Jack looked drained.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking worried about him. “How’s the leg?”
“It’s okay.” He hadn’t danced, though. He wasn’t up to that yet. “I’m just tired. It’s tough being on all night like that. You look as fresh as when we left the hotel. I don’t know how you do it,” he said admiringly.
“I’m not working as hard as you are,” she pointed out, “I’m just a tourist here.” And she hadn’t been shot a month before.
“Thanks for being here,” he said, as the limo pulled up to their hotel.
“I’m having fun,” she said, and meant it. “This is totally new to me. And you’re right about opening new doors. This is really cool,” she added enthusiastically, as he laughed and they both got out.
He left her at the door to her suite and kissed her chastely on the forehead. He would have liked to come in and chat with her, but he was just too tired. Getting back to work with a bang like this was wearing him out. Being shot had definitely taken a toll, more than he wanted to admit. He slept like a log that night, and was up at the crack of dawn and went to the gym to work out. He was still cautious about it, but he had exercises he had to do. And he knocked on Valerie’s door on the way back to his room. She was wearing her nightgown and a robe, and said she had slept well too.
The first thing on their agenda was a brunch at eleven, hosted by the network, followed by a luncheon afterward. Then he had interviews to tape with important players. He interviewed Valerie briefly first, and she admitted that she was a neophyte and knew little about football but was having a ball being there. After that, he did longer interviews of the major players, coaches, and team owners, and Valerie went to the pool. Jack worked till dinnertime, and there was another huge party that night, hosted by one of the major sponsors of the game. She wore a short gold dress and looked spectacular, and Jack introduced her to several legendary players, including Joe Namath, who had come for the weekend too. It was one of those unforgettable weekends, when everybody came. Jack was constantly talking to someone, being photographed, or introducing Valerie, signing autographs for fans, talking to players he knew, or posing for photographs with her or other Hall of Fame players. He never stopped. She watched him in awe as he worked the room. He was great at what he did, personable with everyone, and adored by all. The network knew what they were doing when they hired him, she realized. Before she knew him, she had just assumed he was some ex–football player. Jack was an icon in the football world. There was no question in her mind now as to who was more important or more famous. She finally understood that Jack Adams was a football legend whom generations would talk about and remember. No one was going to remember her weddings or her books in fifty years, but they would surely still be talking about him. She hadn’t fully realized that until today.
They went to three different parties that night, all around Miami, and wound up at a nightclub where some major movie stars and rappers were hanging out. It seemed like every famous person on the planet was in Miami for the game. They got back to the hotel at three A.M. The players didn’t stay out that night, they had to go to bed early before the game the next day. The game was starting at six, and Jack had to be there at noon, to do background newscasts, and interviews all day. This time, he followed her into her suite before he went back to his own. Although it was later, he looked less exhausted than he had the night before. He felt like his old self and was on a roll.
“What an evening!” she said, as they sat down in her room. “It was awesome! I am having an absolutely fantastic time!” She beamed at him. And she had had a ball at all the parties they went to that night. “I think I’m going to tell people to forget Super Bowl parties from now on, just come down for the weekend and the game.” He laughed as he looked at her. He was happy she was enjoying it so much. And she was much more fun for him than the girls he usually brought. She was beautiful, elegant, intelligent, fun to be with, she had a great sense of humor and talked to everyone, and she wasn’t drunk off her ass, flirting with some linebacker while his wife threatened to kill her. It was a lot easier bringing Valerie than the girls who’d come with him before. “It really has been a fabulous weekend.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“I’m glad I did. It’s been fun for me too.” He knew she had a VIP seat in a box the next day, and he wouldn’t see her until after the game. “Let’s have breakfast in your suite tomorrow before I leave. I’ll be gone most of the day.” She was planning to relax and hang out at the pool before the game. And then he reminisced for a minute about how exciting it used to be for him before a Super Bowl game. She had learned since they’d been there that he had been Super Bowl MVP of his team twice. And she had seen his four Super Bowl rings among his trophies in his den in New York. It all had more meaning to her now since she’d actually seen what a big deal it was. Being in the thick of it with him in Miami had already taught her a lot.
“It must have been hard for you to give all this up and retire,” she said sympathetically.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said sadly for a minute, remembering. “My knees were shot. I was thirty-eight years old, and if I pushed it, I could have hung in for two more years, max, and maybe wound up in a wheelchair. It wasn’t worth it. I had seventeen great years in the NFL. That’s a lot. And they were seventeen very, very sweet years. It doesn’t get better than this, if this is what you love. It’s a lot of work, but I never regretted it for a minute.”
“That’s a nice way to feel about what you do.”
She loved her work, but she realized now that this was different. This kind of stardom was very different from hers. And there was a glory and magic that went with it, which was almost unique, except in sports. Major rock stars got this kind of adulation and acclaim, but athletes and their adoring fans were a very special world.
She was glad she had come here and seen it. It had helped her to understand Jack better, and the life he had lived. Given the huge star he had been, it was amazing to her that he wasn’t intolerably conceited. Instead, he was proud of what he’d done, but reasonable about it. He had achieved great things in his field that few men ever did, but he was a remarkably normal, real person, and she loved him for it. Coming to the Super Bowl had given her a whole new perspective on him, and how serious he was about his work. She truly liked him as a person. He’d been nothing but respectful of her. He seemed to appreciate everything she said and did, and they had a genuinely great time together. He was a pleasure for any woman to be with.
“I’ve honestly had a fantastic time here,” she said, looking happy. This door had been worth opening, to a whole other world she would otherwise never have seen. “Did you see Greg today, by the way?” She knew his son had arrived in Miami for the game, but she hadn’t seen him, and she wondered if Jack had.
“Just for a few minutes. He’s going to come sit in the broadcasters’ box with me for a while, before the game. There are a couple of players he wants to meet. I was hoping we could have dinner with him tomorrow night, but he’s got to leave right after the game, and everything will still be nuts for me then. I probably won’t get to see you till way after the game. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. This is what you do. I understand.” Their plane was scheduled to take off at midnight, and she suspected he might be taping interviews till then. “Now I can’t wait to see the game.” Everything that had led up to it so far had been terrific. She had enjoyed all the parties and people, the outfits and the sights. It was an extraordinary combination of people involved in football, and the fans that followed everything they did, just as they had once followed him.
“I hate to go back to my room,” he said finally as he got up. It was three-thirty in the morning and he had to get up early. All his pregame interviews were done, but he had to be at the stadium to organize everything. This was the high point of his year. “See you in the morning, Valerie,” he said with a yawn, and as she walked him to the door of her suite, he smiled down at her, and then kissed her on the mouth, ever so gently. But it was almost a real kiss this time. Not quite. But it wasn’t the same kind of friendly peck she’d had from him before. “We have to talk one of these days,” he said, as he put an arm around her, “but not here. When we get back to New York.” She nodded. She had a feeling she knew what he had in mind. She was glad he hadn’t rushed it. She wouldn’t have been ready to make any fast moves or decisions, or to fall into bed with him. She didn’t want to be a groupie, a passing fancy, or a one-night stand. If she got involved with him, she wanted it to mean something to both of them, and be real.
“No hurry. I need to get a miniskirt and a rhinestone bra first,” she said with a serious expression, and he laughed.
“You know, I’d like to see you in that, just once.” He loved the elegant outfits she had worn during the weekend. She had stood out in every crowd. And people recognized her everywhere.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she promised, as he bent down and kissed her again. And this time, it was a real kiss. She knew he meant business, and she melted into his arms and kissed him back. He looked startled when they finally stepped away from each other, his eyes open wide, and they were both out of breath.
“Lady, let me tell you something, with kisses like that, you don’t need a rhinestone bra!”
“Goodnight, Mr. Adams,” she said demurely as she opened the door and he ambled slowly across the hall to his own suite, and looked back at her with tenderness and passion in his eyes. Something had happened to both of them during the weekend. They had been swept up in the excitement, but they had stayed grounded with each other and what they shared was beginning to seem very solid.
“Goodnight, Ms. Wyatt,” he responded, and with that, she smiled at him, and gently closed the door.
Chapter 14
As promised, Jack showed up in her suite at ten o’clock the next morning, dressed for work. He had an hour to spend with her over breakfast, and told her about everything he had to do before the game. He was looking forward to it, and seemed in great shape and high spirits. He had pancakes and bacon, sausages, muffins, two glasses of orange juice, and a cup of coffee. He was a big man, and he knew he wouldn’t have time to eat again for hours. She asked him questions about the game, and by the time he finished eating, he had to leave. He kissed her on the way out, and it was another kiss like the last one of the night before. Things were heating up between them, and she realized it was probably a good thing that they weren’t spending another night. She didn’t want to get caught up in the holiday atmosphere around them and do something they’d both regret. If they leaped into the abyss together, she wanted it to be real and well thought out, and so did he. After kissing her, he gently patted her behind as he walked out the door.
Valerie spent the
rest of the day peacefully, and had lunch at the pool. She had another massage because she had nothing else to do, and packed her bags before she left for the game. She was wearing white jeans and a T-shirt, red loafers, and she had a red cashmere sweater over her arm in case it got cool that night. And she was excited when she left the room. Jack had called her on his cell phone every chance he got, whenever he had a break. He said everything was crazy at the stadium, as usual. He had done half a dozen more interviews by that afternoon, and called her again when she was in the car.
“I’m on my way,” she said, sounding excited.
“I’ll be able to see you, but you won’t see me,” he told her. “I’ll meet you back at the hotel about eleven o’clock.” He needed two hours to do victory interviews and wrap up after the game. There would be a victory party that night for whichever team won, but they weren’t planning to go to that. Like Valerie, he had already packed his bags and left them in his suite.
She wished him luck then for his broadcast and said she knew it would be great. April had promised to watch it, so she could see him and her mother when they played her taped interview at halftime. And Valerie had TiVo’ed it at home, so she could watch him when she got back.
Valerie got to Dolphin Stadium at five-thirty, half an hour before the game. She wanted to get to the VIP box and check out the scene before the game started. Fans were already thronging into the stadium when she got there, and some had been seated for an hour. People were selling souvenirs, buying hot dogs, drinking beer by the gallon, and half-naked girls were already cheering for their teams. It was a rowdy crowd. There was an astonishing amount of security, and Valerie knew from Jack that nowadays they did everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks, which were a real fear now and never had been in his day. It took Valerie a full ten minutes to get to the box and take her seat, and by then the lavish pregame show had started. Bob and Janice Lattimer were there. They were staying in Miami till the next day, and would be going to the victory party that night. Bob introduced her to several other people in the box, and Valerie took her seat, and saw Jack begin his broadcast from the monitor in the box.
Happy Birthday: A Novel Page 18
