Page 11 of Love In The Spotlight

She had staff and they did their job, but she needed more. She needed right-hand people that she could delegate things to without having to stress it was getting done right.

“Well, I needed that support and backup. To get it, you have to pay for the best. They weren’t willing to do it. The Jets wanted to rebuild their team. That takes time like any other investment. They gave me the money I needed to go to a losing team with the promise to build the team around me.”

“Their star?” she asked. “They put a lot of faith in you.”

“They did and it worked. I had some say in the players hired but not all. I was fine with that. What I wanted more than anything was the knowledge they were going to have a long term plan and do what they could to build it. They did and I got to the last year of my contract and almost got us to the Super Bowl.”

“The highest of honors,” she said.

“It is. One that not many see and it still burns me I didn’t. But you can’t have it all,” he said.

“Not as much as we wish,” she said. “But you still haven’t told me how this business came about or why you needed West to be part of it. I know West would have told you this is the first we’re venturing into the children’s market, so it’s not bringing as much to the table as you might think. And to be honest with you, I don’t see where you portray someone with a children’s line. Maybe you’re a fun-loving uncle?”

“But not father material?” he asked, lifting his eyebrow.

“I didn’t see anywhere that you had a child,” she said, frowning and going through her notes. Though she didn’t need to because she would have remembered that if she’d seen it.

“Did you notice you saw less and less of me in the news after my injury? Personal nature things,” he said.

She frowned. “I suppose there were fewer pictures of your partying ways after your injury. Then your retirement was announced followed by the start of your contract with Fox Sports. Maybe they wanted to make sure you had a different reputation.”

“They did,” he said. “But that wasn’t the reason for the change.”

“Does this have to do with Penelope Plush Soap?” she asked.

If it didn’t, she didn’t want to pry. She felt they were circling the wagon while she tried to piece this all together.

“It does,” he said. “I trust you will keep this to yourself until we are ready to make it public. There will be a big release of the product and the reason for it but not until I’m ready.”

“Oh,” she said. “West didn’t tell me that. What if the products are ready to hit the market and you’re not ready to let it be known?”

She couldn’t see her brother holding off. Not when he owned most of the company.

“I will be by then. Just not until.”

“But you’re going to tell me,” she said. “I should know all these things to help build the team.”

“Why?” he asked, crossing his arms.

She hated to think he was jerking her around and leading this conversation in his direction but wouldn’t fight with him over it.

No reason not to let him have his way right now and compromise. If he always did this, they’d have a war they’d be battling nonstop.

“It’s just as you said about why you went to the Jets. They were willing to build a great support system around you. You’re only as strong as the weakest link. That is completely true. A business is run the same way. I need to understand your business to build that team. Maybe you just think it’s a niche to make money on and all the moms out there will buy it because you’re the one selling it. Or maybe it has sentimental value. Both would be good to know when it comes time to market and brand. Or do you have that covered too?”

No way West would let Jamie take the lead on that, but she was keeping her opinion to herself.

“I’m open to suggestions but have ideas in my head when we get to it. I’ve got test models done,” he said. “I’ve been using it for a year now and stand behind it one hundred percent. I wouldn’t put my name on something I wouldn’t use myself.”

“You’re using children’s soap?” she asked.

She couldn’t picture him squirting soap from a play baby bottle into a sponge-shaped animal’s mouth and then lathering up with it.

When she started to feel the tingling in her body she realized she shouldn’t be trying to imagine him bathing with anything.

“My mother used it on me as a child,” he said. “I had horrible skin. Rashes everywhere. It’s a homemade recipe that she said cleared me up when nothing else would. As I got older my skin could handle more things, but I still got rashes and spent a shit ton of money on prescriptions and fancy soaps, but nothing worked as well as this.”

“That makes more sense,” she said. “But not sure why you are marketing it toward children rather than adults.”

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