Page 20 of Love In The Spotlight

“Elias,” she said. “Figures you’d know that part.”

She was joking when she said it, but he didn’t want her to think he was some lush. Not sure why when he didn’t care about those things in the past, but he did care about what Laken thought of him.

“I only know what I read. Though I have had his beer when I’ve been in North Carolina. Years ago,” he said. “I’m not much of a drinker now.”

“Because of Penelope?”

“Yes. Most of my, you could say bad habits, were around drinking and hanging out with those that did the same. It’s not that I don’t drink at all, but it’s socially now. And trust me when I say my social life is catered more toward milk and cookies.”

She laughed as if she thought he was kidding, but he wasn’t. “I saw you on TV Thanksgiving.”

“Did you now?” he asked. “Did you like what you saw?”

It was hard to break a lifetime of flirting and it just slipped out more than anything.

“Maybe,” she said. “But I was there with family and it’s not like I’m going to start talking about carrot sticks.”

“What?” he asked, frowning.

“Nothing,” she said as she laughed. “Private joke between my sister and mother. I got caught in the crossfire. Never mind.”

He’d have to take her word for it because he was clueless and maybe it was better to keep it that way.

“So you got a few days off?”

“When?” she asked.

“For the holiday,” he said. “You went home.”

“I was working again on Friday,” she said. “I don’t get much time off even if I’m working from home. I even got yelled at a few times for talking about work on Thanksgiving.”

“Geez,” he said. “Got to give your brain a break.”

“Yeah,” she said. “It doesn’t work that way. Not if you run or own a business.”

“I’m not letting it dominate my life,” he said. “Which is why I was willing to give up so much of it. I want it for my daughter and I’m going to take an active part, but I’m not going to be on the floor or whatever. Or in an office every single day. I’ve got three more years on my contract with Fox and I hope it goes beyond that.”

He never thought he’d like doing this as much as he was, but it almost felt as if he still had a part of the game in his life.

Since it was seasonal and not full time at that, it was a great way to spend time with his daughter and watch her grow up while keeping a steady strong income to invest.

The last thing he was going to do was spend forty plus hours a week at another job when he wanted this more as an investment.

He knew what it was like to come from humble beginnings, and though he spent his fair share of money early on, he never once touched more than a fraction of his salary and invested all of his sponsorship money.

It was coming in handy now for this venture.

“I’d think it would,” she said. “You’ve got a presence on the screen. An appealing one to many women who enjoy the sport.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “Are you included in the many women comment?”

“I believe we covered the part where I said you were pleasing on the eye. I think you need to have your ego fed. Is that a problem that you don’t get it from the sport anymore?”

She had her head angled. It was a serious question that he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer.

He would though if it would get her to open up.

“Growing up, I didn’t need anyone to feed anything. I knew I was going to be great. I needed to get the hell out of where I was and away from my parents. Looking back, I was wrong and maybe they were right.”

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