Page 24 of (Un)Planned

I asked Jack to hang back as the rest of the departments cleared the room. Calla got up to leave as well, but I placed my hand on her arm. “Stay. I need you to take notes.”

She rolled her eyes, subtle enough that only I would notice.

Jack leaned back in his seat, running his hand over his face. “Sorry about that, man. You know how Logan gets–”

“What happened with the deal?”

“I told you, Logan’s a snake.”

“Not with Logan. With the team. You told me you were working on Ricardo’s contract a month ago. Why couldn’t you close it?”

Jack’s jaw tensed, pissed I was questioning him. I would be the same way in his position. Usually, I’d be on his side, ready to seek revenge for the other agents stepping onto our turf, but I had no room for pleasantries and coddling right now. This office had to succeed, and we never would if the LA office vultured all our biggest clients.

“They wanted a shorter-term contract. One season only.” Jack shook his head. “Ricardo wants to settle down, so that wouldn’t work for him. I tried to make them extend it, but nothing worked.”

“Find out what Logan offered them.” I stood from my chair. “And we need to start looking for someone to fill his place—a bigger name, if possible.”

Jack ran his hand over his brow, as if mentally filing through the players he knew. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “I heard a rumor that Anders is looking for a new rep.”

“The player from the Rebels? The pitcher?” I asked. Jack nodded. “Get him onboard.”

He shook his head. “Not that easy. He’s notoriously private. He’s not going to sign with us unless we jump through a lot of hoops. I heard his last agent only got the job because he was connected to Anders somehow.”

“Figure it out, Jack.” I gripped the back of the chair. ”Or I’ll find someone else who will.”

Jack stared at me in disbelief, his mouth hanging open as if he didn’t believe my words. But it was no idle threat. There was no room for dead weight on this team, no matter how close we once were. The partners warned me that this would change how others saw me, but I hadn’t expected the shift to come so soon.

I sighed. “Get a meeting on the books as soon as possible.”

Just as I thought Jack was about to lose his shit, Calla stood, smiling up at me. “Actually…I might be able to help you out with that.”

TWELVE

“This is a terrible idea.”

My eyes almost hurt from rolling them so much today. Leave it to my gloomy boss to take the fun out of everything. When I suggested we meet with Gray during an informal lunch, I thought Theo’s mind was going to explode. It took almost an hour for me to convince him to change out of his expensive Armani suit. He was still plucking at the sweater I’d picked out for him as if he couldn’t stand the feel of it against his skin.

He might not like it, but holy hell, it was making it hard to look away from him. Even though I repeatedly told myself that Theo was off limits, it was getting more and more difficult to remember why. Just seeing him dressed down made my imagination run wild. I was dying to know what he was like when he lost all that careful control.

Get it together, Calla.

For fuck’s sake, we were on the way to meet my ex-boyfriend, a fact thatmighthave slipped my mind when I sold Theo on this plan. However, Jack was right. Gray had been burned in the past by a shady agent. There was noway he’d go with our company just because Theo was the best. He needed that connection, someone he could trust.

As soon as we entered the diner, Theo curled his lip. He looked at the dated pleather furniture and stained walls with clear disgust. For someone who didn’t dine anywhere without a Michelin star, this was probably his biggest nightmare.

While Theo stood in the doorway, I spotted Gray across the room. I waved in his direction until his steely gray eyes met mine, and he broke out into a broad smile, standing up to greet me. When he got close enough, he wrapped his arms around me and tugged me up into the air. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Hey, Anders.”

He placed my feet back on the ground, stepping back to take a better look at me. “Damn, Calla. The years have been good to you.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” I teased, smacking him on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t have recognized you if I didn’t watch most of your games.” In high school, Gray had been the quintessential golden boy, always clean-shaven with not a hair out of place. The bearded Viking who stood in front of me could not be more different, with his shaggy, dark blond hair tossed up in a bun. My eyes traced along his forearms, taking in all the brightly colored designs inked into his skin. A couple of the images looked familiar but not enough to place them readily.

“You watch most of my games?” Gray smiled. “I’m touched, kid.”

“Not really,” I laughed. “It’s all Devyn. She never misses one.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back. At the mere mention of Devyn’s name, Gray’seyes went cold, as if he had seen a ghost. But unlike Devyn, whose expression always turned stormy at the mention of her former friend, Gray looked almost pained.

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