Page 56 of The Wedding Deal
“Well, now you need to turn your team around. That’s part of being a leader, and I remember watching you on the field. You were one of the best at rallying your team. At leading them.”
She’d watched him play. She’d said as much when they were on speaker phone with Foster, and when he’d made a comment about it, she’d called him Mr. Ego. It seemed like a lifetime ago in some ways, but this time, instead of saying she followed football, not him, she was purposely stroking his ego. There was genuine admiration in her voice, too, and it went a long way toward helping him prepare for the hit his pride was about to take.
“One question before I make this call,” he said, dragging his thumb over her knuckles. “Back in the day, when you were watching me play, did you cheer for or against me?”
“Depended on who you were playing that game,” she said in that sassy way of hers that turned him on. Her eyes locked onto his, a whole heap of passion swimming the green of her pupils. “But I’m cheering for you now. So stop stalling and make the call.”
“Okay, but I just realized I don’t have his number, so I guess you’ll have to get your computer and pull up the personnel files. While you’re doing that, I’m just going to—”
“No need.” She lifted her cell, and he watched as she input her passcode.
“One-two-three-two? You deal with stats and numbers every day, and that’s the best you can come up with to secure your phone?”
She rolled her eyes. “I deal with stats and forms, and there’s only so much information I can cram into my brain, so I don’t want my phone to take extra effort. Also, I’m not falling for another stalling tactic—we should be in Texas right now becausethat’s how big of a staller you are.”
“I don’t think staller is a word. I do have another big thing you might be interested in, though…” He leaned closer and waggled his eyebrows.
The loud sigh wasn’t exactly the reaction he’d been hoping for. She pulled up John’s information and swiveled the screen toward him. He wrapped his hand around the phone but couldn’t seem to force his fingers to move.
Before he could protest or come up with another way to drag out the minutes, Charlotte hit the call button. “There. I even did the hard part for you.”
“That’s not the hard part. The hard part is—”
“Hello?” a voice said on the other line.
Charlotte moved next to him on the couch and gave his hand an encouraging squeeze.
Lance identified himself and then pushed through the skin-tightening sensation and forced words that didn’t want to come out. He told John he might’ve made a mistake by firing him with the rest of the staff. He revised it to “it was a mistake” when Charlotte mouthed it at him.
This call was akin to walking over hot coals, and he tugged on his collar and cleared his throat an inordinate amount of times.
“Is Charlotte with you?” John asked.
He glanced at her, the steady rock at his side. “Yes.”
“Can I talk to her?”
Lance passed the phone.
“Hey, John,” she said, the smile on her face flooding her words with sunshine. She asked him a few questions and laughed at one point, and all Lance could do was hold his breath and wait. “Okay. Putting you on speaker now.”
“We’re gonna build an amazing team,” Lance promised. “And again, I’m sorry that I fired you without realizing how badly we needed you on it. Charlotte informed me that you tried to rein in the other two.”
“That was my mistake, not being firmer. But my hands were tied. I’ve got a few conditions if I come back…”
Lance winced, sure it’d be a higher salary that he couldn’t afford to pay him. All the demands were reasonable, though. A five-year contract and better health insurance for his family. “I’m a die-hard fan,” he added. “Always have been.”
“Is that you saying you’re in?” Lance asked, needing the clarification.
“I’m in.”
The tension in the room eased, and judging from Charlotte’s grin and the loosening of her shoulders, she felt it, too. “Okay, what we need is—”
“Wait,” Charlotte said. “Paperwork first. I’ll email you a new contract, as well as an updated NDA. You can virtually sign it, and we’ll do the same on our end.”
Lance hit the mute button. “Do we have time for that?”
“The question is do we have the time to risk not having it. Spoiler alert: the answer is no. We’re talking about insider information, and while I know John and don’t think he’d ever do anything like that, you did recently piss him off, and I’m a forms girl. I want documentation and that extra protection for the team’s sake and for yours.”
