Page 91 of Fall for You
They were the kind who thought if they spoke forcefully enough and threw their weight around, they could get whatever they wanted.
In short…
Dallas’s eyes narrowed.
“Ronnie has commitments,”Mike was saying. “And she needs to remember that.”
In short…her agent was a bully.
“Okay, it’s time for you to stop talking, Mike.” Dallas didn’t have to raise his voice to cut through the noise. “Turn those ears on, buddy, because I’m laying it out for you as clearly as I can.” Leaning forward, he pressed the phone closer to his mouth and said in a voice that left no room for arguments, “You work for Ronnie, not the other way around.”
Ronnie’s eyes widened even more, but she clamped her mouth shut, and Dallas suspected it was to hold back a shocked laugh. It was all the encouragement he needed to keep going.
Mike sputtered. “Well, what am I supposed to tell the brand sponsors waiting for an answer? She’s going to lose this deal if she keeps slacking off!”
Dallas gritted his teeth, reminding himself to stay calm.
Glancing at Ronnie, he held her gaze and felt something in his chest shift. Like a soft pop of certainty. A knowing.
His jaw relaxed on a silent sigh, and he smiled at her. “You tell them that Ronnie Colbert has a good heart, is family focused, and has her priorities in check. She’s a strong woman who is capable of anything. She can love her familyanddominate on the slopes. If they don’t want someone like that representing their brand, then it’s their loss, and there’ll be plenty of other companies who will snatch her up in a heartbeat.”
Ronnie’s eyes shone with tears, and the way Dallas’s heart pounded in response had him missing Mike’s next comment.
But for every protest or argument Mike lobbed, Dallas had an answer. It was simple, really.
“Ronnie needs time to heal. That’s her job as an athlete,” he told Mike. “Your job as heragentis to buy her that time and to spin this situation in her favor.”
There was a stunned silence on the other end, and Ronnie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“That’s what a good agent would do. Don’t you think, Mike?”
Mike sputtered some more, but he had no good comeback, so Dallas hung up.
Staring down at Ronnie’s phone, he rubbed his thumb over the black screen before holding it out to her. “I…hope I didn’t overstep.”
Ronnie took her phone back…and burst out laughing. “That was awesome.”
“Yeah?” Dallas grinned.
She nodded, sinking back in her seat with a satisfied smirk. “I just wish I could have seen Mike’s face.”
Dallas chuckled. “I take it he’s not used to people talking back.”
She shook her head with another sigh. Dallas’s chest seemed to expand with relief the more her tension visibly eased. Her head lolled against the back of the couch as she turned to face him. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He reached for her hand.
Threading their fingers together, they sat in companionable silence for a while. He felt his earlier anger stirring on Ronnie’s behalf. Her agent and her coach, her father and even her sister…
These were all people who should be looking out for Ronnie. Supporting her, not draining her.
No wonder she was dreading reentering the competitive circuit. The pressure on her shoulders was more than any one person should have to bear.
“Hey, Ronnie?”
She turned to him with a little smile that warmed his heart.
“Next time he calls, you include me, okay? There’s no way he’s allowed to treat you like that again.”
