Page 1 of Drop Shot
CHAPTER 1
ELIAS
“Enough,”my voice cuts through the room. “I know what you’re getting at. Now turn that off.” I flick my fingers to the computer screen. I don’t need to watch a second more.
“Doyou get it, Elias?” Jackson, my manager for the past few years asks. He’s only about thirty-three but the lines around his eyes and mouth make him look older. Hate to admit they’re probably all from his frowning at me. “Because I’m not sure you do.”
“I do, believe me.” I turn away from the screen, doing a few revolutions in the chair.
Jackson lets out an exasperated sigh and slams the laptop lid closed.
“You’ve lost your shit in your last few matches. Your temper used to be amusing to spectators, cute even, but now you look like a hot head who can’t control his emotions. Not to mention, some of the photos that are appearing online of you out at clubs with women when you should be focusing on your sport. You’re lucky most people don’t give a shit about tennis and these photos haven’t landed somewhere.”
I grab a pen off the table, flipping it around and between my fingers.
“Is there a point to this tirade of yours?”
Jackson pulls out a chair and sits down across from me. To my left, my assistant, Whimsy scribbles furiously on her iPad.
I wonder if she’s writingmy boss is an idiotover and over again. Wouldn’t blame her if she is.
“Yes.” Jackson laces his fingers together, laying his hands on the table. “This shit needs to stop. You need to show up to all your practices, you need to not lose your shit at matches, and you need to stop going out and partying.”
It’s a conversation we’ve had before, and I never listen. Not because I don’t care, Ido, but because I’m in a rut I can’t seem to get out of.
“That’s where Whimsy comes in.”
Whimsy’s head jerks up at the sound of her name. Clearly, she’s as caught off guard by this new development as I am.
Jackson’s statement has me rearing back in confusion. “Whimsy? What the fuck does she have to do with any of this?”
If he’s about to place any blame on my assistant’s shoulders I might just punch him. Whimsy is a saint, saving my ass from all kinds of precarious situations I land myself in, and keeping my life running like a well-oiled machine.
“We’re going to release it to the media that the two of you are dating.”
Whimsy squeaks, her pencil falling to the floor. She quickly drops to the ground in search of it, her light pink skirt clinging to her shapely ass. I jerk my head away, scared of being caught checking her out. I’ve never entertained the idea of going there with Whimsy, because frankly, she’s too good of a girl for me and she’s too important to me for me to risk ruining our working relationship for sex.
I cross my arms over my chest. “But we’re not dating.”
Whimsy pops back up with her pencil.
Jackson sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m aware. Celebrities have PR relationships all the time. Why can’t you?” It’s a rhetorical question, because he barrels on. “A lot of people in the tennis world know Whimsy, even your fans, and a relationship between the two of you would generate some much-needed good buzz for you and distract people from your recent behavior. It gives them something else to be invested in.”
I purse my lips, thinking it over.
Beside me, Whimsy says, “I had no idea about any of this. I swear.”
My brows furrow. “I didn’t think you did.”
She lets out a breath, shoulders squared.
For someone with the nameWhimsyshe’s so damn proper in her girly pink dress, half her blond hair clipped back. Makeup impeccable. I don’t know how she manages to put herself together, not a hair out of place,andtake care of my entire life. But she does and she makes it look effortless.
“Whimsy, you’ll be compensated for your time, but this will cease your job assisting Elias. It doesn’t look right for him to date his assistant and for her to keep working.”
“Whoa,” I interject. “We haven’t agreed to anything.”
Jackson gives what’s probably his fiftieth body rattling sigh since I entered the room. “You will.”
