Power Play (Play Makers Book 4) (37 page)

Brian walked around the table to Darcie and
snuggled against her. “Will you help us?”

“Absolutely.”

Emily gave him a smile. “We’ll both help you
in a while, but I need to talk to Aunt Darcie first. And maybe
you’ll surprise us and work the whole puzzle yourselves. I’d be so
proud.”

Zack gave Darcie a look. “That’s blackmail,
right?”

“It’s called sweet talk. But I prefer to
offer bribes, like the sugarless bubble gum I hid in my
carry-on.”

His eyes widened. “For us?”

“Of course.”

He turned to his mother and asked
diplomatically, “Can we have it, Mom? While we do the puzzle? If we
promise not to stick it to stuff?”

“Sounds fair.” She smiled at her sons.
“Dishes first. Just pile them next to the sink. And don’t bother
Daddy, okay? He needs to think.”

“Because of Aunt Darcie?”

She laughed happily. “I’m afraid so. But
luckily she brought bribes so we’ll forgive her.”

“I
always
forgive you, Aunt Darcie,”
Brian told her softly.

Touched, she cuddled him close, then patted
Zack’s head, took a last bite of her cookie, and followed Emily
into the living room, where they took their natural positions on
the sofa with Nell stretched out between them.

“Sorry, Em,” she told her friend sincerely.
“I feel awful dumping this in his lap.”

“The nightmare?” Emily grinned. “Don’t be
fooled. He’s in hog heaven.”

“Huh?”

“He’s so darned good at his job these
days—so masterful really—it’s almost too easy. But this? He can
taste
it. And he loves it.”

“Wow, just when I was hoping Johnny would
say no. Make it go away.”

“That would crush Murf,” Emily assured her.
“But Johnny comes first. And rightfully so.”

Darcie nibbled Nell’s bare toes. “There’s
not really a conflict though, is there? Even if the Rustlers have a
great year, they won’t get to the Super Bowl. So no danger of
Johnny and Wyatt squaring off.”

“Not this year, but maybe too soon for
comfort,” Emily mused. “Of course, in another year or two,
you’ll
be Wyatt’s agent, so that makes it more
palatable.”

“Me?” Darcie winced. “Wyatt’s complimentary
these days, but he’s also a perfectionist. So that would be asking
a lot.” Scooping Nell into her lap, she moved closer to her friend.
“Tell me the truth, Em. Is it possible Johnny will nix this?”

“Maybe,” she said with a sigh. “He’s
diplomatic, so he always says the right thing about Wyatt. About
how talented he is. And how it’s more fun to play against a
challenging opponent. But the press hammered the rivalry pretty
hard these last few years. He’d have to be a saint not to take it
personally.”

“And if it’s personal, it really doesn’t
matter whether they play each other or not? He’ll just expect Murf
to be loyal?”

“It’s possible. But remember, it’s a two-way
street. Murf did a lot for Johnny, too. I mean, a
lot
. So if
he sees how much Murf wants this, and sees how much it helps his
dad’s team, my guess is, he says yes.”

“Whew.”

Emily arched an inquiring eyebrow. “What
about you and Wyatt? Romantically, I mean.”

“I can’t deal with that right now,” Darcie
admitted. “Yesterday was a roller coaster. He told me deep dark
secrets. Then he said he didn’t want to try the romance route again
because he knew we’d just fight, which is true. Then
I
said
horribly
hurtful things about his dad. Then the next thing I
knew, he was kissing me like his life depended on it and telling me
I’m the most amazing woman he ever met. Now we’re co-conspirators
in this crazy deal. Complete with chili dogs. So
you
tell
me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Emily told her
carefully. “I mean, I sympathize. Because it’s hard to deal with
romantic issues and business at the same time. But what if you
bring him into PMA and then end up hating each other? How would you
handle that? How would
Murf
handle it? It’s—well,
unacceptable for everyone.”

“Oh, Lord.” Darcie sat back, completely
blindsided. “I didn’t even consider that. I mean, I think Wyatt and
I could be professional no matter what happened. But
. . . well, wow.”

“If you were just banging the good stuff
with Alexi Romanov or even Sean Decker, you could easily be friends
afterwards. But this thing with Wyatt is so intense. How would you
even know it’s really over?”

“Ugh.”

Emily arched a firm eyebrow. “People can’t
just coexist at an agency like PMA. It would be trite—and wrong—to
say it’s a family. Because it’s not. It’s like some amazing
symbiotic relationship where everyone feeds off everyone else’s
energy, and talent, and loyalty. Or at least that’s how Murf and I
see it.”

“You’re right. I’d never want to damage
that. But I honestly think Wyatt and I would stay friends no matter
what.” She winced and added wistfully, “So maybe we should just
start out that way, right? Like he says, we’ll break up eventually
anyway. So maybe we should skip that part and go straight to
friendship.”

Even as she said it, her body rebelled. Skip
that
part? The
best
part? When Wyatt kissed her, or
even looked at her with the intention of kissing her, she virtually
soared. And when he made love to her, her insides ached with need
then exploded with pleasure.

Skip that? Was Emily nuts?

“You’re hopeless,” Emily muttered. “Luckily,
he
isn’t.”

“Hmm?”

“He likes to plan things. Control every
detail. So plan
this
. Have one last monkey-fest, but
commit—on
paper
—to staying friends no matter how rocky the
break-up is.”

“A contract to govern the break-up?” Darcie
murmured. “It’s brilliant. Very Wyatt-esque. But can I actually
suggest it? It sounds so negative.”

“Do it for Murf,” Emily suggested
gently.

The sentiment tugged at Darcie’s heart.
Emily rarely asked for anything, but she loved her husband so much,
she couldn’t watch his empire falter, not even to serve the cause
of great sex for her best friend.

“You’re right. I don’t want to wreck the
symbiosis,” she told her loyally. Then she started laughing. “A
break-up contract? Only
you
could think of that.”

“Only
you
could need one,” Emily
retorted with a grin, clearly relieved. Grabbing Nell from Darcie,
she told the baby, “Come on, Smoochie. Let’s bother Daddy while
Aunt Darcie builds a robot with your brothers.”

• • •

When Darcie awoke in the guest room the next
morning, she was still laughing at the zany genius of Emily
Jardin-Murphy. Not only was it a great idea, but Wyatt would love
it. In fact, he was probably already wondering if he could actually
sleep with his agent’s employee without making waves, especially
given the tsunamis from their last two arguments.

And meanwhile, they could go back to bed.
And while it would be bittersweet, since she had fallen in love
with him, it would also be too hot to miss.

And if Murf decided not to handle Wyatt’s
case. Or if Johnny nixed it. Then she and Wyatt could get as messy
as they wanted for as long as they wanted. And when it ended,
well—it would definitely have been worth it. She might even keep
the break-up contract and pull it out at that point anyway, just so
she never actually had to say good-bye.

She was so confident that the contract was a
good idea she almost told him about it when he called early that
morning to compare travel notes. He would be landing in LA that
afternoon at four, would settle into his hotel and, once unpacked,
head over to her house.

“Can I take you to dinner?” he asked
cheerfully.

“Are you renting the Jag again?”

“Are those your terms?” He chuckled. “Sure,
we’ll do it in style. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“On the dot?”

“Is that a slam?”

She laughed. “I’m ridiculously punctual
myself. Haven’t you noticed?”

“It’s true. You’re the perfect woman. See
you at seven, babe.”

• • •

After a light breakfast with the Murphys,
she rode with her boss to the airport, where her flight for LA
would depart at ten forty-five. Since he wasn’t needed in San Diego
until late afternoon, he would return home and work on “the
nightmare” again for a few hours. When Darcie dared to ask how
things were looking, he reminded her it didn’t matter unless Johnny
gave the green light. Then he gave her his recurring lecture about
calendars and franchise tags and all the many and sundry reasons
why she should never have dumped this into his lap.

“Maybe I should call Wyatt and tell him we
just won’t do it,” she said teasingly. “He can find another agent,
right?”

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone else,” he
muttered. “Plus, the damage is done.”

In other words, Em’s right. You’re loving
this, you big phony.

After pulling up to the terminal, he met her
at the rear of the SUV and set her rolling case on the ground. Then
he eyed her sternly. “You were clear with him, right? He can’t talk
to anyone. Not even his own mother.”

“Especially not his own mother,” she
agreed.

“You’re hilarious.” Pulling her into a quick
hug, he reminded her, “Don’t talk to any more football players. You
can’t handle it.”

“Got it. And thanks, Murf. I know I ruined
your weekend. But maybe something good will come of it.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, his eyes twinkling.
“Stranger things have happened. Have a safe flight, kid. I’ll call
you as soon as we’ve made our decision.”

• • •

Once in the air, she did her best to sketch
out terms for a break-up contract on her tablet computer. Her goal
was to come up with something casual, nonthreatening, and hopefully
not too mock-able, while also making sure Wyatt would take it
seriously. Unfortunately, the casual approach was too casual, so
she finally went for full-on mock-able, beginning with as many
“whereases” as she could muster, including:

Whereas the parties have genuine affection
for one another; and

Whereas the parties wish to maintain a
collegial relationship, and

Whereas the parties also have a romantic
relationship;

Therefore, we do solemnly promise that at
the first sign of a serious argument, we will respectfully retreat
to neutral corners for forty-eight hours, at the end of which, if
one or both of us is still angry, or if one or both of us feels
like the romantic relationship cannot succeed, then

We hereby pledge to abandon romance in favor
of our collegial relationship without assigning blame or
recrimination and will henceforth

“Henceforth
what?”
she muttered aloud
as the plane made its descent. “You promise not to hold a grudge?
Not to get jealous if you see him with someone else? How many ways
can
that
go wrong?”

Glad for an excuse to stow her tablet in the
front pocket, she tried to imagine her future with Wyatt at the
Patrick Murphy Agency. Despite Emily’s suggestion that Darcie might
eventually be the lead agent for the superstar, she had no such
illusions. Wyatt would be a mega client from the moment he walked
through the door, second only to Johnny. No disrespect to Bam
Bannerman, but there was no way Murf would hand Wyatt off to
anyone. Not ever.

So even if they dated for a while and then
had a messy break-up, surely they could be distant but friendly at
social and professional events.

Except Em’s right. Murf wants everyone to
feed on each other’s success. Brainstorm across client lines.
Create something more powerful than the simple sum of the
individual players.

So she’d have to try again with the goofy
contract as soon as she got home. Then she could present the idea
to Wyatt over dinner, and after absorbing his teasing barbs, make
him see how important it was.

As soon as the plane touched down, she
checked for messages from Wyatt or Murf, but instead saw that
Rachel Gillette had tried twice to reach her in the last half hour,
so she called back right away.

“Rachel?”

“Oh, Darcie, thank God!”

“I just got in from Dallas. Is everything
okay?”

“That depends. Are you free for lunch?”
Rachel laughed sheepishly. “I know it doesn’t sound like an
emergency, but
please
tell me you can make it. Erica’s in
town, which is a rare event, so I drove up. And Johnny’s cousin
Sophie is joining us and she’s dying to meet you. I understand you
met her fiancé recently?”

“Jake Dublin, raconteur?”

“He’s so funny, isn’t he? I can swing by the
airport and pick you up if that helps. And we’re eating at the Fly
By, so it’s super close.”

Darcie sucked in a breath. She needed to get
home, not just to work on the break-up contract but to prepare for
her date with Wyatt.

But what about Bam? Her only
actual
client. Shouldn’t she foster the relationship with him and Rachel?
And since Johnny was their top VIP client, she should spend time
with Erica too.

Who are you kidding?
she teased
herself.
You just want to meet Jake’s Elevator Girl.

“Okay, Rachel. I’ll catch a cab and be there
by one thirty. Does that work?”

“Perfect! It’ll be so much fun.”

“Any chance Kerrie’s coming?”

Rachel heaved an audible sigh. “Erica wanted
me to invite her, but it’s so awkward. Just between you and me,
Kerrie practically hates her these days.”

“She’s jealous. And frankly, who can blame
her? The way he raves about Erica—”

“You mean like:
She smells so good?”
Rachel drawled.

Darcie burst out laughing, then gave the
person across the aisle from her an apologetic smile and whispered
to Rachel, “I’ve heard that one, believe it or not.”