The Deal with Love (One on One) (11 page)

“Is it true that you’re the one who spearheaded the trade for Brady?”

She struggled not to show her surprise. Her predecessor had taken all the credit for the deal. She’d let him because he was her boss, and because she could always take comfort in the truth. “It was my idea, yes.”

Drew looked at her with respect. “Every other team was scared to take a chance on him, but you thought outside the box. A risk taker. I like that.”

Great, but did he like her enough to sign with the team?

Chapter Eleven

“Are you getting hungry?” Elise asked.

“Yes,” Drew patted his stomach. “Please tell me dinner is next.”

“You’re in luck,” she said. “But not just any dinner. I wanted to try something a little different tonight.”

She’d followed his free-agent tour closely. Thanks to an insatiable sports media that had chronicled his every move during his visits to L.A., Miami, and Brooklyn, she knew those franchises had wined and dined him at some of the best five-star restaurants in the country. Which was fine, she supposed, but she’d done her research. Drew had grown up in a small town with a mom who’d been raised in Georgia. She would bet good money he like old-fashioned soul food. If so, the Stampede definitely had a leg up on their competition. “We’re going to my father’s house for dinner. Good Southern cooking and a chance for you to get to know the Stampede family better.”

He didn’t look as excited as she would have liked. “Who’s going to be there?”

“Me, my father, Mack, and Brady.”

“Is Christian coming?”

“Absolutely,” a new voice said.

Elise whirled toward the door. Her father was striding toward them with a huge grin on his face. What was he doing there? He wasn’t supposed to join them until they arrived at his home. She should have known he wouldn’t follow the plan.

Her dad slapped Drew on the back. “Hi, Drew. I’m Dale Templeton. Of course, Christian is going to join us. He’s part of the family now.”

Also not part of the plan. Filming had been scheduled to end when the arena tour finished. She forced her lips upward. “Dad’s right. Christian is always welcome.”

She ignored the glare Christian sent her way. He didn’t want to spend any more time in the same space as his father than was required, but that couldn’t be helped.

They traveled en masse to her father’s luxurious home in an exclusive Dallas neighborhood. She’d grown up in this house. It held tons of memories, good, bad, and sad. Her mom. Laughter. Christmas and birthday parties and Thanksgivings and just random cookouts. It was home.

When she stepped inside, she took a deep breath. The house always smelled like mouthwatering food.

“Hi, Betty.” She greeted the woman who waited for her with her arms wide open. Although her dad had gotten his start as a chef at his first restaurant before leaving the kitchen to concentrate on the business side of the franchise, he didn’t have much time to cook anymore. He’d hired Betty to be his personal chef after conducting countless interviews and taste tests. According to him, Betty was good enough to work in one of his restaurants. The highest praise he could offer another chef. Lucky for him, Betty hadn’t wanted the stress of running a professional kitchen. Lucky for Elise, down home soul food was Betty’s specialty.

Elise mentally fist pumped when she saw all the food piled on the dining room table. Fried chicken, collard greens, biscuits, cream corn, green beans, ribs, and pot roast. It smelled amazing.

Drew said yes to it all. After he emptied his heaping plate, he sank back against his chair with a satisfied moan. “Thank you. I can’t eat like this very often. Not good for my fitness, but I couldn’t stop. I haven’t had a meal like that since my mom’s annual Christmas dinner. This rivals anything she’s ever made.”

Elise beamed. She couldn’t help herself. At least she managed to stifle the squeal that tried to leap past her lips. “Thanks,” she said, her voice only slightly higher than normal. “Betty will be happy to hear that.” She paused. “You know we’ve talked about what it would mean for you to play here, but there’s one thing we haven’t discussed.”

Drew met her gaze head-on. “The fact that the Stampede didn’t draft me nine years ago, although you’d made it pretty clear you would.”

She liked him. No need to pussyfoot around the truth, even with his agent, Brady, Mack, and Dale sitting around the table listening in as well. “Yes.”

“Look, to be perfectly honest, I was mad as hell when y’all didn’t draft me, but looking back, it was a good thing. I had to learn how to deal with disappointment for the first time in my life. I’ve always been a planner, and I had to readjust on the fly. It was great playing in California near my family and friends.”

“And now? Do you see yourself making the switch?” Elise braced herself to hear the negatives. Whatever he said, she’d have to be quick on her feet and think of a rejoinder.

Drew lifted a shoulder. “I’m not sure.”

“His current team has let him know they’d welcome him back with open arms,” his agent, seated on Drew’s far side, interjected with a smirk. “It’s hard to turn your back on that.”

“I know how hard it can be to leave the only team you know. In my case, I didn’t have a choice, but I feel like Dallas is home now,” Brady said from across the table. “You’ll love being here, especially when you get to spend more than one night here instead of getting on a plane and flying to the next city after the game.”

Elise wanted to hug Brady. Better that than strangle Drew’s agent. Brady had really come through for them today, and it was exactly what they needed. The perspective of a player. She could wax poetic about how great Dallas was, but players wanted to feel comfortable and really get the lay of the land, and the only ones who could understand their perspective were other players.

“Dude, you know I’d welcome you with open arms,” Christian added, leaning forward to talk around Elise. “We can relive our college years.”

Drew laughed. “Those were the days. What have you been up to lately? We haven’t talked in too long. Last time we spoke, you’d quit your job to teach.”

“I’m still teaching.”

“Are you done-done with films? I saw the one you got all those fancy awards for.”

“No, I’m working on something new.” He said it almost reluctantly. Elise eyed him. Was this the project her father had promised to help him with?

Drew didn’t catch his hesitancy. “What’s it about?”

Christian glanced her way before answering. “What it means to be a father.”

Silence had never been so loud. Everyone around the table who knew his history with Mack grew tense. Every shift of body, every clink of fork against plate was magnified ten times to her ears. She swung her gaze across the table. Mack looked like someone had hit him with a sledgehammer.

Drew took a sip of his sweet tea, unaware of the tension seeping into the room. “How are you framing it?”

Christian shifted in his chair. “Exploring the differences in the meanings of ‘father’ and ‘dad.’ Talking to kids and adults whose dads have affected them in negative and positive ways. Interviewing fathers about what they’ve done right and wrong, then talking to their children to see if their recollections match up. My ultimate goal is to see if I can answer the question of what it means to be a father.”

Again, no one else spoke. Drew looked around, finally becoming aware that something wasn’t right. “Sounds cool, man.”

“It does,” Mack said quietly.

Christian’s mouth tightened. Elise sought his hand under the table. He gripped her hand hard. Damn, this was all her fault. She should have pushed the issue harder when Christian claimed he was okay.

The door to the kitchen swung open. Elise had never been so happy to see Betty in her life.

The chef held up a cake plate. “Anyone up for carrot cake?”

Cake could always be counted on to lighten the mood. Everyone around the table seemed to agree, digging into the dessert with much enthusiasm. Satisfied murmurs filled the air.

“So, Drew, what do we have to do to get you to sign?” Dale asked. “We’ll do whatever it takes. We’d love to have your signature on a contract before you leave tonight.”

Elise glared at her father. He loved being the center of attention. He was a fabulous businessman, something she could never deny. But he had a hard time taking a backseat to anyone when it came to making big, splashy moves. Which didn’t usually bother her that much, but they’d agreed she would take the lead on this. She couldn’t do her job successfully if he constantly interfered. He’d been doing so good during dinner. She should have known it wouldn’t last, no matter what he promised.

Christian patted her leg under the table. She glanced at him and took note of the sympathy in his eyes. It was nice to know she had his support. Her father wasn’t doing her or the team any favors. She’d done her research. Drew wasn’t the type to make rash decisions. Every decision, including his flashy wardrobe, was well thought out.

Drew’s lips tilted upward in a sad imitation of a smile. “I’ll let you know.”

Betty walked back in. “Can I get anyone anything else?”

“I’m good,” Drew said. “Everything was fantastic, especially the cake. Don’t tell my mom, but she couldn’t have done any better.”

Betty smiled. “Thank Elise. It’s her recipe.”

“Yes, carrot cake was always Elise’s favorite,” Dale said. “I’ll never forget the time her mother and I caught her in the kitchen in the middle of the night, face full of cake. We’d heard a strange noise and went to investigate. Turns out she’d dragged a chair over to the counter. It was the cutest thing ever. She had cake everywhere.”

Elise’s grip on her fork tightened to a painful level. She was going to kill him. How could she be seen by her contemporaries as competent and professional when her own father who didn’t see her that way and undermined her?

…

Later that night, after Drew and his agent left to return to California, she cornered her father in his office. “What was that at dinner?”

Her father adjusted the framed photo of her mother he kept on his desk. “What are you talking about? I thought it went well.”

“I’m sure you did. But I’ve told you more than once that you need to treat me like an adult, and that can’t happen if you’re telling stories about the time I became a cake bandit.”

At least her father had the decency to look embarrassed. “I got caught up in the moment. I love telling funny stories, and that came out of my mouth before I could stop it.”

Elise took a deep breath. “Okay, but what happened to me taking the lead in these negotiations? Why did you tell him we would do whatever it took to sign him?”

Stubbornness settled on her father’s face. “Because we will. You know it. I know it.”

She pointed at her chest. “But
I’m
the GM. I’m the one who has to deal with Drew and his agent. I don’t want them making unreasonable demands, but that’s hard to combat when you say we’ll give them whatever they want.”

Her father settled back in his chair. “Well, it’s done now. Did he or his agent give any indication in which direction they were leaning?”

Elise refused to feel defensive. “No, they were noncommittal. Drew didn’t make any promises, but I think he liked what he heard tonight.”

Her father lifted his eyebrows. “You think?” He wasn’t one for thinking something would happen. He’d wanted to have a chain of successful restaurants, and he’d done it. He’d wanted to own a championship-winning pro sports team, and he’d made that happen. Failure wasn’t an option in his world. “Make it happen, Elise. I want him on this team.”

Message received. Succeed or else. She’d fought for this job. Now it was time to put up or shut up.

…

Christian went in search of Elise. She’d wandered off, saying she needed to speak with her father, but he wanted to check on her. Scratching an itch. That’s all that was between them. If only he could make himself believe that. He’d noticed the look on her face several times throughout dinner when her father was being his usual exuberant self. The night hadn’t been easy on her.

He stopped outside a door when he heard voices coming from inside. Elise and her father. He settled against the opposite wall to wait for her.

Mack showed up a few seconds later. Christian stifled a sigh. He’d done everything he could to ignore him at dinner, concentrating on catching up with his college friend and Elise, the woman who starred in his dreams every night. He should have known Mack wouldn’t leave it at that.

“Hi, Christian,” Mack said. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going fine.” He could be civil.

“I enjoyed hearing about your documentary.”

Christian nodded and willed Elise to come out of the office.

“Sounds like it will be fascinating,” Mack said. “Important.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ve watched your other work. I was impressed. You handle your subjects with such care. I felt like I’d known them my entire life by the time the documentary ended.”

“Thanks.”

“I want you to interview me for your new project.”

Christian’s head whipped to the side to face Mack. The other man met his gaze with no hesitation. “You want to be part of my documentary?”

Mack’s face was resolute. “I do.”

The shock coursing through his body chased away his reluctance to talk to Mack. “Why?”

Mack straightened to his full height. “Because I know what it means to be a father. What it means to let your children down. What it means to make them proud of you. What it takes to raise them. How it feels not to be there for them and what you tell yourself in order to get through life without letting the guilt overwhelm you.”

Christian was stunned into silence. Not only had Mack not condemned the project, he wanted to be a part of it. He had to know Christian wouldn’t spare his feelings. His sister had dealt with the situation in her own way. The documentary was his. A begrudging respect wormed its way through the numbness that usually consumed him when he thought about Mack.

Mack waited a few seconds, then sighed. “It was worth a try. Just think about it.”

He’s the only father I have
. Something Elise had said that had stuck with him even though he’d tried to force it out of his mind.

“Okay. Fine. You can do it.” The words slipped out before he could take them back.

The excitement that leaped on to Mack’s face made him want to rescind the invitation. What the hell was he doing? He didn’t want to spend any more time with Mack than he had to. But he bit his tongue. What was done was done, and he didn’t go back on his word.

Mack searched his face looking for hell knew what. Christian unflinchingly met his gaze. Mack nodded. “I’ll have my assistant get in touch with you to set up a time for the interview.” Then he left.