Page 10 of Soft
I let my gaze travel upward, keeping our eyes locked. "They're better today."
"Were you able to?—"
Cutting him off, I added, "I saw you were able to make that appointment for me. Thank you."
"It's no trouble at all, boss. Sorry they didn't have anything this week, but I did try. I can call them today if you want instead of using the app. I know sometimes there's a cancellation."
I held up my hand to stop him, knowing he would go on forever if I let him. "There's no reason to do all that. I'm sure I'll be fine until then. If I need your help, I’ll call you in here once you're done with everything else."
His smile grew, and he put his hands on his hips as if ready to take on an opponent. "I'm your man, boss. I’ll get everything done as soon as possible so I can be at your disposal."
I opened my mouth to say that wasn't necessary, but he spun on his heels and rushed out of the room like his feet were on fire. I just knew he was going to speed past Cheyenne and start doing things a mile a minute.
Sure enough, she appeared in my doorway a moment later, eyes wide, thumb pointed over her shoulder. "What was that all about? He's out there bouncing around like a bunny rabbit."
The visual was amusing, so I laughed. "It's complicated. Mostly I told him that if I needed some help again today, I would call for him as long as he was done with his work."
She leaned against the wall, arms folded as she smiled. "The kid is persistent. I'll give him that. Are you worried about your eyesight?"
I tilted my hand back and forth in the gesture to say I wasn't sure. "The issue has been happening more and more. I really want to be safe over sorry. Maybe it's just that I finally need glasses. You know I've been putting it off. They'll probably give me bifocals or something." I wrinkled my brow at the thought.
Sure, I might be quickly approaching forty, but that didn't mean I wanted to walk around having to tilt my glasses up and down every time I needed to read something. I didn't want glassesanyway, and I sure wouldn't be able to do contacts. The thought of touching my eye was scary.
Cheyenne stood back up and gave me a brief nod. "Well, I'm here to help too if you need it, though I imagine Moseley would pull me out of the way forcefully if I offered my assistance. The kid wants to be in your good graces."
"He already is. He does a great job. I have plans to invite him on full-time as soon as his internship is done."
"That's pretty smart. I have no doubt he’ll be in your corner every step of the way."
With a quick rap against the door frame, she left. I sat there pondering over how the future was ever-changing. The life that I thought I was going to have was nothing like what I was living, and it appeared there were more changes in store.
Pushing the worry from my mind, I focused on getting what I needed to do before meeting with Paxton. If things went well, there would be paperwork and contracts to sign. I would also need to go talk with Royce about the possibility of bringing a player on. I knew they wouldn't dismiss me, but it was also a gamble to use our connection that way.
Paxton was good enough for me to take the risk. I'd do anything for the people I believed in.
I couldn't have explained it if I tried, but the minute I pressed the button to accept the video call from Paxton, it was as if the world shifted beneath my feet. I couldn't even see his face yet, since only his husky voice came through.
"Hello? Are you there?" he said.
I fanned my face. I hoped he couldn't see me because, wow, this was unexpected. My body lit up as desire coursed through me, and it was just from a voice. Then the picture came in clear, revealing one of the most attractive men I'd ever seen in my life.
My jaw, quite literally, was only being held on because I was clenching it so hard. The damn thing would have fallen to my desk if I had reacted how I wanted to.
I thought I’d make it. Thought I’d be okay to have a conversation with him.
Then he smiled, showing off two deep dimples.
FUUUCCKKK.
"Hi, Grizzly," he said, voice softer now but still with that rasp that was such a tease.
"Hi," I started, only to have to stop and clear my throat. "Hi, Paxton," I said, voice all business. "It's nice to meet you."
"You as well," he said, tilting his head to the side. "I have wanted to connect with you for a long time now."
I hummed, not wanting to interrupt him if he had more to say. I didn't want to be doted on, but knowing his motivation for reaching out to me would be a good start. His message had been brief. I needed more.
"As you might have seen, if you're on social media a lot… you may know that I recently parted ways with my agent. He tried to put me with CenterGain."
