Page 114 of Ice King

The guy smirked while fixing his suit jacket, bending over and picking up the phone he’d had in his hand. That’s what they were doing. Looking at something on his phone.

“No, he wasn’t going to hurt me and he’s not my ex,” she tossed out, still grumbling.

“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Kendrick,” the guy said. “But I am happily married.”

Great. He knew my name. So the hell what?

“Then who is he?”

She took her time, tilting her chin toward me, her eyes flashing as if she was the wolf instead. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the jerk was slowly allowing the smirk to shift to a full grin.

With a shake of her head, she took a deep breath. “Ford, meet Abbott Young with Creative Sporting Enterprises. I asked him to do me a huge favor in coming to see you play in hopes that he would consider representing you as your sports agent.”

Oh. My. God. Creative Sporting Enterprises was the best agency in the country if not the world.

And I’d just fucked it up.

“I don’t know what to say,” I managed.

“To the contrary, Mr. Kendrick.” Mr. Young told me. “You seem to have a great deal to say.”

His words were chastising.

Even worse, I could tell by the look of sheer disappointment on her face there was a good chance I’d lost something even more important.

Her.

CHAPTER 24

Ford

Forget groveling.

I didn’t deserve to have her even consider forgiving me. While I’d had my reasons to be concerned, my reaction had been… not only less than stellar and possessive, but bordering on asinine.

Who was I trying to fool? I’d acted like some jealous boyfriend in high school without deciphering the facts. She’d stormed out of the iceplex, disappearing. The calls had all gone to voicemail, the messages unreturned.

I’d given her a day to cool off, but this couldn’t stand. Not only because she deserved an explanation or a huge thank you, but because of how strongly I felt about her.

In the months of getting to know her, not only did I crave her luscious body, which of course I did. But there was so much more. Even the mating aspect was down on the totem pole of life. I craved her friendship and support. She was the air I breathed,the crystal-clear water I drank, and the reason I got up every morning.

“Then you need to tell her that.”

It took me a few seconds to realize I wasn’t alone. “What?” I hadn’t spoken out loud. Had I?

Jake glanced at my brother, who was sitting across the booth from me. “I am right. Don’t you think? He needs to get his ass out of this booth and head to her house and tell her exactly how he feels about her. No letting the door hit him in the face. No accepting threats of her going to the sheriff for a restraining order. Just going over there and refusing to take no for an answer.”

Still dazed, I slowly turned my head toward Beck, who was munching on fries. Off my plate. Granted, I hadn’t been hungry. Except for one thing.

Her.

“I agree,” Beck muttered. “But he’s a hardheaded son of a bitch and won’t admit when he was wrong.”

“Did I speak out loud?” I pressed, now glancing from one to the other. Somehow, Beck had convinced me to grab lunch with him.

“Men are all alike,” Jake offered.

“Yeah, well, that goes for you too. Everyone knows you’re in love with Roxanne. You need to go to her house and refuse to take no for an answer until she agrees to go out with you.”