The Game by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

His eyes dropped to my lips for a half second. If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. “You and the guy you worked with exclusive?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Not yet anyway. But I also think I need to get settled in my new role and let that be the focus for a while—at least get to know all the different people in the organization and learn who I can trust and who I need to look out for.”

Christian rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. “Alright. I get that. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I know everyone in the corporate organization pretty well, and all of the players. I’ll come by after practice and help you figure it all out.” He shrugged. “Sooner you’re settled, the sooner you can have dinner with me.”

“I never said I’d have dinner with you.”

Christian leaned in and kissed my cheek. “We’ll work on that, too. ’Night, boss lady.”





CHAPTER 4




* * *



BELLA



“The last thing we need to talk about is Sports Illustrated.”

“What about it?” I asked.

Beau Fallon, VP of Publicity, tapped his pen to his notepad. “They still want you for the cover. The president of the conglomerate that owns the magazine called me himself to ask what it would take to get it done.”

“Like I told you, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to have a high profile right now. I need to make friends with the people who work here, not alienate them further by flashing my face all over and acting like I think I’m a rock star.”

“I know, and I agreed when you made that decision. But I wanted to raise the issue again because they brought up a good point—you’re the youngest person to ever own a team, and a woman. It could be inspiring to other young women to know someone who looks like them is on top at an unlikely place.”

I shook my head. “Maybe down the road, but now isn’t the right time.”

He pulled something out of his leather bag on the floor and plopped it on the table. It looked like a stack of magazines wrapped in plastic.

“I’ll let them know. But they sent me these and asked that I give them to you.”

“What are they?”

“Some of their issues with trailblazing women in sports on them.” He pointed. “Billie Jean King, Serena and Venus Williams, Katherine Switzer…”

“Who’s Katherine Switzer?”

“She was the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon, back in ’67. Women weren’t allowed to compete, so she entered as KV Switzer. During the marathon, one of the refs realized a woman was running and tried to chase her off the course. But she was the first official female entrant to complete the race.” He pushed the stack of magazines forward. “You just made the point they were trying to make by giving you these. People don’t know about women’s accomplishments unless their stories are told.”

“I can definitely appreciate that it’s important to tell women’s stories. But I’d like to actually accomplish something before being hailed.”

Beau smiled. “You sound like your father.”

“I do?”

He nodded. “The man had made it to the NFL, broken a dozen records during his career, and then amassed a fortune through wise investing in oil and gas—enough to buy a team by the time he was forty. Yet he never felt like he deserved accolades.”

I had so much trouble reconciling the positive things I heard about John Barrett with the father who didn’t step up to take responsibility when I was born. But so many of the people who worked here revered him, so I kept that thought to myself.

“Anything else we need to discuss?”

Beau shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

The rest of the afternoon flew by. I had meetings with the legal department and operations team, and then sat in on the sales-team meeting. It was after five by the time I walked back down the long hall that led to my office. On my way, a photo I’d passed a dozen times finally stopped me. It was of my father and Tiffany and Rebecca. They were holding the Super Bowl trophy in the air, while ticker tape rained down all over them. I studied my father’s smiling face, again trying to figure out who the man was. A minute or so passed…or maybe it was longer. I was so lost in my head that I really had no idea until a man’s voice snapped me out of it.

“That was one hell of a crazy day.”

I hadn’t even heard Christian approach. “Oh, hey.”

He lifted his chin to the framed photo. “Did you watch that game?”

I shook my head. “I doubt I even knew the game was being played or what teams were in it.”

“I like how honest you are.”

“You might be the only one in this building.”

Christian smiled. “Apologies for being late getting up here. My knee was swollen today, so PT made me go for a scan.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Probably pushed it a little harder than I should’ve in therapy. You ready for Bruins people training 101?”

I shook my head. “You really don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I want to.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to do with that answer, so I tilted my head toward my office. “Come on.”