The Winner Takes All (Complete Collection)

4. Out of the Zone

4

OUT OF THE ZONE

Maddox

As I close my bar tab, I clear my head of lustful thoughts. At dinner, I’ll focus on my credentials—Adriana’s too—and impress Zane with those. I’ll be straightforward and businesslike.

The way I should have behaved at the bar.

After I tuck my platinum card back into my wallet, I weave through the dining room to the booth reserved in the corner. Vance and Adriana are seated on one side, which leaves me to slide in next to Zane. I get another hit of his scent—the hint of oak from his aftershave and soap from his post-game shower. I try to ignore it; it’s already been near-fatal to my judgment.

Zane doesn’t even look at me as we peruse our menus.

After we order, Vance takes the lead, launching into the details of my new role at CTM. “So, here’s the good news,” he tells Zane, gesturing to Adriana, then me. “Our sports management team has been watching these two while we’ve been competing with them.”

My right-hand woman clears her throat. “Well, you made a good attempt to compete,” Adriana says with a cheeky smile.

Vance holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. Our philosophy is if you can’t beat ’em, hire ’em the hell away . Seriously though,” he says to his client. “I’ve got you covered when it comes to negotiations with the Dragons, but we wanted more specialized expertise on the brand side because it’s so vital to sports marketing.”

Now’s my turn to impress the man I should not have hit on. I rattle off the deals we’ve inked with Fortune 100 brands for all our clients, like the Seductive Cologne deal for Carter Hendrix on the Renegades, before I finish with, “And we also worked with Crosby Cash on the San Francisco Cougars to develop a line of lucky socks.”

The third baseman is famous for his superstition regarding footwear, but I might have specifically mentioned him because he’s another baseball player.

“Good to know,” Zane says evenly, then goes quiet again.

That sure as shit doesn’t sound like he’s warming back up. I’ve got a long way to go if I want to win him over.

I rattle off more of our deals from the last several years. “And I personally handle Nate Chandler’s endorsement deals, as you noted,” I say. Hiring a billboard to say I strike killer deals for all my clients would be less obvious, but I’m determined to regain his respect. And, since Nate’s one of the team captains for the San Francisco Hawks and a high-profile player in the NFL, who happens to be gay, I add, “We make sure players of all backgrounds get the deals they deserve, matching them with the right brands.”

Zane turns to me, his jaw set. “And what will that mean for me? And maybe, say, Energize Drinks?”

Vance cuts in. “That’s why I asked Maddox and Adriana here. They know Energize Drinks well.”

He shifts his eyes away when he says it. I’m not surprised. He warned me before dinner I’d have to deliver the bad news.

Zane perks up, sitting higher. “That so?”

Ah, hell.

But better to rip off the Band-Aid. “Listen, I don’t think Energize Drinks is going to happen,” I say.

“It’s not?” Zane asks it like he’s fighting off the disappointment. Trying to hide it from the three of us.

I don’t want to make Vance look bad, but Energize Drinks never should have been on the table. It’s common knowledge to Dragons fans that Zane is a water or bust guy when it comes to quenching his on-field thirst. He’s not the right athlete to endorse a sugary, jet-fueled, hyper-caffeinated drink.

“It’s not a good fit,” I say. “Maybe a water brand would be a better one to pursue. A water-bottle maker, even, since you have that lucky?—”

“Lucky water bottle,” Zane cuts in, and we finish at the same time. His lips curve up. “How did you know?”

“You mentioned it in an interview last year. The game against the Barn Owls where you hit a grand slam. The day you?—”

“Got the bottle,” Zane supplies, grinning now.

Yes. Fucking yes. I am making inroads.

“That’s the type of partnership we need to find for you,” I say, tapping the table for emphasis.

“The most successful endorsements happen when there’s a natural alignment,” Adriana chimes in. She has a great way with clients, keeping a good-news face on as she sticks to her guns. The woman is disciplined and focused—a perfect partner for me.

Vance nods, smiling sagely. “My man Maddox has some meetings in New York, Los Angeles, and London in the coming weeks to schmooze some brands. Maybe find a better fit for you, Z.”

I take nothing for granted. Just because I joined CTM doesn’t guarantee Zane will say yes to me taking point on landing his first endorsement deal.

If Zane doesn’t want to be repped by us, it’s his prerogative to say no. But Vance isn’t going to ask straight out if he’s all in on working with Adriana and me, and I doubt Zane would answer on the spot if it meant saying no to our faces.

He might say yes on the spot, though, if he likes us.

Right now, he looks as if he’s working through possibilities in his head. Pros and cons maybe.

I wait on the edge of my seat. Then the server arrives with a silver tray of glistening nigiri, so I’ll have to wait longer.

“Your sushi platter,” he says, then sets it down.

Zane stares ravenously at the fresh fish. “Let’s eat,” he says, like he wants to devour every morsel. Kind of like he sounded when he propositioned me.

My head swims with inconvenient lust again, and I clench my fists under the table to clear the fog of desire.

I wish I could erase that encounter at the bar, rewind time so it never happened. Mostly, though, I wish I could say yes to his offer to take me home.

But I’ve never touched a client or come on to a client before. I can’t start now. Mixing business with pleasure isn’t merely foolish—it’s against the rules. If we work together, I’d be his agent; but I’m also and always an attorney. And attorneys don’t sleep with clients, plain and simple.

During the meal, I shift the conversation far, far away from deals and ask about Vance’s kids. The four of us shoot the breeze about kid antics, with Adriana and Vance trading tales of their little ones, then we move on to Los Angeles versus New York versus San Francisco. Adriana lives in Brooklyn and declares it the best borough, while Vance puts in a vote for his home of Manhattan.

“I have to give props to Los Angeles,” I say. I do love my home base. “Can’t beat sunshine, the beach, or the biz.”

Zane, the San Franciscan among us, sighs and shakes his head. “You’re all wrong. Once you’ve gone full fog, you can’t go back.”

I laugh, a little more relaxed—hopeful he can put our wildly hot meeting behind us.

When we’ve polished off every delicious piece of fish, Adriana excuses herself for the restroom and Vance does the same.

Finally, an opening.

The second they’re out of earshot, I turn to Zane, and don’t mince words. “I owe you an apology. I didn’t say who I was at the bar because I was having too much fun talking to you, and I’m sorry. I truly hope I didn’t fuck things up for us when it comes to business. I would love to work with you, and you have my word I don’t make it a practice to hit on clients. That was a first for me.”

The man remains entirely impassive, turning his glass of water round and round. Then he stops fiddling and tilts his head to meet my eyes.

I still can’t read what’s behind his gorgeous greens, and it’s driving me crazy.

“First time you hit on a client, you say?”

I swallow roughly. “Yes.”

“And what made me your first, Maddox?” The way he says my name sounds like sex and heat.

Maybe that’s a sign I’m forgiven. “Do you really want me to go there?”

His stoic expression doesn’t shift, but his eyes darken with bedroom intensity. “Yes. Go there, Maddox.”

He’s giving me a goddamn command? Gritting my teeth, I resist the shudder that whooshes down my chest. But it is an order, delivered quietly and clearly, and I obey. “You’re just…” I pause, collecting my thoughts, before I speak the truth. “Kind of irresistible.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Only kind of?”

I’m so damn close to exoneration, but now he’s tempting me. Maybe he wants to know I’m the type of agent who’s unafraid of risk. “Fine. I suppose you’re all-the-way irresistible.”

Zane leans back in the booth, smiling, his big frame taking up ample space. “Relax,” he says, all sultry, maybe like he’d say it in bed. “Of course I want to work with you.”

Thank fuck.

I breathe a huge sigh of relief then draw an excited breath. There’s so much opportunity for Zane Archer, and I relish the chance to bring fantastic sponsorships to the rising star. “Good. Because I can deliver for you,” I say. “I’m going to make you serious money.”

His green eyes look pleased. “I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

“I look forward to showing you.” At last, my shoulders relax, and I let go of most of the tension I’ve felt since we left the bar. “I know I said I’m good at reading people, but you’ve been a hard man to read through dinner. You’ve been like stone since we sat down.”

Laughing, his eyes drift to his lap. “You’re telling me.”

“I walked into that,” I admit, laughing too. I steal a glance toward the other side of the restaurant, checking that Vance and Adriana are still out of sight.

He follows my gaze, then turns closer to me, then closer still. His smile disappears, and I stop laughing.

“You want to know why I had to go all ice age on you?” he asks.

So fucking much. “Yes,” I say, sounding a little desperate. Feeling a lot desperate.

He drops a hand to my thigh and squeezes. My breath hitches.

I was not expecting him to touch me again, and I like it too much.

“Back at the bar, I was consumed with this desire to take you back to my home and fuck you senseless,” he says, and I can’t fight off a shudder this time. “The only way I could get rid of those images of you naked, spread out and tied up in my bed, was to get into the zone.”

He might be in the zone, but his confession knocks me right out of mine.