Chapter 18
Rowan
March - Palm Beach
Maggie’s been avoiding me for the last week and as much as I want to push and prod, I take the patient route, giving her room to sort out whatever it is she’s feeling.
We grab a couple of breakfast sandwiches to-go from our favorite brunch place.
My hands grip the wheel and I peek over at her in the passenger seat.
Her head is leaned back and her eyes are closed as she holds the sandwich with both hands and chews, making happy little noises.
I smile at my little gremlin and tap her shoulder. She gives me a death stare for daring to interrupt her meal, but she still responds with, “What?”
“Can I have a bite? I’m really hungry.” I give her my best puppy dog eyes and for a second I think I have her. But then, Maggie blinks at me and laughs.
“No.” She cackles. “You’re funny. You sir, have your own sandwich in the bag that you can eat when you get to your house.”
“What? I can’t even eat it at your place?” I ask, my tone laced with mock offense.
“Who said you’re invited?” she throws back and her mischievous blue eyes shimmer.
“You’re so mean,” I pout and expect her to laugh it off. Instead, her expression gets more closed off.
The silence becomes stifling as Maggie finishes her sandwich and looks everywhere except at me.
“I know I’ve asked a bunch of times already, but is everything okay?”
She sighs and rubs at her temples. “Um, no. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”
“What is it?” I ask, but Maggie doesn’t get the chance to answer. My phone rings and the name of my agent pops up on the car’s screen. “Sorry, I should take this.”
“Go for it,” she says and crumples her sandwich paper in a ball.
“Hey Jamie, what’s up?” I say, pressing the accept button.
My agent’s voice comes through the speaker, loud and booming. “Rowan, I have some big news for you. Are you sitting down?”
“Technically? I’m driving. What’s up?” I chuckle.
“Well, remember how you said you wanted to do doubles? Well, I got you a gig. It’s not paid—in fact, it’s for charity. It’s an exhibition match. But I think it would be a good way to soft-launch you as doubles potential.”
“Oh, that’s—nice.” I guess. I sneak a glance at Maggie to see how she’s reacting to my doubles news.
She seemed surprised a few weeks ago over brunch and that’s not the way I wanted her to find out.
I wanted to talk to her more in depth about it.
Maybe even convince her to do it with me.
Her knee is bouncing and her expression is unreadable.
I can’t tell if she’s uncomfortable listening in on the conversation or if she doesn’t want me playing doubles.
“Nice? It’s amazing. You should be praising me and kissing my feet.”
“No, thanks.” I laugh. “But, thank you, the exhibition match sounds fun. Do you know who else is going to participate?”
“Your friend Jacob Hughes and Elena Wozniak.”
Maggie scoffs and I grin over at her as she gives me an eyeroll.
“Oh, hi there Maggie. How are you doing?” my agent asks, picking up on the fact that I’m not alone.
“Great, Jamie. I’m great.”
“Want to be even greater by being in this exhibition match? Rowan here needs a partner,” Jamie says.
Maggie is quiet for a long moment and I try not to say anything, even though I’m all giddy on the inside at the idea of playing with her.
“I don’t know, Jamie. That’s not really my style.”
“Well, that’s the whole point. They pair up singles champions and get them mic’d up, let them have fun and show their competitive sides on live television. Did I mention it was for charity?” Jamie pushes, and for once, I’m glad for her chatty personality.
Maggie looks over at me and I pull over in the nearest parking lot. I face her and bring my hands together, silently begging her to do it. She looks at me, expression unreadable. I can plead all I want, but ultimately, the ball is in her court.
“I supposed it could be entertaining,” she says with a small smile right as I drop my hands.
“Perfect, I’ll make it happen. You two get your butts in Vegas next month. Talk soon.”
“Okay, bye,” I say excitedly, but he’s already hung up.
“Exhibition match, huh?” Maggie says, blue eyes assessing me.
“I know it sounds silly, but I really want to give it my best. Prove to myself that I can do it. It’ll really help to have you by my side,” I add, reaching out and squeezing her fingers with mine.
Maggie softens and nods. “Okay, I guess we’re in this now.”