Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
D allas found himself gripping the edge of the couch so hard his knuckles turned white.
“Yeah, no, I’m just saying, I—” Ronnie was clearly interrupted by Mike on the other end of the line.
He was talking over her. Again .
Dallas’s jaw clenched. He hated this. Ronnie seemed to be wilting right in front of his eyes.
“No, I get it, Mike. It’s just that… Right… No, I know.” She cast him a sidelong look that was part exasperated, part apologetic, and that…
That was a big nope. This woman should never apologize. Not to him, not to Mike, and definitely not for needing to take some freakin’ time for herself.
“But we agreed to this time off so I could focus on the wedding,” Ronnie was saying.
Her voice was quiet, but he could hear the tension rising. Heck, he could practically feel her anxiety from where he sat beside her.
Without even thinking, he snatched the phone out of her hand.
“Dallas, what?—?”
“Mike, right?” he snapped.
There was a pause on the other end. “Uh…who’s this?”
“This is Dallas King. A friend of Ronnie’s.
” Dallas shot a look at Ronnie. Friend felt lame, but now was not the time to dwell on what he’d wanted to call her.
“She’s in the middle of something right now, so whatever you need so urgently that you’re calling her on a Sunday and during her vacation … you can deal with me.”
Ronnie’s eyes were wide with shock, but she didn’t look angry that he’d taken over. If anything, he thought maybe he saw a flicker of relief. And that relief echoed inside him.
Man, he hated to see her on edge. She deserved so much better than what she was getting—from her family and her team.
Mike was talking again, and Dallas’s lips curled up in a sneer. Just going by the tone of this man’s voice—he knew the type. He dealt with arrogant fools all the time in the world of developers and high-end real estate.
They were the kind who thought if they spoke forcefully enough and threw their weight around, they could get whatever they wanted.
In short…
Dallas’s eyes narrowed.
“Ronnie has commitments,” Mike was saying. “And she needs to remember that.”
In short…her agent was a bully.
“Okay, it’s time for you to stop talking, Mike.
” Dallas didn’t have to raise his voice to cut through the noise.
“Turn those ears on, buddy, because I’m laying it out for you as clearly as I can.
” Leaning forward, he pressed the phone closer to his mouth and said in a voice that left no room for arguments, “You work for Ronnie, not the other way around.”
Ronnie’s eyes widened even more, but she clamped her mouth shut, and Dallas suspected it was to hold back a shocked laugh. It was all the encouragement he needed to keep going.
Mike sputtered. “Well, what am I supposed to tell the brand sponsors waiting for an answer? She’s going to lose this deal if she keeps slacking off!”
Dallas gritted his teeth, reminding himself to stay calm.
Glancing at Ronnie, he held her gaze and felt something in his chest shift. Like a soft pop of certainty. A knowing.
His jaw relaxed on a silent sigh, and he smiled at her.
“You tell them that Ronnie Colbert has a good heart, is family focused, and has her priorities in check. She’s a strong woman who is capable of anything.
She can love her family and dominate on the slopes.
If they don’t want someone like that representing their brand, then it’s their loss, and there’ll be plenty of other companies who will snatch her up in a heartbeat. ”
Ronnie’s eyes shone with tears, and the way Dallas’s heart pounded in response had him missing Mike’s next comment.
But for every protest or argument Mike lobbed, Dallas had an answer. It was simple, really.
“Ronnie needs time to heal. That’s her job as an athlete,” he told Mike. “Your job as her agent is to buy her that time and to spin this situation in her favor.”
There was a stunned silence on the other end, and Ronnie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“That’s what a good agent would do. Don’t you think, Mike?”
Mike sputtered some more, but he had no good comeback, so Dallas hung up.
Staring down at Ronnie’s phone, he rubbed his thumb over the black screen before holding it out to her. “I…hope I didn’t overstep.”
Ronnie took her phone back…and burst out laughing. “That was awesome.”
“Yeah?” Dallas grinned.
She nodded, sinking back in her seat with a satisfied smirk. “I just wish I could have seen Mike’s face.”
Dallas chuckled. “I take it he’s not used to people talking back.”
She shook her head with another sigh. Dallas’s chest seemed to expand with relief the more her tension visibly eased. Her head lolled against the back of the couch as she turned to face him. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He reached for her hand.
Threading their fingers together, they sat in companionable silence for a while. He felt his earlier anger stirring on Ronnie’s behalf. Her agent and her coach, her father and even her sister…
These were all people who should be looking out for Ronnie. Supporting her, not draining her.
No wonder she was dreading reentering the competitive circuit. The pressure on her shoulders was more than any one person should have to bear.
“Hey, Ronnie?”
She turned to him with a little smile that warmed his heart.
“Next time he calls, you include me, okay? There’s no way he’s allowed to treat you like that again.”
Ronnie stared at him, her eyes soft and filled with something so sweet it made his throat ache. Then she nodded.
She swiveled to face him, reaching out to touch his chest. His heart kicked against his ribcage.
“Hey, Dallas?” Her voice was a little breathless.
It caused his own to come out sounding gravelly and gruff. “Yeah?”
She tugged on his shirt, pulling him closer. “I need you to kiss me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, leaning down to meet her lips in a kiss that was soft and sweet. They met and clung, and as their breath mingled and the heat between them seemed to skyrocket…
He felt a shift in his chest again.
No, wait, it was a shift in his whole body.
His whole world.
The entire universe seemed to turn on its axis and fall into place around him.
Dallas touched her jaw, angled his head, and deepened the kiss. And the heat between them built to a flame that was hotter than the one in the fireplace beside them. Her answering moan was intoxicating. The way she leaned into him, exploring his lips with her own…
It was perfection.
Her grip on his shirt tightened, and he pulled her closer, into his arms, as the kiss went from sweet to passionate. Just like everything else they did together, kissing had that same zeal. That spark. That intensity that drove him freakin’ wild.