Chapter 10 Hawk
TEN
hawk
Inviting Kendra to the meeting was not expressly in her job description, and my grandfather would never have included her in the decision. It wasn’t lost on anyone in the room that her immediate supervisor was excluded.
But her superior was useless. He was a holdover from my grandfather’s tenure who hadn’t embraced the changes I planned to make to the organization. He also tried to prevent her from having any input, likely because he understood her talent exceeded his own.
How had she become one of the most trusted people on my team? I couldn’t tell you. But every single time she opened her mouth, I got sucked in.
And it wasn’t only because I imagined how those lips would feel against mine. It wasn’t the filthy thoughts I battled about her almost hourly. It was her brain. Hot as fuck.
I had never realized how attractive smart women were. She walked into the room, sized everyone up even before they opened their mouths, and made quick, on-target decisions.
Was it wrong of me to test her? Probably, but she passed every single one with flying colors.
While the rest of the team had voted to move forward with Tucker Milligan, I wondered if there was more to the story than what she had shared. I couldn’t imagine Kendra responding so forcefully, only to have nothing to support her resistance to him, which is exactly what had happened.
We all knew that athletes could be dicks. But was he a dick we could keep in line? Or someone who would negatively put us in the news.
Me: Are you still at the office?
Kendra: Yes. I’m tying up a couple of loose ends before I leave on vacation.
Me: Can you stop by before you go?
Kendra: Sure.
Kendra knocked, and I called her to come in.
“Hey.” She was suddenly shy.
God, this woman drove me insane.
“I didn’t invite Darryl today. That wasn’t an oversight. I’m planning to let him go while you are on leave. While I can’t promise you the promotion, I’d like you to assume the acting director role as of the first of the year.”
“What? Have I earned it?” Her stunned expression pissed me off. Did she have the experience to back up her knowledge? No, but I had seen enough unqualified men walk into the room and accept far more responsibility than I had offered her.
“Yes. The first qualification is that I trust your judgment. The second is that in that room, you were the only one who considered the longevity of the organization past this season. And I trust you.”
She stared at me.
“Does the name Lucifer mean anything to you?”
I couldn’t contain the snort.
“Fuck.”
“We didn’t, if you were worried about that. And you and Lucifer also didn’t.”
God, I loved when she blushed. Her fair skin turned a pale shade of pink, and somehow her freckles stood out even more.
“I don’t usually drink that much.”
“It wasn’t that much. It definitely shouldn’t have been enough for you to be sick. I know this was an early morning, but I didn’t think you would want to miss it.”
“No, thank you. The ibuprofen someone left out for me was probably the only reason I could make it happen.”
I watched her closely as I asked the next question.
“What is your issue with Tucker?”
She averted her eyes. “He’s just an asshole. I doubt he’s changed.”
She nodded, and while she wasn’t offering more information, I couldn’t force her to tell me. I knew assholes in college, and while I wouldn’t hang out with them, it shouldn’t prevent me from offering them a contract.
“I know you’re working on the presentation for when we return to the office after Christmas. My deadline wasn’t exactly reasonable, especially with your vacation. Would you like an extension?”
Fire flared in her eyes. “No, I’ll have it ready.”
That’s my girl.
No, Hawk, she’s not your girl. She’s your employee. And your friend. Neither of those designations provided an option to call her your girl.
“Any dates before you leave?”
“Fuck no. I think I’m done with that for the immediate future.”
“Dinner plans tonight?”
“I had planned to go home and order delivery.”
“Let’s grab a bite tonight. Are you packed for your trip?”
She nodded. Of course, she was. Kendra probably had her bags packed at the beginning of the week. Her apartment had been tiny, but it was spotless and meticulously organized. As was her office here.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Two friends having dinner. Is that a problem for you?”
That’s when I realized that this was going to be a problem. Employee or not, I wanted to be with Kendra tonight, was with her last night, and wasn’t looking forward to her time in St. John. I didn’t feel like that about other employees, and I never felt that way about other friends.
“No. But you’re in this tight circle of two who know about Lucifer. So as long as you know I’ll be going home to him tonight, we’re good.”
I swallowed. And my dick twitched, beginning to swell in my dress pants. What she had meant as a cute little quip drew the perfect image of her sexy little body spread wide and fucking herself to multiple screaming orgasms on her bed. Shit, I even imagined the scene on my bed.
And yes, I was jealous of a piece of plastic. And Connor. How the fuck did that loser deserve to be in the same room as her? Thank God she recognized her worth and sent him packing.
“Let’s get Italian tonight. I’ll make reservations and send you the time later.”
She nodded. “If we’re done, I’m going to get in a workout. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sweat out the rest of the wine from last night.”
“Okay.”
One word was all I could manage as images of Kendra sweating in the team gym swamped my mind. No, Hawk, you couldn’t follow her down there.
I spent the rest of the afternoon Christmas shopping on Newbury Street.
My mother always knew when I had someone else pick out her Christmas gifts.
She told me not to bother if I ever got too busy to select her present on my own.
In her own words, she got enough meaningless jewelry from my father; she didn’t need more from her son.
My parents had their quirks, but I still loved them.
While neither of them had aspirations to work within the organization, they were more than happy to live off the trust fund my grandparents had organized for them.
The same was true for Colby, though her side gig as an influencer was surprisingly lucrative.
It didn’t escape me that I had been born into immense privilege and essentially inherited a baseball team. But I intended to prove that I deserved it, whether through the team’s success or the organization’s culture. I understood what I had been given, and fully intended to set the standard.