Chapter 6 #2
Skeptically, Hazel turned her head and saw Penny standing at the railing, watching them with interest.
“Okay, what’s going on?” she asked, confused. “Why is your sister staring at us like we’re monkeys in a zoo, and why are you being nice, Gareth?”
That was what bothered her the most!
“I’m not being nice.”
“Not compared to normal people, no. But by your standards…”
“Leave it alone, Hazel.”
“That’s not one of my strengths, I’m sorry. So why the hell is Penny watching us?”
He fell silent.
“Gareth,” she said sweetly. “I’ll tell your sister you’ve been insulting me the whole time if you don’t tell me why you’re acting so strange!”
His expression darkened. Yes, now they were back on old, familiar ground.
“Fine,” he whispered sharply, jerking her into a spin.
“Your call to my sister inspired her to give me an ultimatum. I have today to prove to her that we can treat each other like two civilized people — otherwise, she won’t let me work with you or any other sports agent ever again. ”
Perplexed, Hazel opened her mouth. “But…I thought your sister liked you. You love negotiating. She’d be taking away your favorite task.”
“Yes. So I’m being nice to you.”
It all made sense. The apology – which certainly wasn’t his idea – and the fact that he’d agreed to this dance in the first place.
She pressed her lips together and averted her gaze. “I guess I’m not the only one who’s bothered by our behavior,” she mumbled tonelessly.
“What?”
“Austin hinted at something similar,” she reluctantly admitted. “That he’s not happy with me and my working relationship with you.”
“Austin?”
“Fox!”
“Ah. Right.” Gareth laughed dryly. “You really are too close with your clients.”
She snorted. When Hazel had started out as a sports agent, she had been determined to keep business and personal life strictly separate.
Five years later, her two biggest fish were her best friends.
She babysat for her clients, mended the broken hearts of hockey giants more often than she’d given any thought to her own, and one of her figure skaters had asked her to be a bridesmaid.
Life was chaotic. Her personal and business lives were too closely intertwined. It was no longer worth trying to separate the two. God, she could practically see Gareth shuddering at that statement.
“Since I care about the players, it makes me a better agent. Maybe it would make you a better owner if you didn’t just know the players by their last names and force them to call you Mr. Clark.”
“No. That would mean not only Alvarez bugging me about Snickers, but the whole damn team.”
“Maybe. But if you knew them better, you wouldn’t have replaced Snickers with Milky Way in the first place! You didn’t do yourself any favors with that.”
Gareth lifted one corner of his mouth. “Favor… I like that word. It reminds me that you owe me one.”
She blinked. “What?”
“When I held your champagne glass, you said you owed me a favor.” The smile that spread across his face was almost wolfish. “I’d like that in writing, by the way.”
She snorted. “The favor in return for holding my glass?”
“Yes.”
“You’re serious? It was just talk.”
“You’re a lawyer too. You know verbal contracts are worth nothing.”
“It’s not a contract…”
“I disagree. I want it in writing so that at the end of the evening I can force you to go to my sister and tell her that I’ve been a true gentleman and that you’d love to keep me on as a negotiating partner.”
She narrowed her eyes. There was a glint in his pupils. He wasn’t serious. He was teasing her.
“Okay,” she said lightly. “Then I want it in writing that you will always be polite to me when Penny is present. Otherwise, I’ll tell her how terribly mean you are to me.”
He laughed dryly. “If I give you that in writing, I want a signature under the sentence: I will no longer include gummy bear clauses in my contracts.”
“You can have it,” she said, unmoved. “If, in return, I receive a binding statement that you will never yell at my assistant again.”
“No problem. In return, I want your cell number so that I don’t always have to talk to your assistant first.”
“You’ll only get my number if you call Devreaux and tell him the contract is as good as done, and that I’m the best agent he could ask for.”
“Deal. If you stop bad-mouthing me to your clients.”
“I’ll sign that right now because I don’t badmouth you!” she replied irritably. “Then you have to stop advising players not to hire me as their agent.”
“I don’t do that,” he growled. “So, yeah, no problem! And you’ll stop telling people we used to be together because, shit, Hazel, everyone knows now and it’s annoying.”
“Fine.” She jutted out her chin and looked at him challengingly. “As long as you’re honest when someone asks you why I’m angry with you and admit I have every damn right to be.”
“Do you have the right to be angry, Hazel?” he asked belligerently. “Only you? I don’t think so. So no, I wouldn’t sign that for you.”
“But the rest?” she asked, and snorted.
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes, about to say something not very friendly…when the music stopped again, forcing her to freeze.
He was lying! He would never give her what he’d just said in writing, would he?
She continued to stare at his face. His serious, unyielding face.
What if he did? What if they just…if they…
Couples dropped out, the music continued, and she looked up at Gareth with narrowed eyes.
Yeah, why not?
“You know what?” she asked, musing aloud. “That’s not a bad idea at all.”
A notion manifested in her head that made her heart flutter with hope.
Why hadn’t they thought of it sooner? She wanted to eliminate stressors and create enough leeway for herself to at least consider starting a family.
Gareth wanted to continue negotiating with agents.
And to do that, they had to get along. So…
“Gareth, that’s a brilliant idea, even if it was practically yours! ”
He blinked, irritated. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Well, the short-term solution is for me to go to Penny and tell her I’d like to keep you as a negotiating partner because we actually get along. But, we also need a long-term one.”
“Do we?”
“Do you want to sell the Hawks?”
“No. Do you want to stop being an agent for half my players?”
“No, because my next step will be to rescue Leon from the clutches of his sleazy agent. The idiot doesn’t know what he’s doing, and Leon doesn’t know he’s on track to become the best player in the NHL in three to five years. But don’t tell that to my other clients.”
A pained expression appeared on his face as if he were imagining how often they would have to talk if she signed Leon. “Fine,” he said tensely. “We need a long-term solution. What do you suggest?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We put in writing how we behave around each other. For a functional business relationship.”
“You want to write a code of conduct?”
“A contract. A code of conduct in which we spell out what we want and need from each other, and how we will handle various situations from now on. We’ve already started.”
Gareth narrowed his eyes.
“It’s the fairest solution,” she continued. “We both trust only one thing in this world and that’s a watertight contract, one we drew up ourselves.”
He knew she was right. She could see it clearly on his face. They wouldn’t simply have blind trust in each other if all they did was say they were going to behave themselves from now on. They needed something solid. Something they could both refer to.
“And you’d be okay with that?” he asked roughly. “That I stipulate that you’re not allowed to ask for any more gummy bears or that your assistant can’t annoy me?”
“Sure,” she said, unperturbed. “If I get enough in return from you. That’s negotiable, I guess.”
“It’s a good thing we’re both lawyers who excel at negotiations.”
“Exactly.” She grinned. “You want to get Penny off your back, and I want Fox and Devreaux to relax. It’s a win-win situation.”
“We’ll see when the contract is finalized.”
Her heart clenched with excitement. Maybe it was warning her too. Who knew? “So we’ll write one?”
“God, I must have lost my mind,” Gareth muttered, shaking his head. “But…yes. It sounds like a good idea.”
A broad smile appeared on her face. “Fantastic. We should have done this years ago! Contracts make everything better.”
Gareth laughed dryly. “It’s the first time in ages you’ve been right.”
“Gareth, Hazel, you’re out!” Lucy’s voice rang out loudly.
Hazel blinked. Oh. Had the music stopped?
Well, that didn’t matter.
“Perfect,” Hazel exclaimed, abruptly letting go of Gareth and hurrying off the dance floor. The contract was more important than winning. And Gareth needed to stop touching her.
She turned to him expectantly. “Are you coming?”
Perplexed, he blinked. “You want to write the contract now?”
“Do you know anything better to do to pass the time at a wedding?”
He opened his mouth…and snorted. “No. I haven't the slightest clue.”