CHAPTER 4 Everleigh Bradley
Unprepared
I twist my hands a little nervously in my lap, and I send a text to the group chat I have with my siblings.
Me: Checking in on all of you. Vegas has been pretty quiet so far, but I’m about to meet my client. Any guesses where I’m sitting right now?
The one thing I said was that I didn’t want to work with an athlete, and guess where I am?
That’s right. Sitting outside of Jack Dalton’s office. He just so happens to be a former quarterback for the Vegas Aces and the owner of the team my brother plays for.
When Jack’s assistant, Lily, first called me early this morning, I wondered if it was Dex they wanted me to rebrand, but he’s recently turned himself around all on his own when he found out he was a father and became a husband in the span of a few weeks.
I left Chicago behind for Vegas two weeks ago, and I’ve spent a little time with Dex and a lot of time with my new sister-in-law, who happens to be my youngest sister’s best friend.
Yeah…it gets interesting with six siblings, that’s for sure.
Saying goodbye to my parents wasn’t that hard since I moved out of their mansion years ago for my own place and we’re not all that close, but saying goodbye to Ivy and Liam, my youngest siblings who still reside in Chicago, was a little harder.
I’ll just have to work to make sure I stay in touch with everybody… hence the text I just sent.
I’m still not sure who I’m going to be working with. I didn’t even get a location until Lily called me. I was told the client was postponing my start date, and for a while, I was a little nervous that they were going to send me right back home.
They didn’t.
So I’ve spent the last couple weeks slowly making my transition to Vegas, knowing full well that I need to be on call at any given moment.
I’ve also been lamenting about my situation with Penny. Daily. Sometimes multiple times daily.
She’s still back home, still working at the same place, and she’s told me a million times that it’s not the same without me.
And all I’ve done is whine about everything I gave up to be here. It feels like I’m out of work even though it’s more of a temporary paid hiatus, so I’m living vicariously through her.
I’ve been living out of a hotel as I look at places, not sure whether this is going to be a temporary or more permanent situation, and Ainsley—Dex’s wife—called me on Friday to let me know one of the tenants had a moving truck parked on the street in front of the building.
I checked it out. The space is gorgeous. It has a view of the Strip, and while Dex has the penthouse, it’s a few floors down from his place and doesn’t take up an entire floor the way his place does. This one only takes up half of the floor since there are a total of two condos on this floor.
I took Penny on a tour via FaceTime, and she gave it the stamp of approval. It has a guest room, so she can come visit me at any time, and we’re already making plans for when we can make that a reality.
I signed the contract on Friday for one year, and workers from the tower spent the weekend putting up a fresh coat of paint and cleaning the place so I can move in this week.
In fact, after my meeting here, I’m heading in that direction to pick up the keys to my new place.
Yep, that’s right. A new client and a new condo all in the span of a few hours. Life in Vegas is about to get exciting.
“Mr. Dalton is ready for you,” Lily says, and I thank her as I stand and walk into his office. I feel my phone buzz in my purse—probably a reply from one of my siblings.
It continues to buzz throughout the meeting. I’ll have to check it later.
Jack Dalton sits behind his desk, an imposing figure in a business suit who used to be an imposing figure in a football uniform. He exudes power, and he’s actually quite sexy with his shadow of a beard and piercing blue eyes. He pushes to a stand when I walk in.
“Good morning, Ms. Bradley,” he says with a nod of his head. He reaches his hand out to shake mine.
“Good morning, Mr. Dalton,” I say, and he sits when I take a seat across the desk from him.
“Stuart Langford and I go a long way back,” he muses, offering a smile as he names my boss.
“How do you two know each other?” I ask.
“We attended the same high school. I’m originally from Michigan, as is he. He moved to Chicago after college, but we stayed in touch.”
“He’s a great boss,” I say. “I’ve enjoyed working with him the last decade.”
“He’s a good guy, too. A good friend. I knew I could trust that he’d send me the best of the best, and I suppose that’s how you ended up here.”
“So what, exactly, am I doing here?” I ask. I’m still not sure if I’ll be working with an individual player, the marketing department for the team, Jack himself, or some other option I haven’t even thought of.
“We recently acquired a player whose image and attitude both need some serious work.”
Oh, shit.
There’s really only one person it could realistically be. I have a feeling I already know, and I’m dreading his next words as I think back to the night I got to town, went to a casino, and happened to run into one of my brother’s teammates.
He was a complete and total asshole.
He had no idea who I was. I was trying to be nice. He walked away without answering my question.
It’s him, isn’t it?
So he’s hotter than the surface of the sun. He’s also more abrasive than sandpaper.
“I do my research on the people we hire,” Jack continues, “and I’ve learned that your brother is Dex. Is that correct?”
I nod.
“Then I assume you’ve seen the viral rant about him from last night?”
My brows pinch together. I should know this, right? I should be aware of what’s going on with my brother and with the team I’m about to start working with.
But my phone woke me up with its ringing when Lily called at six this morning, and I jumped in the shower and darted over here. I haven’t had a chance to check socials to see who ranted about what last night.
I shake my head. I feel small as I do it, as if it’s my fault I’m not prepared this morning. That’s not really true. I didn’t know I’d be working here or when I’d start, but there’s nothing I hate more than walking into something unprepared.
Jack lets it go. “Dex took a dirty hit on Maverick Jennings at practice a couple weeks ago and fractured a rib. Maverick took it upon himself to let the world know what he thought about that when he went out last night. While your brother was dealt with separately by this organization, it’s these types of outbursts we’re trying to mitigate. ”
“So I’ll be working with Maverick Jennings?” I ask, my hunch absolutely correct.
He nods. “Yes. We’ll need you on top of him twenty-four seven.
You’ll be his agent, his publicist, and his strategist all rolled into one person, with, of course, a budget to work within should you need to hire additional help.
Stuart told me you gave up thirty-some-odd clients for this one, but this is a big one.
It’s going to be a tough job. Are you up for the task? ”
The truth is that no, I’m absolutely not up for babysitting Maverick Jennings. He’s a total jerk, and he couldn’t get away fast enough from me that night.
I’m about to open my mouth to tell Jack that I’d like to opt out and head back to Chicago when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in!” Jack yells.
“Sir, Coach Nash and Mr. Jennings are here.”
Jack glances at me, and it’s the kind of look that tells me he knows I’m up for the challenge.
I’m not so sure…but as the sexy football star walks in with a sour look on his face that turns into recognition when his eyes land on me, I’m not about to say no.