When it became evident that Vern wasn’t going to be working again any time soon and I needed a new agent, the first name that came to mind was Kate. I know lots of other agents, lots of good agents, but I couldn’t stop thinking that she was the one I wanted to work with.
Kate’s one of the few people in the world who knows exactly how messed up I am. And she never judged me for it. The idea of working with someone who doesn’t get me ramps up my anxiety.
“Hi.”
I look up and see her standing next to the table. My heart slams against my sternum and my mouth goes dry.
Fuck, she’s still beautiful. Her dark hair is shorter now, brushing her shoulders, cut in a layered, sophisticated style, and highlighted with caramel. She’s wearing an ivory blazer with a matching silky top beneath it, narrow black pants, and beige heels.
I rise to my feet to greet her, my face breaking into a big smile. She came. She’s here.
I go for a hug, just a casual one, holding her shoulders. “So good to see you again.”
“You too!” She draws back, sets her big leather purse on the floor, and takes the chair opposite me. She sounds friendly, but I’m not convinced. We were friends for years and I know her. I can see the flicker of her eyes and the pinch of her pretty mouth. “How have you been?”
I’m a mess. “I’m okay,” I say, even though she’s the one person I could be honest with. “A little disturbed about what’s happened to Vern.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
I shake my head. “Hard to say. After the surgery, they said it went well, but then he had some kind of complications and got really sick again. He was in the hospital for quite a while.”
“That’s terrible.” Her face softens with sympathy. “He’s the same age as my dad.”
“How is your dad?”
“Good! Still in Chicago. Ian Yarish retired this year and Dad’s the GM now.”
“I heard that.” I pause. “And you? How are you doing?” I drop my gaze to her left hand. No ring. I probably would have heard if she got married. Maybe. “Husband? Kids?”
She laughs, but it’s a little stiff. “Uh, no. You?”
“Nope.”
Our eyes meet. And hold. She drops her gaze first.
“And business?” I ask. “How’s the agent business?”
Her lips curve up into a wry smile. “It’s…interesting.”
“That sounds…unclear.”
Her smile deepens. “Yeah. I mean, it’s interesting. I end up doing a lot of things I didn’t expect to. But I really do love negotiating a good deal for my clients and then helping them navigate this bizarre world after that’s done.”
“That’s great. I knew you’d be good at it.”
Her eyelashes flutter down, then back up. “Thanks.”
The waitress returns to take our lunch order. I get a cheeseburger and Kate orders shrimp dumplings. I take the chance to study her more as she orders. Her skin glows with health and energy. Her long bangs fall across her eyes in a sexy sweep, and my gaze lingers on the shadow beneath her full bottom lip that always made me think of biting that lip.
Get that thought out of your head, Morrissette.
Once the waitress has gone, Kate picks up her coffee cup.
“Tell me about how you became an agent,” I say.
“Well. You know I interned with different teams during my summers.”
“Thanks to your dad.”
She rolls her eyes. “Come on. Part of the business is who you know. A big part. And I needed all the help I could get. Honestly, I thought I wanted to be a GM like my dad. But he kept telling me I was ‘too player focused,’ and I realized I wanted to be player focused.”
I nod. I can totally see that.
“Dad thought maybe I should work for the players’ union, but I decided to go work at a sports management agency.” She pauses and drops her gaze. “It wasn’t the best experience. So I went out on my own. I had a couple of clients who came with me, luckily.”
“Callum.”
“Yeah. He’s one of them.”
“I hear Van Halston is going to sign with you.”
“I heard that rumor, too.”
I laugh. “He’s going to go first in the draft. Great client.”
“I guess we’ll see.”
“Wow. You’re cagey.”
For the first time, she laughs. “Cagey? I prefer to call it discreet.”
“I guess it’s good to know that my secrets are safe with you.”
She gazes across the table at me. The heat that builds around us tells me we’re both thinking of the same “secret.”
“Absolutely,” she says quietly. “I would definitely want you to know that. One thing I commit to is that I will never break your trust in me.”
“Do people give you a hard time because you’re a woman?”
Her face shutters. “Oh sure. Every woman in a male dominated business goes through that.”
She’s not being totally open with me. I know her well enough to see that.
She straightens her shoulders and forces a smile. “But I hate it when someone tells me I can’t do something, so I just work harder.”
“That’s my Katertot.”
A smile flickers on her lips. “I think my hockey background helps my credibility. They know I’m knowledgeable about the business and understand this world.”
“There’s no doubt about that,” I say quietly.
After a beat, she says, “Thanks. Usually, once we start talking hockey and they see I know what I’m talking about, it’s just business. Being an athlete, I’m aggressive enough to negotiate contracts. But being a woman, I also have a…nurturing side.” She makes a face, and I know she’s thinking of her dad and her brother. “Some of these young guys need that, and honestly negotiating contracts is a small part of what I do for my clients.”
She probably looks after them like she looked after her dad and her brother. I want her looking after me.
No. Not like that.
Hell. I can’t let my mind go to the things she could do for me…
Our lunch arrives. When we’re settled and the waitress has left us, I pick up a French fry.
“Most of my job is managing their lives once those contracts are done,” Kate continues. “Especially the young guys. There’s incredible pressure on them, from the media, their teams, their families. Pressure they put on themselves. Sometimes there aren’t a lot of people they can turn to. I’m someone they can turn to.”
I nod, taking in her words.
“Also, as an agent, I don’t only negotiate contracts. I also look for marketing opportunities. You don’t have a wife and kids, but that’s something else I keep in mind when I’m making deals for players—their family, their commitment to the community.”
I nod. I like everything I’m hearing from her. But then, I was sold on her before she even sat down at the table. “How long have you been in New York?”
“Just over a year.”
“D’you like it here?”
“I love it. It’s busy and noisy and hectic, but exhilarating. I feel like I’m in the center of the world. And since my clients are spread out over the continent, that’s a good thing.”