First and Ten (3 page)

“Don’t give me the ESPN answer.”

“I’d like to stay. I’ve got a nice house and
friends.”

“Tell Randy to call me and I’ll see if I can
get you in before OTAs.”

Dani hated lying to potential clients, but
she couldn’t admit the first thing she thought when he stepped up
on the small podium to inspect his clothes was
take it off.
And not because Ramona has ghastly taste. A scrumptious ass, tight
frame, and a smile he tried to hide because his dimples had her
done. She needed to stay all business with him and business was the
last thing on her mind. Why couldn’t she have met Jerome Speed at a
club or restaurant? No, fucking Randall, she’d deal with him on
Tuesday. Since when does he send clients unannounced to her?

Her eyes caught Jerome’s as he looked up
slightly, her stomach tightened and her breasts tingled. With a
small arch to his eyebrow she turned quickly away. Jerome Speed
must believe his own hype to give her that look.

Pity, because his ass was no lie.

“How was your fitting?” Randall asked with a
confidence he never dropped as Rome walked up the six steps to his
brownstone in Lincoln Park.

“Hello to you too,” Rome sighed as he opened
his door, with his Bluetooth cutting out just a bit until he was
inside his home.

“I just need to make sure you’re ready to go
with all your fall wardrobe needs.”

“I’m sure you stay up nights tossing and
turning at the thought that I might clash with my date.”

Rome tossed his keys into a glass bowl on the
table just inside his doorway as he kicked off his sneakers and
shrugged off the light zip up coat he’d been wearing. His home was
comfortable and just the amount of space he needed. Decorated by
someone Randall suggested after Rome spent his off time restoring
the early twentieth century three story home he’d rescued from
demolition. Early in his career, he’d been told to invest and
instead of choosing a friend’s ponzi scheme he chose to invest in
himself and his ability to turn nothing into something great.

“I found one suit,” Rome confessed, not
adding that it was the one picked by Danika, no reason to give
Randall any reason to gloat more.

“I’m glad Ramona could help you.” Damn it, he
knew the set up produced the purchase.

“Have I ever told you that I despise being
manipulated?”

“A time or two.” His voice lowered just a bit
and for a half a second Jerome thought Randall would drop his tough
as nails demeanor. No such luck. “But you pay me to put you in the
best position to further your career. Have I not connected you with
the right people more than once?”

“A warning would have been nice,” Rome said
as he dug through his subzero fridge for the soda he’d been saving.
One a week as a treat during the off season. Funny how an orange
Crush seemed like a crack to him. The telltale snap then hiss was
followed by a long sigh as if everything in his world had suddenly
been righted.

“You can’t tell me Dani wasn’t amazing.”

Confident, sexy, and just the right amount of
hips to get him in trouble.

“Why the ambush?”

“Because if I told you that there was an
interview process for a stylist you wouldn’t have gone.”

Taking a long swallow of the orange
confection, he wanted to move onto something important instead of
how he looked as he boarded a plane. Randall handled many aspects
of Rome’s life and now that Rome had been properly sugared, he
wandered upstairs to face his most important thing in his life.

“What about DeMonte?” he asked as he pushed
opened his son’s unused room. “She wanted the money to raise him or
have you gotten me a good enough lawyer so I can see him?”

“Stanton Meeks is going to represent you.
He’s handled a lot of these cases and he’ll even work to help you
with the latest one.”

“What?” Rome snapped as he balled his fist.
Over twenty paternity claims had been filed in the six years since
he’d been drafted. Twenty!

The moment he went number one some bitch from
college came forward. It didn’t matter if he slept with them or
not, they claimed their spawn as his. Now that number was
twenty-one. He’d stopped going out, stopped taking pictures with
fans, stopped enjoying his life. Millions of dollars made him a
target. The moment he actually had a child come up his, he stupidly
painted a room and decorated it for his now three-year-old son.
Only to have Ms. Candace Powell say she didn’t need his help to
raise her son, just his money to clothe and feed him. Four years
before, she’d lived in his home, leaving before he’d gotten the
nerve to tell her he loved her. Love turns to hate so quickly.

“Another woman has come forward. Do you know
a Keisha Cousins?”

Jerome racked his memory, but the women were
too many. Tossing themselves at him since high school when he
scored four touchdowns in one game. He tried the relationship thing
a few times. DeMonte’s mother was the closest he’d had to a
girlfriend, she left once she got pregnant without telling him.

“How old is the kid?”

“Three, like DeMonte, at least they’re
learning you’re a good boy now and not even trying in utero or
newborns anymore. Are you just living on porn sites? Seriously, I
haven’t even seen you sniff a woman in a year.”

Sniff, maybe, fuck, sure, with his condom, a
nondisclosure agreement, and only if she was stone cold sober. When
had getting laid turned from fun to an agreement spelled out
between two people? Damn, he couldn’t even trust a woman
anymore.

“Do we have a punch card at the lab?” Rome
asked with only a bit of sarcasm.

“This will be different.”

“Why?”

“Because Meeks is going to make sure this
bitch pays above and beyond, unless of course…”

“Yeah, yeah, I know unless of course I
actually fucked her unwrapped. Class actions can’t be backwards can
they? You know, defamation of character and the like?”

“Ask Meeks, but he’s going to get you
custody,” Randall assured. “I’ve forwarded everything to him, he’s
filing papers in court Monday morning. I’m making sure all the
media outlets are going to know about the suit. We’re going to make
sure women think twice before laying a child on you.”

“I just want to see my son,” Rome groaned.
“It’s been over two years of this shit with Candi.”

“I gotcha, man, I was wrong saying you could
try to be amicable. Plan B is going to work. Hell, you might get
sole custody by the end of this.”

Rome ran his hand over his face. He didn’t
want that either, but he wasn’t going to be like the other guys he
knew who tossed money at a woman to get rid of a problem. His son
was not a problem. He was his blood. The only thing he regretted
about DeMonte was being stupid enough to let the child’s mother
close enough to trust her. A mistake he vowed to never repeat.

“Have you finished collecting the data on
first quarter sales?” Dani asked Esme, her project partner and the
closest person to a best friend Dani knew.

“Let me see,” Esme moved the wireless mouse
of her laptop and began clicking away with her manicured nails.
With black horn rimmed glasses and long flowing hair the color of
straw, Esme resembled a model when they were advertising for hot
business types. Dani groaned a bit. How would Esme not know if she
did the work? “Yeah, I got them all.”

“You sure?” Dani asked as she rolled her eyes
a bit.

“I know better than to not hit your
schedule.” Esme pushed her glasses through her hair so they became
a headband and crossed her arms. “Has anyone told you lately you’re
a bit high strung?”

“If I was a man you’d call me driven.”

“If you were a man, I’d have sued for sexual
harassment. You’re always in charge and never allow me a chance for
advancement.”

“Could that be because I had to stay up until
three a.m. because you got in a fight with Milton? Seriously, how
could you date a guy named Milton?”

“At least I date.” Esme reached for her
Frappuccino and sucked down the cool drink. “And say what you want,
Milton was hot.”

“Strangely, yes, but he had a bit of a
Napoleon Complex. I think it’s the name. Plus, he was a shitty
boyfriend.”

“But he was good at making up.”

“Tell me something,” Dani said before popping
a grape in her mouth. “Did moaning his name make the sex better or
dry you up like an old lady mid stroke?”

“I hate you and everything you stand for in
life.”

“So I can’t have your fries?” Dani teased as
she swiped two fries through ketchup.

“Better your ass than mine.”

“When did you get an ass?”

Esme and Dani spent the rest of the afternoon
creating a power point, while digging through all the data for a
company that went public a year ago. The project was simple,
examine and dissect a new company to strategize on flaws and
positives in hopes of someday missing the potholes that come with
everyday business. As Dani gathered up her files and stuffed them
into her messenger bag, her hand came to the bridge of her nose and
she pinched.

“What’s stressing you out now?” Esme asked.
“We have to be at least a week ahead.”

“More, by my schedule,” Dani sighed and
leaned back in her chair. “I want to get an apartment.”

“‘Bout time. You’re a bit old to be living
with your parents.” Esme dug through her purse and retrieved her
keys. “You know you’ll need to work more then.”

“I have people dropping in on me. Saturday,
Randy had the nerve to book one of his guys with the whore.”

“Ramona,” Esme let out a small giggle. “How
is she doing?”

“Still colorblind from the little bit I
witnessed.”

“And trying to fuck your clients.”

“Mason was not a client.”

“He started as one,” Esme teased as they made
their way to the parking garage. “Besides, it was just a great way
to learn he was a prick not worth your time.”

Dani tried to reconcile that part of the
equation, but couldn’t. It still hurt to be betrayed by someone she
cared for by a person she’d taken under her wing. Dani wasn’t one
to have a lot of friends to begin with. She had to avoid the ones
who thought she’d have the hottest tickets to parties or at least
throw them. As she got older, it became the ones who wanted an
internship with her father. Esme had been her only constant. Unlike
Dani, Esme’s parents gave her a trust to start out her life. She’d
get it later, until then they supported her as long as she was in
school. She’d traveled through four departments so far and could
have multiple degrees if she’d only apply for graduation. Instead,
she took the classes, somehow convincing those in graduate studies
to allow her to take a few classes even though she didn’t
technically have a Bachelors. Having dropped enough at the tuition
office to probably create a fully funded fifth department for her
to study in, Esme was a Dean’s List student with a compass that
spun like it was on the North Pole.

“Tell me about Randy’s client,” Esme said as
they got in her car. “What does he play?”

“Football.” Dani felt the pads of her fingers
heating up as if Rome was standing before her again. “For the
Grizzlies.”

“That’s good, then you can deal with him all
year long.”

“No, I don’t have time for another
client.”

“You just said you were moving out. That
requires money and last I saw your dad didn’t add you to his black
card.”

Dani turned to look out the passenger window
as Esme scanned her pass to leave the garage. She was right. Dani
had a billionaire father and had to scrape pennies to get a pass
for the L before she finally could buy her own car.

“Plus, if you live in the city that will give
you loads of extra commute free time.”

“You wouldn’t want to have a roommate, would
you?” Dani could feel the desperation in her voice.

“Would if I could, sweetie,” she chimed in a
singsong voice. Their fathers being best friends too meant Esme’s
black card privileges would be revoked if she disobeyed. The only
luxury Dani’s father would ever provide for her was his name and
connections. What she did with them to better herself was a hundred
percent on her.