Chapter 30

Trent

 

 

“If you could get me his number, I’d appreciate it.”

“Yes, sir,” my assistant said right before Reese walked in.

Damn, she was beautiful. Seeing her at work, wearing a sleek dress despite the dress code being casual, spiked my adrenaline.

“Whose number?” she asked, taking a seat on my lap. She crossed her legs, the hem of her dress rose, and my hand rested on the top of her right thigh.

“Joe Bevins.” Her brows furrowed. “My driver the night you were in that accident.” That memory still haunted me. Leaning forward, I closed the distance between us and kissed her.

“Right, right. I’m sorry, I forgot his name. Why are you calling him? Going somewhere?”

“Not without you I’m not. He told me he used to play and got hurt. Smart guy too, studied all of my films.” Reese rolled her eyes, and I laughed. “I want to add him to the staff. The kid loves the sport and not playing has to be rough. This would get him on the field and something tells me the kid is smart.”

“Because he watched your films?” She teased with a smirk.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Well, I think it’s great. We both must have had the same idea because I have Graham Easton coming in tomorrow.”

“The kid who wanted the internship?”

“Yes.”

“Look at us making dreams come true.”

A knock on my door had Reese wanting to get up, but my hand stayed firmly in place. My assistant, Mark, walked in, not at all surprised to see Reese on my lap.

“Sorry to interrupt, but here is Mr. Bevin’s number.” He handed me a pink slip of paper. “Also, Jackson is waiting to see you.”

“Perfect, send him in.”

“Can I get up now?”

“No.” I chuckled, moving my other hand to her hip.

Jackson strolled in, hands in the front pockets of his pants, his high-top sneaks loosened at the top, and a gray hoodie. To say the man looked relaxed would be an understatement.

“You two should get a room.” Reese pushed off me and fixed her dress. “Hey, Bird.”

“Hi, Jackson. How are negotiations?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Every time I call my agent, he tells me to have patience.”

Ever since I announced my retirement and new position with the Thunder, my main goal was to get Jackson on this team. Between my coaching and his on-field talent, I had a feeling we’d be unstoppable. Except the Rockets weren’t interested in releasing him before his contract expired next year. In fact, they wanted to extend it immediately. Of course, I countered with the sweetest deal Charles and Reese would allow. Giving up draft picks was part of the trade game, but giving up the best ones was team suicide.

“Look, if we can’t get you this year, we’ll grab you next.” Reese’s calm voice didn’t seem to have the same effect on Jackson because all he did was rake his hand through his hair and groan.

“Yeah. Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“Well, I have a meeting to get to.” Reese gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek before turning toward me. “I’ll see you later.”

Before she could take one more step, I snagged her hand and yanked her against me. Cupping her face, I kissed her. Jackson cleared his throat, but I ignored him. Reese placed her hands on my chest and gently pushed me away before walking out.

“I never thought the day would come,” my best friend said, beaming as though he’d solved world hunger.

“What’s that?”

“You. The only time I’ve seen you like this was when we won the championship. I’m happy for you.” Jackson’s phone rang. He looked at the screen and let out a long breath. “I need to head out. My agent wants to see me. That tells me it isn’t going our way. I’ll catch you later.”

We shook hands and gave each other a one-armed hug. “It’ll work out.” He raised his hand as he walked out the door.

Before leaving for the day, I called Joe, who couldn’t have been more surprised or grateful. He agreed to come in and talk about the job. Truthfully, I think if I told him I wanted him to drive the player cart, he’d do that just to get on the field again. Little did he know what I had in mind was a thousand times better than that. Who better to assist me other than someone who understood the game?

I spent the rest of the afternoon making calls and plans for Reese and me. It seemed that somewhere along the line we missed Valentine’s Day. Tonight, I planned on making up for that. She never mentioned it, but when I was in Kenzie’s office for a meeting, I couldn’t help but notice a card with hearts all over the front of it sitting on her credenza.

Reese thankfully had a meeting, which would give me enough time to get everything ready at my house. Lily, God bless her, picked up the flowers I ordered and placed them around my family room. She also prepared her delicious lasagna that was warming in the oven.

When I knew Reese was about to arrive, I lit a few candles, put on soft music, and dimmed the lights. As usual, she knocked once before opening the door. One step in and she gasped. I stood in front of her with a single long-stemmed red rose in my hand.

“What’s all this?” She looked around in awe. “Trent, there are so many flowers. When did you have time? And it smells so good in here.”

“Lily made us lasagna.”

“You do know it’s not my birthday, right?”

“Yes, I know it’s in August.” I tapped my right temple. “After missing Valentine’s Day, I have everything memorized up here.”

“You mean in your phone’s calendar?”

“Yeah, that too.”

We both laughed, then her eyes went wide. “Wait, this is…” Her mouth shut and she frowned right before tears flowed from her eyes.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Oh God, I screwed up. Did she hate this holiday? Was there a bad memory tied to it? Did some jerk hurt her? If that was the case, I’d find the loser and kick his ass.

Reese threw her arms around me. “Thank you so much, no one has ever done this for me before.”

“Sweetheart, you haven’t seen anything yet.” I scooped her up and carried her toward the stairs.

“Wait, what about dinner?”

“We’ll get to that. First, I want dessert.”

She giggled and kissed my jaw. “Trent Archer, will you be my first valentine?”

“No, I’ll be your last valentine.”

“Even better.”