"There she is!" My brother stands and walks toward the door and I look up. Holy shit, it's her! The woman from the nightclub, the broad with the hot thighs and the strong need to angry fuck. What are the fucking chances that she works here with my brother? That she's my new fucking lawyer?
This is going to be fun. I can tell.
She looks like she's seen a ghost. Yeah, she's rattled to see me here. Tim puts an arm lightly on her shoulder and ushers her into the conference room. That grinds my gears a little. I don't want my brother touching this woman. "Juniper Jones, this is my brother, Ty Stag."
She stands stiffly beside him but doesn't speak, and I can tell he's annoyed. He thinks she's starstruck because I'm famous, but I knew she had no idea who I was the other night. Nah. She's spooked because she fucked her client and she has no idea what happens next.
"Juniper, huh?" I stand and walk over to her, sliding my hand into hers for a shake. Her arm twitches when my hand makes contact with her skin. "My brother says you're new to Pittsburgh, too."
She nods and sits. I can see her trying to gather her wits. She looks at me, sort of desperately, and clears her throat. I just give her my best smile until she stammers, "Yes, things worked out quite nicely. Your brother hired me just as I was looking to make a change." And then she just stares at me uncomfortably until Matty clears his throat.
“Ok, well, now that we’re all here, Juniper, Tim said you’ve reviewed the contract. Again, that’s really pretty straightforward, but while we have the team together I wanted to talk about our agency’s plan to help bolster Ty’s image.”
She starts chugging a glass of water while Tim glares at her. God, I love making my stiff-ass brother uncomfortable almost as much as I like seeing this woman squirm. I lean back in my chair with my hands clasped behind my head. Because I can. I’m paying these people to put up with shit like this.
Matty frowns at me, but continues, “Our first idea is to get Ty connected with the community back here in Pittsburgh. It’s been awhile since he’s been home and we’re always looking for new opportunities for outreach. An obvious idea is to get him involved with youth sports.”
My brother shakes his finger. “No. Sorry, Matty, but I have to disagree with you there. I don’t think it’s wise to put Ty in front of a bunch of kids until we know for sure he can keep his nose clean. Ty, no offense, but your reputation precedes you.”
“None taken, dickwad. What’s your next idea?”
Tim smiles and points two index fingers at Juniper. “Juniper is an athlete. I’ve been thinking about your image ever since I interviewed her. Juniper, what you said about amateur athletes using paid time off to compete, really negotiating to build a life around your sport...that really stuck with me.”
Matty looks interested in this line of thought. “What sort of athlete are you then, Juniper?”
She blushes. “I’m a rower.” Fuck yeah, you are, I think, remembering her firm arms and chest. Those thighs...Jesus. “But I’m new here, so I don’t really--”
Tim cuts her off. “I did some research. There are a lot of amateur adult sports organizations in our city, ranging from deck hockey to Gaelic football. But I liked what I saw about the rowers.” Tim and Matty bow their head over a folder Tim extracts from his briefcase, talking about adaptive rowing for people with disabilities and sponsoring teams so the inner city high schools can afford to participate in rowing.
Matty strokes his chin and claps Tim on the back. “This is why I love partnering with you, man. This shit is great.” Juniper just sits with her mouth hanging open. Matty continues. “We’ll get Ty on board as a sponsor of the team to the tune of--Juniper, what does it cost for oars or life jackets or whatever?”
“Team boats cost tens of thousands of dollars,” she says, and my face falls a little thinking of how much it’s going to cost me to polish my reputation. “I think it could be appropriate if Ty were to finance some of the indoor training facility upgrades, though.”
“Indoor! Perfect. He can keep showing up to events year-round. I love it. Ty, we’re going to reach out to the coach and have you shadow a few practices, wave a flag at the start of a race, or whatever the hell you call it. Juniper, is it a race? Is there a flag?”
She opens her mouth to speak, but Matty cuts her off again. “When’s the next team practice?”
Juniper looks like she’s seriously regretting ever moving to this city, but her next words wipe the smile off my face pretty quickly. “The women’s team practices tomorrow at 6am.”
My brother and my agent share a long laugh about this and tell me to get my ass to the dock at 5:45. Matty stands and claps Tim on the back again. “Tim, have Juniper finish up the language regarding Ty’s playoff bonus and get a courier to bring that contract to my office later. Ty, baby, good to have you on board.” He practically waltzes out of the conference room, but sticks his head back in and points at me. “5:45, dude. Seriously, do not fuck this up.”