Payton.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, needing to create some kind of physical barrier between them.
“Listen up because I’m not going to explain this to you again,” she said. “As long as you are my client, nothing can happen between us. And don’t try firing me. You signed a contract. I’m your agent until the end of the free-agency period. So, until then…”
Payton couldn’t make herself finish the sentence, which was more telling than anything she’d said so far. Just the thought of being near Cedric week after week and having to deny herself was sheer agony.
But she would do it. She must do it.
If she wanted to be taken seriously in this male-dominated industry, she couldn’t let a girly thing like feelings get in the way. She’d already proven she could land a client and score a major endorsement deal. It was more than ninety percent of the men who’d taken the NFL Players Association’s Certification Exam with her could boast. But if she were standing in a room full of men and someone was asked to point out the sports agents, Payton knew she’d be the last one picked.
She’d worked too hard and had sacrificed too much to get to this point in her career. She would not allow something as frivolous as lust to derail her well-laid plans. It was not going to get in the way.
No matter how much it killed her.
Cedric studied his agent across the table as he idly stabbed his fork into the potato salad that had come with his roast beef sandwich. She was all business right now, but Cedric had caught the look in her eyes as she’d stood against the wall observing the commercial shoot. The actress he’d been paired with had thought he was flirting with her, but every flex of his muscles had been with a single purpose in mind—to drive Payton out of her mind with wanting. Maybe then she could feel a small bit of the anguish he’d been mired in for the past few weeks.
He couldn’t go on this way much longer. Despite the praise he’d received from the director today, Cedric wasn’t much of an actor, and pretending that being around Payton wasn’t driving him crazy with need required Academy Award-winning acting ability.
“Did any of the other players confirm they would be there to help with the camp?” she asked him as she scribbled notes onto a notepad.
“I forced a couple of the rookies to take part,” he answered, dropping the fork and pushing his half-eaten sandwich aside.
“Intimidating rookies was not what I had in mind when I asked you to recruit volunteers,” Payton said.
“They expect the rest of the team to push them around. It’s a rite of passage,” he said. “Jared said he’d help out, too. And Torrian will try to make it.”
“Awesome,” she said. Her eyes softened with her smile and it took everything Cedric had within him to stay on his side of the table.
Payton was the first to break eye contact. Cedric couldn’t have looked away from those deep brown eyes even at the threat of gunpoint. She took a sip from her diet soda and returned her attention to the array of papers occupying the small deli table they’d commandeered nearly an hour ago.
“Let’s go over the itinerary once more,” she continued, all business once again. “You’re going to spend the first half hour explaining a bit about the rules and history of the game, then the kids will break up into groups to run practice drills.”
Cedric nodded in response.
“Then it’s lunch, provided by none other than your favorite pizzeria.”
“Oh, goody. I’ve been dying for more pizza from Gianni’s,” he deadpanned, earning a laugh from her. Cedric savored the sound. It was the first uninhibited response from her since their little confrontation after the commercial shoot. By some unspoken agreement their earlier skirmish had been tabled, but the basis of it continued to peck away at Cedric’s brain.
They were two consenting adults. Why should it matter that she was his agent? Why
She crossed her arms over her chest, needing to create some kind of physical barrier between them.
“Listen up because I’m not going to explain this to you again,” she said. “As long as you are my client, nothing can happen between us. And don’t try firing me. You signed a contract. I’m your agent until the end of the free-agency period. So, until then…”
Payton couldn’t make herself finish the sentence, which was more telling than anything she’d said so far. Just the thought of being near Cedric week after week and having to deny herself was sheer agony.
But she would do it. She must do it.
If she wanted to be taken seriously in this male-dominated industry, she couldn’t let a girly thing like feelings get in the way. She’d already proven she could land a client and score a major endorsement deal. It was more than ninety percent of the men who’d taken the NFL Players Association’s Certification Exam with her could boast. But if she were standing in a room full of men and someone was asked to point out the sports agents, Payton knew she’d be the last one picked.
She’d worked too hard and had sacrificed too much to get to this point in her career. She would not allow something as frivolous as lust to derail her well-laid plans. It was not going to get in the way.
No matter how much it killed her.
Cedric studied his agent across the table as he idly stabbed his fork into the potato salad that had come with his roast beef sandwich. She was all business right now, but Cedric had caught the look in her eyes as she’d stood against the wall observing the commercial shoot. The actress he’d been paired with had thought he was flirting with her, but every flex of his muscles had been with a single purpose in mind—to drive Payton out of her mind with wanting. Maybe then she could feel a small bit of the anguish he’d been mired in for the past few weeks.
He couldn’t go on this way much longer. Despite the praise he’d received from the director today, Cedric wasn’t much of an actor, and pretending that being around Payton wasn’t driving him crazy with need required Academy Award-winning acting ability.
“Did any of the other players confirm they would be there to help with the camp?” she asked him as she scribbled notes onto a notepad.
“I forced a couple of the rookies to take part,” he answered, dropping the fork and pushing his half-eaten sandwich aside.
“Intimidating rookies was not what I had in mind when I asked you to recruit volunteers,” Payton said.
“They expect the rest of the team to push them around. It’s a rite of passage,” he said. “Jared said he’d help out, too. And Torrian will try to make it.”
“Awesome,” she said. Her eyes softened with her smile and it took everything Cedric had within him to stay on his side of the table.
Payton was the first to break eye contact. Cedric couldn’t have looked away from those deep brown eyes even at the threat of gunpoint. She took a sip from her diet soda and returned her attention to the array of papers occupying the small deli table they’d commandeered nearly an hour ago.
“Let’s go over the itinerary once more,” she continued, all business once again. “You’re going to spend the first half hour explaining a bit about the rules and history of the game, then the kids will break up into groups to run practice drills.”
Cedric nodded in response.
“Then it’s lunch, provided by none other than your favorite pizzeria.”
“Oh, goody. I’ve been dying for more pizza from Gianni’s,” he deadpanned, earning a laugh from her. Cedric savored the sound. It was the first uninhibited response from her since their little confrontation after the commercial shoot. By some unspoken agreement their earlier skirmish had been tabled, but the basis of it continued to peck away at Cedric’s brain.
They were two consenting adults. Why should it matter that she was his agent? Why
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