“Whoa, how’d you manage that, man?” he said with a hint of awe in his voice.
“I told her what I needed and she told me what she needed,” I shrugged. “We negotiated.”
“Well, I’ll be goddamned!” Finn chuckled. “I was wondering if you still had it in you, but I guess that puts my fears to rest.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I eyed him suspiciously.
“Nothing, I’m just saying that it’s good to know that all this rich living hasn’t made you go soft,” he replied casually. Something about the way he said it set me on high alert.
“So, how are the inquiries into the management firm going?” I asked trying to steer the conversation toward something more neutral.
“Good, good,” Finn nodded. “I’ve got appointments with a couple of agents who were let go by CAA under questionable circumstances. I figure I’ll mine them for information about how the business is run and then put together a plan for structuring ours.”
“Got it,” I nodded. “What do you need from me?”
“Nothing at this point,” he said as he walked away from my desk and stood in front of the window overlooking the lake. “You focus on the girl — I mean, Payton, and I’ll pull together the stuff we need for our next steps.”
“Good enough,” I said, wondering what was going through that little brain of his. I’d been friends with Finn for most of my life, but it was still hard for me to read him and as a result, I was wary.
“Dax?” he said without turning around.
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Don’t fall for her.”
“Wasn’t intending to,” I replied in a tone that was much calmer than I felt.
“Good,” he nodded turning around. “That’s good.”
Without saying another word, Finn walked to the door, opened it, and stepped into the hallway. I thought about calling after him, but stopped myself. It was better to wait and see what he was going to do, than to ask and actually find out.
Chapter Sixteen
Payton
I marched away from the breakfast table knowing I should have been excited, even thrilled, about negotiating a deal with Dax, but instead I felt panicked. What was I doing? My mother was going to have an absolute fit when I announced my engagement, and I had no guarantee that Dax would appoint me as the Storm’s new GM once he’d evaluated his choices.
I blushed furiously as I recalled how I’d negotiated the sexual part of the contract. Never in my life had I ever done something so brazen, and yet, in my mind, it felt incredibly satisfying to make him feel so profoundly uncomfortable. I wouldn’t deny the fact that I was incredibly attracted to Dax Connor, and when I’d added the sex clause to the negotiations, admittedly it had been about making him pay for the rejection I’d felt when he’d pulled back.
There was no question that I wanted the GM job, but what were the consequences of even asking for it? If Dax actually hired me, there would be criticism from every experienced executive in the NFL when they found out. I would not only be the youngest GM in the league, beating out the Bears GM, Ryan Pace, by 10 years, but I’d be the first woman to ever hold the position in an NFL organization.
It would be a publicity circus, and would probably hamper the efforts of the coaches and staff, not to mention the players themselves. There would be questions about my age, my qualifications, and then there would be the NFL boys club. They might do their best to freeze me out and make things difficult.
Not to mention the fact that my mother was going to have a fit.
I’d grown up in a family that always had a solid reason for everything they did — right or wrong. No one ever questioned my grandfather’s decisions when it came to the Bears. Or at least, I’d never seen anyone question him. My mother had inherited her father’s stubborn nature, and then, at some point, added a tinge of nastiness to the mix. I thought about how she’d scorned Dax’s success when he’d been awarded the new franchise, and how angry she’d been when she realized she’d have to attend the ceremony. This announcement was going to fulfill her requirements, but it was going to set off a string of explosions that we might not survive.
I needed to talk to someone who knew the lay of the land, but who had a cool head. I smiled as I thought about Gus’ bald head and easy smile, and I knew exactly where I needed to go. I caught a cab on the corner of Dearborn and slid into the back seat.
“Where to, ma’am?” the cabbie asked.
“Can you take me to Soldier Field?”
“Ma’am, I’m not going to be allowed in the parking lot,” he said, giving me a worried look in the rearview mirror.
“Don’t worry; I’ll call ahead and have them open up the gate,” I assured him as I opened my clutch and quickly texted a message to the s
ecurity staff on duty. Moments later, I received a reply telling me to enter on the South Side where one of the guards would be waiting. I looked up and said, “It’s all good; let’s go.”