“Cut that out!” I bark. “She’s not the story.”
“No kidding,” Miranda says. “She never really was. And neither were you, so she can stop lunging at me in the street.” Miranda rolls her eyes.
“You are not a nice person!” Heidi squeaks.
“Who is?” Miranda snaps. “That picture of your dad and Kafnar Jr. in Georgia’s office, though. Now that’s news.”
“It isn’t!” Heidi shrieks. “Write about Kafi if you want a scandal.”
“You don’t think it matters if the league commissioner trusts the wrong dealmakers? He’s responsible for the financial wellbeing of the entire sport.”
Well, ouch. I steer a red-faced Heidi away from her. “Nice to see you, Miranda. Always a pleasure.”
Heidi wiggles under my arm, trying to get away from me. So I stop on the sidewalk and face her. “Look. I promised not to protect you when you don’t need protecting. And I guess this counts. But do you really want to have it out with a journalist on the sidewalk? She probably records every interaction.”
“Arrrrrgh!” Heidi shrieks. “I want to wipe that smirk off her face.”
“I know,” I say in my calmest voice. “And I’d love to watch. But it’s still a bad idea.”
Heidi’s eyes are wild. I want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her away from here. My fingers actually itch to do it.
But I don’t. I take a slow breath and just wait.
Heidi’s shoulders slump. “Let’s go home and throw darts at her picture instead.”
“Yes! I call first shot. Ten bucks a point.” I lift my hand for a high five.
She slaps it. “Still want to choke her.”
“I know, baby. And I still want to stop you. But look at me being all adult about it.”
A smile flickers across her face. “Thank you for what you did in there.” She tips her head toward the building.
“I didn’t do a thing.”
“You did,” she insists. “You were there for me. No advice. No drama. Just…sturdy.”
“I can do that,” I say, and I realize it’s true. Maybe I’m not a horrible boyfriend, after all.
“And I appreciate it. Drama is really not the Pepper family style. I’m kind of shaken up about it.”
Our car pulls up at the curb. “Let’s go home, okay?” I open the backdoor for her. “No more drama today. No parents. No apartment hunting, for God’s sake. Let me take care of you, with movies in bed and takeout food. I’ll have a team meeting later, but mostly I get the day off.”
“That sounds great.” She hops into the car. “Let me just call Becca.” She pulls out her phone. “Oh, crap. It’s dead.”
“Use mine.” I hand her my Katt phone as I get in and close the door. “Becca’s cell number is in there.”
“Sweet.” As the car pulls away, she dials. Because we’re in a small space, I can hear a tinny version of Becca’s voice say, “Hello? Jason?”
“This is Heidi,” my girl says. “I needed to tell you—”
“Are you okay? I just saw it on the news. Your poor dad.”
Heidi flinches. “Yeah, it’s bad for him. And I need a real job now. He won’t stand in my way. I’m open to any department. But I have to ask if maybe your new assistant isn’t working out…”
Becca says something I can’t understand, and Heidi’s grip on my hand tightens. “I understand,” she says stiffly.
“However,” Becca’s voice says before becoming unintelligible again.
Heidi sits up straighter. “Really? YES! YES! I mean—I’d consider that. Sure. If the terms were right.”
I bite back a chuckle, because my girl is already negotiating.
“Of course I can come in tomorrow. Nine o’clock is fine. Uh-huh. Full time. I’ll be needing benefits. Right. Oh—and this job comes with a Katt phone, right?” She hangs up a minute later, smiling like the sun itself.
“Well?”
“Rebecca has plans for two office managers! She thinks I would be perfect for assisting Hugh. There’s travel. But it’s the real deal. A full-time position!”
“Baby, that’s amazing.” Not that I’m surprised. Heidi is like a category-four hurricane when she wants something. Who wouldn’t want that kind of gale force on his side?
She turns her head and smiles at me. “Are you sure you don’t mind me sticking around your place? We’d be seeing an awful lot of each other.”
“But that’s how I like it.” Just to prove the point, I reach over and slide her closer to me on the seat. “See?”
“That is nice.”
“I love you, Heidi,” I tell her. “Thank you for putting up with my grumpy ass.”
“I love your grumpy ass. And I’m going to get this job,” she says as the car accelerates on the FDR.
“Yes, you are,” I say, wrapping an arm around her.
“They’ll forget to interview anyone else.”
“They won’t even bother,” I agree.
“You’re just yessing me,” she complains. “You’re really thinking about sex now.”
“No way!” I argue. Although that’s a nice idea. “Maybe you should wear your lucky panties to the interview. The new pair.”
She snuggles closer to me. “I have a confession.”
“What’s that?” She smells like flowers. And I can’t wait to get home.
“The new pair isn’t real.”
“No? Are they like the clothes in that fairy tale? The Emperor’s New Underwear?”
“Pretty much,” she says, putting a hand on my chest.
“That’s very affordable,” I whisper. “And you can model them when we get home.”
“If you’re lucky, I will,” she says with a wicked smile.
And because I’m very, very lucky, she does.
T h e
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