Page 111 of Never In My Wildest Dreams

“Yeah, of course. I’m on it.”

“Thanks, man.” He disconnected, and Booker knew without a doubt, the man would handle the situation. As he shut himself into his room, relief swept over him. He started to kick off his shoes and unbutton his khakis, but the knock on the door stopped him.

Hellcat? Man, he hoped so.

But when he opened it, he saw Ginty in a white robe, hotel slippers, and a stack of towels in his hands. “What’s up, princess?”

The hockey player chuckled. “Lor went all out. Have you checked your bathroom? She even has that hair mask shit. Makes your hair really soft.”

“Oh, good.” Booker touched his hair. “My ends have been so dry.”

“Fuck off. Hey, we’re going in the hot tub.” He offered a towel. “Want to come?”

No, he didn’t. But he never said no to a client, so he took one. “I’ve got a few calls to make, but I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

“Everything okay?”

His energy flagged, so it wasn’t a surprise that Ginty could read that.

“Lor said you went to see the Canadian kid. How’d it go?”

Normally, he didn’t talk about other clients or prospects, but he and Ginty had a different kind of relationship. “I got five minutes of his dad’s time. Just enough to hear, ‘Thanks for all you’ve done to get us here, but at this point, we’ve decided to go with a bigger firm. You understand.’”

“What? That sucks. Anything you can do?”

“I told him there’s more at stake than money. That he needed to consider his son’s long-term career and his mental health. Most agents don’t give a shit about any of that. They want the commission.”

Ginty nodded. “I can speak to that. You saved more than my career. You saved my life.”

“Ginty?” Noa called. “You coming?”

“Just a second.” He turned back to Booker. “All you can do is present your argument. You’ve got no control over the decision he makes. If he makes the wrong one, I’m pretty sure he’ll be calling you not too far in the future. You’re the best, and I mean that sincerely.”

“Well, thanks. I appreciate it.” And he did. In fact, he needed to hear it.

“Clients are pains in the asses, aren’t we?” Ginty smiled.

“Some of them are.”Like the guy who’s on vacation and can’t be bothered to handle his brother’s arrest.He’d rather interrupt Booker’s scheduled break. “But most are great. Most are like you.”

“Yeah, at least things have settled down for me.” Ginty thought about it for a moment and then burst out laughing. “That’s a good one. My family sold our wedding information, and now we’re hiding out on this remote ranch, making our closest friends scramble to pull something together for us. Yep. Settled down, all right.”

“Baby?” Noa called, her voice rich with suggestion. “You want to see this lingerie I bought at the boutique today? I’ll model it just for you.”

Ginty’s eyes went fiery, and he snatched the towel back. “I take back the invitation. Things are about to get freaky.” He slapped Booker on the shoulder and headed off.

“Hey, have you seen Lorelei?” he called, leaning out into the hallway.

“Last I saw, she was putting the kid to bed.” And then Ginty bent his knees, lifted his bride into his arms, and ran the rest of the way down the hallway to the stairs.

Booker felt a weird tug in his heart that he’d missed out on reading to Stevie, and that shook him to his core. Because, sure, he’d read to his clients’ kids before. But that wasn’t the longing he felt.

It was to be part of the bedtime routine. With Hellcat and his daughter.

Almost like…a family.

Fuck my life.

You know what I need? Food. A beer. And a workout.

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