Page 96 of Drop the Mitts

“You were unbelievable out there.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him straight on the mouth with her red lipstick. He wrapped his arms around her, drawing what felt like his first real breath of the night.

“Yourgoal?” She pulled back to look at him, eyes bright. “Is Country pissed about that hit?”

He grinned, his chest so full, he could barely speak. “I love this Grace who loves hockey.” He dipped his head, nuzzling her neck.

She laughed. “Do you love her enough to help with a transaction?” He groaned, but then she put her finger under his chin. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

Now he was listening. He followed her into the room she’d been using as her personal office.

“I’m almost finished with this, but I’ve scoured every record I have from you, from Heads Up, and I cannot find a contractfor this sponsorship.” She flipped her phone around like she was about to throw down a royal flush.

André saw the name and relaxed. “Oh, yeah. You don’t need to worry about that one.”

Grace frowned. “Yes. I do need to worry about it. It doesn’t matter if you have some kind of verbal agreement with this person or group or whatever, everything needs to have a paper trail or?—”

“Trust me, Grace.” He dragged her closer. “This one’s fine.”

She gave him a look like he’d just told her he used gasoline as mouthwash. “Okaaay. But how do you know it will be fine in three months, six months, or a year? Businesses can be volatile, and if something were to happen?—”

“Nothing’s going to happen.” He shouldn’t love pushing her buttons as much as he did, but she was so sexy when she got fired up. He wouldn’t let it last too much longer. “This isn’t from a business. It’s from a holding.”

Grace looked back at her screen. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter. You asked me to come into this and ensure everything was above board. You didn’t want Heads Up to be exposed to any unnecessary?—”

“I gave you an expectation. You just want to do your job right.”

Grace exhaled. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to end up missing something?—”

“Do you have a contract there? Can you print it?”

She nodded. “I could.”

“Do it. I’ll get it signed for you.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “Really?” He patted her hip as she walked past to open the file on her laptop. It only took her a minute to send it to the printer. The machine whirred to life.Grace grabbed the fresh double-sided document and handed it to him.

“Do you have a pen?”

Her brow furrowed. She lifted one from the desk and handed it to him. “Are they here? I didn’t?—”

André bent over and dated the document, then signed at the bottom. “Can you fill in the rest?”

She blinked. “André, I don’t just need any signature. I need the actual sponsor.”

He handed the page to her. “And you’ve got it.”

Grace glanced down at the contract, then back up at Andre. “You donated fifty-thousand dollars to Heads Up?”

André nodded once, trying not to grin as she processed. He pulled the paper from her hands, set it on the desk, and planted himself in front of her. “Right now, you’re wondering how I have that much money to give away. Because I hardly ever work, and I need to grow up?”

Grace’s eyes flared. “I didn’t mean that. I wasn’t in a good place?—”

“No, you were right. About a lot of things. I may be immature and shortsighted in many areas, but money isn’t one of them.”

She drew in a breath and blew it out. “Oh, damn it, is this residual from the Calvin Klein ad?”

André gaped at her. “You know about that?”

Grace nodded. “I might have it saved in my phone.”

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