Page 71 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

“Hard luck for her.”

“He’s not a terrible person, regardless of what you may have read. But he’s going down a bad path right now, and running the Vice seems to have enabled the baser side of him.”

And we had to take some responsibility for that. “Do you think we let him get away with too much because he reminds us of Daddy?”

My mother smiled a little. “You may be right. But to some extent, that is his issue too. He always wanted to live up to your father’s reputation, but went about it in the wrong ways.”

Still, he was right about one thing: how unlikely it would be that someone as amazing as Chris could genuinely be interested in me.

30

Sorry

Chris

Weirdly,Amanda left me high and dry on Sunday evening. I was disappointed but not really worried. She wasn’t the type to play games. I figured she’d have a good excuse and want to make things up to me. That would be fun.

Amanda had surprised me in so many ways on Saturday night, but the biggest shocker was in bed. She had been eager and enthusiastic, and frankly I could not wait to hook up with her again. And there was something else as well—maybe the ease we already had with each other—that made things more fun.

When I walked into the Vice offices on Monday morning, Tori greeted me excitedly. “I saw photos of you and Amanda at that big gala do on Saturday. You looked just like James Bond in that tuxedo, and Amanda looked like a queen. Jeez, what I wouldn’t give to go to an event like that.”

“Thanks. Is Amanda in yet?”

Tori nodded. “Yes, she got in way before me this morning.”

I walked down the hall, but her office was empty. Nancy peeked over her cubicle wall at me.

“Morning, Chris. If you’re looking for Amanda, she’s in a meeting in the boardroom.”

“A meeting? With who?”

She shrugged. “No clue. Some tall guy in a suit. Gregory’s in there too.”

“Oh. I wonder if I’m supposed to be in there too.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Amanda didn’t tell me to ask you to join them.”

So, no. I nodded, went down to my closet, and sat down. The Vice were on a road trip, so I was getting scores and stats after every game. Our play-by-play guy was a stats wizard. While at first I thought that his analysis was overkill, now I realized that it was helpful for determining exactly what was happening on the ice. When I watched a game in person, I had a good sense of how the team was playing, but the basic game stats like shots, penalties, and hits told me very little. If the coach were friendlier, I would have considered going on the road with the team. Not that I was looking forward to riding a bus again. Hadn’t done that since the A.

I heard voices in the hallway and poked my head out. Amanda was talking to a dark-haired man in a navy suit. She and Greg both shook his hand and then he left.

Greg saw me. “Morning, Chris.”

Amanda turned as well. She looked different today. She was still wearing a suit, but it fit her better and instead of her usual shirt, she had a blue top on that reminded me of the gown she wore on Saturday night. In fact, she looked way better—or did she only look better because I was attracted to her now? I felt like taking her into her office, locking the door, and fucking her right on her tidy little desk. My cock twitched happily at that idea.

“Oh Chris, we need to talk.” Amanda motioned to me, and we all went into Gregory’s office. He sat at his desk, and she sat on the edge of it. That was a little distracting, because I couldn’t stop looking at her body. Like her exposed ankles. Her ankles, for fuck’s sake. But it was only 48 hours ago that I had them pushed up around my neck as I drilled my cock into her. I had never before worked with someone I had nailed... and wanted to keep nailing. I took a deep breath and tried to lift my mind to a higher place.

Amanda looked a little nervous, but her voice was calm and confident like always. “On Friday, Uncle Thomas’s mediation was settled. And with the gala auction on Saturday....” Her eyes darted over me, and she flushed. “Well, er, we were all busy with that. In any case, once the gala was over, my mother raised the subject again at Sunday dinner. Uncle Thomas is still against the sale, but since the rest of us are in favour—our sixty percent share legally triggers the sale.”

She paused, but I didn’t know exactly to say. This was so unexpected.

Then Greg continued, “We just met with our lawyer. The next stages will be a negotiation on the selling price. So at this point, you’re free to go back to the Millionaires and determine what the deal’s going to be. Of course, we don’t want news of this to leak out to the staff until we have definite plans.”

Amanda broke in. “I can’t speak for hockey operations, but I hope you’ll keep everyone here. It’s a pretty lean office, and they all work hard.”

I held up a hand. “Okay. Wow. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting this news right now. And I can’t make any promises, but I’ll do my best.” Now that I knew everyone here, it would be tough to fire anyone. Not that it would be my job. In fact, I wondered if I’d even work with the new Vice management. I’d make sure to pass on all the information I’d put together though. The team had potential, but a ton of things needed to change.

She smiled. “Thanks, Chris. Obviously we are not in a strong bargaining position here. But please remind Rusty Cooper that my father did buy the team to help out the Millionaires in the first place.”

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