Page 82 of Hot Stuff
I haven’t seen Cami or Blake yet but they’re both here somewhere. According to Oakley, her Pa decided even if Cami doesn’t want anything to do with the day-to-day running of the team, as a partner of KAW she should be present for this conference.
I’d love to have been a fly on the wall to see how he got the woman on a plane to New York on such short notice.
“She was. Blake talked her down. And she’s promised to be in on all the decisions even though she says she won’t have any input.”
Oakley laughs. “So she’ll just be in the room or on the call when things come up?”
Natalie sighs. “Look, I know you think we should all be involved but I think she’s right in staying out of it. She has no interest in the sport, no real knowledge of the game or how to run a professional team,butshe did get this organized for us on short notice so it’s not like she’s putting nothing in.”
Oakley holds up a hand. “I know. I get it, I just thought…” She shakes her head. “Never mind. It’s not like she’s had much input on Rogue sportswear over the years.”
“We don’t need her to put in on this either. We’ve all got our roles, and the ones we don’t fill, we will hand over to capable experts.”
I choke and cover it with a fist to my mouth and a fake cough.
“Something to say, Mr. Alcott?” Natalie asks me, her eyes narrowed, assessing.
“Ah.” Fuck, that look makes me want to cup my balls. I clear my throat. “I’m not sure expert is the right word for me.”
“Of course, it is. Don’t sell yourself short or be short sighted.” She leans closer. “If you think for one second I would put someone in a position they weren’t capable of doing, you’d be an idiot and you’re not.”
“I.” No more words form so I snap my mouth shut.
She indicates the direction she came from. “Now, let’s get your girlfriend in there and get this thing over and done.”
Spinning on her spiked heel, she stalks off, and I’m not sure how I feel about the woman.
I know she’s one of Oakley’s closest friends, her business partner, and they’ve known each other for years, but she’s brash and I think maybe a little mean.
“Her bark is worse than her bite. In fact, she barks so she doesn’t have to bite. Plus there’s the whole dickhead husband thing she’s got going on.”
“Husband?”
The sigh she emits is heartfelt. “Yeah. I’ll tell you about it later.”
“I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to that conversation or not.”
“Not. Johnathon—not John—Whitman is not a man you want to know.”
“You don’t like him, and she married him?”
“They were married before we met. At this point I’m pretty sure it’s in name only. Oh, and her checking account. He hasn’t had a real job in years and I’m not even sure what he’s qualified to do anyway. As far as I know, she hasn’t even told him about the Rogues franchise.”
“How can she be married to him and not tell him?”
Oakley shrugs. “I don’t know if they even talk, and she never takes work home or leaves anything like her phone where he can see it.”
“Wow. I think you’re right. I’m not looking forward to hearing about or meeting this guy.”
“You’ll have to at some point, I guess.”
“And I guess we should stop talking and get in there before she comes back and barks at us again.”
Laughing, she links her arm through mine, and says, “Let’s go and get this done.”
When we enter the room, I’m surprised how orderly everyone is. I don’t know why I expected chaos, but I figured there would at least be some shouting going on.
Moving to the side of the door, I lean against the wall while Oakley talks with Natalie, Blake, who I know vaguely through her hockey career and her brothers, and a woman I’m assuming is Cami.
