Page 11 of Hot Shot
“The NHL franchise.Wewent after it.”
“We?”
“Me, Oakley, Cami, and Nat.”
“I get Oakley, but Cami and Nat… Wait. Aren’t they Rogue sportswear… which is owned by KAW…. KAW owns the franchise. And KAW is the four of you.” I speak as my mind works to connects the dots.
“Still not just a pretty face,” she says with a grin.
“Not even that without my teeth in.” I grin back showing off the pearly whites a dentist provided.
“Teeth or not, your face is still pretty, Bran.”
I don’t want her to go down the attraction road. We need to work out the crap scattered over the road of our friendship first and I doubt she’ll ever see me as pretty again once she knows the truth. “So KAW got the franchise. When did that happen?”
“We signed the contract with the league a few weeks ago. It wasn’t meant to be announced until the end of the month but someone leaked info about the deal almost immediately after we signed, so we had a rushed press conference in New York to make the announcement.”
“And how did it go over? The new team being in Baton Rouge? That’s where you said it was located, right?”
“Yes. We decided to use Oakley and Cami’s hometown because the new headquarters and manufacturing facility for Rogue sportswear is being built there and we want the two businesses to complement each other.”
“Bring people into the area to work on the sportswear, give them something to do in their spare time.”
“That’s kind of basic, but yes. The two KAW companies will share some facilities like childcare centers, food and beverage outlets, and a small shopping mall with a grocery store. There’s also two housing developments in the works plus the one we already completed in preparation for when the first employees begin working at the head office or the arena now the announcement has been made.”
“Sounds like you’re building a mini city.”
With a shrug, she says, “I guess, in some ways we are. But it’s more about community. We want the Rogues team to be a family like we’ve done with the sportswear brand and for both to mesh. We want the place we locate both to benefit from them as well. For that to be a success, we need to be sure we’re giving our employees—all of them—and the people already living in Baton Rouge what they deserve. Treat them well and they’ll be happy and stick around.”
“If I remember right, getting a job at Rogue sportswear is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
“Still is.”
“So the idea behind getting an NHL franchise?”
“Came from Gerald Cantrell Senior, actually.”
“Really?” The previous owner of the Knights was a great man. One who had been extra generous when my life spiraled out of control then went up in a fireball of hell flames.
“Yep. He told Oakley we had the knowledge and skills to do it and it would be a good complement to our sportswear brand so we should look at one of the teams in the national women’s league.”
“Oh boy.” Cantrell Senior had waved a proverbial red flag in front of four women who, in my experience, liked to prove they can do anything.
Blake quickly swallows her last bite of stew. “Oh boy is right. It was an insult without being one, but we liked the idea, took it as a challenge, and here we are.”
“Here you are.”
Here she is.
Right next to me.
Giving me a sense of stability I haven’t felt since the day I woke up to find Celeste Dupree in bed next to me.
Blake
Night steals over the surrounding forest, cloaking us in darkness while we talk, and in spite of the outdoor heaters, the cold wraps around us too. We’ve been out here an hour or so, talking mainly about the new Rogues facility, the practice rink that’s already up and running as of yesterday, the gym and change rooms that were due to be cleared for use today.
“Do you like living there? The heat?” Bran asks.
