Page 11 of Their After Hours Playbook

Paige wasn’t surprised. Not only was April a super talented sports reporter, she was so beautiful it was hard to take your eyes off her. All sports-oriented men seemed to be great admirers of April’s, and she had no doubt that Zach was, too. “I’ll be sure to tell her.”

“Or maybe I’ll run into you two?”

“Maybe.”

Zach resumed his short trip to the door, Paige following behind. “I’ll see you later,” he said as he opened the door.

“I’m sure you will.” Paige let the door close behind him, then stood there frozen for a moment. She still wasn’t sure what to make of Zach, but in many ways, that made him all the more dangerous. She was glad she’d had the courage not to make a plan with him. It was better to simply stay away.

Paige strode over to her suitcase and went straight to work, unpacking her clothes, shoes and toiletries and getting it all nice and organized. Then she grabbed a small cross-body bag that she used for the essentials while at a conference and headed downstairs. Her first stop was to get her conference badge, then she ducked into the exhibition hall. There was no sign of Zach and his new agent, Derek. It was probably for the best.

She next made her way to the lobby, where she met up with her first appointment of the day—a rep from a luxury watch brand. After that was a lunch with a rental car company, an early afternoon meeting with a worldwide fast-food chain and her three o’clock with a video game developer. By the time that meeting was concluded, Paige was already exhausted. Giving the same spiel about her star athletes over and over again was so draining, and it only made it worse to either be met with blank stares, meaningless nods or balks at the money she wanted for her clients, especially Alexis.

So she was in many ways thrilled when she got a text saying that her four o’clock appointment needed to back out. She quickly called April. “Hey. Where are you? Do you have any time?” she asked.

“I’m up in my room. I just finished writing a post for our website. And I do have time. Do you want to grab something to eat?”

Paige felt so cooped up. She’d been in the hotel all day long. “Let’s kill two birds with one stone and go to the pool. They have a full menu down there. The front desk pitched it pretty hard when I checked in.”

“Perfect. I’ll meet you there in fifteen?”

“I can’t wait.”

Four

Zach prided himself on being a pretty energetic guy, but five solid hours of meetings left him dragging. Even though things had gone incredibly well. A few of his appointments had been downright exhilarating, where he effortlessly reached his stride, pitching projects and partnerships with ease, then just as easily asking for the money he wanted for his client and receiving remarkably little pushback. Even after all of that, he needed a break.

He also needed time off from his most junior agent, Derek. He’d shadowed Zach for most of his meetings and had held his own, but mentoring was exhausting. “Hey. Derek. I’m going to splinter off for a bit if that’s okay with you. I need to make a few calls,” Zach said as they stood outside the exhibition hall.

“Sounds good,” Derek said, a bit distracted by all of the hubbub around them. “I was hoping we could grab dinner tonight if that’s okay.”

Zach was still holding out hope that he’d run into Paige and convince her to have a meal with him, but maybe he needed to stop holding out hope. She kept saying no. “I have one person I’m waiting to hear from.”

“Another potential sponsor?”

“No. Another agent.”

“Great,” Derek said with entirely too much enthusiasm. “I’d love to come. I won’t talk. I’ll just listen. I learn so much when I’m around you.”

Guilt was bearing down on Zach. This was a work trip and Derek needed his guidance. Plus, Zach was not about to invite Derek along if he and Paige got to have dinner. “Maybe you and I should just go out on our own. Grab a burger. Play some blackjack?”

Derek’s face lit up. “Yes. That sounds amazing. Seven? Meet in the lobby?”

Zach clapped Derek on the shoulder. “You got it. I’ll catch you later.”

Zach parted ways from Derek and wandered past the bar. He stepped inside the dark and moody space, made quick survey of the room and came to the conclusion that Paige wasn’t there. He would’ve been lying if he said that he wasn’t more than a little disappointed. Running into her would certainly put the spring back in his step, but that wasn’t meant to be. For now.

So he returned to his original plan and headed up to the eighth floor to put up his feet. He strolled down the hall and hesitated for a moment at the door to Paige’s room. He raised his hand and left his fist hovering in midair. Was she in there? Would she invite him in? He had to find out. No rewards for the timid. He knocked twice, then waited, the anticipation making his pulse race. “Dammit,” he muttered to himself when it was clear that no one would be answering, then continued on to his room.

He dropped his key card on top of the dresser and sat at the desk before opening his laptop. After a few quick e-mail responses, he closed it up, then kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed. He leaned against the headboard and put up his feet. The bed was so soft and sumptuous. It would’ve been so easy to flip on the TV and catch a game, or maybe even fall asleep for a quick fifteen-minute nap, but Zach had to be responsible and give Tom a quick call and an update. He’d promised to deliver at least one while he was away.

“Zach, my boy. How’s Sin City?” Tom said when he answered the phone.

“No sins for me,” Zach countered. “Just lots of incredible meetings.”

“Big deals?”

Zach sat back a little more and ran his hand through his hair. “Everything I could have hoped for. And more.”

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