Page 112 of The Devil In Denim
“You look nervous,” Maggie said as she reached up to straighten Alex’s tie.
He let her fidget. Fidgeting with his clothes was her way of looking nervous when she couldn’t afford to look nervous. He’d worked that much out over the last few weeks. “I’m fine.”
They’d had a call from Mrs. Sutter early in the morning confirming that Will was going to do as they’d asked, but Alex wasn’t going to believe that until he actually got inside and heard the deciding vote cast in his favor. She’d also agreed to keep a close eye on Will and make sure that he didn’t do anything else that crossed the line. Alex was going to keep an eye on that too. He had his ways to get information, and any sniff of scandal surrounding Will and he would make sure that any woman who wanted to press charges against him had the best support and legal team in the country. But until then, this was the best he could do. Other than making sure that at some point after the vote he and Mal and Lucas also had a chat with Will himself about the correct way to treat women. An emphatic chat.
But for today, if Will backed off now, it was thanks to Maggie. She’d bearded the lion in her den, so to speak, and emerged victorious.
Now it was his turn to try to do the same.
“We’ll be right outside,” Maggie said with a final pat of his tie.
She stepped back, and he had to stop himself from pulling her back against him and letting the feel of her in his arms drown out the roar of adrenaline in his veins. Instead he contented himself with breathing in the scent of her while he watched her rock back and forth on the heels of her boots, dark eyes burning with worry rather than heat.
He didn’t like seeing that expression on her face. He might have screwed up his relationship with her, but he didn’t have to compound that by totally screwing up her life and losing the Saints to Sutter. He wanted to see her smile again. A real smile, not one faked for the public. He could earn that much back at least.
“I’m sorry you can’t come in with us.” The owners were holding a special meeting but it was them and the MLB executives only. Plus himself, Lucas, and Mal of course. Lucas was sitting, waiting, his fingers tapping on the keys of his laptop as he studied the screen. Alex had no idea if Lucas was reading patient notes or going over their presentation, but either way he envied his friend’s ability to focus in on one thing only and shut out the rest of the world. Mal, on the other hand, was, well, not exactly pacing by the window, but he was definitely in perpetual motion as he moved from sitting to standing to moving over to talk to Tom, and then starting the process all over again. “I’d take you in there if I could.”
Maggie smiled at that. It was strained and nervous, so it didn’t count as a real smile, but it was a start. “You’ll just have to struggle through without me.” She hesitated, pressing her lips together nervously.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Good luck.”
“Maggie…” She’d been acting strangely since she’d come back from Texas. Nothing he could quite put his finger on. Just different. She’d thrown up a wall between them after she’d broken up with him, one that he hadn’t been able to breach. It was still there but it didn’t feel quite the same. He had no idea if that was good or bad, and he’d been too busy with all the last-minute preparation for this meeting to have any real shot at trying to find out what was bothering her. She’d shut him down pretty fast the one time he’d tried to start a conversation.
After that he’d decided maybe he didn’t want to know. No point getting his hopes up. She’d made herself clear. Besides, it was hard enough going through this stupid pretense. Every time he took her hand, every time he kissed her, he didn’t want it to be a lie. But she’d said no. Said enough. And he had to respect that. Even if it was killing him.
Just as it was killing him to think that soon they wouldn’t need the pretense anymore and he wouldn’t even get to touch her at all.
Gardner came up beside him. “It’s time. They’re asking for you.”
Alex aimed one last smile at Maggie and then led his friends into the lions’ den.
The waiting was killing her. Maggie looked over to where Tom sat on the edge of the sofa, eyes fixed on the screen showing ESPN above their seats. It was showing a football game, so Maggie knew Tom wasn’t as interested as he was pretending to be. The fingers tapping one knee were a giveaway, for a start. “Surely it shouldn’t take this long?”
The tapping stopped briefly, then resumed as Tom turned toward her. “It will take as long as it takes. Those guys like to shoot the shit, you know that.”
She looked back at the door to the conference room. It was still firmly closed and apparently quite soundproof. There was no sign that there were people in the room behind it. She felt completely shut out. And not entirely sure that she wouldn’t throw up if the damned vote didn’t finish soon. “It feels like something’s gone wrong.”
“Nothing’s gone wrong. Quit panicking. Alex and Mal and Lucas know what they’re doing. Winters will win them over.”
Yeah. Alex. Laying on that devilish charm. Talking them round. Making them see things his way. Making them want to believe in him.
That man. The one she’d kicked out of her bed but hadn’t quite removed from her heart. The one who had been weakening her resolve every moment they’d spent together. The one who was so annoyingly irresistible that she was starting to have trouble remembering what her objections to seeing him had been in the first place.
Over the last few days, slowly and steadily, a little voice had been growing louder in the back of her mind. Surely there was a way to make it work? A way that they could work together and be together.
It would be easier if she wasn’t working so closely with Alex of course. He wasn’t going to give up the CEO chair any time soon, that much was clear, so she needed something else to focus on. A piece of the pie that could be hers.
Once the Saints were secure, there would be money for some of the programs she’d gotten Tom to begin but they’d never really had enough money to do the way she’d wanted. Urban youth leagues. Women’s programs. One day—even an actual women’s league. Lots of possibilities. A new path.
But would she walk it alone?
What the hell is taking them so long? She stole a look at the TV but the clock at the bottom of the screen had only crept forward another few minutes. The door to the conference room remained steadfastly closed as she stared at it, willing it to open.
She realized she was nibbling on her thumbnail, a fact that would earn her a talking-to next time she went for a manicure, but she didn’t care. The Saints charm on her bracelet jiggled in time with her nervous bites, the tiny silver wings chiming against the baseball bat that hung next to it, ticking off the seconds as she sat there losing her mind.
Finally the door opened. And the three of them emerged.
