Page 80 of The Devil In Denim
“Well, let’s hope so,” Tom said. He looked back at Alex. “The three of you need to get on the phones, see where you’re at. I assume you’ve been keeping track of who’s likely to vote for you and who’s not.”
“Yes,” Alex said. “Before this happened, I would’ve said that we were safe. Should be around twenty in favor.”
“So you lose six votes and you’re shit out of luck,” Tom said. “Sutter might sway that many.”
“We know,” Alex said. “That’s why we want you to help us sway them right back. I’d like you to come work with us for the next week or so. Take a few trips, make some calls, do some wining and dining with us.”
Tom shrugged. “Maggie knows most of these men as well as me.”
Alex nodded. “I appreciate Maggie’s experience, Tom, but it’s you we need. You were the owner of the Saints, not Maggie. You’re the one who’s worked with these guys and—I’m guessing—locked horns with them before. That’s the sort of inside knowledge we need.”
Tom looked away and Alex’s gut twisted. He’d expected Tom to jump in with “sure, whatever you need,” but that wasn’t the vibe he was giving off right now. He seemed … reluctant. Which was bad news for the three of them if Alex was reading him right.
“Dad?” Maggie said. “You’ll help, won’t you?”
Tom pressed his lips together. “I’ve got some other things going on right now with one of the companies,” he said slowly. “And Veronica wants to do some traveling.”
Maggie frowned. “Veronica will understand.”
Tom’s mouth quirked. “You think? Perhaps I’ll let you explain it to her then.”
“It’s just a few weeks until the vote, Dad,” Maggie said. “Please, we need you. You can’t let Sutter get his hands on the Saints. He’ll have them playing out of Dallas and rename them the Riggers or something.”
Tom winced and Alex relaxed a bit. It seemed Maggie had hit the right note. Though he still wasn’t sure why they had to hit any note and why Tom wasn’t jumping in with both feet to help them. Was he mad about the sale? Alex had thought Tom had made his peace with it but maybe he was wrong about that.
There wasn’t any other reason for Tom to want to see the Saints go to Sutter, was there? They’d developed a good relationship during the negotiations, the four of them. He thought that Tom liked them. So why wouldn’t he want to help them? Unless …
He stopped himself from looking at Maggie. Tom couldn’t know about Maggie and him, could he? Not so fast. He couldn’t. Hell, they’d only slept together last night. There’d have to be some seriously supersonic gossip going on for the news to get out that quickly. He’d left early. No one would’ve seen him. Could they?
Abruptly he remembered the interlude in his office. The office had been mostly deserted at the time but “mostly” wasn’t “entirely.” And Alex held no illusions about the fact that most of the staff still were fervently loyal to Tom. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to think that one of them might have said something to him. But surely Tom would’ve brought it up before now. Or would he?
Damn. There was no way to feel Tom about this. Not without giving himself away to the man.
Maggie was still talking about Sutter, reminding Tom about why he’d fired the man in the first place.
“… he’s a jerk, you know that, Dad. And he’s a sexist jerk. He’ll end up being killed by Hana or beaten up by one of the players for making a pass at the wrong person.”
“Excuse me?” Alex said, just ahead of Mal’s and Lucas’s equally outraged mutters.
Maggie rolled her eyes at the three of them. “Not everyone’s a good guy. Sutter thinks he’s a catch. He likes to try it on.”
“Did he try it on with you?” Alex demanded, then caught himself when Lucas lifted his brow the tiniest fraction. Shit. That had sounded like a possessive boyfriend, not an interested boss. He shifted in his chair.
“Maggie?” Tom said. “Did he ever?”
Maggie looked uncomfortable but shrugged. “He never touched me. He used to flirt a little too much for my liking. Made an outright pass a couple of times but I shut him down.”
Tom scowled. “You were only seventeen when he was working for us.”
“Yes. But lots of high school girls date college guys. And he never crossed the line past pushy.”
“What about last night?” Alex asked.
“Last night?” Tom asked.
“Maggie and I went to watch the Giants,” Alex said. “We ran into Sutter.”
“Should’ve run over him,” Mal growled.
