The Final Score by Jaci Burton
Nathan put the cap on his drink, trying to play it cool. Flynn knew Nathan and Mia were friends. And that's all he knew about them. "Yeah. We had dinner together last night."
"How's she doing? I've been trying to stay out of her business because she doesn't want the family interfering. But I'd like to know how she's handling it all."
"She's a little frazzled, which is understandable given all she's got going on. But honestly, Flynn, she's managing it great. I'd tell you if she was having trouble."
Which he wouldn't, because his first loyalty was to Mia and always would be. Flynn didn't need to know that, though.
"Good. I'm glad to hear it. Why don't you ask her to bring you to the restaurant soon? That way I can check up on her without really checking up on her."
Divided loyalties. He could see that was going to be an issue. "We talked about that recently. I'll see what I can do about it."
"Thanks. Now come on. I'm gonna kick your ass on bench press."
Nathan laughed. "I don't doubt it."
He did, too. Nathan was no slouch on the bench, but Flynn could press some serious weight. He decided it was good to work out with someone much stronger than he was, though, because it pushed him to be better. And he always wanted to be better.
While they worked out, Jamal and a few of the other guys from the team showed up, so Nathan got a great workout in. Flynn moved over to some of the other machines with a few guys from the defense, and Nathan and Jamal worked on some upper-body free weights.
"So I've been out on a couple of dates with this really cool woman."
Nathan finished up the last of his chest flies, then sat up to look at Jamal. "Yeah? Who?"
"You remember Wendy?"
He frowned. "Is that the woman we met at the club last month? Smokin' hot, long legs, beautiful hazel eyes?"
Jamal nodded.
"She's in finance, right? Super smart, too."
"Yeah."
Nathan picked up the weights and leaned back. "I can't believe she agreed to go out with you."
"Hey, screw you."
Nathan did his next set then got up so Jamal could take his turn. When he finished Jamal looked up at him. "I like this woman."
Nathan arched a brow. "So not just a random, huh?"
"Nah. She's smart, she's funny, obviously hot as hell, too. She's not into me as a football player. We've had several dates. And we spend a lot of time just talking. We just click, man, ya know?"
He had as tight a friendship with Jamal as he did with Mia. Jamal knew he could always be honest with him, that they could leave the bullshit elsewhere. "Hey, that's good, Jamal. I hope it works out for you."
"I wasn't looking for a relationship, but I wanna see her all the time. I wanna talk to her all the time. That's weird, right?"
"Nothing weird about it. Sometimes you just find that person and it all seems right."
"Oh, yeah, like you'd know all about that."
Nathan shot him a look. "Hey, I had a relationship in college. I was in love once."
"Right. Sorry."
Nathan shrugged. "It was a long time ago. But I still remember what it was like. And it's good. Just take your time with it."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to go out with us. Maybe we could double-date."
"I'm not seeing anyone right now."
"So? Grab Mia. She's not seeing anyone, either, is she?"
"No."
"Good. Grab Mia and we'll all do something fun together."
"Sure."
"Okay, then. Let's do something this weekend. Wendy said there's a wine festival in Napa."
"Sounds fun. I know Mia would enjoy that."
Jamal held out his fist and Nathan bumped.
He'd text Mia about it and see if she was on board.
"In the meantime, training camp starts damn soon," Jamal said. "You've been workin' hard and it shows. You ready to lead this team?"
Was he? He wasn't sure. Every time he thought about it he felt a weight on his chest. And a little nauseous, too. But he'd never admit that even to his best friend. Or to anyone else on the Sabers. This team was counting on him.
"You bet your ass I am."
Jamal leaned back and grinned. "We are gonna kick some ass this year, Nathan. You're gonna lead us just like your dad."
Just like his dad. Mick Riley was a legend. He'd broken records that no one would touch for years.
Nathan had tried his best to follow in his footsteps, to do everything right, but he wasn't Mick Riley. He wasn't even Mick Riley's blood, so he didn't have the genetics going for him, either. All he had was drive and ambition and the hope that he could someday be half as good as his father had been.
But all the sports commentators and his teammates saw was the Riley name, and the expectations were high.
Jamal got up. "Your turn."
Yeah, it was his turn all right. And every day that passed it came closer and closer to the first day of the season, and he hoped like hell he didn't fuck this up. There were too many people counting on him, and if he failed, not only would he disappoint his team, he'd disappoint his father.
And he never wanted to do that.
SEVEN
MIA CHECKED HER PLANNER. IT WAS FRIDAY AFTERNOON and so far today she'd hustled through three player meetings and two internal staff meetings. It was two thirty and she almost had things wrapped up. One more hour and she'd be out of here.
She knew--had hoped, actually, that her business would take off like a rocket. But she had no idea they'd be this incredibly busy. They'd signed cornerback Clyde Motts at the beginning of the week, and he'd recommended one of his friends, a defensive back from Philadelphia, so they'd made a presentation to him on Wednesday. He'd accepted, and he'd made a recommendation for one of his basketball friends from Los Angeles, who they met with this morning. At the same time they signed a deal with a Texas shortstop and also made a presentation to one of the San Francisco Sabers running backs.
Mia was exhilarated--and exhausted--as she walked into her staff meeting.
"Wow," she said as she stepped to the front of the conference room. "Busy week, huh?"
"Stellar week, Mia," John, her finance guy, said, bringing up numbers on the screen. "Better than we anticipated. I don't know how you managed to get this many people on board so quickly."
She stared at the numbers and blinked. Holy crap. They had budgeted for a heavy push the first six months, allowing for small or no gains in the first three considering start-up time.
They'd already surpassed their first six months' projections.
"These numbers are amazing. I wish I had a magic answer, but I can't take credit for it. Much of the success has to do with client word of mouth."
"Which means they like what they're seeing during the presentations," Monique said.
Mia nodded. "So kudos to our presentation team. What you're all doing is working, and I thank you for that. Now we need to make sure to deliver on our promises to these athletes. Let's wrap up early today and talk it all out on Monday morning. I don't know about the rest of you, but this has been a whirlwind week and I'm wiped. I need a drink."
They all laughed, but, as she suspected, no one was going to argue with her about getting out early. They'd all put in late hours the past week hustling to get presentations put together at the last minute. Her team deserved to hightail it out of there early on a Friday.
"Got a hot date tonight?" Monique asked.
"Not a hot date. Nathan's friend Jamal is seeing someone, so he wanted Nathan to double-date with him for this wine trip to Napa. Since he isn't dating anyone at the moment, I'm going with him."
"Oooh. That sounds so fun. And relaxing. Maybe while you're there you'll get a second chance to ease some of this week's tension." Monique waggled her brows.
Mia rolled her eyes. "No, there will be none of that."
"Shame. You're very tense."
Mia frowned. "Who said I'm tense?"
Monique
Monique made it sound so simple when it was anything but. Fortunately, she'd been so slammed with work this week she'd had no time to think about her lack-of-sex dilemma, which had suited her just fine.
She went into her office, packed up a few contracts and PR items she wanted to review over the weekend, then headed out the door. She answered some e-mails on the train, and by the time she got home she realized she was hungry. Since it was going to be a while before Nathan picked her up, she grabbed a snack from the fridge and sat at the counter to eat it while she finished answering her e-mails.
While she worked, a text popped up from her mom. She smiled at that and called her.
"Hi, Mia," her mother said. "I didn't expect you to call. I figured you were busy."
"Actually, I let everyone go early today."
"Really? Was it a slow day?"
Mia laughed. "No, we just had a very intense week and I wanted to give everyone the rest of the day off to enjoy a kick start to their weekend."
"You're such a good boss, Mia."
"I try to be."
"Tell me how it's going. You said you had a busy week. Does that mean it's going well?"
She grabbed her glass of iced tea and moved to the living room so she could sit on the sofa and put her feet up. "It's going shockingly well."
She filled her in on the week's events since she knew her mom would want details.
"I don't know why you're so surprised, Mia. You showed your business plan to your father and me. We were very impressed with how detailed it was. I'm not at all surprised that you're growing already."
"We're still in the initial few months. I had budgeted for almost nothing in the way of growth this fast."
"That just means you're doing it all right. You should be proud of yourself."
Panicked was more like it, but she wouldn't tell her mother that. "Yes, it's great. So how's Dad doing?"
Her mother launched into a discussion about her dad and the ranch, and Mia was happy to have the topic off herself and the new business. They talked for about twenty minutes, then hung up.
Mia breathed deep, deciding she needed a good workout to ease some of the stress from this week. She changed clothes and walked to the gym. She saw there was a yoga class starting in about an hour, so she warmed up on the elliptical for twenty minutes, then went to work on the equipment for a while. When she was done, she took some time to get a drink in the lounge before heading upstairs where the classes were located.
She was glad to see Cheyenne was leading the class. She'd taken a few yoga classes from her since she'd moved out here and liked her style of teaching. She'd also found a yoga studio nearby that she enjoyed as well.
It was always good to have options.
This class was great. After an hour she was a hot sweaty mess, but she was also calm and relaxed and totally de-stressed. She'd worked all the tension and kinks out of her body and she was ready for the weekend. She thanked Cheyenne for the great workout and walked back home.
She brewed some green tea, checked her phone, saw she'd missed a few key e-mails, so she answered those, then stripped out of her clothes and decided to soak in the tub for a while and read a book. She took her tea upstairs with her, ran the tub and climbed in.
It was steamy hot and perfect. She grabbed her book, read and relaxed, needing this so much after this week. Her phone buzzed so she picked it up. It was a text from Monique.
What are U doing?
She typed back: Did some yoga. Taking a hot bath now. U?
Watching Netflix. Have a fantastic date set up for tonight.
Mia laughed and typed: Lucky you.
Monique typed back shortly after with: Super smart guy and he's gorgeous. Should be fun. What are you packing for the weekend?
She hadn't even thought about it. No clue.
Monique replied. Be sure to pack that short dress you bought last week. It's sexy.
Mia rolled her eyes. I'll think about it.
Monique typed back: Pack the damn dress and have some fun!
Mia laughed and tossed her phone on the bathroom counter, then picked up her book and continued to read. When the water in the tub went lukewarm, she got out and dried off, then went into her bedroom. She had time yet, so she climbed onto her bed with her book. She was still warm from her bath so she slid under the sheets and started flipping pages. She was at a really good point in the book. It was a suspense novel from one of her favorite authors and it was right at the good part.
She didn't know when she fell asleep, but she woke with a start. The nap had felt great.
She went into the bathroom to grab her phone to check the time. She had about an hour until Nathan was coming to pick her up.
Plenty of time to get ready and pack. She pulled out her overnight bag and looked in her closet.
Despite Monique's suggestion, she was most definitely not packing the short black dress. This wasn't a hot getaway weekend, it was something fun to do together. Nathan explained Jamal and his date had invited him and he didn't want to third wheel it, so he wanted her to come along to balance things out.
Perfectly understandable since she'd been put in that kind of situation before and it tended to be uncomfortable as hell. She was happy to go along. Plus, there'd be a wine tour, which sounded so fun.
She packed a pair of capris, a sundress, and then figured they'd go somewhere nice to eat. She pursed her lips and stared into the closet.
Well, damn. She grabbed the black dress and packed that, too. Just in case.
She did her makeup and her hair, then got dressed and carried her bag downstairs and laid it by the front door.
She gathered up her planner and her phone and charger and put those in her tote bag just as the doorbell rang. She opened it and Nathan stood there, wearing his signature boyish grin.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yes." She nodded and picked up her bag. He took it from her.
"I've got this."
She followed him out to his SUV, surprised to see they were alone.
"Where's Jamal and his girlfriend?"
"Wendy had a client meeting that went longer than she planned, so they're going to meet us there."
"Oh. Okay."
He put her bag in the back of the SUV. Mia climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up. Since they waited until after six to leave, they should miss most of the traffic leaving the city. Or that was their hope when they planned this out.
They did hit some traffic in the city, but once they got over the bridge, it wasn't too bad. Mia still couldn't believe she lived here. It was so beautiful and as she looked out over the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay, she took a deep breath and reminded herself how lucky she was to be living her dream.
"What are you thinking about over there?" Nathan asked.
She turned her attention toward Nathan. "I was thinking about how lucky I am to live here, and to realize my dream of starting up MHC. The past several months I've gotten bogged down in all the stress of the start-up and I've forgotten how much this all means to me and how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to do it."
He nodded. "Yeah, we're both lucky."
"No, you're talented. I'm lucky."
He changed lanes and moved into the carpool lane. "Bullshit. You think you'd be able to do what you're doing if you didn't have the smarts and the talent? Come on, Mia. Give yourself some credit. You worked hard for this. No one hit the books in school more than you did. You were always focused and driven. It's one of the things I admire most about you."
She looked down at her hands, feeling her face warm from the compliment. "Thank you, Nathan. But I wasn't fishing for compliments. What I meant was, it took a lot of good timing and things to fall into place for me to be able to start up this company. For you, that athletic ability was either there or not. You've had it your entire
"I don't know. I think we're both talking about the same thing. We both have talent. It just manifests itself in different ways. I could never do what you do."
"Oh, come on. You have the book smarts. You could have gone into the draft after your junior year. Instead, you stayed and got your degrees. And they aren't fluff degrees, either. They are in finance and math."
"That's only so I could pick up the smart chicks. Like you."
She rolled her eyes. "Was not and I know it. Though it was fortunate that you and I met in Differential Calculus. I saved your ass in that class."
"That you did. And then I saved yours in Geometrical Statistics."
She wrinkled her nose. "I hated that class."
He laughed. "I remember."
"Then how about we never revisit it again? How did your day go today?"
"It was fine. I worked out and met with some PR people."
Her ears perked up. "PR people?"
"Yeah. Some new team that wants to hire me now that I'm going to be the starting quarterback. They had some marketing ideas about how to get me more exposure, commercials, shit like that."
"That sounds . . . vague."
"It was. I don't think I'll use them. They didn't have anything concrete to offer."
"Do you have other people to talk to? Other companies in mind?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't thought much about it."
She sighed. She didn't want to do this, but she was more concerned about Nathan's career than crossing that line between friendship and business. "You should let MHC do a presentation for you."
He gave her a quick glance before turning his attention back on the road. "You mean have your company manage me?"
"At least see what we have to offer. We're very good and now that you're going to be the starting quarterback, you need a company that will handle you right, from your public relations to brand strategies to your financial future. I know you have a great agent and he's worked with our team with some of our other clients and prospective clients. He could sit in on the presentation."
"I know you've mentioned it before, but I'm still wary about mixing business and our friendship."
"I understand your concern, but I think we could make it work without any trouble. You need good representation, and I believe we're the best. So . . . think about it."
"I'll do that."