“Yeah, I do. And you did a great job for me.”
Her lips lifted. “Thanks. I was practically a rookie myself back then.”
“Didn’t seem that way to me. You went in there balls to the wall and didn’t take no for an answer.”
She laughed. “I didn’t even know what I didn’t know back then. With you or with Mick. God, I was fearless.”
“You still are.”
She kept her gaze on his. “Thank you, Gavin. A little shot of confidence is welcome. I needed that.”
So maybe she had been gone for a reason. And maybe she wasn’t playing games with him. “You got a backup team for this kid?”
She grinned, and he could hear the excitement in her voice. “Yes. Two, in fact, are interested in Blane. Both with first-round picks, but they could go another direction, too.” She scrunched her shoulders, then took a long swallow of wine. “This stuff makes my head hurt.”
“Turn around.”
“Why?”
“I’ll rub some of the tension away.”
She gave him a wicked smile. “Now that sounds good.”
She turned and presented her back to him. He started off light, using his thumbs on the muscles, which were definitely hard as rock. His fingers kept slipping on her silk blouse.
“Take your blouse off so I can get to your skin.”
She pulled the blouse out of the waistband of her suit, then drew it over her head. Gavin sat back and admired the muscles of her back as she moved, the way the hairs on the back of her neck curled. He bent and pressed a kiss there.
“Mmmm, that might be more relaxing than the shoulder rub.”
“You say that now because I haven’t really started rubbing your shoulders yet. I’m a master at it.”
She gave him a look over her shoulder. “That experienced at it, are you?”
He brushed his lips across hers, then turned her head to face forward. “That good at it. Just relax and drop your head forward and let me perform my magic.”
She giggled but dipped her head toward her chest, and Gavin went to work, starting easy at first, then when her body became more pliant, he began to dig into the muscles. Elizabeth moaned, and he felt the muscles melt under his fingers.
“Oh, God, you are good at that. You must have women melting at your feet.”
He laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever massaged a woman before.”
She lifted her head and half turned. “Really? You’re lying.”
“No. I just pay attention to the trainers and what they do to me when my muscles tighten up. Figured it would work the same for you.”
“Huh. You surprise me, Gavin.”
“Yeah? In what way?”
She turned her back to him again and shrugged. “In a lot of ways.”
“Wanna give me a list?”
“No. Your ego is inflated enough.”
He pressed in on her muscles again, sliding his thumbs into the nape of her neck. “Now that hurts my feelings.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“You’re right. It doesn’t.”
She laughed, then went quiet as he slid his fingers up into her hair, pulling the barrette and pins out and shaking it loose.
“Why don’t you wear your hair down?”
“It gets in my way. Up is more professional.”
He sifted his fingers through the softness of her hair, lifted the strands to his nose. She smelled like flowers. “Down is sexy.”
“I don’t need to be sexy to negotiate a contract.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
She laughed. “I need to be taken seriously, Gavin.”
“Oh, come on, Elizabeth. You use your sexuality like a negotiating point.”
She flipped around to face him. “Are you kidding me? That’s what you think?”
“Yeah.”
She narrowed her gaze and backed away. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
“Don’t be offended. I don’t mean that you’re, like, trading sexual favors or anything. I mean, you’re a beautiful woman. You dress professionally, but you can’t hide your sexuality. It’s just . . . there. But no, you don’t show off like a sex bomb or anything.”
“I have no idea what you mean, then. I don’t offer sexual favors to gain a client or to get a client a good offer.”
“I didn’t say that. But you give off sexual vibes. It’s a natural thing for you to flirt. And you can’t deny that you’re one of only a few women in your field. You use being a beautiful woman to your advantage. You capture men’s attention because of your beauty and your presence. There’s nothing wrong with that. I never meant that you used sex.”
“Oh. I see what you mean. Well, of course I use it to my advantage. It’s a marketing tool, and especially in the beginning I needed every advantage I could to get me in the door. Now my reputation gets me there because I’m damn good at what I do. And if your brother didn’t realize that, then it’s his loss.”
Gavin raised his hands. “Whoa. How did the topic get turned to Mick?”
She stood, grabbed her blouse. “I don’t know. I’m tired. It’s been a rough few days. I’m going to take a shower.”
She headed off toward the bedroom. Gavin grabbed his drink and took a long swallow.
Okay, his back rub obviously hadn’t worked on her. He wondered what the hell had gone wrong the past five days to make her so upset?
ELIZABETH LET THE HOT WATER RAIN DOWN OVER HER head, hoping it would erase the past five days from her memory.
The Blane contract was going well, but that was the only positive to the trip. Steve Lincoln was dropping her. A Pro Bowl–caliber player and a free agent, he’d just signed with the Davis Agency, one of her top competitors.
Steve Lincoln was also a very good friend of Mick’s, and it was a known fact Mick wanted Lincoln—a stellar fullback—to play for San Francisco, Mick’s team.
And it was also becoming well known that Mick had fired Elizabeth.
And suddenly Steve fired Elizabeth.
Pretty easy to put two and two together and figure out who was behind Steve’s sudden change in agents. Mick was out to ruin her.
She wasn’t going to let it happen. And she wasn’t going to let Gavin know about it.
Unless Gavin already knew.