“That was thanks to my mother. I never did my brother’s laundry.”
“Who’s your brother?” I ask.
“Josh Nolan.”
“Oh, right! He played for the Bears for a long time, didn’t he?”
She nods. “He finished his career here. I actually met Luke at my brother’s wedding. Well, his bachelor party.” She rolls her eyes. “Long story. But I came here to start over, and Luke was my first client. I needed a job, he needed a publicist, and voila. Five years later, we have two kids and a thriving public relations firm that he chartered for me, and he added in the agency when he retired so we can tag-team our clients. It’s a perfect setup, and I asked about Mav’s representation because he should have someone local.”
“I didn’t want to work with football players, either, but my boss was asked for his best brand strategist, and he offered me up. I agree with you about Maverick needing someone local. My branding background gives me a bit of insight into public relations, but he needs someone like you. I’ll float the idea of your company to him and see what he says, though he hasn’t been overly amenable to anything I have to say,” I admit.
She huffs out a laugh. “Soundsexactlylike how things started with Jack and Kate. But he came around eventually.” My cheeks turn pink at the insinuation, but if she notices, she doesn’t say a word. “Listen, if you think it would work better for me to approach him instead of you, I’m totally open to trying.”
“It’s probably better if you do it,” I admit. “Is there anyone here, a coach or teammate or whoever, that you think hemight get along with? Because so far, I’ve seen him rant drunkenly about my brother and, in turn, channel all his negative feelings about my sibling towardmesince he’s being forced into this partnership. So I’m just wondering if there are any allies here that could help me get into his good graces.”
She presses her lips together as she thinks about it. “I’ll ask Luke. He’s around practice a lot and picks up on things like that. Maybe Lincoln, too. He might know.”
“Perfect.”
We both hear a roar come up from the stadium, and we turn toward that direction to see my brother running across the field with the ball in his hands.
Defensive ends don’t typically break away and run for touchdowns, and I totally missed what happened. I’m guessing it was a fumble and Dex recovered it, but either way, the crowd is going absolutely wild as he crosses the white line into the end zone.
Ellie and I both cheer, too, and I glance down at Maverick as the grin spreads across my lips.
He’s still standing there, stock-still, arms crossed over his chest, with that cold, detached expression on his face.
I think I might have even more work ahead of me than I thought.
CHAPTER 11: Everleigh Bradley
Why Do You Hate the World
I stayed longer after the game than I needed to.
You know when you meet someone and you justclickwith them? On a friendship level? That’s what this felt like. Maybe Ellie makes everyone feel that way, but it seems like we have a lot in common. She owns her own business. I aspire to, and I plan to at the end of my contracted term with Maverick. One year—minus a couple weeks—to go.
She’s married, and she has a couple of kids. She’s got the full package, from a hot husband she works with to the cute little family they’ve created together.
I want that, too.
And maybe it’s something I can find here in Vegas, but I can’t do that if I’m shadowing Maverick Jennings twenty-four seven…which I think is what Jack expects of me.
So maybe hiring Ellie on as his local publicist is a genius idea. Maybe she can be the vessel that occasionally allows meto take a break, so to speak. I suppose I’m setting my own schedule, but I’m nothing if not an overachiever.
I’ve always been that way.
As soon as I’m presented with a problem, it would seem I immediately conjure twelve different paths toward the solution.
Which is why Maverick is such a goddamn enigma.
I don’t see twelve paths toward the solution. I can’t even find one.
But I’ll keep chipping away until I do, and I really think Ellie might be able to help me with that.
Maverick must’ve stayed a little bit after the game as well because I find him standing by the elevator, waiting for it to come down to carry him up to the seventeenth floor when I walk into the lobby of our building.
I blow out a breath and consider waiting by the entrance, but Milton blows my cover. “Good evening, Ms. Bradley.”
