5
Reese
The conference room is silent as I sit at the head of the table and wait.
Four of the five members of the advisory board take up each side of the rectangular table with Emmett sitting opposite me.
Scott is late and something about that feels personal. Like he’s taking control by making me wait for him. Similarly to how him inviting the team’s field manager to the meetingIcalled felt like a power move.
The tick of the clock on the wall is the only sound in the otherwise silent space. I’ve tried my best not to look up and across from me. I’ve tried my best to avoid Emmett at all costs.
Don’t think about me being naked.
Don’t tell me what to do.
Tentatively, I let my eyes drift to him.
Thankfully, he’s not looking in my direction, instead focused on the clock on the wall, telling us all that the meeting was supposed to start seven minutes ago.
I never let myself realize it before, but Emmett Montgomery is hot.
Like sinfully hot.
I thought I’d turned that part of my brain off, the part that could even be attracted to another person again. But then something about that reporter practically asking him on a date during our press conference and our conversation while I was inthe bath reminded me that I’m still a woman and that man is fine as hell.
Apparently the “older guy thing” is doing it for me these days.
My eyes trail over his jawline. To the way it moves as he chews a piece of gum, and even that part of him is attractive. It’s hard and sharp, covered in a perfectly trimmed beard that’s peppered with just a bit of salt. His ball cap is pulled low and his Warriors’ long-sleeve is tight against his wide shoulders and chest, bunched up at the sleeves where I’m then graced with those cut forearms covered in black ink that extends down the back of his hands.
My attention follows up the center of his chest where our team’s logo lives, to the pair of sunglasses resting on the collar, then up to his face again.
Only to find him watching me.
Those brown eyes are hard to see under his hat, yet I can still see the glint that shines in them. His lips lift on one side, this all-too-knowing look plastered on his handsome face before he leans back in chair, folds his hands over his stomach, and doesn’t break eye contact with me as he continues to chew his gum.
I simply scowl at him, and Emmett’s low chuckle is covered by the sound of the door opening.
“You’re late,” Ed reminds Scott as he strolls into the conference room, one hand tucked into a pant pocket, the other holding a coffee from my favorite coffee shop a few blocks over from the stadium.
“Am I?” He slaps a hand on Emmett’s shoulder before taking the last empty seat at the table. “Good to see you, Monty. Glad you could make it.”
I can sense Emmett hesitating. “Reese asked me to join.”
Scott takes a sip of his coffee, turning his chair to face me. “Reese, you called this meeting. Go ahead.”
Most of the advisory board seem completely uninterested that they’re back here so soon after our last meeting. And as the owner of the franchise, I don’t technically have to run a single decision by anyone else first.
But even though I feel knowledgeable and qualified, I’m still new in this position. And this group of people has decades of experience in advising my grandfather. It seems like a waste not to use them. It’s what I pay them for, after all.
“I want to look into trading Harrison Kaiser,” I say simply.
The room goes eerily silent.
Until finally, each and every man on the advisory board bursts into laughter.
Well, everyone but Ed. He offers me an apologetic smile, but nothing about that expression tells me he agrees with me either.
“That’s a good one, Reese,” Phil chuckles. “What are we really doing here?”
