Frustrated, she ran her hands through her hair. “It’s complicated! He wants something serious. I don’t want anything serious.”
“Why not?”
Blinking, she stared at Moreau. She wished he would stop asking such terribly difficult questions. “A relationship with Gareth Clark would only cause problems. Besides, I’m not ready.”
“Didn’t you say the other day that you wanted children and marriage? That soundedreadyto me.”
Her uterus happily agreed, while her heart felt as if its chambers were filled with lead. “It’s not that simple!”
“Why?” This time, it was Fox asking an impossible question.
“We do business together!” she blurted out, shaking her head. “If we were serious… I would have to give up so much for him. He would have to give up so much for me. We wouldn’t be able to negotiate contracts anymore. That wouldn’t be ethical. And if we split up, I’d lose my clients at the Hawks because they wouldn’t trust me to negotiate…”
“I’m your client and I work for the Hawks,” Fox piped up. “I would never think you’d do a worse job just because you had a thing with the boss — or didn’t have one anymore. Would you, Moreau?”
“Nope. You’re the best agent I’ve ever had.”
Her eyes stung, and warmth flooded her chest. “Really?”
“Yes!” Fox said. “And since you don’t sign assholes, I can’t imagine anyone else seeing it that way.”
She sniffed and wiped her nose. “Well, okay, still. Everything would change. We would only have this one chance…”
And if they screwed up, they would be nothing: not colleagues, not enemies, not friends. They'd benothing. And she might not be able to live withnothingbecause if Gareth disappeared from her life completely…
Moreau cleared his throat loudly. “Maybe I’m mistaken…but isn’t what you described earlier called compromise? When both parties make concessions? And aren’t compromises a good thing at the foundation of every relationship?
With her mouth gaping, she stared at him. “I liked you better when you weren’t happily in love.”
He smiled tightly. “I didn’t like myself then. So, you don’t want to compromise with him?”
“That’s not it! If they’re balanced, compromises are fine…”
“But they wouldn’t be with you two?”
“I don’t know! I just know…shit.” She narrowed her eyes. “If he’s unwell, I’d dotoo muchjust to make him feel better. If Gareth were sick in bed…I’d stand up Leon Alvarez to take care of him, regardless of whether the appointment with him would secure him as a client or not!”
Austin frowned. “First, Leon deserves to be stood up by a woman once in a while. And second, Gareth doesn’t do anything when you’re feeling bad to make you feel better?”
She bit her lip, thinking about how Gareth had postponed all his appointments for her. How he’d put his work on hold. How he’d talked to Blake about his personal problems… “Well, notnothing.”
“But less?”
“I can’t say that.”
“What can you say?” Moreau demanded, frowning. “Do you love the guy or not?”
“Of course, I love him, you idiot!” she said irritably. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be at your kitchen table right now.”
She wouldn’t be panicking if she didn’t love him. She wouldn’t have considered lowering her price for Devreaux. She wouldn’t feel like she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time and then laugh again.
“Oh man.” Fox sank further in his chair. “Not you too.”
Moreau gave him a stern look, as if Austin had also refused to go brush his teeth. “Hazel, if you love him…what’s the problem?”
“Sometimes, love isn’t enough,” she whispered. “Love doesn’t always last. Love doesn’t stop all the agents in the industry from talking about me and saying I sleep with all my clients and associates and therefore don’t deserve any respect for my success.”
“Hazel,” Austin said gently. “Screw them. Really. Don’t let them ruin your life. We know you don’t need boobs to be the best at what you do — and our opinion matters. Do you think when hockey players listen to opinions about agents, they ask other agents about them? No! They ask their clients if they’re happy. Those bums can’t hurt you; they only have power over you if you give it to them.”
