There was no way I was adding Ridley Angus to that list.
“Oh,” Keaton said.He pushed his glasses back up to their proper position on his nose.He seemed fond of doing that even when they had barely moved.I liked it.A little gesture that was so very Keaton.“So, you want me to work out who is doing this to him and get proof that he wasn’t really drunk?”
“Yes.”I paused.Caleb’s message rang in my ears again.He had wanted me to hear that for a reason.“And look into Brody Driver.”
Keaton stared at me.“The agent who works for Coleman?”
I nodded.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to ask Ace to look into him,” he carried on.“The two of them… I saw them almost come to blows.Brody seems kind of arrogant.Like he wants a fight.”
“All the more reason,” I said.“Ace will more thoroughly investigate a man that he hates.Tell me the second you find anything.”
Keaton nodded and quickly got up.He gathered a number of things from around him – his phone from the drawer.A notebook and two pens.A bottle of water.
He was so organized.Always.Even to the point of being over-prepared.
I liked it.
He paused at the doors.His hands were so laden that I thought he was going to ask me to open them for him.He turned around instead.
“I’m going to figure this out,” he said fiercely.“I won’t let you down.”
And then he was gone.
My eyes and my thoughts lingered on the space where he had been.His brown eyes had blazed with conviction.Those glasses and that messy hair – he was… cute.He was always cute.
Maybe too cute for my ability to focus.
Especially with that fierce look that had made me want to pin him against the wall.
I shook my head to dislodge anything inappropriate from it.My phone was ringing.It took me a second to realize that I was supposed to be the one to answer it now.Keaton wasn’t going to take the call for me if he was in another office.
“Hello?”I answered.I didn’t need to give the usual corporate answer that I made the others answer with.I was the boss.Anyone who called my direct line knew who they were calling.
“Harvey,” the voice on the other end barked.I recognized it immediately.Barb.She was the appropriately-named sharp-tongued owner of the drinks company that sponsored Ridley.“We need to talk.”
“Barb,” I sighed.“We’re doing everything we can to find the culprit.I hope to have an answer for you by the close of business.”
“Not good enough anymore,” she snapped.“We’ve just had a call from one of our major investors expressing serious concerns about the way we’ve spent his money.It’s over, Harvey.The only thing we can do now is regain some positive publicity by telling the world we’re cutting ties with Angus.We’re cutting the cord.”
I pressed a hand over my eyes.“Is there anything I can do?”
“You know there isn’t,” she rasped.“Get your boy under control, Harvey.Maybe in a season or two we can come back and look at one of the others on your roster.But Ridley Angus is done.”
She slammed the phone down before I could do the same.
I held my hand over my eyes for a second.
Then I slammed the phone back down into the cradle because it was the only thing I had available to slam.
Not quite.I slammed my hand on the desk for good measure.Or maybe slapped.
I looked over at the empty desk standing at the side of my office.The empty chair.
I wished so fervently that Keaton was sitting in it.There was something about him I had noticed this past week or so since he took the job.There was something about him that called to my inner peace.Made me feel calmer.Stronger.Like I could weather any storm and ford any river.
My phone rang again.
