What do you think about Anthony Kincaid coming on after his neckinjury?
He’s good. He has a ways to go before he’s at the same level he was when he was the first string quarterback for the Sentinels before his injury; but, from what I’ve seen, he’s got someskills.
The last interviewhad gone particularly well. The interviewer, Brooke Dasani, asked specific questions about his off-season schedule. He admitted that as a single dad, his time to work out was limited, but he’d hit every mandatorypractice.
“So do you think you’ll be in shape by the time the season starts?” She batted her caterpillar-thickeyelashes.
He chuckled at that one, teasing the interviewer over video chat by pretending to panic. “Do I look out ofshape?”
She trilled a laugh. “Not to me. I’m sure my viewers would agree that you’re looking nicely in shape.” And the comments came rolling in, making the interviewer and Teo’s agenthappy.
Teo was pleased that he’d been able to pull off the lighthearted response. He had refused interviews for months because he was lost in a world of guilt and regret. He didn’t blame himself for Amy’s death. The doctors had explained, in detail, how she died and that there was nothing he could have done to prevent herpassing.
No, his guilt was because as he walked behind her casket, he had as much grief for his wife as he would have if the woman inside were a stranger. He should have felt more, if for no other reason than the fact that she was the mother of his child. But he didn’t, and that weighed on him to thisday.
“Let’s talk contracts.” Elijah pulled his jacket off and draped it over the overstuffed chair. Elijah was a man who liked comfort. The office was full of soft surfaces. His desk was over a hundred years old with chinks and scratches and polished to a shine. Every chair had added padding, and there were throw pillows on the couch in the waiting room. The walls were navy blue or covered in dark paneling. There was a large globe in the middle of the room, the kind you would find in the Vatican, not an elementary school library. Teo had never dared touch it. Autographed posters of Elijah’s clients hung on the walls. The only indication that Elijah had a sense of humor was the collection of bobble-head dolls on the well-kept book shelves. The smell of pine cleanerlingered.
Teo rubbed his eyes. “I’m locked in with the Titans for another two years. I promise you that I will get my butt in your office before then, and we can talk all the contracts you want. Let’s call it aday.”
Elijah leaned back in his plush leather chair. He didn’t have any hair on his head but grew a thick beard that he kept closely trimmed. “I’ll hold you tothat.”
Teo felt like a linebacker had been lifted off his body. “Okay.” He gathered his feet underneath him to stand up, itching to text Cedar. She’d sent him one picture an hour of Akoni. The latest picture showed Akoni clutching a box of animal crackers to his chest; his hands were crossed in front of the box and his face was so pleased it tugged at Teo’sheartstrings.
By the looks of things, the two of them were busy—and happy. Akoni had smiled a lot today. Too bad he couldn’t hire Cedar as a nanny. She’d already proven herself more than capable of handling Akoni, not only handling him, but nurturing and loving and caring for him. That was exactly the kind of person he wanted tofind.
Teo said a quick goodbye and put the address for the coffee shop, where Cedar said she and Akoni waited, into his phone as he climbed into his SUV. He couldn’t wait to get there, though his anticipation wasn’t entirely about collecting his son. He wanted to see Cedar, make sure she was doing all right. She’d been down that morning, beaten by life, and he hoped she was walking tall onceagain.
The closer he got to the coffee shop, the more he doubted his intentions. He didn’t just want to make sure Cedar felt good; he wanted to be the one to cheer her up. Being around her was … different in all the best ways. She was trustworthy—her stream of texts and pictures throughout the day had gone a long way to bringing about that feeling of confidence. As had her determination last Saturday. Beyond that, there was this… other level of communication going on between them. Like he could see parts of her soul and they were good, bright. He got that with people sometimes—a sense of them and their motivation. It didn’t happen often but when it did, he paidattention.
Trust was hard to come by. Before he’d been drafted, he had a good group of friends, people he believed he could count on. After he’d signed with his first team, many of them came to him with open palms, expecting a handout for their loyalty. His nature was to help people and in his first year, he’d almost gone bankrupt. Elijah noticed what was happening and stepped in to remove the moochers from hislife.
While Teo was glad he wasn’t being conned out of his money, he had few true-blue friends. The guys on the team were great, and this upcoming season he planned to reopen communication with the men he had gotten along with before. It wasn’t that his teammates had dropped him; he’d requested to be left alone after Amy died. And being a single father put him in a different place in life than many of his unmarried teammates. He didn’t hit the clubs or bars or bask in the attention of groupies. There were some great, stable guys on his team. Zeus was one of them. Teo respected their quarterback—enough to put all he had into every block to protect theguy.
The interviews today were a good reminder that, outside the walls of his home, Teo was a marketing tool, a product, and a brand. The interviewer’s eyes lit up with every like, share, and comment on the video. To her, he’d been a tool to increase her ranking. Cedar didn’t see him like that. He chuckled. She probably saw him as a nuisance. He was okay with that. Really okay. He leaned forward in his seat, urging traffic to movefaster.
Chapter 9
Cedar handedAkoni another animal cracker. His chubby cheeks lifted and he pounded his palm on the table in excitement. He gummed the cookies to death instead of chewing them, creating a slobbery goo that coated his face and hands. She grinned back, taking a monkey cookie for herself and scanning the small room for Teo. Not that she needed to, he’d be hard to miss in this littlespace.
A few minutes later she caught sight of him through the front window. Her breath caught in her throat. He was amazing to look at with those muscles; that dark, flawless skin; and those dimples. He moved easy now that he wasn’t late for an appointment and balancing Akoni in his arm. His quiet confidence made him all that much more attractive in hereyes.
Jolting herself out of her drool-fest, Cedar reminded herself that Teo’s wife had died less than six months ago. He wasn’t up for grabs. And, given the day to reflect, probably hadn’t been asking her out last Saturday. Having more of the story, she saw his actions a little differently—moresincere.
She brushed the cookie crumbs off her fingertips and used a wet napkin to clean Akoni’s face and hands as best she could. His shirt was an unfortunate casualty in the animal cracker situation, having succumbed to the goo. “At leastyou’redrooling over cookies,” she said with acringe.
“Hi.” Teo’s voice was deep like ocean currents, pulling Cedar right back under the attraction she’d tried to climb above. Her body froze, unprepared to fight the surge of warmth Teo’s presenceunleashed.
“Hi,” she breathed. “I mean … How did your meetinggo?”
“Fantastic, thanks to you.” Teo’s brown eyes burned with gratitude. “I was able to do several interviews,too.”
“Your first since the funeral—that’s a big step.” The moment the words fell from her mouth, Cedar wished she could wipe them away with a wet napkin. “I-I’m so sorry. That was insensitive and personal and none of mybusiness.”
To her surprise, Teo chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m flattered you’re keeping tabs on me.” Hewinked.
“I am not!” Cedar eyed the water glass, wondering if she should toss it in his smug face. She’d be better off throwing it in her own face. Her brain needed a cool splash of water to stop her mouth from runningoff.
“Uh-huh.” He grabbed the back of the chair across from her, flipped it around, and straddled it as he sat down, giving her an amazing view of those dimples. Teo, on the other hand, got his first good look at Akoni in all his slimy wonder. “Whoa.”
