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CHAPTER 9: JOLENE
Don’t fidget, Bailey.
I repeat the mantra in my head, but when you’re sitting outside the owner’s office of the Vegas Aces, it’s hard not to fidget.
Especially when the owner is someone as hot as Jack Dalton.
I draw in a sharp breath as he turns the corner. He’s wearing black pants and a red Vegas Aces shirt and damn, he’s fine.
Pull it together, Bailey. He’s a happily married man.
I remind myself of that mantra a few times, too.
He grins at me. “Jolene Bailey, here in my office again. Is this visit on or off the record this time?”
I smile back as I stand. “It can be whatever you want it to be. I just need a few minutes of your time.”
“Come on in,” he says, and he walks by first to lead the way into his office. He sits behind his desk and settles back casually into his chair as if he was born to play the role of businessman when he’s always been known as such a force on the field.
“What can I do for you today, Ms. Bailey?”
“Word has it you’ve made a decision.”
He presses his lips together and nods. “That I have, and we’ll be releasing it publicly tomorrow evening. You’re here for the inside scoop, I take it? I knew we should’ve confiscated your badge.”
I laugh and shake my head. “No, not for the inside scoop, though you know I’ll happily take any scoops you’re dishing out. I’m here today to let you know that I’m the new VG-oh-three Vegas Aces correspondent. So I’ll just go ahead and hold onto that badge, thank you very much.”
He chuckles. “Well congratulations. What an accomplishment.”
“Thanks, Jack. I appreciate it.”
“I mean it. My wife is going to be thrilled. She was pulling for you all along.”
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
“It’s not lip service. She’s lowkey obsessed with watching your news stories.”
I force away the blush that fills my cheeks. “Well tell her I’ll be around a lot more. Marcus filled me in on my duties as the correspondent, and he’d like me to be at every camp, practice, and press event along with every home and away game. He told me I need to become best friends with whoever you hire as your new head coach.”
“And what if the head coach we decide to hire already has a best friend?” he asks.
“Then that person is about to be replaced.” I lift my shoulders with exactly zero modesty, but Jack knows me enough to know it’s all in good fun. I narrow my eyes as I stare down Jack and look for any clues as to who he hired. “Why, does he?”
“Guess you’ll find out tomorrow.”
I laugh. “I guess so. Is it Lincoln? Tell me it’s not Lincoln.”
He sighs. “You know I can’t tell you. But what exactly is the history between you two?”
Oh, you mean like the fact that he took my virginity one weekend and broke my heart the next?
I decide not to voice that one to Jack.
“It’s complicated. We were once close, and now it’s been nearly twenty years since the last time we spoke. Our families were as close as two families could be, and then we weren’t.” I shrug. “But I’m not here to talk about me.”
“Actually you are since you scheduled a meeting to let me know you’re our newest VG-oh-three correspondent,” he points out dryly.
I twist my lips, conceding. “Okay, true. So is it Nash?”
