“The thing is,” he said, “I like my job at Boeing. I’m not sure I want to come back.”
Faith didn’t know if he was holding out for more money or if he was telling the truth. “Why don’t you come to the game tonight?” she offered. “You can decide then.”
Now, seven hours later, she and Jules were seated on the sofa inside the owner’s skybox poring over a stack of files he’d carried up from the office. She’d worn her black Armani suit, white blouse, and black spike heels. She wanted to be taken seriously, and she knew there were people out there just waiting for her to show up someplace wearing a short skirt and bra top.
The first order of business was to learn her players’ names and their positions and to look overthe schedule. As Jules went over the team roster, cheers and boos from the arena below filtered upward to the luxury box while snippets of music blasted from the sound system.
“Yes!” her mother hollered from the balcony overlooking the arena. “Faith, come quick. The camera’s on me and Pebbles. We’re on the big TV.”
Faith glanced over at her mother, clutching her evil dog and blowing kisses like a movie star. Big pink and orange bracelets slid up and down her wrists. She wore a pair of hot pink stretch leggings and a lace blouse with a pink bra underneath. Her blonde hair was layered and sprayed into the perfect shaggy Farrah ’do. “Oh God,” Faith whispered.
“She’s a nice lady,” Jules said and sat back. Obviously, her mother’s strange brand of mojo still worked. Not that Faith was surprised. Gay or straight, men liked Valerie.
“She’s embarrassing.”
Jules laughed. “She’s having a good time.”
“You can laugh because she’s not your mother.”
“I’m the oldest of eight children. My mother doesn’t have that kind of energy.” He reached into a file and pulled out a stack of papers. “This is a game schedule for the first round of the playoffs.” He handed it to her. “And I printed off a brief bio of each player for you to look at. When you become more familiar with the team, we can go over theircontracts so you know who your free agents and unrestricted free agents are.”
Faith pushed her long hair behind one ear and perused the schedule. She’d known they played a lot, but she hadn’t realized there were several games a week. “What is a free agent, an unrestricted free agent, and what is the difference?”
Jules explained that a free agent plays without a contract and can leave anytime before he is renewed. An unrestricted free agent is a player with an expired contract who has been released from his club and hasn’t been picked up yet.
“It all came about when the league stopped using restrictive clauses because of collective bargaining.”
Whatever that meant. “Do we have any free agents?” she asked as an air horn ripped through the area and music blasted from the ice below.
“Not at the moment. Management got them all locked down before the playoffs.” Jules looked up and called out, “What’s the score, Valerie?”
“Tied at two. Number Twenty-one on your team just scored.”
Number Twenty-one was the captain of the team and Faith flipped to Ty Savage’s bio and read his stats. He was thirty-five, born in Saskatchewan, Canada, which explained the accent. He was six foot three and weighed 240 pounds. He shot left, and this was his fifteenth season in the NHL.He’d played for the London Knights in the OHL before being a first-round draft pick and signing with Pittsburgh in the NHL. He’d played for the Penguins, the Blackhawks, Vancouver, and now the Chinooks. The next bit of information made Faith’s jaw drop. “Thirty million,” she wheezed. “Virgil paid him thirty million? Dollars?”
“For three years,” Jules clarified, as if that made perfect sense.
Faith looked up and reached for a bottle of water sitting on the table. “Is he worth that much?”
Jules shrugged his big, beefy shoulders covered
Faith didn’t know if he was holding out for more money or if he was telling the truth. “Why don’t you come to the game tonight?” she offered. “You can decide then.”
Now, seven hours later, she and Jules were seated on the sofa inside the owner’s skybox poring over a stack of files he’d carried up from the office. She’d worn her black Armani suit, white blouse, and black spike heels. She wanted to be taken seriously, and she knew there were people out there just waiting for her to show up someplace wearing a short skirt and bra top.
The first order of business was to learn her players’ names and their positions and to look overthe schedule. As Jules went over the team roster, cheers and boos from the arena below filtered upward to the luxury box while snippets of music blasted from the sound system.
“Yes!” her mother hollered from the balcony overlooking the arena. “Faith, come quick. The camera’s on me and Pebbles. We’re on the big TV.”
Faith glanced over at her mother, clutching her evil dog and blowing kisses like a movie star. Big pink and orange bracelets slid up and down her wrists. She wore a pair of hot pink stretch leggings and a lace blouse with a pink bra underneath. Her blonde hair was layered and sprayed into the perfect shaggy Farrah ’do. “Oh God,” Faith whispered.
“She’s a nice lady,” Jules said and sat back. Obviously, her mother’s strange brand of mojo still worked. Not that Faith was surprised. Gay or straight, men liked Valerie.
“She’s embarrassing.”
Jules laughed. “She’s having a good time.”
“You can laugh because she’s not your mother.”
“I’m the oldest of eight children. My mother doesn’t have that kind of energy.” He reached into a file and pulled out a stack of papers. “This is a game schedule for the first round of the playoffs.” He handed it to her. “And I printed off a brief bio of each player for you to look at. When you become more familiar with the team, we can go over theircontracts so you know who your free agents and unrestricted free agents are.”
Faith pushed her long hair behind one ear and perused the schedule. She’d known they played a lot, but she hadn’t realized there were several games a week. “What is a free agent, an unrestricted free agent, and what is the difference?”
Jules explained that a free agent plays without a contract and can leave anytime before he is renewed. An unrestricted free agent is a player with an expired contract who has been released from his club and hasn’t been picked up yet.
“It all came about when the league stopped using restrictive clauses because of collective bargaining.”
Whatever that meant. “Do we have any free agents?” she asked as an air horn ripped through the area and music blasted from the ice below.
“Not at the moment. Management got them all locked down before the playoffs.” Jules looked up and called out, “What’s the score, Valerie?”
“Tied at two. Number Twenty-one on your team just scored.”
Number Twenty-one was the captain of the team and Faith flipped to Ty Savage’s bio and read his stats. He was thirty-five, born in Saskatchewan, Canada, which explained the accent. He was six foot three and weighed 240 pounds. He shot left, and this was his fifteenth season in the NHL.He’d played for the London Knights in the OHL before being a first-round draft pick and signing with Pittsburgh in the NHL. He’d played for the Penguins, the Blackhawks, Vancouver, and now the Chinooks. The next bit of information made Faith’s jaw drop. “Thirty million,” she wheezed. “Virgil paid him thirty million? Dollars?”
“For three years,” Jules clarified, as if that made perfect sense.
Faith looked up and reached for a bottle of water sitting on the table. “Is he worth that much?”
Jules shrugged his big, beefy shoulders covered
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