“And how do you think it will go?”
“My gut tells me it’s going to be the latter,” I said, running hand through my hair. I pushed myself up off of the couch and paced the room as I continued, “Look, I’ve made my career on taking risks that no one else in their right mind would take, and there’s something about you that makes me want to be around you, Payton. You’re smart and lively, and you love football.”
“I’m also incredibly stubborn and have a fine-tuned bullshit meter,” she said pushing herself up off of the couch and walking toward elevator. She punched the button and stood silently with her back to me. Inside I was panicking; I’d played this moment out in my mind all evening, and every single replay had ended with Payton excitedly agreeing to keep seeing me. This did not fit my script.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “Are you leaving?”
“It would appear that way, wouldn’t it?” she said as the elevator doors slid open and she stepped inside.
“But what about us?” I called as she punched a button and then looked up at me. “Payton, I want to see you again. And again.”
“You’re a great salesman, Dax, but I don’t buy it,” she said and flipped me the bird as the doors slid shut.
Stunned, I stood staring at the doors as the enormity of what had just happened overwhelmed me. I had not planned for this. My business had been built on planning for success, so I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of her not accepting my offer.
I could feel the fury rising inside me as I began pacing the floor mutter, “Fuck! How dare she! Spoiled little girl!” Unleashing my anger, I hurled the glass I was holding at the spot where Payton had disappeared. It shattered into a million, tiny pieces as I told myself that I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Payton
“That son of a bitch was trying to play me, Val!” I yelled into my phone as I paced my living room floor trying to think of a way to make Dax Connor pay for being the ultimate douche-bro.
“Chill out, PG,” Val said on the other end. “Tell me exactly what happened and what you did.”
I relayed the details of the date, making sure to emphasize the way in which he’d pulled back from having sex after he’d brought me into his bedroom. Years of having been guarded around the boys I went to school with, most of whom would have, and often times did, do anything I wanted them to do to get a chance to sit in my family’s sky box at Soldier Field, and meet the Bears players had caused me to develop a healthy skepticism and keep most men at arm’s length.
“He said he wanted to date me, not have a one-nighter,” I said rolling my eyes as I walked to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of Prosecco out of the fridge and popped the cork. I poured myself a glass and went back out to the living room where I sunk down on the couch and sipped my drink.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Val laughed. “He wants to treat you with respect.”
“That’s bullshit, Val, and you know it as well as I do,” I said. “He’s got an angle; I just don’t know what it is, yet.”
“Paranoid much, girl?” Val asked, only half kidding. She knew what I’d been through, she’d comforted me on the nights when boys had ditched me after having been to the games and I was no longer of interest to them.
“No, but I seem to attract these kinds of yahoos,” I said. We were silent for a few moments and then I said, “I thought I might actually like him, Val.”
“I know, kiddo,” she replied sympathetically. “Those are the ones that suck the worst. So, the question is what are you going to do about it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the man obviously wants something you have,” she replied. “Why not see if he has something you want and make a trade?”
“What in the hell could he possibly have that I could want?” I laughed. “I mean, aside from more money than God.”
“He could be the solution to your problem with Joanna,” Val suggested quietly.
“In more ways than one,” I replied. “If I hooked up with him and told her I was going to marry him, she’d have a stroke.”
“Mmm hmmm,” Val intoned on the other end.
“Oh my God, Val,” I whispered. “I could do what she ordered me to do and also drive her insane by doing it.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” she replied. “But I think you need to go bigger with this one. He has no idea about Joanna’s ultimatum, so you can negotiate for something you want.”
“I’m so glad you’re my friend and not my enemy,” I laughed as I considered her suggestion. “But what do I want that he can give me?”
“Experience,” Val said. “He owns a football team, PG. You can get him to put you in a position of power so you can add it to your resume once this whole thing is over. Hell, didn’t he just fire his GM? Make him appoint you the new GM for the Storm!”