Unexpectedly Yours (Private Relations 3)

He quickly drafted an e-mail and sent a copy of the schedule to his contact with the Jazz, along with a press release. He followed it up with a phone call.

“Dan. Hey, it’s James Conroy, JDC. I just sent you an e-mail with a press release and a schedule for some interviews I was able to set up. It would really help if he could manage to look and sound contrite during the interviews.”

He spent the next ten minutes answering questions and going over their next steps. He really hoped this wouldn’t start a chain reaction and send mistresses crawling out of the woodwork. The more women that he had to apologize for, the less credible the apology would sound.

He’d been at work until almost 9:00 p.m. last night. He decided that meant he was entitled to leave a bit early today. He shut his computer down and gathered his briefcase.

Stopping by Chris’s office, he poked his head in and said, “Safe travels!”

Chris looked up from his computer and said, “Yeah. Miami is always great. You know how I feel about ninety degree weather, one hundred percent humidity, and being dressed in a full business suit.”

Jim shook his head woefully and said, “Sarcasm is the recourse of a weak mind, Christopher.”

“Blow me,” Chris said, as he flipped him the bird.

Jim grinned, then blew him a kiss and said, “I’m heading out early. Need to work off lunch.”

“I’m about to do the same. Oh! I forgot to ask. How did dinner last night work out?”

“It went well,” Jim said. “We’ve got a date on Saturday.”

“Finally,” Chris said. “Chloe and I were wondering when you’d finally put that together. You’ve been flirting back and forth for months now.”

“As much as it pains me to say it, you were right. She didn’t think I was serious.”

Chris had the good grace to only look triumphant for a second before he smirked and said, “Well, I hope it works out. She seems like a cool girl. If I hadn’t been ridiculously hung up on Chloe, I probably would have investigated that myself.”

Narrowing his eyes, Jim said, “Enjoy Miami.”

The smirk immediately fell off Chris’s face.

Jim nodded decisively and said, “My work here is done. Travel safely. See you Monday, man.”

Chris grinned, then gave him a salute.

He poked his head into Deacon’s office and said, “I’m out for the day. I took care of the Tyrell Jackson issue. He’s currently booked on the apology train.”

Deacon looked up at Jim and rolled his eyes, then said, “I don’t get these guys. Why bother getting married if you’re just going to fuck around? I’m sure some of these wives know the score, but it just ends up being messy and expensive.”

“Even if they do know what they’re getting themselves into, it can’t be easy to deal with. In this case, he says he loves the cheerleader and that they’re getting married. We’ll see though,” Jim said.

“Ah, so that’s why the wife went through the roof,” Deacon said.

Shrugging now, Jim said, “Anyway. Going to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good one,” Deacon said.

Jim mentally went over the list of things he needed to do tonight. He had to stop by the grocery store and the dry cleaners on the way home. Plus, he needed to put in some work in his home gym. It seemed like there were never enough hours in the day.

By the time he made it home it was 6:30 p.m. and he was tired. Still, he changed immediately into a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt and went to work out. It was time to pay the piper.

An hour later, he was dripping sweat but strangely felt more energized. He’d done some free weights and jogged on the treadmill. He moved across the house, and stepped into his bedroom. Stripping off the soaked clothes, he threw them in the laundry basket.

By 7:45 p.m. he’d showered and changed. Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed Elle.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s Jim. Got a minute?”