Wrapped Up: A Triple Threat Sports Romance (17 page)

“Fine. Talk to him for me. Tell him it’s about our marriage and my father,” I said. “That will probably make him want to see me.”

“Well, I will caution you against anything that may bring undue stress upon him right now. His condition is stable at the moment, but he’s been through hell to get there,” the doctor told me.

“I want to see for myself. I
need
to see him,” I insisted.

“Okay. Wait right here. I’ll be back.” He got up to leave the room, leaving the door cracked behind him. He said something to a nurse in the hallway in a hushed voice before heading down to hopefully talk to Jake for me.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jake

“She’s not leaving,” the doctor told me.

“Then I guess she doesn’t mind waiting,” I said with gravel in my throat.

“She says it’s about her father and the wedding,” he added.

My curiosity was piqued. I wondered what kind of news she could have had on her father or the wedding to make her bold enough to continue to wait even though she’d been told I didn’t want to see her. I wanted to tell the doctor to send her away, but I also wanted to know what it was she had to say.

My curiosity got the best of me and won out.

“Send her back,” I said with a sigh. It was something I probably needed to know, so I wasn’t going to deny her the opportunity to share her news with me.

When Brooke came back a few minutes later, she looked stunning. She wore a business suit, like she usually did, but it fit her body just right, showing off all her subtle, teasing curves. Her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders, and her blue, watery eyes stared at me, filled with concern. I wanted to come out of the bed and take her right there in the hospital room, but there was no way I could manage that.

Instead, I smiled, which I felt was the absolute least I could do. It also felt like the most she really deserved after talking about cancelling the wedding and letting her father run her life.

“I hear you have some news,” I said.

“I do, and it’s good news.” Her eyes sparkled, and her smile lit up the room as she spoke. The room was already pretty bright, with its immaculate white walls and floor, and the blue-white fluorescent lighting, but she lit it up in a different way, warming it.

“Well, are you going to tell me?” I wasn’t feeling as impatient as I sounded, but I didn’t want her to know how happy I was to see her. She didn’t deserve that. I was still upset with her.

“The board has agreed to go ahead and make me the majority shareholder without having to follow any of my father’s conditions for taking the company,” she said softly.

“That’s great. That’s what you wanted, right? Not to have to get married.” A weight lifted off of my shoulders. I was free of prenuptial agreements and permanent solutions to temporary problems. I could finally get back to the guys and the lifestyle I knew. Since I wasn’t going to be on the field anymore, I didn’t see any reason to continue keeping up the role model charade.

“Right. I get the company on my own, and we can ditch all the talk about fake marriages and staged relationships,” she said.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I told her. “I’m actually relieved not to have to go through with all of that now.”

“If you need me to stay your girlfriend for the team, I can still do that,” she added quickly as an afterthought, realizing what her news meant for us.

She stepped up to the side of the bed and took my hand in hers. Her touch was gentle, but her grip on my hand was firm and passionate.

“I don’t think that will be necessary at this point,” I said, trying not to tell her too much. I wanted it to sound like I was letting her go because of her news, not because I wasn’t going to be playing anymore.

“Are you sure?” She gave me a look with her eyes that suggested she didn’t want to walk away completely from our arrangement just yet.

“You’re going to be busy,” I told her. “You’ve got a company to take over.”
“I do, don’t I?” She looked proud of herself. She had every right to be.

Hell, I was proud of her. It was good to see her taking charge and doing things herself, her way, instead of letting her father call all the shots.

“So how is it going to work? Are they just going to transfer the shares over, or do you have to buy them?” I asked.

“They’re going to transfer enough shares to make me the majority shareholder, but my father is going to keep some of them. I’m considering buying the rest from him through the company,” she explained.

“Well, if you need any money to purchase shares, I’ll be happy to help you out and front you the cash,” I offered.

“Thanks, but that may not be necessary.”

“Well, if it is, I’ll help,” I reiterated, my discomfort and impatience becoming obvious.

“Jake, are you okay?” she asked in a low tone.

“Other than lying in a hospital bed waiting on the team physicians to come up and let me know if I can play again, I’m doing just fine, Brooke.”

“I’m really sorry about the other night,” she said, turning her eyes down toward the floor. “I said some pretty awful things.”

“You thought your father was going to take all of this away from you, and that’s understandable. But it sounds like you’ve found a way around him, so that’s good. You don’t need to blow a bunch of money on a fake wedding, and you’re going to be too busy to keep up a front for me,” I explained to her. I wanted to go ahead and break it off with her, but I didn’t know how to say it. I was trying to let her down easily.

“What are you saying, Jake? Are you calling it all off? What are you going to do when the team wants to see you with someone steady on your arm?” she asked, rattling her questions off in rapid succession.

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Jake,” she said, demanding answers with her tone and the expression on her face. I could see in her blue eyes that she didn’t like what I was saying to her.

“Look, Brooke, I’m going to be very busy with my recovery once I get out of here. I’m sure you can tell by looking at me that I roughed myself up pretty badly with this accident,” I started.

“I saw the pictures of the car,” she said. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to need to focus on my recovery. They’re saying I might not be able to play again. When I got hurt on the field, they were already concerned about that injury, but the injuries I’ve put on top of it from the accident may have pushed me across that line. If there is any chance I can get back on the field, it’s going to take a lot of work on my part. If not, I’m going to have to focus on changing the direction of my career,” I explained to her, hoping she would get the point that I was trying to get her to back off.

“I can help you with all of that,” she insisted. A few days ago, that would have been a very welcome response, but now, not so much. I didn’t want anything to do with her after our last conversation.

She was ignoring the fact that she needed to put all of her energy into her father’s company, and I needed to put all of mine into getting back on my feet and back on the field. I needed to make her see that, and in a way that she wouldn’t be able to ignore any longer.

“I appreciate your offer, Brooke, but I really think this is the end of the road for us,” I said finally, just putting it out there plain as day for her.

“Even though it doesn’t have to be.”

I admired the fight in her. I knew it was that kind of fight, that determination and perseverance that had eventually won over her father’s board.

I sighed. I didn’t want to continue arguing with her about it. I had made up my mind. It was time to call it quits. She didn’t need to get married, and I probably wasn’t going to need to impress anyone with a steady girlfriend anytime in the near future.

“I think it has to be,” I told her, infusing my words with a sense of finality. There was no point in continuing to try to fight me on this. I wasn’t going to budge.

“I think you’re wrong, Jake,” Brooke continued.

If she had fought this much when we were in high school, we probably would have already been married, I thought, but I kept it to myself. I didn’t want to offer her any false encouragement.

“Thank you for coming by to check on me today. It means a lot,” I said in response.

“Are you
dismissing
me?” she snapped.

“Remember, if you need anything, just give me a call,” I added, ignoring her protests.

“I can’t believe this. No, I don’t think I’ll need anything from you. Even if I did, I’d find someone else to help me. You’re obviously through with me. Again. That’s fine.” She sighed and took her hand back from mine.

She struggled to maintain her composure. Her blue eyes looked like they were about to spill over onto her cheeks. She scowled, trying to keep a straight face and fight back the tears. I didn’t say anything while I watched her emotions play with her expression and posture.

She exhaled and pushed her hand down on the side of the hospital bed. She shook her head, looking down at the floor. I knew I was going to regret my decision once she left the room, but I also knew she’d forget about it as soon as she returned to work and started working on the transitional period with her father’s company.

“Good luck with your recovery,” she said finally, still looking away from me. Her voice trembled as she barely held it together long enough to speak.

I felt a pain in my chest as I watched her wait for a response that I never gave her. She cleared her throat once she realized I wasn’t going to say anything. Then she straightened her back and turned to leave without another word.

I had to convince myself not to call out for her, that it was best to just let her go. I had nothing to offer to make her stay anyway. My future in the game was up in the air. I didn’t know where I really stood with the guys in the network, which really put a kink in the money I had been making over the years. Back before all of this with Brooke and trying to create Mr. Clark’s positive image for the team, the guys never would have left me to my own devices after getting as drunk as I had the other night. I felt like I was on the way out with them as well. If Brooke hung around, she’d have to watch me fall in disgrace.

I took a deep, steadying breath and pushed back all of my emotions for her. I did need to focus on moving forward with recovery and trying to find any possible way I could manage to get back on the field. I needed to forget about Brooke Scott. We had walked away from each other once before and it hadn’t caused any disastrous consequences in our lives. I couldn’t see why this time would be any different.

Regardless of how I felt about
us
, I was still happy for her that she’d managed to finally get around her father’s ridiculous demands for her to inherit the business from him. I knew it was something she really wanted. And I knew that once she started focusing on that, Jake Hall would fade into the back of her memory, right back to where I’d been for all those years before we ran into each other at the grocery store.

I was comfortable there. I didn’t need to be front and center.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Brooke

I was glad I hadn’t moved much more than my daily necessities to Jake’s mansion. It made packing to leave pretty simple. I made sure I grabbed everything from my bathroom and my closet. I treated it just like packing up at the end of a vacation. It was time to go home; the party was over.

I tried to maintain my composure even when I got to his place. I didn’t want anyone to see me break down, and I certainly didn’t want to admit that I had become attached to him in the short time we’d been back together.

Well, we weren’t exactly
back together
. It wasn’t like we were really picking up from where we’d left off during our senior year in high school. It was merely an arrangement. Or, it was supposed to have been an arrangement. We were letting it go. There was no arrangement anymore. I was gaining my father’s shares in the company and I was officially going to be taking his position without having to get married. Jake needed to focus on recovering from his various injuries so he could hopefully find his way back onto the field.

I packed my clothes into my suitcase. I hadn’t even taken it back to the house yet. I packed up all of my toiletries and makeup, trying the whole time to ignore the fact that I was leaving Jake all over again. I drug everything out of the house and tossed my bags into the trunk.

His house staff had disappeared into the background some time ago, while I had been staying with my pretend fiancé. I didn’t see anyone watching me from around the corner. No one asked if I needed any help. But I knew they were all there. They were watching me. They knew I was ready to leave.

I pulled my house key off my keychain and left it in the entryway, on an antique drop-leaf table just behind the front door. Putting it down felt like saying goodbye, a final goodbye. I knew it was over. It was real now.

I closed the door behind me as I walked back outside and took the steps down to the driveway. I turned at the door to my car and looked back at his expansive mansion, resembling a compound more than a single house. Jake Hall lived like he never expected the money to run out, but I was sure he had some way of managing his funds. Even with his multi-million-dollar deals as a star athlete, he had to have some way of managing his money to pay for the house and everything that went along with it.

I had heard rumors that he was involved in some sort of gambling ring or something like that. I had heard that he was getting extra money on the side through various underground connections. I hadn’t given the rumors much thought, and as I left the house for the last time, I figured I’d never know there had been any truth to them.

While I stood staring at the house and wondering what could have been, my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered without checking to see who it was.

“Brooke.” It was Hollie, and it sounded urgent.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” I asked, pulling myself away from the failed pseudo-relationship with Jake.

“It’s your father. He’s made a counter offer to the board.”

“What kind of counter offer?” I asked, focusing back on work.

“He’s offering to buy his shares back from the company at their current value. That’s going to keep the board from being able to finalize any transfers. If they agree to his terms, that screws you out of everything you talked to them about,” she explained.

“He can’t do that, can he?” I asked.

“He can, and he is.”

I shook my head. It was all supposed to go down behind his back, but I had known something was going to go wrong when the two board members who voted in favor of my father left the room. The first thought that crossed my mind was Jake’s offer to spot me the cash to buy any shares I needed to, basically offering to finance overthrowing my father. I wasn’t ready to call him and ask for his money just yet.

“Brooke, are you okay?” Hollie asked when I was silent for a moment.

“Yeah. I’m just thinking. Do you know how much he offered?” I asked her.

“I didn’t get an exact figure. They made it pretty clear that they’re done negotiating. They’re going with your father’s offer, and they don’t seem too eager to discuss it any further,” Hollie explained.

“Well, I might just have to make them reconsider,” I told her.

“Don’t do anything rash, Brooke,” she cautioned me.

“Don’t worry, Hollie. I won’t do anything crazier than what my father is trying to do right now,” I assured her.

“What do you plan to do?”

“I’m going to call and make my own counter offer,” I told her.

She groaned on the other end. “I don’t advise it, but call me when you’re finished. Let me know how it goes,” she said. Her tone was somewhere between amused by my proposal and dreading the stunt I was about to pull.

We hung up and I climbed into my car. I pulled away from Jake’s house for the last time. I wanted to kick myself for speaking too soon and giving him good news that was blowing up in my face. Everything was blowing up in my face, but if I had been quiet about my good news just a little longer, I might have been able to keep our arrangement from crumbling.

I didn’t have time to worry about that, though. I needed to put out the fire at the company. It was time to squash their resistance.

I pulled my phone out before I made it back to the office and called up to my secretary.

“Call an emergency meeting of the board,” I told her. “Tell them that anyone who doesn’t show up not only misses their chance to vote on a motion, but they also risk losing their place on the board.” I knew I couldn’t really kick anyone off the board until after the transition period. Still, I hoped my threat would be enough.

“What about your father?” she asked.

“He’s only an honorary member. He doesn’t need to be there. So no.” Part of what was driving me was the fact that I was over the idea that my father still had a place on the board even though he had retired and turned management over to me.

I hung up the phone and waited in the parking lot while the board members showed up. After a little while, I decided that anyone who was coming had already come in. There were a few who were staying back just in defiance of my threat to have them removed from the board. Oh well, it was their loss.

I stormed into the boardroom, surprising the old men sitting around the table. They all jerked their heads around to see me as I walked over to my father’s seat.

“Gentlemen, I’m getting tired of this little game we’re playing,” I told them.

“So are we, Brooke.”

“Then let’s settle this once and for all. I am prepared to pay whatever my father has offered plus ten percent,” I told them, with no idea of how much my father was offering to pay.

“Do you even know what your father is paying us?” one of the men asked.

“I don’t care. Whatever he says he’ll pay, I’ll add ten percent to it. Every time.” I put my hands on my hips and stood my ground.

“How do you have access to that kind of money?” another asked.

“That’s really none of your business now, is it?” I snapped.

“Listen, we’re really not prepared to accept a counter offer against Mr. Scott,” another board member spoke up.

“Looks like I’ll just have to call an emergency vote,” I told them.

“You can’t make up your own rules as you go along.”

“I’m not. Acting on my father’s behalf, I can do that.” It seemed to me that my father’s board had failed to read their own by-laws.

“We don’t have to participate,” came another response. The board members began getting up and leaving the room one at a time.

“We’ll consider your offer to put ten percent on top of your father’s offer,” the one who usually spoke said as he followed the others out of the room.

“Just a spoiled little brat,” I heard one of them say as they left.

According to the by-laws, while I had the authority to call emergency meetings and votes, I also could have called an emergency suspension of the board. I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward, sighing.

It would have been nice to have had Jake’s input right then, but I had royally fucked that up. If I had just gone along with the plan, I could have made it all work. My ambition, my greed for power, was destroying everything around me. Still, I wasn’t going to give up. I was going to come out on top, or lose everything trying. There wasn’t going to be any in between for me. I was going to go all the way with this, one way or the other.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I put it on the table. It was my father. I didn’t want to answer. If I didn’t answer, he couldn’t say what he was going to say or do what he was going to do. I left it until the call went to voicemail.

He called again. I silenced my phone and slid it back into my pocket. Part of me wanted to stay in the office until the board contacted me with an answer. Another part of me wanted to head home so I could avoid my father’s wrath as much as possible. I had a car to unpack while I waited for the outcome of our little game.

I decided that was what I was going to do. I was going to unpack the car and wait to hear from the board or anyone else associated with the company. I was going to take ownership of the failed arrangement I had made with Jake. It had just been a business proposition, but it felt like a real relationship had crumbled, again. It felt like we had missed another great opportunity to try to make things work between us. I was going to go home and clean that mess up while I waited to see how the rest of my messes worked themselves out.

I marched out of the boardroom with my head held high. I wanted to look like I had been successful, or like I was at least confident that I would be in the end. I didn’t want to look like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I wanted to look like I had it all under control, even though I felt like I had absolutely nothing under control.

I hopped in my car, loaded down with my personal effects, and I drove over to my house. I called Hollie on the way to let her know how things were going.

“I’m on the way back to the house,” I told her.

“Jake’s?”

“Oh! No, mine,” I told her, realizing I hadn’t told her what all was going on.

“Whoa, what’s going on, Brooke?” she asked.

“Everything seems to be falling apart. I might be losing the fight with my father over the company, and Jake has literally sent me packing,” I explained.

“You’ve got all of your stuff in the car right now?” she asked.

“Well, everything I took over to Jake’s.”

“Damn, Brooke, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was just a business arrangement anyway, an agreement to help each other out,” I told her, trying to convince myself. I had to choke back the tears. Hollie was my best friend, but I wasn’t going to let her see me break down.

It hadn’t happened yet, and I wasn't going to let it happen. I was determined to keep it together.

“I know you better than that, Brooke, but when you want to talk, I’ll be here,” she said.

“Thanks. Right now I’m going to try to focus on getting my father out of the way. I can’t go back to the marriage arrangement, so this is all I have left,” I told her.

“I bet you’ve got more left than you realize, Brooke.”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the call. My emotions were too close to the surface, and it was not time to let them out.