Chapter 4 – Kina
I was back at work, after having confessed my crazy night over the weekend to Lacey. Now that had been an interesting conversation.
“You’re kidding me!” she’d exclaimed. “This was Hanson’s friend? Someone on his team?”
“Not that I know of,” I told her. “I think he plays for a team in Texas. I kind of purposefully didn’t ask much about him, though, so I don’t know what he was doing in town, or how he knows Hanson. I just know he was hot, and I decided I wanted to have a random crazy hook up with him, so I did. And apparently you’re not allowed to call me a slut for it anymore, according to Tess. This is the twenty teens and we’ve progressed past slut shaming.”
“I would never,” Lacey insisted. “Just because I got married doesn’t mean I’m some judgmental prude. I think it’s awesome that you knew what you wanted and went for it. I just can’t believe it was with Kyle’s old friend! How is that going to go down?”
“I hope it doesn’t,” I told her. “Jacob and I promised we wouldn’t tell anyone. Well, you don’t count, of course.”
“Of course.”
“I mean, you do count as someone, of course,” I clarified, as both of us laughed “And you count as someone who is privy to my deepest, darkest secrets, so, you don’t count when it comes to the pact I made with Jacob, which is what happens at the sports bar stays at the sports bar.”
“Well, I’m going to ask Hanson what’s up with Jacob,” she said. “I’ll find out why he’s in town for you. And maybe for how long. So you can do it again maybe.”
“No, don’t,” I insist. “I mean, my libido appreciates it…”
The thought of the chance to be with Jacob again lodged itself in my mind despite my strong desire to kick it out of there. I knew I couldn’t be with him again but part of me didn’t want to accept that.
“I mean, I don’t want there to be rumors and gossip and stuff.”
“Oh, Hanson wouldn’t say anything,” Lacey rushed to say, and I jumped in to clarify.
“I know,” I told her. “I’m sure he knows how to keep a secret. Look at everything that happened with the two of you.”
She laughed.
“But I just want to keep it a dark secret, in the past,” I insisted. “I don’t want it being brought up back into the present. It was perfect like it was, but it would be a mistake to drag it on.”
“Okay, whatever you say,” Lacey said, as I tried my best to convince myself of what I was telling her.
And now it was time to stop thinking about all of that and focus on work. Lacey and I had studied the same major, public relations, and we went into the field at the same time once we graduated. She had shot to the top straight away, working with celebrities and really making a name for herself, but I didn’t walk that road. Instead, I had become a PR manager for regular business folk, doing what they needed from me and flying beneath the radar.
I didn’t mind because I liked my job. I liked working with people, and I preferred staying behind the scenes. The people I worked with had to do the press releases, the public appearances, and all that jazz. I told them what to do to hone their images but otherwise I blended into the background.
“Hey.” Peter stopped at my desk on his way from the copy room. “Carlson wants to see you.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
I got up and walked to Mike Carlson’s office. I’d worked for Carlson from the start, and he was a good boss.
“Sit down, Kina,” he said when I walked into his office. “I have a new project for you.”
I sat down and looked at him eagerly. I liked getting new clients. I liked starting with someone from scratch and building something great.
Carlson handed me a file. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Florida Sharks,” he said.
I frowned. Of course, I knew what they were.
My best friend had married the star quarterback. But, even more so, they were an NFL team, and the local one at that. And I had just had bathroom sex with a pro football player.
Never mind that, I told myself.
I was miffed that Carlson assumed I wouldn’t know about football. Probably because I was a girl. But, whatever. My job was to know about a lot of different things.
“It’s a football team,” I said.
Carlson nodded. “One of the new players needs a little help.”
I usually got businesses that needed help, not football teams. Not celebrities.
“Why did I get this?” I asked.
“Because you’ve been working hard, and you deserve it,” Carlson said.
I looked up at him. If it was a football player, it was a very high-profile client. This was like getting a raise.
“Thank you, sir,” I said.
Carlson nodded at me, flashing a smile before turning back to his work. I got up, knowing I’d been dismissed. I clutched the file to my chest as I walked back to my desk.
Oh. My. God. This was my first famous client. Ever.
As soon as I sat down, I opened the file. I was so excited. I had never gotten someone this big. Lacey had gotten some big, famous people everyone knew about, and this was my turn. I had gotten …
Jacob Lawson.
Oh, God.
Could it really be? How could fate be so twisted? Jacob played for the Sharks? And I was just assigned to work with him?
Before I could process it, Carlson cleared his throat and said, “Kina? Is this okay? I know it’s a big assignment and might seem overwhelming, but I also figured you would want it and could handle it…”
“Yes,” I said, rushing in to reassure him that he had made the right decision. “I do want it. I can handle it.”
I’m not sure if I can handle Jacob, I admitted to myself, if handle him means be around him and not want a repeat of the other night.
But, I was going to have to try. It would be pretty hard to work with Jacob, not only because he had been my brother’s best friend but also because I had just fucked him in a bathroom stall and I couldn’t get him out of my mind.
It was just my luck that he was the first famous person I was assigned to help. But, I had a job to do, and I was going to do it well.
“Good,” said Carlson, as he left. “I’m glad to hear it.”
I paged through the photos, trying to calm down my racing heart. There was Jacob, looking the same as he had last night but very different from in high school, since he had changed a lot since then. He’d about tripled in size, and in a good way. He’d cut his blond hair short, and it made his blue eyes stand out so much more. He had all those tattoos. My mind drifted off, remembering the way my fingers had traced them on his chest as he’d fucked me.
I willed my mind to stare back at the photographs in front of me and get into the present instead of the past. He had a cocky attitude, like he thought he was God’s gift to mankind. That hadn’t really changed, come to think of it.
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to concentrate on my job, and on doing the same thing I would do with any other client. I asked Trish, our secretary, to call Jacob and find out when he was available to come in for a meeting.
“He said he’s available now,” she said, after calling him. “He’ll be here in less than an hour.”
Oh, wow.
I was going to be face to face with Jacob Lawson once again. A lot sooner than I was anticipating.