Chapter 24
Bishop
Brooke wasn’t in her office, so I head to the receptionist desk in the lobby of the management suite. The woman sitting behind the desk looks up at me with a warm smile. “Mr. Scott, how can I help you?”
I’m impressed. I’ve never met this receptionist and yet she knows who I am. That means either she is a big Vengeance fan or she has taken the time to study all of the players.
I smile back at her. “Hey, I’m looking for Brooke Perron. I was over in her office and she wasn’t there. Wanted to surprise her for lunch. Any idea where she is?”
The receptionist turns to her computer screen, taps a few keys on the keyboard, and swivels to look back at me. “It looks like she’s in conference room number three with Mr. Parr. They’re working on a merchandising proposal and needed the room to spread out.”
I rap my knuckles on the desk twice and grin at her. “Thanks so much.”
“Anytime,” she returns, and then points to a door. “Down that corridor, take it to the end, and turn left. You’ll run into the conference rooms.”
I follow her directions in search of my girl.
We flew in late last night from Houston and I texted Brooke when we landed. She didn’t respond until this morning, which verified what I had suspected: she was asleep. With a few more texts exchanged, we made loose plans to see each other after she got off work today. She of course had no clue I had planned on surprising her at lunch.
I walk past Christian Rutherford’s office. The door is open and he’s looking at something on his computer. His eyes come up and I wave a hand at him as I walk by, but he calls out, “Bishop…got a minute?”
I like Christian. He’s a hands-on general manager, but he’s not overbearing about it. He’s also incredibly approachable, acting more like a brother in arms than our boss.
When I walk into his office, he stands up from his desk. His suit jacket is thrown over the back of his chair and his dress shirt sleeves are rolled up to midforearm. He’s a former professional hockey player, turned coach, turned general manager. He knows almost everything there is to know about this sport and the league.
He extends his hand to me and I shake it. “Good to see you,” he says. “Hell of a tough game last night.”
I give a brooding nod. We were handed our first loss in Houston. “A lot of things we could’ve done better. We’ve got some work to do.”
Christian smiles at me. “I have the utmost faith in you and the rest of the team.”
“Appreciate it,” I return.
“Hey…Just wanted to ask how are things going with you and Brooke. I know that has to be a little tricky given that she’s the coach’s daughter.”
“It’s actually going very well,” I tell him, and it’s refreshing that I can say something that is truthful about Brooke’s and my relationship.
“Coach told me the other day that you two will be getting engaged soon. That’s exciting.”
Now we’re getting into tricky territory. Brooke and I have agreed to extend our charade a bit longer. We’ve also agreed to go ahead and do a fake engagement to get her dad settled down. But saying the words out loud, even with the best of intentions, makes me feel a little guilty. “Yeah…Soon.”
Very soon, actually, but I don’t tell Christian that. I had a lengthy conversation with my mom just this morning about this topic.
Christian stares at me a moment before saying, “Well, that’s great. I wish you the best of luck.”
I stick my hand out for him and we shake. “It was good seeing you, Christian. Thanks for the words of encouragement.”
“Any day,” he says, and turns back to his desk.
To the left at the end of the corridor, I can see the conference room dead ahead at the next intersecting hall. The wall is made of glass and my gaze immediately locks on Brooke. They stay pinned on her as I walk down the hall toward her.
I have to admit, beyond looking gorgeous, she looks to be in her element. She’s wearing a light gray skirt with a pale blue blouse. Her hair is pulled back into a fashionable twist and I’m actually surprised to see her wearing glasses. I didn’t know she needed them, but fuck, they look super hot on her. She looks like a sexy librarian.
Standing at an easel set up at the end of a long conference room table, Brooke is pointing to a graph and talking to Sebastian, who is leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. I can’t hear what’s being said as the door is closed.
I check out Sebastian for a moment. I’ve never met the man, but I know it’s him because I had looked up his bio on the team’s website when Brooke first told me that she might be working with him. He’s dressed in a suit, which is typical of all front office management, and he seems to be immersed in whatever Brooke is saying. They engage in a back-and-forth conversation for a moment and Brooke shakes her head before moving to the conference room table where there are all kinds of documents spread across it. She starts combing through until she finds what she’s looking for. Bending slightly at the waist, she places one palm flat on the table and with the other flips a few pages. When she finds what she needs, she taps her finger on it. Her neck cranes and she looks at Sebastian while still tapping the document, saying something to him. He in turn pushes off the wall and moves to stand beside her.
I’m almost at the conference room door when he bends over to take a closer look at the document she is referencing and puts his hand on her lower back as he does so.
Intimate.
It fucking pisses me off.
I shove the conference room door at the same time I see Brooke jerk away from his touch. The door slams into the adjacent wall, and Sebastian jumps about a foot in the air as he turns to me with wide eyes. I give only the briefest of glances to Brooke, but I find her glaring at Sebastian in reproach.
The fact that Brooke thinks it’s as inappropriate as I do makes my rage burn hotter and I come barreling around the end of the conference room table to get at him.
I vaguely hear Brooke gasp, “Oh shit.”
I don’t give any more thought than that, as I am entirely focused on Sebastian, whose eyes have now started bugging out of his head because a six-foot-five enraged hockey player is barreling toward him. He retreats until his back hits the wall and then my forearm is against his throat, with my other hand splayed across his chest to pin him in place.
“Bishop,” Brookes says in a sharp voice. “Back off.”
I ignore her, keeping my eyes pinned on Sebastian. “Did she ask you to touch her?”
Sebastian shakes his head furiously, eyes filled with fear.
“Did she in any form or fashion indicate to you that she was interested in you in any way?” I ask him.
Again he shakes his head.
“This is your only warning. Touch her again and I’ll break whichever arm you use to do the touching.”
“Bishop,” Brookes says in an exasperated voice.
I continue to ignore her. Leaning in, I put my face just a little bit closer to Sebastian’s. “No one touches what is mine.”
Okay, that came out a little like…like…I should run over and pee on Brooke or something.
Shaking my head, I immediately release Sebastian. He nods his head effusively at me. “I got it. Didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t thinking. It won’t happen again.”
Jerking my head toward Brooke, who I note is now standing there with her arms crossed and glaring at me, I order him, “Apologize.”
I listen as Sebastian gives a long, and I’ll admit heartfelt, apology to Brooke. He then turns to look at me with his eyebrows raised, questioning whether or not I will demand anything else of him.
I’m done, though. I think I made a good point. I tell Sebastian, “If you don’t mind, I would like to take my girlfriend out to lunch. Do you need some time to finish up this meeting?”
Sebastian shakes his head vigorously and turns to Brooke. “You go ahead and have your lunch. You did a great job with this proposal. So good, in fact, I’m not going to make any changes.”
I can see the conflict on Brooke’s face. She wants to be pissed and affronted at Sebastian, but she also wants to be pissed at me since I made a scene and also physically assaulted what could be her boss at some point. It’s especially conflicting for her because Sebastian just complimented her work, and who doesn’t like a sincere compliment?
I hold my hand out to Brooke and she takes it somewhat reluctantly. We walk out of the conference room, out of the management offices, and straight to the elevator that take us down to street level.
When the elevator doors close on us, I spin toward her and put my hands to her face. She doesn’t resist me as I give her a kiss of greeting and also of longing. I sure missed the fuck out of her while on this road trip. I want her back on the road with me, but if she gets this new job in merchandising that will end. That puts me in a terrible position, because obviously, it’s to my benefit if she stays in team services. But I know that’s not what Brooke wants, and I need to support her desires and ambitions.
It’s what any mature boyfriend would do.
When I break the kiss, all of the anger is gone from her face. Instead she looks at me with warm eyes and says, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I tell her.
We exit the elevator on the main level, and leave the arena through an employee door that leads out onto the courtyard surrounded by the Vengeance Town shopping complex. We choose a small Irish pub because Brooke said she was craving fish-and-chips.
Once we order, Brooke looks at me with a slightly condemning look. “You know you probably just killed my chances of getting that job in merchandising.”
I don’t want to admit that she might be right, so instead I ask, “Is there really a job? I mean, have you verified it?”
That seems to be the real question.
Brooke wrinkles her nose slightly. “I have no clue. But apparently Nanette gave him a blow job during her interview, so I would have to say she’s more in the running for it if there is actually a job to be had.”
“What the fuck?” I blurt out in astonishment. “She actually did that? And she told you she did that?”
Brooke nods with her lips pressed into a grim line. “She was all too happy and proud to tell me all about it last night before the game started.”
A thought occurs to me. I lean across the table and growl, “Has he ever asked you to do that?”
Brooke shrinks back with a horrified look in her eyes. “God, no. But you’re kind of adorable when you get all worked up.”
“What was that hand-on-your-back shit?” I ask her.
“He’s never done anything like that before,” she muses. “Maybe he was feeling cocky given what Nanette gave him. But no, he’s never done anything other than some flirting with me like you just saw.”
I hold my hand out and wag my finger in her face. “Oh no, no, no. That was not flirting. That was physical assault.”
“Laying his hand on my back was not assault,” she argues with me. “That was just unwanted touching.”
“I believe you will find that is the definition of assault,” I grit out.
She cocks an eyebrow at me. “I think the real assault occurred when you jammed your forearm into his throat and threatened to break his arm. You could have gotten in serious trouble, Bishop.”
I grin across the table at her. “Did you see how scared he was?”
Brooke snorts and gives a resigned shake of her head. “Again, all of the job stuff is probably moot. There’s no way Sebastian wants me working with him after that, and I definitely cannot compete with an assistant who’s going to suck his dick as part of the job duties.”
She’s putting on a fucking brave face for me and that really gets me. Touches me deep, because it’s for me. “I’m sorry. I know you would really like to move over into merchandising.”
Brooke sighs heavily. “I’m just not happy in team services. It’s not challenging enough to me.”
“What’s the alternative?” I ask her, afraid to really know the answer.
“If I can’t get into merchandising here, I think I’m going to go back to New York, Bishop. I emailed my former boss yesterday and she said the job is mine if I wanted it. She’s only been using a temp since I left.”
The absolute bottoming out of my stomach and heavy disappointment weighing down on me that almost makes it difficult to breathe tells me more about how I feel about Brooke than anything else has so far. The thought of her leaving is just…I don’t want to think about it.
“If there’s actually a merchandising job available,” I say to her carefully. “Can you really work with Sebastian? You have to admit, he’s been behaving inappropriately and he clearly has no qualms with having a complete stranger give him a blow job for an interview. Let’s be real, the guy’s a douche and I need to know if you can really work with that.”
Brooke blinks at me a moment before she admits, “If he were to offer me a job, I would have to have a very serious conversation with him that set clear boundaries. But I have to tell you, outside of me knowing about that blow job—which could be a lie from Nanette for all I know—and the flirting, he’s not been inappropriate with me in any way. He’s actually very good at what he does and we work well together. So I guess the answer to your question is yes, with clear boundaries I could work with him.”
I stare at her a moment, weighing my need to keep her protected versus my long-term need to keep her close by. Finally I tell her, “I’m going to find out from Christian Rutherford if there’s an actual job opening. And if there is, and you’re eligible for it, then I’ll leave it up to you as to whether or not you can work with the guy. I trust your judgment.”
Brooke merely smiles wanly, and I know this decision—if an offer comes—will be incredibly difficult for her.
I decide to change the subject. “My mom’s plane lands tomorrow morning around eleven. Think you can swing lunch with us?”
Brooke smiles at me and I see an actual eagerness for her to meet my mom. Brooke knows I told my mom all about us and she is well aware of our duplicity. But more than anything, I’ve talked so much about my mom to Brooke I know she is just excited to meet a person she already knows to be incredibly kind, generous, funny, and sweet. I’m equally excited for my mom to meet Brooke.
“I can totally do lunch,” Brooke says, but her expression turns slightly worried. “But shouldn’t you be resting and gearing up for the game tomorrow night?”
“You’re cute when you worry about me as a hockey player.”
“Sort of like how you’re adorable when you assault men on my behalf.”
“Exactly.” I grin at her, taking in those beautiful eyes staring at me through her glasses. I make a waving motion. “What’s up with those? I thought you wore contacts.”
“What? My glasses?” Her hand comes up and she touches the frames almost tentatively.
“Yeah…they’re sexy as fuck.”
“You can’t be serious,” she says, dropping her hand back down.
“Dead serious. You can wear those to bed anytime with me.”
Brooke rolls her eyes. “I forgot to order more contacts. The new ones should be here in a few days, so you only get these glasses for a little bit more.”
“Tonight, baby, you’re playing sexy librarian and I’m playing the naughty thug hockey player that fucks her over the back of the desk, okay?”
Brooke’s face goes beet red, but she nods her agreement at me.