Part 17 (1/2)

He cleared his throat. ”I need to run something else by you,” he said, figuring it was the right thing to do.

”Go on.”

He went on to outline Rachel's offer, the lack of details, and the potential conflict with his current job.

”And that explains why Madison called Riley in a panic. She thinks you're going to end up moving to what? East Coast? West?”

Alex shrugged. ”Even if I lived here full time, she's got other issues that need to be worked out. As for east or west...”

He shrugged. ”Testing in New York this week. I'll find out more then. I don't think the move is something she's even considering as the problem. I'd a.s.sume it's a part-time gig anyway. Just during the season. At the very least, I could commute. h.e.l.l, if it meant full time, I don't think I'd take it. Believe it or not, I like being nearby the family.”

”I suppose they all can grow on you,” Ian conceded.

Alex shook his head at his brother's att.i.tude. This was Ian softening, he thought wryly, and spun his drink between his palms. ”Look, I don't want you to think I'm taking my current job lightly. I wouldn't bail on you or leave you and Madison in a lurch.”

”I know that,” Ian said, surprising Alex.

”You do?”

Ian leveled him with a long stare that reminded Alex of their father at his sternest. ”Do you really think I hired you just because Riley begged me to?” The edge of his mouth curled up in a smirk.

”That's a trick question. On the one hand, yeah. She's got you wrapped.” He raised his middle finger and wiggled it around.

”Nice,” Ian muttered.

”On the other hand, no. You're a shrewd businessman. You do what you think is best for the company.”

Ian lifted his drink in agreement.

”However, you do like to keep your woman happy.”

”I hired you because I knew your work ethic from watching you with the Breakers. I know if you leave, you'll make sure things here are smooth first.”

”So you wouldn't hold it against me?” He leaned against the polished wood counter.

Ian shook his head. ”I wouldn't begrudge you an opportunity. I'm not that big of an a.s.s. But I did want to discuss the PR campaign you shot down so quickly.”

Alex's cheeks burned at the mention of the embarra.s.sing photograph and billboard. ”Tell me you'd let them plaster you all over at your lowest, weakest point?”

Ian drummed his fingers on the counter. ”I think I'd look at it from a different angle. Or maybe I'd need someone to tell me to do it.”

Alex gestured for another drink. ”I'm listening.”

”You're a known name. People liked watching you play. They recognize your talent.”

Alex stared, having a hard time reconciling the man shooting him compliments with the one who couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him a short while ago.

”Anyone with half a brain knows it took guts to walk away before you became a vegetable or paraplegic from another hit to the head or the wrong vertebra.”

A wave of nausea overtook him with the blunt description of the choice he'd faced.

”My point is,” Ian went on, unaware, ”parents and kids look up to you.”

Alex's mind immediately went to Jake in the wheelchair.

”I believe you can change lives by allowing people to see you then and now. So what if you were knocked down? You got back up, right?” Ian shrugged and slugged down the end of his drink.

”I get it but-”

”I heard how you charmed the kid in the hotel,” Ian said. ”Madison told Riley you called your publicist and had them send you a picture and a jersey with your number on it so you could personally sign and send them to a teenager in a wheelchair.”

Alex swallowed hard and looked away. He didn't do those things for acknowledgment.

”Imagine the good you can do for other players and injured kids whose coaches are pressuring them to play or to sign pro before they graduate college. You're a role model, if you want to be.” Ian slammed his gla.s.s on the table. ”By the way, n.o.body said it's full time or nothing on our end. Let me know if you want to take the TV gig, and we can make this work too.”

”I don't know what to say.” This wasn't the Ian Dare that Alex hadn't gotten to know for all those years. This was a different man. One who was treating him with respect. Almost like a family member.

Ian rose. He slid his hand into his pocket, but Alex shook his head.

”That's twice. Next one's on me then,” Ian insisted.

”Quit counting.”

”If we're through here, I am going to get home to my wife.”

”You're a.s.suming Madison's finished with her.”

”I'm picking Riley up on my way home.” Ian grinned. ”She's finished when I say she is.”

Alex rose to his feet. He'd already given his credit card, so their tab was settled. ”I'm going to head to my place. I think Madison and I could use some s.p.a.ce from each other. She needs to get her head on straight and decide what she wants. This push-pull is killing me,” he muttered.

”She can't help it. And until she can, you need to decide if you can stick it out with her, because I can tell you that if you bail this time, you're not going to get another shot.”

His gut cramped at the thought. ”Yeah. I'm not going anywhere. Just giving her a night to think. Tomorrow's the hearing about her foster mother's care and holdings. I'll be there.”

Ian nodded. ”We all do what we have to do. Riley came around,” he said, his expression suddenly showing the pain he'd been through during that time. Just as quickly, he regained his usual stoic composure. ”Keep me posted on things.”

”Will do.”

”And if you want to run things by someone...” He left the rest unsaid, but Alex heard the unspoken offer.

”I just might do that,” he said, grateful he'd been given a shot at something more than working for his half brother.

Now if Madison would just give him the same opening, maybe he could prove himself worthy of her trust as well.

Madison hadn't slept well, not that she'd expected to. She'd grown accustomed to Alex and his big body huddled around hers. Whether in her queen-sized bed or his king, they slept wrapped together. Yet she understood his need for a night apart. In truth, she'd needed it too. But last night, alone in her empty bed, she'd tossed and turned. Unfortunately, she couldn't resolve anything in her mind, not when so much in Alex's life was open-ended and uncertain. As far as she was concerned, right now it wasn't about trust, it was about facts and seeing how things played out for him. And where.

The trust thing she would have to come to terms with later.