True Love and Other Disasters by Rachel Gibson Read Free Book Online Page B

she’d do next.
    “After your meeting then.”
    “After the meeting, I want to read my hockey books.”
    “What’s happened to you?” Her mother shook her head, disturbing wisps of fine, blonde hair. “You used to be so full of life. You used to be so fun.”
    She used to be a stripper who partied until the sun came up. She used to be a lot of things she wasn’t anymore.
    “You used to be audacious and sexy. Virgil made you old before your time. You don’t dress like yourself anymore, and I could just cry.”
    No. She didn’t dress like her mother anymore. “Maybe we can go out to dinner afterward. Tomorrow night’s game against the Canucks will be my first as the official owner and I don’t want to screw it up.”
    “How could you possibly screw it up?”
    So, so many ways. “I’m sure the press will want to talk to me afterward. I just don’t want to embarrass the guys.” She took a drink and thoughtof the pain in Ty Savage’s eyes when she’d asked about hiring Terrible Ted. “Or myself.” Especially herself. “I don’t want to look dumb. I’m terrified they’ll ask me questions and I won’t know the answers.” And the likelihood of that happening was probable to certain.
    Valerie nodded like she understood the dilemma perfectly. “You need a good outfit,” she said, offering motherly advice. “Something tight.” She pointed to her large breasts. “Low cut. Flash any man enough cleavage and he’ll forget every intelligent question in his head.”

Chapter 4
    J ulian Garcia was Irish and Hispanic, with the fashion flair of Doctor 90210, a.k.a. Robert Rey, thrown into the mix. To his first meeting with Faith, he wore a gold Saint Christopher necklace visible inside the collar of his purple-and-pink-striped shirt. His black trousers were tight and his hair was spiked with gel. He was one snappy dresser, but the most striking thing about him wasn’t his brave use of color or even his green eyes, but his muscles. He was five-six with his boots on and had a neck the size of a tree trunk. The man was serious about his workouts. The kind of serious that made Faith wonder if he was gay. Not that it mattered, but a lot of the muscled-up bouncers who worked in strip clubs were gay.
    Faith had met with Jules at a little after noon in Virgil’s office—well, hers now—inside the Key Arena. The first question she asked was, “Did Virgil fire you, or did you quit?”
    “I was fired.”
    “Why?”
    He looked her in the eyes and answered, “Because he heard me talking about you.”
    At least he was honest. He could have lied and she’d have never known. “What did you say?”
    He hesitated. “Basically, that he’d married a stripper with big boobs and he was a fool.”
    Virgil wasn’t a fool, but the rest was true. She had a feeling there was more, but she didn’t ask. It was ironic that he’d been fired because of her and here she was, offering him his job back five years later. She asked him a few more questions about his relationship and job with Virgil. When he spoke, he looked into her eyes, not her chest. He didn’t talk down to her, nor did he act as if her questions were silly or stupid.
    “Don’t worry about not knowing everything. This organization has somewhere around fifteen different departments and basically runs itself,” he told her. “Virgil was a shrewd businessman and he treated it like one of his corporations. Because that’s really what it is, and one thing he didvery well was put smart people into position and let them do their jobs.”
    “You make it sound easy.” But she knew it wasn’t.
    “Not easy, but not hard, either. Virgil didn’t micro-manage the organization, and you certainly don’t have to.” He paused to straighten the crease in one leg of his pants. “In fact, I would suggest that you don’t. The executive management does that hard work for you.”
    By the end of the meeting, she wanted to hire him, but he wasn’t so sure he wanted the job.