Millionaires' Destinies(136)

“So?” she said, managing what she considered to be a respectably nonchalant tone.

“You don’t care that he was out with some model?” Jason asked incredulously.

“He hasn’t made any kind of commitment to me,” she replied reasonably, even though her heart was breaking into little pieces. “Besides, there could be some perfectly innocent explanation.”

“Then why send flowers? That’s guilt talking, Beth. I know how men think.”

She frowned at the bouquet. They were tantamount to an admission of some kind, no question about it. If Jason hadn’t been here, she might have tossed them across the room just to hear the satisfying crash of that expensive crystal vase. Then again, it might be nice to keep it whole until she could use it on Mack’s hard head.

Before she could come up with a less demonstrative response, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the display and immediately recognized Mack’s number. Taking the call right now, with Jason watching her worriedly, was not an option.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Jason asked.

“No.”

“It’s Mack, isn’t it?”

She saw little point in denying it. It was obvious if it had been another physician or a parent, she would have taken it at once. “Yes.”

“Avoiding him won’t help,” Jason told her.

“Then what do you suggest?” she asked angrily. “That I take the call and tell him he’s low-down, no-good scum, without even giving him a chance to explain? That’s about the only thing I could say with you sitting here listening to every word. Anything else and you’d lose respect for me.”

Jason looked shocked. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m your friend, no matter what you decide to do. I hate this, in fact, because for a few weeks now you’ve seemed happier than I’ve ever seen you before. Even though you being with Mack caught me by surprise after the way things went that first day, I wanted it to work out for you.”

Beth managed a shrug. “Yes, well, we all knew I wasn’t exactly Mack’s usual type. The fact that we had a few lovely weeks together is probably something of a miracle, but they had to end sooner or later. Unsuitable people are often drawn together during a crisis. It rarely lasts.”

If only she hadn’t been so sure that this would last, Beth thought wearily. She’d been so certain—especially after everything Melanie Carlton had said to her the night before—that she and Mack were starting something special.

“Can you really be that calm and accepting about this?” Jason asked skeptically.

She gave him a tired smile and the only truthful answer she could offer. “I have to be, don’t I?” Killing the man would be highly unprofessional.





Mack was chomping at the bit with frustration. Beth wasn’t taking his calls, which meant she’d seen the photo and that even after getting his peace offering, she was still absolutely livid. He couldn’t blame her, but not being able to get away from the office to get over there and talk things out was making him a little crazy. If the attorney and agent seated across from him hadn’t been there to finalize terms for a much-needed defensive player for the team, he’d have cut the meeting short and excused himself. Thankfully, they were finally down to the last few sticking points.

He glanced across the table, then looked down at the figures on the paper in front of him. He could probably bargain the numbers down a few thousand here and there, but right at this moment, he didn’t care enough to bother.

Looking up, he met the agent’s gaze. “Gentlemen, I think we have a deal.”

Both men looked momentarily startled, then exuberant.

“Damn, I thought you were going to fight us for every penny,” celebrity sports agent Lawrence Miller told him. “Nice to have you on the other side of the table. You bring a pro-player perspective to the negotiations.”

“In other words, I let you put the screws to me,” Mack said, chuckling. “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have someplace I need to be.”

“A pleasure doing business with you,” attorney Jerry Warren said. “You just got yourself one hell of a ballplayer.”

“Don’t think I don’t recognize that,” Mack told him. He winked at the agent. “In fact, before you start gloating too badly, you should know I was prepared to offer another million as a signing bonus.”

Before they could react, he walked from the room and headed straight for the elevator. It was almost four. If he hurried, he could probably catch up with Beth in Tony’s room, where she’d be unlikely to ask for his head on a platter.