Turn Over(31)

The doors retracted and we walked down the hall to the conference room. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. The corridor had the same effect as walking down a school hallway.

“I didn’t get that girl pregnant,” I clenched my teeth. If all hell broke loose when we walked in that room, Linc needed to know why. McCade might think he could push me around, but I wasn’t taking the fall for something I didn’t do.

Fatherhood wasn’t going down on my list of sins.

Linc pressed my shoulder, locking his fingers into the joint with firmness. “I know you didn’t. I’m going to handle it.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Let’s see what this fucker says.”

I walked in after Linc. As soon as I lifted my head I thought we had walked into the wrong meeting. Linc stopped short off the conference table. I realized what the problem was.

Ass.

It wiggled and backed up right in front of Linc. Wrapped in a tight black skirt, it was one hell of an ass. And it only got better when she lifted her head out from under the table.

“Sorry.” She wiped a tendril of dark hair from her face. “I dropped my pen.”

“No problem. Need help with anything else?” Linc offered.

She smiled. Her lips were painted in red. “I think I have everything else. Thanks.”

I ribbed my brother in the side with my elbow. We needed to get to our meeting.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find Charlie Maine would you? We have a meeting.” Linc was all smiles.

She sat primly in one of the rolling chairs and inched it close to the table. “You’re in the right place. Have a seat.”

“Is he running late?” I heard the air of triumph in Linc’s voice. He liked having one-up on the guy. “We could both go for a cup of coffee while we wait for him.”

Her green eyes widened with something tinged with anger and shock. “You think I’m your coffee bitch?”

Linc was startled. “I wouldn’t call an office admin that.”

“I’m Charlie Maine,” she hissed.

Motherfucker.

I groaned. Damn it. She could add sexist chauvinists to her perception of us.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Canton.” She extended her hand to me.

“Likewise. Sorry about my manager.” I glared at Linc.

“The other Mr. Canton?” she asked.

Linc knew how big his fuckup had been and we hadn’t even gotten through introductions yet.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Maine. I apologize for the mix-up there.”

“Miss Maine,” she corrected him.

He smiled, sliding into the seat across from her. I joined him, prepared for whatever she had aimed at me. It was likely ten times worse now that she had been insulted and reduced in status.

“Sorry again.” Linc was unraveled.

“We don’t have much time to get our action plan started. I like to work quickly.”

Linc cleared his throat. “I understand this meeting is required by ownership, but I want to say on behalf of Luke, before we go any further, that the accusations that were presented yesterday are completely false.”

She lifted her long eyelashes. “I don’t care whether they are true or not. The only thing that matters is whether we can keep the rumor from leaking. Because at this point, the public is going to believe anything she says.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Linc cut me off.

“That’s ridiculous. It’s a lie. Making Luke jump through hoops like this when he should be in the weight room or on the field is a waste of a million-dollar arm. This is bad business all around. I thought I could count on Mr. McCade to at least make a sound business decision.”

I could tell that irritated her. She pressed her lips together in a straight line. She was pretty in that business kind of way. She had an incredible body combined with dark hair and striking green eyes. If she wasn’t wearing a suit and lodged behind a laptop she might be a different girl altogether. But that wasn’t the reality. She wasn’t dressed in tight jeans, waiting for some guy to buy her a drink in a bar. No, Miss Maine was sitting in the McCade conference room and held every ounce of power the old man had given her. She was ready to bust my balls for every mistake I’d made up until to this very moment.

“I’ve been hired to clean up your image. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms together. My image? It was a fucking joke. It was beyond salvation. Everyone knew who Luke Canton really was. I didn’t pretend. I didn’t hide behind press statements.

Her nails clicked on the keyboard and she twirled her screen around to face us.

“Let’s talk about this.” She pointed at a headline from the hospital gala. It must have been the same one Linc read this morning.