He quirked a brow. “In terms of?”
I dashed my eyes sideways to Rafael to see him listening with a smirk. “Who I’m representing.”
Rafael stiffened. “Just what do you mean by that?” Although murmured, his tone held an edge of warning.
I met his glare head-on. “I mean, that I’m aware of you being in the media recently.”
He scoffed. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“It is if you’re a client and we’ve got a foundation's reputation to uphold.”
He shrugged off my warning. “You the boss, Greer.”
Colton leaned forward and set his elbows on his knees, cutting his eyes back and forth between us.
“What’s going on between you two?”
I opened my mouth to quash the question, but Rafael cut in before I got a word out.
“Since we’re all about bein’ straight-up, Boss Lady owes me a date. That’s what goin’ on.”
My voice wanted to pitch, and I paused reaching for the alcohol. “I never agreed to a date.”
Colton indicated he would have a small one, while Rafael declined completely.
“You guys dating?” Colton asked, casually swirling his scotch.
“No, we are not,” I enunciated, then sipped on the amber liquor while pulling myself together. “Shall we get down to business?”
“We shall.”
Turning to Rafael, I became uncharacteristically flustered to find him carefully studying me. Swallowing around the tightness in my chest, I took a deep breath.
“I’m assuming you’re fully up to date with Colton’s proposal?”
He snorted. “I am.”
“And onboard?” I pressed.
“Yes.” The word was punctuated and snappy, almost as if he was still convincing himself it was something he wanted to be involved in.
“Raf’s the right guy for the job,” Colton interjected, correctly interpreting my dubious expression. “He knows the streets inside and out, and sees firsthand the talent coming through. There isn’t anyone else I trust to fill that role.”
I nodded at Colton. He’d made his point. One that I respected.
“I understand completely.” I then turned to Rafael. “I will need full disclosure on anything in your past that the media can sink their teeth into. I’d rather be prepared than blindsided by unexpected revelations.”
His demeanor completely closed off and he cut his eyes to Colton. Colton gave a subtle nod.
“How far back?” Rafael asked coolly.
“As far as we need.”
“How much detail?”
“As much as you’re willing to disclose. Basically, anything that the media can twist.”
He huffed and ran a tattooed hand over his clipped hair. “Well, how ‘bout I start with the hit and run. I was there when it happened, but it wasn’t me. And I wasn’t racing those idiot kids.”