“Tiffany Barrett. A legitimate daughter of John Barrett.” Rather than shake, she put her hand in his like she was a princess and he was supposed to kiss the top.
Jake glanced over at me, his forehead wrinkled. I wasn’t sure if it was the way she introduced herself or the handshake, but regardless, I shrugged, and Jake proceeded to shake her wilted hand. Because misery loves company, Rebecca walked in next. She took one look at me, her mouth twisted in disgust, and she sauntered over to the hostess and started rattling off what she needed for the day. I wasn’t sure what was worse, Tiffany’s vocal disdain for me or the fact that my other sister didn’t even think I was worth the energy to speak to.
The two of them set up camp on the other side of the room, and Jake sat back down. He looked over his shoulder at my siblings. “Tiffany seems like a real peach.”
“They’re not my biggest fans.”
He shook his head. “And you have to share the visitor’s box with them? Do you share the home one, too?”
I sipped the mimosa the sweet hostess had made for me when we arrived. “Actually, we don’t share the suites. They belong to me, but I invited them.”
Jake’s brows lifted. “Glutton for punishment?”
I chuckled. “Perhaps. But I try to put myself in their place. Their father had a secret child and cut them out of the biggest part of his will. I mean, you can’t blame them for hating that I exist.”
“Maybe. But someone should remind them it’s not your fault that you do. It’s the people who made you.”
I sighed. “Let’s talk about something more fun. Do you have a plan for your proposal?”
“I’m throwing Lara a surprise thirtieth. I’m going to do it in front of all our friends and family.”
“Oh wow. Go big or go home, huh?”
Jake smiled. “What about you? Ever been married?”
I shook my head. “Only to my work.”
“One of those, huh? Were you always that way or only since you took over the team?”
“Always that way. Even in school, I wanted to do well. And I never had any pressure to get good grades. I just enjoy working hard and achieving things.”
“Not me. I prefer a nap under a tree to a day of work.”
I laughed. “Well, you must know how to work hard when you want to, otherwise you wouldn’t be in the NFL.”
“My brother is the reason I made it. He’d wake me up at five o’clock in the morning before school to have a catch. The only reason I got good at catching is because my brother got better at throwing. It’s tiring chasing down his bullets.”
“I feel like you’re exaggerating a bit.”
Jake leaned forward and scooped some peanuts from the bowl on the table. He tossed a few in his mouth. “Not really. We were born with the gift of height and speed. Twins start out with all the same DNA, but some of it mutates in the womb after the split. Pretty sure my motivation gene mutated, because while we may look identical, that boy runs circles around me when it comes to drive.”
“I think you’re selling yourself short.”
“Nah. I owe where I am today to my family—both Christian and our older brother, Tyler. Those two kept me in line.” He paused and pointed to my empty mimosa glass. “Let me get us both another drink.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
I’d invited all of the corporate staff to the suite, so a few of them arrived before Jake returned. It didn’t seem like I had to make introductions since everyone seemed to know him already. He fell into easy conversations, which allowed me to spend some time with the director of analytics, going over the tweaks I’d made to my model and showing him the predictions it had made.
This week’s projections turned out to be the best yet. When the game was over, I’d even nailed the score in three out of four quarters.
A few minutes later, Christian joined us upstairs.
“Thank you for babysitting,” he said, with a nod to Jake.
“Your brother is great.”
“Did he chew your ear off with more stories of dumb shit I did as a kid?”
“Actually no, not today. He was very complimentary of you.”
“Damn. I better make sure he doesn’t have a fever.” He smiled. “I should get him to start saying his goodbyes. He’s got a flight to catch, and I’m going to drop him off.”
“Oh, okay.”
A few minutes later, Jake came over. “Tough loss today. But thank you for having me.”
“My pleasure.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I guess I’ll see you at Lara’s thirtieth?”
My brows pulled together.
Jake smiled. “I can tell he’s crazy about you because he couldn’t shut the hell up last night after you left. That determination I told you about earlier? It doesn’t only apply to football.” He winked, just like his brother, and touched two fingers to his forehead in a salute. “See you soon, Bella.”