“Really. And what kind of city should I be living in?”
“You seem perfectly bred for the south, obviously. All Southern-refined, laid-back beauty. Not here.”
He was certainly a smooth talker. “St. Louis is charming.”
“Agreed. It definitely has its charms. Does your job move you around a lot?”
He listened. A good quality. “It does.”
“And what do you do for a living, Savannah?”
“I’m a consultant.”
“Broad concept. What kind of consultant?”
“An image consultant.”
He frowned. “What does an image consultant do?”
“I assist clients who need help either boosting their image or changing it.”
“That must be an interesting job.”
“I love my work. To have a positive impact on people’s lives is very rewarding.”
He grinned. “Good for you.”
“And what about your job, Cole?”
“I’ve played football since I was a kid. To be able to do this for a living is a dream come true. I’m very grateful.”
He was poised, confident, and polite. Why didn’t he come across like this in interviews? Why was he portrayed in such a negative light? There was more to Cole Riley than what she’d read about in his file.
“Would you like a drink, Savannah?”
“No, I’m fine with the sparkling water, thank you.”
“Okay. You still haven’t told me what you’re doing at this shindig.”
“I’m meeting a new client.”
“You work in sports?”
“I work in all fields, but lately I’ve been concentrating a lot on sports figures.”
He cocked his head to the side and studied her. “Yeah? About to redo someone’s image?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Huh. I wonder who screwed up and needs a makeover.” He looked around the room, studying all the players in attendance. “Couldn’t be our star quarterback. Cassidy eats, drinks, and pisses charm.”
She resisted the laugh. It wouldn’t be appropriate.
He looked at her, then around again, zeroing in on a group of players clustered in the middle of the room. “It’s Moose Clements, isn’t it? That guy couldn’t give a decent interview if you gave him a personality implant. Or maybe Jim Highland, the Traders’ defensive end. You want to talk attitude issues? That guy has serious problems. He’s your new client, isn’t he?”
She stood, smoothed out her dress. “Unfortunately, it’s time for me to go. It was very nice meeting you, Cole.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m afraid so.”
He grabbed her hand. “Wait.”
She paused.
“I want to see you again.”
“Oh, you will.” She smiled as she walked out of the room. This was going to be very interesting.
COLE WATCHED SAVANNAH WALK AWAY, STRUCK BY her elegant beauty.
He was wrong. Definitely no stick up her ass. She walked with a slight sway to her hips—nothing obvious or attention grabbing about her, but she was all woman.
And dammit, he’d just stood there like a tongue-tied teenager and let her get away.
He should have gotten her number, or asked her out. Instead, he’d acted brain-dead.
That wasn’t his style. Probably because he never had to go after a woman. They always came to him.
He moved to go after her, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see his agent, Elizabeth Darnell, looking up at him.
He frowned. “Liz. What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk, remember?”
He frowned, recalling somewhere in the back of his mind he’d agreed to have a quick sit-down with her tonight. But right now his attention was on the door, where Savannah had disappeared. “Not now.”
“Definitely now. Did you forget the meeting we agreed to?”
He more than likely ignored Liz’s edict that they had some important business to talk about tonight. Since he’d signed with her a few months ago, there’d been a lot of orders. He didn’t like being given orders.
He tried for one of his patient, charming smiles. “Come on, Liz. We’re at a party.”
She raised her gaze to his in a look of disbelief. “Really? You’re going to try that smokin’-hot charm on me? I’m immune, you know.” She flashed her engagement ring at him.
“I wasn’t flirting with you, honest. Gavin would kick my ass.”
“You’re damn right, he would.”
“I was just trying to get back to the party. There’s this woman…”
Liz rolled her eyes. “You have plenty of time to party. And I’m sure about twenty women to choose from, if not more. I just need a few minutes of your time. And we had an agreement when I signed you,” she said, giving him that steely-eyed gaze. “Remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. I remember.”
“Good. Then let’s go.”
“We’re leaving?”
“Just across the hall. There’s someone we need to meet with. When we’re finished you can get back to the party. And your women. And whatever it is that you want to do with them.”
Hopefully it wouldn’t take long. Maybe Savannah was still around somewhere and he could hook up with her again.