Free I'll Catch You by Farrah Rochon

trust me.”
    “You say that as if it’s so simple,” Cedric teased, trying to diffuse some of the awkwardness that had sprouted between them after he’d touched her. Even though he was aching to touch her again.
    “Ouch!” Payton laughed. “Have a little faith in your agent, Mr. Reeves.”
    Her words struck a chord inside him that pushed all joking aside. Cedric looked her in the eyes, the weight of everything that was at stake suddenly smothering him.
    “I’m putting all of my faith in my agent.”

Chapter 6
     
    P ayton sipped from the crystal tumbler she’d been given when she first sat in the main conference room of Morrison Products. The water had grown lukewarm, while the tempers on the other side of the table had risen even higher. The VP of marketing and the company’s chief operating officer were at odds over the deal, and to Payton’s surprise, the men were actually allowing her to witness it.
    In practicing law, you never let the opposing counsel observe any dissention in the ranks. Morrison Products’s upper management seemed to have missed the day they taught that rule in business school. The COO was ready to pull the offer off the table but the marketing VP was still fighting. Apparently, Cedric’s bad-boy reputation didn’t faze him. The man seemed determined to make a deal with his favorite Sabers player.
    Payton kept her cool. She’d decided before ever stepping through these doors the dollar figure she would accept in order to make Cedric the new spokesman for Soft Touch Shaving Cream. They had passed that figure twenty minutes ago.
    But what kind of agent would she be if she didn’t try to get as much for her client as possible? She’d given Morrison Products a number that was twenty-five percent more than the amount she was actually willing to settle for, and she would not bite until they reached it.
    Matt Shuster, the marketing guy, folded his hands on the table and leveled Payton with a shrewd stare. “One million, one hundred and fifty thousand,” he said.
    Payton lifted her glass to her lips once more, hoping the men across the table could not see the water shaking in her unsteady hands.
    This was one of those defining moments that would dictate how she was perceived as an agent. If she backed down from the amount she’d requested she’d always be seen as a pushover, an agent who could be bullied. On the other hand, if she continued to play hardball, she could potentially walk away from over a million dollars for her client.
    Payton’s heart pumped a thousand miles per second. Her leg had begun shaking in a nervous rhythm, but she willed it to stop. She refused to show a modicum of fear. Since the minute she’d sat at this table, she’d fallen back into lawyer mode. These two had nothing on the opposing counsels and judges she’d faced in the Texas civil court system.
    “Well, gentlemen,” she said, pushing her chair back from the table. “I thank you for your time today. But I’m afraid I can’t accept this offer.”
    Matt Shuster’s jaw dropped open.
    “You’re going to leave over fifty thousand dollars?” Louis Crane, the COO, asked, his voice incredulous.
    Payton leveled her gaze on the balding man who had given her the toughest fight she’d had since her days of practicing law. “A better question is ‘are you going to lose Cedric Reeves over fifty thousand dollars?’” She braced her hands on the table and started to rise.
    “Fine,” Louis Crane said.
    Payton did her best to stop a smile from creeping onto her lips as she lowered herself back into the chair. She’d done it! She’d played hardball with these shrewd, intimidating businessmen and won. If this was the bliss she had to look forward to as a sports agent, Payton had no doubt she’d chosen the right career. The past hour had been the ultimate rush.
    Payton refused to allow any emotion to show on her face until she slipped behind the wheel of her car and squealed like a child. She smiled the