Free I'll Catch You by Farrah Rochon Page B

But with his trust came a rush of responsibility Payton had, up until this point, not fully comprehended.
    Cedric’s career was in her hands. He was entrusting her with everything he’d worked years to attain. The enormity of it settled upon her chest like a crushing boulder.
    “Do you have the contract with you?” Cedric asked. “I’m in Jersey, on my way from practice. I can come over and sign it. You’re in Weehawken, right?”
    “Yes,” Payton said, thinking how truly weird it was that she knew where Cedric worked, lived and even some of his favorite restaurants, yet he wasn’t even sure what city she lived in. She really had been stalking him. “I’ll be at the laundromat at the corner of Palisade and Thirty-Ninth for another hour,” she finished.
    “I can be there in twenty minutes. And, Payton?”
    “Yes?”
    “Good job.”
    “Thank you,” Payton answered, pride blooming in her chest. She had done a good job. She had not realized Cedric’s praise would mean so much, but it did. It was the first dose of validation she’d received since becoming his agent. Sure, landing Cedric as a client had been a big deal, but having a client meant nothing if you couldn’t make anything happen for him.
    Today, Payton had made things happen.
    She smiled to herself in the middle of the crowded laundromat as she recalled the rush of adrenaline she’d experienced in the meeting room at Morrison Products. On the outside it had seemed like an unfair fight—two distinguished businessmen in two-thousand-dollar suits against one petite female—but she’d come out on top.
    Her real challenge would be making sure Cedric didn’t do anything to blemish the new reputation she was trying to create for him. But she’d do that, too, even if she had to stick to him like glue for the rest of the football season.
     
     
    Cedric made the block three times before finding a spot that had just been vacated not too far from the laundromat. He did a bad job of parallel parking his SUV, but hey, he’d grown up in South Philly; the city bus had been his way around town.
    He pocketed his keys as he rounded the corner, spotting Payton through the laundromat’s smudged glass window. She was standing in front of a metal table, folding a bath towel. Cedric paused to take a much-needed breath before entering the building. His heart had predictably started racing as soon as he saw her. He’d been trying to fight this…this thing he had for his agent, but some things were too damn strong to fight.
    This was the absolute last thing he needed to deal with right now. Payton was his agent, and to Cedric’s immense satisfaction, she was turning out to be a very good one. She’d shown him in the past couple of weeks that she was the real deal. And landing him a seven-figure endorsement deal today had solidified that fact…even if the deal was for shaving cream.
    It was vital that his and Payton’s relationship remain professional. He could not mess this up.
    But he couldn’t deny what he was feeling, either. He was attracted to her. No, it was more than that.
    He wanted her.
    Cedric cursed under his breath. What the hell had he expected to happen? That she was hotter than Philly in July was reason enough to want to get with her. Add in the fact that Payton knew football like no one else’s business, and he was toast.
    And she had a sense of humor—a real one, not just a fake giggle like the other women he’d dated, who’d only laughed at things they thought he found funny. Payton was as real as it got. How could he not want her?
    “She’s your agent,” he reminded himself. That should banish any amorous feelings he had toward her. “Yeah, right,” Cedric muttered.
    With another deep breath, he opened the door to the laundromat and slipped inside. As he’d anticipated, Cedric was instantly recognized by the dozen or so people doing their laundry. Over the past four years he’d become accustomed to signing autographs when he was