Page 31 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

She walked around her desk and sat down, thinking the universe had a dark sense of humor. Sighing, she picked up her phone and called Jessica, who handled the team’s travel arrangements. She filled her in on the new plan, and Jessica told her she would take care of it.

Just as she hung up, her cell rang, a number she didn’t recognize flashing on the screen. Accepting the call, she put her cell to her ear.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hi, ah, is this Eavie?” asked a male voice on the other end.

Confused, she responded, “Yes, this is she.”

“Hi, Eavie. Um…this is Austin. Elizabeth gave me your number.” He cleared his throat. “She said you would be interested in possibly getting dinner with me sometime?” he stammered, letting the question hang between them.

Eavie’s confusion cleared at the mention of his name. “Oh, yes, of course,” she said.

She had agreed she would say yes if he called, but now that he had, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. But Joyce’s words echoed in her head. The worst that could happen was the date was a dud.

Squaring her shoulders to no one but herself, she answered, “Yes, I’d be happy to meet you for dinner.” She could hear his smile on the other end of the phone.

“Great, are you available on Thursday?”

“Oh, actually, I’m about to head out on a work trip tomorrow, and I won’t be back until the twenty-fifth,” she said, consulting her calendar. “But how about Thursday, the twenty-eighth?”

“Yeah, that works for me,” he said. “I’ll make a reservation and let you know where when you get back?”

“That’s perfect,” she agreed.

“Great, I look forward to meeting you then.”

“Me too,” she replied before hanging up.

As her thumb hit the end button, she stared at the screen for a moment. Had she really just agreed to a blind date? And why wasn’t she happy about it?

“You too, what?” asked Mandy, appearing in the doorway of Eavie’s office.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, smiling at her. “Just someone calling to set up a date.”

Mandy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You have a date?” she asked, her hands clapping in excitement. “Tell me all about him.” She walked over to her desk, perching her hip on the corner.

“I don’t actually know anything about him,” she answered, carefully placing her phone face down. For some reason, it felt like a chunk of ice in her hand. “It’s a blind date.”

“Really?” Mandy asked, surprised.

Eavie laughed. “Before you judge, he’s a setup from one of my closest friends. I do trust her enough to try.”

“Fair enough,” said Mandy, holding her hands up in surrender. “Well, when is it?”

“A couple weeks from now, the twenty-eighth.”

“That’s over two weeks away,” she said, the judgment back in her tone.

“I’m not free until then,” Eavie said. “Sam asked me to go on the road trip with them.”

A humorous smile crept over Mandy’s mouth. “Ah, so I guess the task of going on the long road trips has officially passed to you.”

Eavie shot her a look. “It does feel a bit like it’s a hazing ritual, or at least, the professional version of that,” she said, shaking her head.

“Oh, it is, and now that crown has passed to you,” she said, lifting an invisible crown off her head before pretending to place it on Eavie’s.

“It can’t be that bad.” She eyed Mandy with concern now. “Right?”

It was commonplace for one of the assistants to accompany the team on road trips longer than five days. The west coast jaunt was one of the longest and only done once a season. Since Eavie’s predecessor had passed the task onto Mandy, it seemed Mandy was now passing it on to her.

Mandy gave her an evil smile. “All expenses paid travel to some warm locations and box seats to every game? That’s pretty sweet.

” She paused, her nose wrinkling as if she smelled something bad.

“The long days and feeling like you’re never off?

That part can get old fast,” she said, shrugging one shoulder.

Eavie hummed, considering Mandy’s comments. “Well,” she said, putting a smile on. “I think I’ll just focus on the warm weather, and hopefully, it’ll rejuvenate me from the long days.”

Laughing, Mandy said, “Well, at least you have yourself convinced.” When Eavie glared at her, she added, “The west coast is nice. Don’t you have a few days off in Vegas and LA? You should be able to get away and do some sightseeing. And you’ll have Molly for company.”

“Molly’s going? Awesome. And yes, we have three days in LA. I’d love to slip away and do some shopping.”

“Anyway,” Mandy said, nodding. “I just came to review the details for the upcoming ownership visit.”

Turning their attention back to work, she and Mandy spent the rest of the morning discussing the schedule for the upcoming mayhem of the bi-annual ownership meeting at the end of the month.

Eavie then spent the rest of her day working through details for the road trip and making sure she had everything she needed to be out of the office for twelve days.

At six, she made her way home to get changed for kickboxing. There, she found her brother in the kitchen, starting dinner preparations.

“Hey,” she said when she stepped into the living room.

“Hi back,” he echoed, looking up from the recipe he was scanning. “I was just going to make dinner. I thought I’d cook for you to thank you for having me. It should be done when you get back from punching the crap out of an innocent sandbag,” he finished, smiling at her.

“Oh, I’m sure the sandbag has it coming,” she joked. “What are you making?”

“Spaghetti carbonara, your favorite.”

“Ohh, I like it when you visit. You should come more often,” she teased.

He gave her a dry look. “How was your day?” he asked as he chopped up some pancetta. The smell of salty cheese and garlic already hung pungent in the air.

“Good. Actually, my boss asked me to accompany the team on the west coast trip. The flight leaves tomorrow morning, so I won’t be here when you head to the airport.”

“Nice line-up,” he said, nodding in appreciation. “Don’t worry. I have to leave for the airport around four, so I probably would have missed you either way. But your trip should be fun.”

“Yeah, it is a good schedule. We start in Vancouver, then hit Seattle, San Francisco, Vegas, and LA.”

“You sound excited,” he said, looking up at her.

“I am,” Despite Mandy’s commentary, which she knew was probably more than true, she had always dreamed of traveling for work. It seemed so glamorous in movies, and she was happy to try out the experience for herself. “Anyway, I’m going to get changed, then head out. I should be back around eight.”

“Sounds good. Dinner will be ready for then,” he said, returning his focus to the meal.