Page 43 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

Chapter Twenty Six

Eavie

Being back in Toronto returned Eavie to a sense of routine, helping her feel more centered. With the familiar walls of her office and the other executive team members around, she easily maintained her professionalism.

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy with the ownership meeting preparations.

She and Mandy spent most of their time confirming details, reservations, transportation, presentations, and collaborating with numerous departments to collect the required information for Jason and Sam to review in advance.

Whenever she wasn’t working alongside Mandy, she was with Sam, keeping him moving from meeting to meeting and reviewing year-end budgets and financial documents.

On Wednesday morning, Sam completed his quarterly meetings with the individual team members to check in on their season thus far.

As a result, her office was a revolving door of players, and her time was dominated by transitioning them in and out of their meetings while working through her other tasks.

Jax stepped into her office late in the morning for his scheduled meeting.

She smiled at him no differently than the other players, but instead of his usual charming greeting or flirtatious banter, all she got from him was a cold smile and a brief nod.

Their only verbal interaction was when she let him know Sam was ready for him, and he thanked her.

Eavie tried not to read too much into it, but a heavy ache in her gut told her something was wrong.

Despite her efforts to assuage the feeling, she couldn’t stop the doubt from creeping in.

They hadn’t spoken since the night in Vegas, and while she reminded herself it wasn’t like there had been ample opportunity, a niggling in the back of her mind made Eavie feel like it was intentional.

They had shared heated glances on the flight to LA, and then suddenly, he’d shut down after the game against the Titans.

Yes, it had been a bad loss, but she couldn’t understand how that had anything to do with them.

Still, it had been right after that game she’d felt a shift.

When she’d tried to catch his eye on the flight home, he’d seemed lost in his thoughts.

The feeling was only amplified by his obvious avoidance of her at the office since then.

It felt like one minute he was everywhere, and the next, he was gone.

Was this a taste of what would happen if she slept with him? Would he disappear after he’d had his fill?

Wednesday evening was the team’s next game against the Saskatoon Bison.

Still worn out from the road trip, Eavie didn’t stay.

Instead, she went home to enjoy a quiet evening and planned to go to bed early.

She had her date with Austin the next day and wanted to do her best to avoid dark circles from forming under her eyes.

The knowledge that she wasn’t exactly excited about the date settled heavily in her stomach after Austin had called to confirm the time of their reservation, and the reason was laughably obvious. It was because of him .

For some crazy reason, Eavie knew it was Jax she wished she was going out with, and a wave of longing rolled through her when she reminded herself why she had turned him down.

Shaking off the thought, she told herself to get the fuck over it.

She wasn’t someone who wallowed, and it was stupid for her to be sad because she didn’t get to have a guy.

Besides, she might be surprised and have a good time on the date.

Maybe she would feel some spark when she met Austin, and the one date could become more.

The next day, Eavie worked hard, knowing she needed to leave no later than six if she wanted enough time to prepare for her evening.

As a result, she ate lunch at her desk to guarantee she would finish on time.

In the afternoon, Mandy wandered into her office with a slight pout hovering on her lips.

“What have you been so focused on today that you skipped joining me for lunch? I had to sit at a table by myself, listening to the interns talk about their weekends. And let me tell you, it did not sound glamorous,” she said with a shudder.

Eavie chuckled. “Sorry, doll. I have that date tonight, so I’m trying to leave here on time. It just seems like every time I clear something from my inbox, three more things pop up.”

“Oh, right,” Mandy said, standing up straight. “I forgot tonight was your date. Where are you going?”

“Lila.”

“Ohh, fancy,” Mandy said. “Is he picking you up?”

“No, I told him I’d meet him there.” She preferred to come and go on her own on a first date. She didn’t want to find herself stuck alone with someone if the date went poorly.

“Do you know what you’re going to wear?” Many asked, resting her hip on the edge of Eavie’s desk.

“I was thinking I would go with a classic little black dress. I picked one up on our shopping trip in LA that I thought might work.”

“I like that. Are you going to wear your Louboutin’s with it?” she asked.

“That was my thought.”

“Nice,” Mandy said with an approving smile. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work then so you can get out of here. Send me a selfie of your outfit before you go. I want the pre-date look instead of the post-date one,” she said with a wink before leaving.

Laughing, Eavie said to her back, “I don’t plan on sleeping with him on the first date!”

“Nobody plans for that. We must only be prepared,” Mandy tossed over her shoulder before sitting at her desk.

Smiling, Eavie shook her head. She could stick true to what she said until she was blue in the face, but the fact was that Mandy was right. Still, she was utterly sure her clothes would stay on tonight.

She arrived at the restaurant perfectly on time.

Opening the large, gold-trimmed glass doors, she entered the small lobby before climbing a set of wide, curving stairs to the second floor that housed the restaurant.

At the top, she gave the name on the reservation to the host as one of the assistants came to take her coat.

The restaurant was the entire second floor of a three-story brick building. The lighting was low and trendy, with chairs and booths covered in dark velvet material. Tea lights sat on the tables, adding to the romantic atmosphere.

She was shown to a table close to the middle of the restaurant.

Already seated in one of the two chairs was a man with dark, close-cropped hair that was shorter on the sides and longer on top.

The military style of his cut suited the sharp lines of his clean-shaven jaw.

Beneath dark eyebrows were dark brown eyes fringed with thick lashes.

He stood as she approached, unfolding his tall, lean frame from the chair. He was dressed in a white shirt under a dark blue jacket that matched his pants.

“Eavie?” he asked, smiling at her as she neared.

“You must be Austin. It’s nice to meet you,” she responded, returning his smile.

He stepped forward, reaching out for a friendly hug. She stepped into his arms briefly, noting he smelled like sandalwood. He held onto her for a few seconds before pulling back.

“You look lovely,” he said with a slightly shy smile.

“Thank you.”

He pulled out her chair for her, and as she slid into the seat, she studied his profile out of the corner of her eye. He was lean, with average shoulders, but she could see there was muscle definition beneath, the kind you get from physical activity instead of lifting weights.

Suddenly, it occurred to her she was comparing him to Jax. He had snuck into her thoughts again without her even noticing. Giving herself a mental slap for letting her thoughts slip, she turned to look at Austin.

“I have to ask,” Eavie said once he’d taken his seat again. “How did you get reservations here?”

Lila was famous for its exclusivity. They only opened reservations a month in advance, and they were impossible to get.

He smiled shyly again. “The manager here is a good friend of mine. When I mentioned our date, she offered to book me a table.”

“Ah,” she said, shaking out her napkin and placing it in her lap. “Well, I’ve been dying to try it, so tell her thank you for me.”

“I will,” he answered, picking up the wine list. “Do you have a preference?”

“Anything red works for me,” she replied.

Their server came over to take their drink order, and Austin ordered a bottle of a California Merlot. He then turned his attention back to her when the server left to fetch their drinks.

As they picked up their menus, Eavie said, “So, Elizabeth mentioned you fly back and forth to London a lot. What type of work do you do?”

“I work for a bank in capital markets. I mostly manage the UK division, which has me flying back and forth to our offices there. A lot of what I do is client-based, but I also oversee the researchers and traders for my division.”

“Wow,” said Eavie, impressed. “That sounds interesting. How much time do you normally spend there?”

“Usually about five days every two weeks. It varies depending on whether I’m meeting current clients, trying to sign new ones, or working from the office.”

“You spend about a week, every two weeks, in the UK, and you live here? Have you ever thought about moving there?” she asked, surprised at how much time he spent flying back and forth.

He chuckled, nodding. “I have thought about it—every time I fight jet lag. But all my family is here, my sister and her family. I know it’s a lot of time to spend traveling, but I like being close to them when I’m home,” he said.

So he was close to his family, too. She liked that.

“So, what type of work do you do?” Austin asked, turning the question back on her.

Looking up from her menu, she said, “I work for the Toronto Royals. I’m the executive assistant to the general manager.”

“Oh,” he said, a touch of surprise in his voice. “How did you get into the professional sports industry?”

As they perused their menus, she told him about her career history and how she had also grown up around hockey.

Shortly after, the server returned with their wine and took their dinner orders.

Once he left, they continued chatting, asking each other the basic questions you do on a first date, stuff like what you do outside of work, where you grew up, those types of things.

She learned he had one sister and his family lived in Oakville. He was a big sports guy and liked to play soccer when he could. She also discovered he was a hockey fan and, unsurprisingly, had grown up cheering for the Royals.

He was easy to talk to, Eavie thought—a good conversationalist. Not that she was surprised, given he dealt with clients regularly. Despite her hesitations, she was enjoying the evening with him and decided another date was not out of the question.

Partway through their meal, his attention shifted past her shoulder for a moment, before landing back on her. “Working for the Royals, you must spend a lot of time around the players,” he said.

Surprised by the sudden change in topic, Eavie answered, “Yes, almost daily. I just spent twelve days on a road trip with the whole group.”

He nodded before his eyes glanced over her shoulder again. “Well, I think one of them might be coming over here.”

The smile on her face faltered for a moment as her heartbeat kicked against her ribs.

It was foolish—it could be any of the players.

She knew almost all of them well enough that they would recognize her.

But the fingers of ice that crawled down her spine told her before she looked exactly who was approaching their table.