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some other, more ‘experienced’ agent, who just so happens to have testicles? I was born in the summer of seventy-nine, Cedric, not yesterday.”
    She sipped her coffee, sat back in her chair and lanced him with a piercing stare. “I know how female agents are viewed in this league,” she continued. “You all think just because a woman can’t play football, she couldn’t possibly understand the game enough to be a competent agent.”
    “You’ve already proven that you know football,” Cedric said.
    “To you, but what about to your teammates? And all those reporters who cover the Sabers games? The moment they find out I’m your new agent they’re going to rag on you like a bunch of kids on a playground, but you’ve got to promise that you’ll stand up to the criticism. If we become partners, you’ve got to show them you’re serious about me, Cedric. No cute jokes about the girl agent. Are we clear on that?”
    Any inclination to make a joke about her being female had been washed away by another, stronger inclination. Though it, too, had everything to do with her being female. The color in her smooth brown cheeks had heightened and her chest rose and fell with her escalated breaths. Cedric reined in the urge to reach across the table and tuck back the strand of hair that had gone astray during her impassioned speech.
    “So, do we have a deal?” Payton asked.
    She unclasped the black handbag she’d hung on the back of the chair and retrieved a tri-folded sheaf of papers. She unfolded what Cedric realized was a contract. The woman came prepared.
    “This contract states that you agree to be represented by Mosely Sports Management for the rest of this football season, including the free-agency period. At the end of that time, if either of us is dissatisfied with the relationship, we can end it.” She held out a pen. “This season, Cedric. Give me this one season to turn your career around. I promise you won’t be sorry.”
    Cedric stared at her across the table. His brain told him to take the contract back to his place, read it, think it over. Then, after careful deliberation, make his decision.
    But his gut told him Payton Mosely was the real deal. And it wasn’t as if he had agents lined up at the door, begging to represent him. He was about to move to his C-list, and in the span of a half hour Payton had impressed him more than any of those guys. Hell, she was sharper than half the agents on his B-list. Her lack of experience was the only knock against her, but every agent had to start somewhere. He could either throw caution to the wind and become her guinea pig or walk away and hope he could convince another agent to sign him.
    Forget that. Why should he go begging for their scraps? Payton was ready to take a chance on him. It was only right that he return the favor.
    Relying on his gut instinct that told him Payton Mosely was legit, Cedric picked up the pen she’d placed on the table and flipped to the last page of the three-page contract. He scrawled his signature on the line above his typed name.
    “When do we start making me into the new Cedric Reeves?”

Chapter 3
     
    P ayton stood against the back wall of the press room, her nerves in knots. Dave Foster, the head coach of the Sabers, was still fielding endless questions from reporters. He sat at a table centered on a three-foot-high platform, the wall behind him speckled with pictures of the Sabers roaring mascot.
    Cedric would be out here any minute, sitting at the same table, answering some of the same questions. But Payton knew there would be an additional question for Cedric, one the reporters had asked him at every postgame press conference since he’d been released from Gus Houseman’s client roster. This time, Cedric would have a different answer for them.
    She and Cedric had decided to wait until the Sunday postgame interviews to announce their new partnership. The way Payton saw it, today was the beginning of the career she’d