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angel?”
    She held up four fingers and said, “I’m this many.”
    “No, you’re not, baby,” Camille said while lifting Vale’s thumb to open her hand wide. “You’re this many. Five. Remember? You just had another birthday.”
    “Oh, yeah.” The little girl beamed. “I’m five. I get to go to school this time.”
    “And I bet you’re excited, too,” I said, smiling along with her as she nodded. She was beyond sweet.
    Though I wouldn’t show it, I was surprised, caught unaware. I had no idea Marcel was married, much less a father. Cassidy would have. The woman had been unparalleled as an agent, a super-sleuth when it came to knowing everything there was to know about a potential client.
    “Well, it’s very nice to finally meet you, Vale. And you, too, Camille,” I covered, acting as if I’d known about them all along. Ben and I would be having a talk about his not having forewarned me of the additional presence, in addition to not having fact-checked behind me. What was I paying him for, anyway?
    Taking the seat behind my desk, I got comfortable and turned my attention back to Marcel to get our meeting under way. “I’ve got to say I’m a little surprised that you decided to come all the way to San Diego to talk to me, Marcel. I’m sure you have agents camped out on your front lawn. Am I right?”
    Marcel rubbed the back of his neck as he nodded. “Annoying as hell, too. My family and I needed the break. Camille and I have never been west of Louisville, and Vale has never seen the ocean, so we thought we’d kill two birds with one stone: a family vacation and a meet-’n’-greet with the one man
not
beating down my door and stalking me around every corner.” He laughed. “I wanted to see what you’re all about.”
    “Did you?” I asked, swiveling back and forth in my chair. “And what would you like to know about me?”
    “Obviously, I have a few questions, but I suppose my first should be…Are you even interested in representing me?”
    Like I’d said, “in the bag.” But I wanted to let it play out a bit more to see where his head was.
    “Well, that depends on how you’d like to be represented, Marcel.” I leaned forward and propped my elbows on my desk. “I don’t normally take on rookies because they’re too much of a risk. You’re a good player and all—”
    “I’m a winner,” he interrupted. “Losing is not an option. And every GM out there knows it. My game is flawless.”
    “Your game might be, but can you say the same about your attitude? Because I’m not hearing a whole lot of modesty right now. GMs want a team player.”
    “They want someone who can make the plays.”
    “Yes, but that involves
play
ing well with others,” I corrected him. “I’ve yet to meet a man who can hike the ball to himself, block himself while he throws the ball to himself, and then run it all the way down the field for a touchdown.”
    “I’ve always been a team player. You can ask any one of my teammates and they won’t disagree.”
    “I’ve no doubt of that,” I assured him. “Still, there’s the risk factor.”
    “What risk?”
    “Nothing is guaranteed until you’re actually drafted, and if you don’t show up and show out at the Combine…” I let the rest dangle in the air.
    “I can run the forty in four point two six,” he said.
    Impressive. Really impressive. Top-five-of-all-time impressive. But it could’ve been a fluke.
    “That doesn’t mean you will when the real test comes. You have to work hard, Marcel. You can’t get too comfortable and think everything is just going to be handed to you. I’ve seen stars rise and fall in this business, and the landing is never pretty.” One bad injury, one slip from grace, and his whole career would be over. I knew I was being hypercritical. After all, I represented a whole gang of superstar athletes, none of whom could fit into my office at the same time due to their big heads. But they’d come to me that way. This