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beat the band. She was, it seemed, a very hot commodity.

Thus far, Horace Johnson had managed to keep his word. She received the letters releasing her from her contract, and there was, as Haley Locke put it, no

muss and no fuss to go with them. The team’s owner—he hadn’t sold yet—refused to be interviewed in the aftermath of the last game of the season. Of

course, it had helped that he’d just been released from the hospital after an attack of angina, and the press wasn’t all that inclined to push.

More surprisingly, he’d let Dylan go just as quietly as he’d let Cat, and most of the other Badgers go as well. Cat often wondered just what it was that

Dylan dangled over his head, but realized that in this case, some secrets were best kept behind locked lips. At least until she’d determined her life’s path

and couldn’t be hurt by them anymore.

Dylan had fielded more than her fair share of calls—she was the Goddess, after all, and number one in anybody’s eyes, be it as a player, a coach, or a

combination of the two. She’d turned them all down with class and aplomb, leaving her many callers feeling better than any right to feel, considering she’d

said ‘no’ to their offers.

Finally, when neither of them could take anymore, Dylan suggested a vacation on Antigua. Cat had jumped at the suggestion before it had even fully left

her partner’s lips, kissing her soundly for her good judgment, then rushing off to pack. They’d both left their cell phones at home, and their destination with

Mac, who was under orders not to breathe a word of it to anyone under penalty of a severe hurting. He’d gotten the message loud and clear.

So why, she mused, was Carlos, the admittedly hunky cabana boy, coming toward them with a tray in his hand? A tray that bore something that looked

suspiciously like a phone atop its silvery elegance?

As he approached, Carlos flashed a toothy grin at them both while bowing at the waist. “Good afternoon to you Ms Cat and Ms Dylan,” he began in his

lightly accented voice.

“That’d better not be a phone in your hand,” Dylan muttered from her place on the lounge.

The young man’s smile faltered slightly, then regained previous wattage as he bowed again. “Yes, Ms. Dylan, it is a phone.”

“I’m gonna kill Mac,” she grumbled, pressing her top to herself in deference to Cat, and reaching for the phone.

“No, Ma’am, it is not a Mac. He says his name is a….Thad Carter?”

Dylan and Cat exchanged glances. Thad Carter was the head coach of the Dallas Mavs, the men’s pro basketball team. Pressing the phone to her ear,

Dylan said, “Thad? That you?”

“Dylan! Thank God. I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“I’m on vacation, Thad.” Cat could see her lover’s jaws clamp hard on the invective that was just begging to come out.

“Oh.”

“So, what was so urgent that you had to call halfway around the world to speak to me? Is the sky falling? Stock market crash? Horace Johnson finally bit the

big one while screwing his admin? What?”

Thad chuckled. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that…well….I…..”

“Spit it out, Thad. I’m beginning to tan unevenly here.”

Cat smothered her laughter with a hand to her mouth. Dylan turned and tipped her a wink.

“I’m waiting, Thad.”

“Ok, listen, it’s like this. You probably haven’t heard the news, being on vacation and all, but I’ve been named the Head Coach of the USA Women’s

Basketball team for this year’s Olympics. And, well, I’d like you and Catherine to consider playing for my team. Now I know that you’re both semi-retired,

but you’re also the best female players in the damn world, and I want you and your talents on my side of the court. We’ll win the gold if you’re there, sure

as shit sticks to a sheep’s ass.”

“Charming, Thad. Utterly charming.”

She could almost feel the man’s blush on the other end of the line. “Sorry. It’s just….”

“I know what it’s just, Thad.” She sighed, rolling over to one side so that she was facing Cat, who looked to be ready to go into convulsions unless she

found out what they were talking about, and soon, too. “Listen, you’re right. We’re both semi-retired, and we took this vacation to get away from all the

hounds and freaks and assorted other nutjobs wanting a piece of us. So I can’t give you our answer right now. We’ll have to discuss it between us.”

“I understand,” he replied quickly. “I am a little pressed for time, though. This was kinda sprung on me the last minute too.”

“Spreading the wealth around. I like that about you, Thad. But the fact is, we’ll take all the time we need to come to a decision. Neither of us is in the mood

to be pushed right now. If that is too tough on you, go ahead and get someone else.”

“No, no. I want you two first. It’s a lot easier for top prospects to say yes if they know the top dogs are already in the pen.”

“Another brilliant analogy from a man full of…something.” But she grinned as she said it, and she knew he could hear the levity in her voice. “Give us a day

or two to talk it over, alright? We’ll call you when we’ve made up our minds.”

“Either way?”

“Either way. I promise.”