Rules of Contact

by Jaci Burton

  Mia was smaller than her. She was certain she could do that.

  At the snap, she ran and pushed into Mia, who might be shorter than her, but she was tough. They went toe-to-toe, shoving against each other in one hell of a battle. When the play ended, both of them were winded.

  "Okay, you're strong," Amelia said.

  Mia grinned. "I have to be with these guys around. Plus, lifting weights and yoga pay off."

  "I'm making a mental note of that."

  She held her own for the next several plays, until Easton told her in the huddle that she was getting the ball, so she should go long and wait for it.

  She really hoped she didn't embarrass the Cassidy family by totally missing it. Or even worse, tripping and falling.

  She pushed off at the snap and brushed past one of the neighborhood women whose name she didn't recall. At least she had that part down. She ran as fast as she could, turned and, holy crap, there was the ball. It landed in her hands and she outran the guy chasing her and ended up at the end zone.

  Suddenly there were cheers, and she caught sight of Easton and Tucker, both of them with their arms up in the air.

  She's scored a touchdown. Holy shit.

  Even Flynn came over and hoisted her in his arms.

  "You did it, babe," he said. "You scored."

  She felt exhilarated. No wonder athletes loved playing. This felt really damn good.

  She grinned, then pulled herself out of the game so someone else could play. She took a seat next to Lydia, who handed her a glass of lemonade. She savored several long swallows.

  "You played well."

  Amelia laughed. "I am not an athlete. But it was fun. And I scored. That's one for the memory books."

  "As long as you had a good time."

  "I did. I also have a new appreciation for what your husband did and what your sons do. That is some hard work. I'm sure every part of me is going to be sore tomorrow."

  "They do work hard. Easton used to have a standing appointment with my massage therapist every Monday. He used to scoff at me for getting massages, until I convinced him to go. He still goes to the one I use in Austin a couple of times a month. Ranching isn't any easier than football."

  "No, I imagine it isn't."

  "You should consider it. You probably spend a lot of time on your feet."

  "I do. And I should. Right now a massage sounds like a small slice of heaven."

  After the game ended, the party broke up and everyone started leaving. Grant and his crew had to head out, because he needed to be at his team facility early the next morning.

  "I'm going to come visit you someday and we're going to have a cooking frenzy," Anya said before she and Amelia hugged each other.

  "I really hope you do."

  She said her good-byes to Grant and Katrina and Leo as well.

  Flynn had an away game this weekend, so he had to report early to his team tomorrow as well, and Amelia had to work, so they packed up and said their good-byes.

  She hugged Mia. "Stay in touch."

  "I will. Hopefully I'll be out in the Bay Area again soon and I'll see you."

  "I hope so."

  She loved this family. She had fallen hard for all of Flynn's siblings and their girlfriends and fiancees. Saying good-bye was rough, but she had been so happy to meet all of them.

  She said good-bye to Easton, then hugged Lydia. "It was such a pleasure to meet you and spend time with you."

  "Same here," Lydia said "I hope we get to see you again."

  "I'd like that very much."

  "That would be amazing. Do come visit."

  She was actually sad to leave the ranch. After having had so much trepidation about coming here, these people felt like family to her now.

  She really hoped she'd get a chance to come back here someday.

  Like maybe at Christmas. She was crossing her fingers that things with Flynn and her were progressing well, and that maybe, just maybe, this was the relationship that would heal the wounds of the past and propel her toward a happy future.

  She had fallen crazy in love with Flynn, and now she was crazy in love with his family.

  She hoped like hell she wasn't setting herself up for an awful heartbreak.

  TWENTY-NINE

  It had been an insane couple of weeks. Flynn had had an out-of-town game, and the time he'd had in town had been busy.

  Amelia and he had finally had a chance to go see Ken and Adam's baby. They'd gone over one night and had brought dinner that Amelia had cooked. Adam had offered to cook, but Amelia had insisted that it was her gift to them.

  She'd made penne pasta along with freshly baked rolls, antipasto and a salad. Flynn had brought the wine.

  George was absolutely gorgeous and he looked a lot like Adam with his dark good looks and thick, dark hair. They'd had a great time catching up and Ken was fortunately going to be back at work in time for the media event. Adam's leave was longer, which Ken said made him feel better about leaving George.

  Amelia had spent as much time as possible holding George, and watching her rock the baby in her arms sent weird pangs of need shooting through Flynn. He'd thought a lot the past year about settling down and having kids, but his main goal had been to find the right woman. The whole kids thing had been something that he'd thought was far off in the distance.

  Now, though, he could imagine Amelia holding their child. That "someday" was becoming more and more real to him. It was time to have a conversation with Amelia about his feelings for her.

  But it would have to wait until after this whole media event at Ninety-Two.

  He'd been in constant contact with Spencer and with the producers of the Battle of the Restaurant Jocks show, as he'd been informed it was named. Sounded hokey as hell to him, but he wasn't in television, so what did he know?

  They were arriving at the restaurant today, and he was grateful he'd been able to arrange it for a week he was going to be in town.

  This was Ken's first week back, and Flynn had never been happier to see someone when he arrived at the restaurant on Monday.

  "I am so glad to see you. I'm going to tell you right now that you were greatly missed. Not only by me, but by Amelia and the entire staff."

  Ken grinned. "I do like being missed. There's nothing worse than no one noticing you're gone."

  "Trust me, everyone noticed you were gone. And I'm damn glad you're back, especially today. Though I'm sorry you're being thrust into the middle of this whole TV show thing."

  "It's fine. I'm happy to stay busy. Then I won't hide in my office and cry every time Adam texts me a picture of George."

  Flynn put his arm around Ken and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You know you can dash home for lunch or dinner to spend time with your baby. Or Adam can bring him by."

  "I'm going to be fine. It'll just take some time getting used to. And thank you for that."

  There was a knock at the door. Flynn sighed. "That's probably the film crew," Flynn said. "I'll go let them in."

  Ken gave him an understanding nod. "Let's get this party started."

  *

  Amelia had supervised the food purchases for today at the market, wanting to make sure everything was perfect before she headed over to Ninety-Two. She'd spent the past few days reviewing all of the dishes on the menu, trying to select the best. Since Flynn had been out of town the past few weeks, and then busy with practices for this week's game, he'd left it to her to select the dish they'd prepare.

  There was some pressure. But she knew what she wanted to do and she made sure to select the freshest ingredients.

  By the time she arrived at the restaurant, she noticed the network's two vans were parked out front, along with a couple of other SUVs.

  She was not looking forward to this. She just hoped it brought a lot of great publicity to the restaurant.

  Entering the side door, she was stopped by a very tall, imposing looking security guard.

  "I'm sorry," he said. "No visitors today."

/>   She rolled her eyes. "I'm the head chef here."

  The guy pulled up his netbook. "Name."

  "Amelia Lawrence."

  He scrolled down the list. "Okay, you're clear."

  Taking a deep breath, she repeated her internal mantra--she would not be irritated by the intrusion of people into her place of work.

  There were cameras and lights and tripods and something that looked like a giant silver foil alien thing. Jeez, what a mess. Amelia wondered how they were going to get actual customers into the restaurant tonight.

  She saw Flynn talking to some guy and went over to him. He looked up at her and smiled.

  "Hey, Amelia. This is Paul Birch, the producer of the show they're doing. Paul, this is Amelia Lawrence, head chef of Ninety-Two."

  Paul smiled and shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Amelia."

  "Same here, Paul. We're all very excited that you're featuring Ninety-Two in your show."

  "Thanks. We've heard a lot of great things about the restaurant--and the food here. I'm looking forward to seeing what you cook up for us tonight."

  "I know you're going to love it."

  Paul grinned at Flynn. "She's confident. I like that."

  "She's good at what she does," Flynn said.

  Paul's phone buzzed. He looked at it. "I need to take this, so if you'll excuse me for a minute."

  Paul stepped outside and Flynn turned to her.

  "Exciting day, right?"

  "Yes. Very exciting."

  "I really want to kiss you right now."

  Her lips curved. "Probably not a good idea in front of the camera crew. They might be filming, and I don't think you want that kind of exposure."

  "I don't know. I wouldn't mind."

  She laughed. "Time for me to get to work. I've got a big day ahead of me, and my team needs to make sure it all looks perfect."

  "Okay. I'll see you soon."

  She walked away, her stomach already a jumbled knot of nerves. She hoped this went over well for Flynn and that she didn't do anything to screw things up.

  On her way into the kitchen she met Blaine Hurst, the director, who told her what time they were going to start the shoot.

  "We'll interview Flynn about the restaurant, then move into the kitchen to film you and your crew preparing the meal."

  She had been informed in advance that's how it was going to work. She wasn't thrilled that she was going to be on camera, but since it was all part of the deal, and all for Flynn and Ninety-Two, she accepted it.

  She nodded. "I'll need to do my prep in advance. That way when you're set to film, my team will have everything ready to go."

  "Great," Blaine said. "Thanks for being so cooperative, and so coolheaded about it all."

  She smiled at him. "We do have our customers coming in tonight as well, so we're prepping to feed them, too. This is just a little addition to our typical evening."

  Blaine smiled. "I like you, Amelia."

  She laughed. "I'm glad to hear that. Let's hope it stays that way, Blaine."

  She hurried off to meet with her staff and battle plan for tonight's event.

  THIRTY

  It was chaos, but at least it was organized chaos. The restaurant was quickly filling with customers. Flynn had closed the restaurant tonight to the public and invited some of the regulars who came in all the time, making it a VIP event. Since there was filming involved, everyone would have to sign a release and he wanted to make sure his regulars were okay with that, so he'd put that on the invitations.

  He wanted the evening to be fun. God, he hoped it was going to be fun. Plus, tonight's meals were on the house.

  Once the restaurant was full, the cameras were turned on him and he did his spiel about why he'd wanted to open Ninety-Two. He hoped he hadn't sounded like an asshole when he talked about his love for cooking and how involved he was with the restaurant. The cooking show host--Ray--was a big name who had several shows and restaurants of his own. He asked Flynn why he hadn't put his name on the restaurant, and Flynn explained that he wanted the draw to be about the food and not his name. Hopefully he hadn't insulted the host by saying that, but it was the truth.

  After the interview, Ray moved into the kitchen and it was time for Amelia and her crew to shine. Flynn stayed back while Amelia showed off her and her team's skills in preparing the sea bass, lobster risotto and snap peas. He'd argued with her about fixing the Cassidy, the signature dish he'd created, but she'd told him customers loved it, she thought it was an elegant dish and she felt it would present well for television.

  In the end, he'd capitulated because she was the chef and she could decide what would be served.

  *

  He watched her prepare the dish, though he was watching Amelia play to the cameras more than anything.

  "We call this dish the 'Cassidy' in honor of Flynn Cassidy, the owner of Ninety-Two. It's a pan-seared sea bass, accompanied by a lobster risotto and crisp snap peas."

  As Amelia moved around the kitchen, Flynn noticed she was relaxed and natural with the camera in her face. She showed no sign of nervousness and reacted to the camera--and to Ray--as if she was cooking for one of her friends. Amelia and Ray chatted amiably about cooking, about her background in cooking, the ingredients and Amelia's cooking process. Flynn couldn't be more proud of her. They only had to do a couple of takes until the director called for a final cut.

  It had been perfect. He was so proud of her. Everyone stepped out so Amelia and her staff could continue cooking the rest of the meals for the customers.

  "She's good," Paul said as he moved up beside Flynn.

  Flynn smiled and nodded. "Yes, she is. She's an excellent chef."

  "She's more than that. She's a natural in front of the cameras."

  Flynn couldn't be more relieved hearing the producer's praise. "She'll be happy to hear that. She was nervous about tonight."

  "She shouldn't be. Blaine said she did great."

  "Good."

  Dinner turned out perfectly, and the crew ate as well. He knew Amelia would make sure everyone had a meal, so that didn't surprise him.

  He hadn't had a chance to talk to her yet because she was busy and he'd made sure to stop by all the tables to see how his customers enjoyed the meal. They all seemed to have a great time and didn't mind at all being filmed, which was a relief for Flynn.

  All in all, the night had gone perfectly.

  He finally spotted Amelia talking to Paul and Blaine and Ray right outside the kitchen. Flynn turned toward them, but then he overheard a bit of their conversation.

  "You're a natural in the kitchen and in front of the camera," Paul said. "You're attractive, you have an ease about you and you weren't nervous."

  Amelia smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that it all went well. Thank you."

  "Have you ever considered hosting your own cooking show?" Paul asked.

  Flynn stalled and moved around the corner so Amelia couldn't see him.

  "Oh. No. That's not my area of expertise."

  Ray chimed in with, "Trust me, Amelia. As someone who has done this for years, you'd be a shoo-in for a network show of your own. You and I hit it off right away, and as someone who's hosted cooking show competitions, I can tell you most people fumble and are nervous. You weren't nervous at all."

  "We could get you a gig easily," Paul said. "You have a natural ability and your talents are amazing. What do you think?"

  Flynn held his breath, waiting for Amelia to say no.

  "I'm so flattered you think so highly of me. Could we step inside the office here?" Amelia asked. "I'd like some privacy to talk to you."

  They all went into Ken's office and shut the door.

  Flynn's stomach tightened. What the hell had just happened? He'd waited for Amelia to turn them down. Instead, she asked for privacy to talk to them?

  That could only mean one thing. They'd offered the bait of her own TV cooking show, and she was going to say yes.

  Of course she'd say yes. Her own telev
ision show? What chef would turn that down? No one would. She wouldn't. And she wasn't going to, which was why she'd asked to speak to them in private. One, so none of the staff could overhear her, and most important, so he wouldn't see her talking to the producer, host and director of the show.

  Goddammit.

  He felt sick to his stomach. Betrayed. He'd been so blind and stupid to think that she felt the same about him as he felt about her.

  He was in love with her, while all these months she'd been biding her time, waiting for the perfect opening. And now she'd found it and she'd pounced on an opportunity.

  Sonofabitch. He felt like the biggest sucker ever.

  *

  Amelia took a deep breath as she faced Paul, Blaine and Ray. The last thing she wanted to do was insult any of them. Flynn's reputation was on the line and she had to make sure this all went well for him. They'd just offered her the opportunity of a lifetime, so she had to make sure to be gracious about this.

  "I am so flattered by your offer. But honestly, I'm very happy here at Ninety-Two."

  Blaine gave her a look of disbelief. "You realize what we're offering you here."

  She nodded. "I do, and I'm extremely grateful. But I love it here. I've established a home and a career that I'm very happy with."

  "Happy enough to give up the opportunity to have your own television show?" Ray asked. "Because that kind of opportunity might not come around again."

  She nodded. "I realize that. And I'm not discounting this tremendous opportunity you're offering me. I'm so flattered. But I'm going to have to decline with my thanks. I'm honored you think so highly of my cooking and my skills. I'm happy where I am though."

  Blaine nodded. "We think you have talent, Amelia. If you change your mind in the next twenty-four hours, you call me." He took out his card and handed it to her.

  "Thank you so much."

  She hoped she'd been kind and professional and she hoped her refusal wouldn't shed Ninety-Two in a bad light.

  After they exited the office, the crew packed up and left. She tucked Blaine's card in her pocket and went back to finish up in the kitchen.

  She had been honest with them when she had told him she was flattered. She had gone into this with the expectation that tonight would be all about Flynn, and certainly not all about her. She had showcased his signature dish and had made sure to mention--on camera--that Flynn had been the one to create the dish she'd made tonight. She wasn't sure where they had gotten the idea that she should be on TV. What a ridiculous notion.