by Lea Hart
“Is he cute?” Ella inquired.
Ana appeared bored as she responded. “If you like overly large men with big muscles and green eyes, then yes…I suppose he’s attractive. But he’s a football player…..definitely not my type. He certainly doesn’t match the picture that I have in my head of my future boyfriend.”
“Actually, Jack is a nice guy. And I don’t say that easily,” Ronnie responded. “I’m not suggesting a match, but as far a football players go, he’s a good guy.”
Ana crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Fine, I’ll go out with Jack if you go out with that lawyer who’s been asking you out for the last several weeks.”
“Never mind about Jack then. I have no desire in dating a lawyer, because he’s exactly like me. I have no interest in dating myself. Changing the subject…there’s going to be lots of fun people here today, and I want you both to make an effort to circulate. My client base has expanded, and I now have several tennis players and golfers as clients. They are easier than the hockey players, not as much fun as the baseball players, but less entertaining than the football players.”
The front doors to the office opened, and several large men entered and greeted Ronnie loudly.
Both Ella and Ana stepped back, so they wouldn’t be crushed in the melee. Standing against the wall, they watched Ronnie handle the crowd.
Ella leaned over and whispered in Ana’s ear, “I definitely need more champagne if I’m going to survive this. What about you?”
Ana took Ella’s hand and walked toward the bar in the corner. “I don’t think champagne is going to be enough, so let’s see what else they have.” They moved around the edge of the large group of men and made their escape. “Can we hide in Ronnie’s office?” Ana mumbled.
“No, I have to practice my casual conversation today.” Ella noticed her friend’s pained expression. “And so do you. No spacing out while people talk around you. We are going to engage ten people and have fifteen-minute conversations with them, and then we can leave.”
“Do you have a spreadsheet on this? Maybe you’d like to show me the stats that you’ve run up to measure our success?” Ana laughed.
“I might’ve run a few numbers about the statistical probabilities.” Ella smoothed her hair as she responded.
“I hope you don’t say things like during our casual conversations, because people are going to figure out that you have a doctorate in economics real quick.”
“No, they’re not. I bet most of these people don’t even know that you can get a doctorate in economics. They’ll just think that I’m a math geek.” They stepped up to the bar and smiled at the cute man who was making drinks. “Hi there, handsome. Can you make us a couple of martinis?” Ella asked.
The guy watched Ella and tried to hold back a smile. “Sure. Would you like them dirty?”
“What?” Ella squeaked.
“He’s asking if you want a dirty martini; it means that he adds some olive juice,” Ana replied.
Ella dropped her shoulders. “I was hoping he was flirting and found me attractive. When I called him handsome, it was too much, right? I should have saved that for later in the conversation. That’s not something that you open with.” She turned to the man. “The dirtier the better. Two please.” She smiled at Ana and laughed. “You’d think that I would be better at this than I am. How is it that my two sisters are former beauty queens, and I still struggle when speaking with men?”
Ana patted her arm. “They stole all the social skills in the gene pool, which is okay because you stole the brains. I definitely think you got the better end of the deal.”
They took their drinks and moved over to the couch that faced the windows that gave them an incredible view. “I like Florida, and I’m glad we all decided to move here to Miami.” Ana took a sip of her drink and felt the cool liquid burn down her throat. The martini was definitely going to help with the next hour of social interaction she was being forced into. Who knew, maybe a miracle would happen, and an interesting man would show up.
Two men walked toward them, and Ella whispered in Ana’s ear, “Our first victims. One down and nine to go.”
Ana pasted a smile on her face and wondered how quickly she could grab another drink.
********
An hour later, they were both slumped against the couch. Ana rolled her head over and examined Ella. “This is a lot of work. How many more conversations do we have to have?” She straightened her dress and wished that she was in her usual uniform of jeans and a T-shirt. “I’m getting hungry…let’s go to Wolfie’s for dinner. I need a pastrami sandwich and some pickles to recover from all of this casual conversation.”
Ana heard a deep voice respond. “That sounds like a great idea. Are you ladies ready to leave?”
Ana turned and had a sinking feeling that the man she’d been avoiding was headed her way. She lifted her head and looked into Jack Ellis’s smiling face. “Hi, Jack. How’s it going?” She watched him walk up to the couch and then squeeze in next to her.
He patted her knee and gave her a big smile as he leaned back and placed his arm across the back of the couch. He stared into her pretty face and wondered if she felt the electricity between them.
Ana was squished by Ella on her other side, as a big man sat next to her. “Sure, have a seat; there’s plenty of room.”
“Nothing like having the defensive line crash your party,” Jack replied as he moved his arm closer to her shoulders. “Good thing you ladies are small; otherwise, we’d never fit.” He stared into the deep toffee eyes that had captured his attention weeks ago, and realized that she was prettier than he remembered.
Ana tried to move, but there was no place to go.
Jack leaned forward and put his hand out to Ella. “I’m Jack, and this is my friend Clark.”
Ella sat up and extended her hand. “I’m Ella. It’s nice to meet you.” She turned, did the same with Clark, and felt herself fall into his ocean blue eyes. She’d never fallen into anything, much less the baby blues of a football player. Nothing came out of her mouth as her memorized casual conversation flew from her head. The sad part was that nothing flew from Ella’s head…ever. It was one of the few things that she had going for her.
Clark took her small hand and held it. “Nice to meet you, Ella.”
She nodded her head and continued to stare at one of the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He had enormous shoulders, a sculpted face, and long blond hair. She felt Ana pinch her leg, and she finally pulled herself out of his spell. “We should go.” She tried to wiggle herself free, but found that she was wedged against Clark. She needed more than two martinis in her stomach to face a man who looked like him.
“How come we couldn’t leave earlier when I suggested it? I thought we had to have two more conversations,” Ana asked. She was happy to make an escape. She just wondered why it was now and not a half-an-hour earlier.
“We just did, and we’re done, so let’s go eat,” Ella replied.
“Finally.” Ana pushed herself off the couch, stood, and fixed her dress. She held out her hand to Ella and helped her up then extended her hand to Jack. “Nice to see you. Take care.” She turned and headed toward Ronnie’s office to get their purses. She knew that she was being rude, but she didn’t really care. Jack Ellis was not a man who understood subtlety, and she didn’t want to encourage him in any way.
Clark watched them leave and let out a small snicker. “She really likes you, Jack. I can see why your charm is so famous.”
“Shut up, Clark. You were not any help.”
“I didn’t have a chance. Those two hot-footed it out of here before I could do anything. We usually have to peel the ladies off, not convince them to hang around. Those two ran away from us like we smelled bad.”
“Let’s go over to Wolfie’s and catch up with them. I’ve never wanted a chance like I do now. Did you see her dress and the way the hem fell against her legs? It was like she knew what would drive me crazy and decided
to wear it.” He shook his head as he watched Ana walk away.
“You’re not making any sense, Jack. Women who dress in bikinis throw themselves at you, and you don’t react. Then a woman who looks like the girl next door has you crazy. She’s dressed for a garden party or something. That’s what my sisters wear when they go to their junior league meetings.”
“Exactly. It seems a little warm in here. Do you thing the air conditioning is working?”
“Oh…it’s working all right. It’s just the effect that Ana is having on you. Let’s go to Wolfies and see what this is all about. I’m hungry, and I could go for a Reuben sandwich.” Standing, he rubbed his shoulder and watched Ella walk out of the office with a group of people. “Her friend Ella is pretty cute. Maybe I should ask her out.”
“That’s a good idea. If Ella likes you, then maybe Ana will want to hang out as a group.” Jack heaved himself off the couch and surveyed the room. “I wonder what the net worth of this room is,” Jack said.
“I can’t count that high. Math was never my thing.”
CHAPTER TWO
Their small group walked down the street to the famous deli and exchanged notes on how the afternoon went. This was Alex’s usual crowd, but it wasn’t Jordan’s, Ana’s, or Ella’s. The sidewalks were crowded for a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of October. It looked like a mix of locals and tourists out enjoying the perfect afternoon in Miami’s South Beach.
Ella started to pat her hair down in an attempt to tame her curls. “Is it getting really big yet? This humidity is killing me. Am I destined to have bad hair days forever?”
Ana tried to pat her friend’s hair down and found that it didn’t help. “I think you should just give in to your curls and embrace them.”
“My mama can hear you all the way from Texas, and she is not amused. I was raised on the belief that you are only as good as your hair, and right now, my hair is a tragedy.”
Jordan let out a loud long-suffering sigh. “Please don’t start the hair discussion again. I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I drank two beers. I don’t have the stomach for it.”
“Quit whining. You can listen to the hair discussion, because I’ve listened to your long drawn-out explanations about the diseases of the world more times than I care to count,” Ana replied. She glanced at Alex and noticed that he was staring down at the ground. “Did you forget a hat again?”
He glanced at her sideways and smirked. “Yes, Ana, I did. I’m trying to make it to the restaurant without being swarmed. Come hold my hand, so no will recognize me.”
She took his hand and walked down the street. “I’m going to start bringing you hats, just in case.”
“Why do you people walk everywhere anyway? What happened to driving in a car?” Alex asked.
“We’re free to walk among the people, because we are not famous and rich for throwing a ball around,” Ella replied.
Ana studied her friend and wondered why she wanted to leave when Jack and Clark showed up. “Ella, why did you want to leave so quickly after Clark sat next to you?”
“I don’t like men who are so handsome, because they make me nervous. My heart started beating hard when he took my hand, and I didn’t care for it. I needed to get away and figure out what it all meant.”
“It means that you two had chemistry,” she replied.
“I can’t have chemistry with someone like him. I think it must be low blood sugar.” She patted her head again and let out another sigh.
The group walked into the restaurant and stopped at the hostess stand. Alex and Ana continued to hold hands as they waited to be seated. The place was packed, so it was going to take a while to get a table. People were trying to get around them, so Ana pulled Alex’s hand. They moved out of the middle of the entry and let people pass them as they exited.
Jack and Clark sat at a big round table toward the back, and Jack watched the front door. He heard a group of people come in and caught sight of Ana right away. He smiled to himself, until he noticed she was holding Alex Martinez’s hand. “What the hell is that about? Does she have a thing for Alex?” Jack caught Alex’s eye, and they nodded to one another. He watched the ball player drag his group of friends toward their table. “Hey, Alex.”
“Hey, Jack. Are you guys expecting anyone, or can we join you?”
“No, we’re not expecting anyone. Have a seat.” He stood and held out the chair next to him for Ana. He watched confusion pass over her face as she stared down at the chair he held. “Once you said pastrami sandwich, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.” She gave him a faint smile as she lowered herself into the chair he’d pulled out for her. As she moved into the seat, he was treated to the feeling of her skin against his as their arms brushed together. He felt an incredible urge to run his hand along her bare shoulders and feel her skin against his hand, but he decided that it might not be welcome at this point in their relationship. He let his hand fall away and sat in his own chair as he smiled at her. He knew he was acting crazy, but he couldn’t help himself. He was infatuated with her and there was nothing he could do about it. He just needed to ride the wave and see if she was as amazing as he guessed.
“Thanks, Jack. So are you and Alex friends?”
“We’ve run into one another at different events around town, and I would say we’re friendly. I didn’t know you two were dating.” He knew it was an obvious volley, and he didn’t care, because he wanted to know what he was up against.
Ana gave him a look of disbelief and then started laughing. He watched her tip back in her chair as the hilarity rolled over her.
“Boyfriend…that’s funny.”
Jordan glimpsed over, took pity on Jack, and leaned forward to explain. “We’ve all been best friends since our freshman year in college. We’re an incongruous group, but somehow, we make sense when we’re together. I was Alex’s roommate, and Ana was Ronnie’s. Our rooms were separated by Ella’s. We’ve been together ever since, in some form or fashion. I’m Dr. Jordan Cameron, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
Jack extended his hand and shook Jordan’s. He relaxed and felt better knowing that Alex and Ana were not together. He wouldn’t want to be held responsible for getting rid of one of Miami’s favorite athletes. But if it became necessary, he probably wouldn’t hesitate. Ana was the sort of woman who made a man consider all sorts of things.
“Jeez, Jordan. You don’t have to introduce yourself with your title. That’s so obnoxious and pretentious,” Alex snapped.
“Shut up, Alex. Don’t make fun of me just because you’re the only one without a doctorate at this table.” Jordan huffed.
“I’m not the only one. Do you think that Jack and Clark have advanced degrees? Always showing off how smart you are doesn’t make someone like you.
Ella moaned from her seat and dropped her head on the table. “I told you not to bring that up. How am I ever supposed to get a date if people know that I have a doctorate?”
Clark sat back in his seat and watched the show. He hadn’t been this entertained in a long time. He examined Ella and admired her big hazel eyes and crazy curly blond hair and magic mouth. The fact that she was pounding her head against the table didn’t concern him in the least. He was from Georgia, and there was a certain amount of crazy in every family. In the South, they liked to embrace the crazy and give it a front row seat. Hell, most of the time they were the best part of any family gathering. He rubbed his hand on Ella’s back and waited for her to pull herself together and lift her head off the table.
She finally opened one eye and looked at the man who was rubbing circles on her back.
“I’ll take you out, Ella…let’s go on a date.”
She sat up and stared. “Is this one of those pity dates? Because if it is, I’m not interested. I think you’re very handsome and in no way my usual type.” She was interrupted by the waitress coming up to the table.
“Everybody ready to order?”
Ana leaned away from Jack and spoke to the waitre
ss in a clear voice. “I’m ready.”
“What’ll it be, honey?”
“I would like a pastrami sandwich with a side of potato salad and extra pickles. Please.”
“Good choice. Who’s next?”
Alex gave the waitress his order, and then the rest of the table followed. It finally it was Jack’s chance.
“Big boy in the corner…what do you want?”
Jack smiled at the description and gave the waitress his order.
She nodded her approval and walked away.
Clark turned toward Ella and took her small hand in his. She was crazy as a mad hatter and didn’t seem to have any interest in him. In some way, that made him feel really good, because he was tired of people trying to get close to him, his fame, and his money. Plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on a date with a smart woman. It wasn’t an opportunity that regularly presented itself, so he should take advantage of it while he could. “So, Ella, our date? When do you want to go?”
“I thought you were kidding?”
“I’m not kidding. I can take you out tomorrow or Friday. I have an early night Saturday, because we have a game on Sunday.”
She studied him for a moment and tried to decide whether she wanted to go or not. She realized that it was never going to become something, so this could be a chance to get over her fear of handsome, athletic men.
Alex regarded Clark and gave him a half-smile. “It’s going to take her a while to decide. I once sat at a car dealership with her all day as she tried to decide between the navy or black car. She has a hell of a brain, and she likes to consider all of the possibilities. You may still be sitting in that seat tomorrow, waiting for an answer.” His hand shot in the air in a flash, and he caught the package of crackers that she hurled in his direction. “Did I mention that she has good aim?”
Ella considered Clark and made an uncharacteristically quick decision. “I’ll go out with you, because it will be like shock therapy. It’s not like it’s going to be anything serious, so this could be a good opportunity for me to date a handsome man and see if I can handle it. I’ll practice my casual chatter with you, and then I can see what works. You’re really cute, but I know nothing will come of it. This will give me practice for when I date someone who would be a good match for me.” Ella nodded and smiled at Clark.