The Player Gets Coached

by Janet Nissenson

  Jordan and Aubrey exchanged another startled look, but before either of them could quiz Max further about his very unexpected statement, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of their other guests.

  “I’ll get it,” grumbled Aubrey, cursing Finn’s rather poor timing. It was a very rare occasion indeed when Max even mentioned the possibility of dating anyone, and she knew an opportunity like this to quiz him further wouldn’t come around again anytime soon.

  But if Max’s rather matter-of-factly uttered words had startled her, then seeing Finn and the woman tucked closely against his side nearly knocked Aubrey on her ass as she opened the door.

  In the eight months or so since Jordan had first introduced her to his best friends, Aubrey couldn’t recall ever seeing Finn looking so - well groomed were the first words that came to mind. Unlike Max and Jordan, who both took a lot of pride in their appearance, Finn had always been something of a slob. Not that his laidback style of dressing had mattered a whit when it came to attracting women, of course. But Aubrey could tell at first glance that the petite, stylish woman by his side this evening was in a whole different league than any of Finn’s previous conquests - and was no doubt the reason for his own startling appearance.

  He’d cut his shaggy, dirty blond hair recently, and in a style that flattered his admittedly handsome face. He was sporting dark blond stubble along his cheeks, chin, and lips, but even this was what was referred to as “designer” stubble - neatly trimmed and closely cut. Instead of one of his well-worn statement T-shirts and ripped jeans - the kind, Max had sardonically pointed out, weren’t intentionally ripped for the sake of fashion but were simply old and worn - Finn was actually wearing a neatly pressed pair of khaki trousers, a tailored blue cotton shirt, leather loafers, and a navy blazer.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Aubrey muttered under her breath. ‘Is this woman a fashion designer or some sort of witch? ‘Cause I can’t think of any other way she voluntarily got Finn into these sort of clothes unless she’s cast a spell on him.’

  She couldn’t, however, resist the urge to whistle and ask teasingly, “You sure you’ve got the right place? Because you kind of look like our friend Finn, but I’m not convinced it’s really you.”

  Finn released the woman by his side - reluctantly so - to haul Aubrey into a quick, affectionate hug. “Brat,” he told her, grinning, “I expected Jordan and Max to rib me unmercifully, but I thought at least you would be on my side. And you can thank this gorgeous and very talented woman here for my transformation. Aubrey Larson, meet Delilah Ferris. My, uh, girlfriend.”

  Aubrey exchanged a knowing grin with the petite, dark-haired woman before extending her hand. “Wow, not sure I’d ever hear Finn use those two words in the same sentence. But now that I’ve met you I totally get it. A real pleasure to meet you, Delilah. And please, come in, both of you.”

  “Thanks for inviting us over,” murmured Delilah in a soft, rather husky voice as she shook Aubrey’s proffered hand. “I’ve been wanting to meet Finn’s friends for awhile now, but I think this is the first real opportunity we’ve been able to come up with.”

  Finn had broached the subject of introducing Delilah to the group more than two weeks ago, but between Max and Aubrey both being out of town on business trips, Jordan being extra busy at his OB/GYN practice with one of his partners out on her own maternity leave, and Delilah facing an important deadline at her design firm, tonight had been the first open date on their combined schedules.

  At Delilah’s none-too-discreet elbow jab into his ribs, Finn hastily held out a bouquet of vividly hued spring flowers wrapped in florist’s paper. “These are for you, Aubrey,” he announced a bit awkwardly. “I have some wine for Jordan, too. The good stuff. Even a wine snob like him will approve. Delilah helped me pick it out.”

  Aubrey smiled at the other woman as she ushered her and Finn inside the condo she shared with Jordan. “Well, then I know it won’t have a twist-off top. Please, come in.”

  As Finn introduced Delilah to Jordan, then took her coat as Max ventured over to say hello, Aubrey hurried inside the kitchen to retrieve a vase - and, of course, to discreetly size up the much-hyped Delilah Ferris.

  There was no denying the woman was a knockout, and that she knew exactly how to dress her diminutive but nonetheless curvy body. Aubrey guessed that the deceptively casual outfit Delilah wore this evening - black leggings, a hip-length ribbed burgundy sweater, artfully arranged print scarf, and black ankle boots with a killer heel - were all from her own fashion line. She’d browsed through the online catalog for Ma Belle Petite with Tessa - her half-sister who knew way more about fashion than she did - and they had both oohed and ahhed over everything, even though Tessa was five foot eight and Aubrey nearly two inches taller, both of them far too tall to fit into any sort of petite sized clothing.

  But it was very obvious that Delilah had both talent and good taste, and while she looked provocative and sexy this evening, she also oozed class and sophistication - two traits that Aubrey wouldn’t have been able to apply to any of Finn’s past dates. And as Delilah practically strutted inside the living room, managing those stiletto heels like they were flats, Aubrey was rather in awe of her, admiring the air of confidence that the other woman wore like a second skin. Her heart-shaped face was perfectly made-up, her long, glossy dark brown hair waving enticingly about her shoulders and back, and Aubrey wished now that she’d bothered to do more than apply a coat of mascara and some lip gloss before pulling her long blonde hair back into a sleek but simple ponytail. At least, she assured herself, she was comparably dressed in designer jeans, a pale blue silk blouse, and a chic pair of navy flats.

  Jordan was mixing up drinks for the new arrivals when Aubrey joined them in the living room. She’d already set out several appetizers on the glass-topped coffee table prior to Max’s arrival - honey garlic chicken skewers, goat cheese crostini, and a smoked salmon spread. With a considerable amount of trial and error, plus some patient instructions from Tessa, Aubrey had improved greatly on her formerly limited cooking skills over the last few months. Jordan did his fair share of the cooking duties, too, and they had cut way back on the number of times each month that they dined out or brought takeout home.

  Finn had never seemed to care very much about the quality or presentation of her experiments in cooking, and had always seemed to devour whatever was placed in front of him. He’d joked that he had a super fast-burning metabolism, and needed to eat several meals a day to replenish all those calories, while Jordan had claimed instead that Finn was just too lazy to buy groceries, and therefore was always half-starved most of the time. The old Finn wouldn’t have wasted even a second before loading up a plate with the assortment of food currently set out in front of him, and then scarfing down nearly half of the hors d’oeuvres before polishing off his dinner.

  But the new Finn, the one who was nicely dressed and groomed, and who seemed to have miraculously acquired actual manners sometime over the last few weeks, merely placed a few pieces of food on a plate before handing it to Delilah, then fixed a similar sized portion for himself. And Aubrey’s jaw dropped in astonishment when Finn actually bothered to wipe his mouth off with a napkin, instead of the back of his hand or his shirt sleeve as he was wont to do. For once, instead of ploughing his way through a six-pack of beer, he was drinking a vodka martini like Max.

  Delilah took a sip of the whiskey sour Jordan had made for her, then smiled at Aubrey when she took a seat. “I already knew what Max did for a living, and just learned that Jordan is an OB/GYN, but what is it that you do, Aubrey? Something in the hotel industry, I believe?”

  Aubrey nodded, snuggling a little closer against Jordan as his arm draped over her shoulders. “Yes, for the Gregson Hotels. I work at their American headquarters here in San Francisco in the Recreation and Fitness division. Basically, we make sure that all of the facilities at each hotel and resort are well maintained, and that the classes and other activities we offer are kept
current. It’s great fun, actually, and I get to do some traveling.”

  Beside her, Jordan made a face. “A little too much traveling, in my opinion,” he groused. “I need to have a talk with that brother-in-law of yours, tell him you’re away too often.”

  Aubrey exchanged a knowing grin with Delilah before patting Jordan on the shoulder. “You’re exaggerating, as usual. That trip I just took to New Orleans and Miami was only the second time I’ve been away this year. And Ian has little to nothing to do with my day-to-day duties, Jordan. You know that as well as I do. Besides, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even have this job, and would probably be serving drinks in the bar around the corner for a living.”

  “Over my dead body,” muttered Jordan. “I would have found a job for you at my office before letting you work in that bar. Biggest pick-up joint in the whole city.”

  Aubrey shuddered slightly as she picked up her own drink - a fruity Mai Tai that reminded her of Hawaii, the place where she’d worked for almost two years, and where, certainly by some quirk of fate, she and Jordan had first met. “Yeah, no thanks. Not only am I slightly queasy when it comes to medical stuff, but I don’t think I could handle wearing scrubs to work every day.”

  Delilah’s dark eyes twinkled merrily. “I would second that emotion without hesitation. Too bad that you’re so tall, Aubrey. You would have made a fantastic model for my clothing line - long legs, perfect cheekbones, all that beautiful blonde hair. Hmm, maybe I should branch out one of these days and do a line for taller women. Though I’m guessing you have a much easier time finding clothes that actually fit you than I ever did.”

  Finn squeezed Delilah’s hand. “Delilah does some of her own modeling, don’t you, babe? Have you guys looked at her website?”

  Aubrey, Jordan, and Max all nodded simultaneously.

  “That was a real stroke of genius, by the way,” offered Max. “Modeling your own designs, that is. It shows your customers that you actually wear the clothing that you design, that you have confidence in the product. It’s a fantastic selling point.”

  Delilah laughed. “I wear my own stuff not only because I like it but because I have trouble finding anything else that fits well. Which, as you know, is the whole reason I started the company to begin with.”

  As the conversation continued over pre-dinner drinks and appetizers, Aubrey discovered that Delilah was a native of the Bay Area - the only one from their group of five this evening who could make such a claim - and that her older sister also lived in San Francisco. Delilah seemed discomfited when discussing her parents - a mother who had died more than a decade earlier, a father who had remarried and moved to Florida - and thus the subject was quickly changed.

  But while Delilah was definitely the center of attention, Finn was actually the one Aubrey found herself observing. More specifically, how different he was around his new girlfriend - attentive, charming, even gallant. Aubrey was used to the Finn who loved to dominate the conversation and mostly talk about himself; who frequently told jokes that went way beyond bawdy; who persisted in propping his bare feet on the coffee table despite Aubrey’s frequent threats to banish him from the condo if he didn’t knock it off.

  It was enough, mused Aubrey, that Finn was even bringing one of his women to meet his best friends. Finn was smart enough to realize that his usual type of female would stick out like a sore thumb among the group, and he seldom suggested double dating with Jordan and Aubrey nowadays. Aubrey was perceptive enough to realize that this was just one more reason Finn had initially resented her presence in Jordan’s life, and that he probably still held her responsible to some degree for “breaking up the group”. She knew that before she’d come to visit and eventually live permanently with Jordan here in San Francisco, he and Finn had done far more than their fair share of catting around. Finn had bemoaned the fact - rather loudly, too, apparently not caring who heard him - that his longtime friends had chosen to abandon him - Jordan for love, and Max for who the hell knew why. And while Finn had always teased her and flirted with her rather outrageously, Aubrey had continued to suspect that deep down he wished she had never met Jordan, and changed the dynamics of their trio as a result.

  Right now, though, Finn seemed - well, happy - something Aubrey hadn’t always believed him to be, at least not in the true sense. There was probably no one better than Finn was at putting on an act, or pretending to be having the time of his life when he was doing anything but. Tonight, however, Aubrey knew he wasn’t playacting or forcing himself. He was genuinely dazzled by Delilah, hanging on her every word, and seemed unable to keep his hands off of her for long, albeit in a discreet manner. Delilah, in turn, seemed equally as enthralled with Finn, making sure to include him in the conversation, and even deferring to him from time to time. She might be a strong, independent woman, but she wasn’t the least bit bitchy or condescending, and, most importantly, she genuinely cared for Finn. To Aubrey, who was far more protective about Finn than she would admit even to herself, the latter was proving to be Delilah’s most admirable trait.

  Finn was standing now, martini in hand, and held the glass up for a toast. “Jordan and Aubrey, thanks for organizing this little get together so that Delilah could finally meet my closest friends. And since this is the first time I’ve seen both of you since the big announcement, let me congratulate you on your engagement. I wasn’t convinced that an old leopard like Jordan could really change his spots after being a bachelor for so many years, but Aubrey is definitely some sort of miracle worker. The two of you are obviously meant for each other, and I’d like to wish you both all the happiness in the world. Cheers.”

  “Cheers!” echoed the other four occupants in the room as everyone took a sip of their drink.

  Delilah clamored to see Aubrey’s engagement ring - the one she and Jordan had just picked out a couple of days ago.

  “He didn’t surprise you with it, then?” asked Delilah as she admired the stunning square-cut diamond solitaire.

  Aubrey shook her head. “Jordan was insistent that I pick it out myself. And since I’m not one to wear much jewelry, I was more than happy to let the jeweler make several suggestions.”

  Delilah nodded. “You’ve got those long, tapered fingers, so you can definitely handle a more dramatic ring like this one. It’s absolutely gorgeous, Aubrey. Congratulations to both of you.”

  “Thank you. My head’s still spinning a little from the proposal, but I’m over the moon with happiness at the same time.”

  She exchanged a brief embrace with Delilah, then grunted when Finn enveloped her in a bone crushing bear hug. Automatically, her own arms wrapped around his leanly muscled waist, returning the affectionate hug.

  “Congratulations, babe,” murmured Finn. “I know I’ve kidded around with you a lot since Jordan brought you into our little group, but I’m really, really happy for both of you. Jordan’s one of the best guys I’ve ever met, and I’ve never seen him as happy as he’s been these past few months. The two of you were meant to be, you know? So thanks for making my best friend such a happy dude.”

  Aubrey kissed him on the cheek, then gave him a playful shove when he teasingly squeezed her ass. “Seriously, Finn? And right in front of the woman you’ve been trying so hard to impress?”

  Delilah shrugged, clearly unconcerned with Finn’s spontaneous display of affection. “Don’t worry about it, Aubrey. I’m aware that he’s something of a work in progress, and not expecting any overnight miracles. Though I expect Finn knows better than to try something like that with anyone besides his best friend’s fiancée. Isn’t that right, honey?”

  Aubrey, Jordan, and Max all watched with startled expressions as Finn slid his arm around Delilah’s shoulders and smiled down at her adoringly.

  “That’s exactly right,” he agreed easily. “Aubrey’s just one of the gang, and she knows I don’t mean anything when I joke around. Besides, you’re all the woman I want or need nowadays.”

  Finn kis
sed Delilah’s cheek with real affection, oblivious to - or outright ignoring - the slack-jawed stares of amazement on his friends’ faces.

  Aubrey called everyone over for dinner just a few minutes later, hoping that the relatively simple meal she’d planned of a tossed green salad, oven roasted tri tip, creamy parmesan risotto, and steamed asparagus would be deemed acceptable by all of her guests. Jordan, of course, always praised her culinary efforts, even when they fell a little short, while Finn was the least fussy eater she’d ever seen, happily shoveling whatever was placed in front of him down his throat. Max was the most discriminating of the three friends, but he was also the most polite, and would never dream of criticizing Aubrey’s cooking. But he seemed to be genuinely enjoying his meal, and even took second helpings of everything.

  Delilah, therefore, was the unknown entity here, and Aubrey observed Finn’s girlfriend from beneath her lashes a bit warily. Fortunately, her fears that the other woman would be a picky eater, or one who shuddered at the mere mention of carbohydrates, proved to be completely unfounded. For such a tiny person, Delilah had a healthy appetite, and commented several times throughout the meal about how delicious everything was.

  “We’ll have to return the favor very soon,” offered Delilah. “Finn and I would love to have all of you over for dinner or perhaps brunch. At my place, of course, since we’ve already started on some of the re-decorating we have planned for Finn’s condo.”

  Max gazed at Finn skeptically. “Re-decorating, Finn? I wasn’t aware that you’d ever actually decorated your condo to begin with.”

  Finn grinned good-naturedly. “I admit the place is pretty bare bones. But after seeing what Delilah did with her place, I sweet-talked her into helping me fix mine up a little. Nothing too over the top, just some pictures and a few extra pieces of furniture here and there. Oh, yeah. And all new stuff for the bedroom, top to bottom. I, uh, thought it could use a - let’s call it a fresh start.”