Fair Catch

by Anderson, Cindy Roland

  “Ready or not, she’s on her way to going viral. Celebrity Weekly posted the shots early this morning, Eastern Standard Time, and already both of you are edging up for the top twenty hottest searches on Google.”

  “Great.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  “I was being ironic.”

  “I know.” Alec laughed again. “Lighten up. Chicks love this stuff.”

  Nick let out a big breath. “Could you please not refer to my future wife as a chick?”

  “What?” Alec squawked. “Dude, I know she looks great, but seven kids?”

  Nick sniggered. “Ellie only has one child. She just wanted to shock Miranda.”

  “Hmm. What about her ex-husband? If I remember right, he wants you for one of his clients.”

  “He won’t be congratulating me, but I don’t think he’ll cause any problems.” Nick knew that was the understatement of the year. Thomas was not going to be happy about this.

  “Well, I suggest you talk to your, um, neighbor and find out if she’s willing to let our people release a statement along with some photos where the two of you aren’t lip-locked.”

  “Very funny. Look, I better go and talk to her before someone else does. I’ll call you back.”

  “You better. I have a feeling Miranda isn’t going to be the only female who won’t like this bit of news.”

  Nick ended the call and closed his laptop. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he quickly dressed, all the while praying Ellie could handle the situation. It would’ve been nice if they could have had at least a little more time before dealing with the Hollywood gossip.

  Anxious to get this over with, he quickly crossed the street, scanning for lurking paparazzi. It was time to get serious about security. He would make a few calls after he talked to Ellie.

  Nick stepped onto the porch and pushed the doorbell. His neck felt warm when he remembered the kiss he’d given Ellie late last night. It was a good thing the photographer had gone home—kissing Ellie in her bathrobe would’ve needed a lot of PR work.

  She opened the door and Nick felt the electric sparks without even touching her. “Morning,” he said as his eyes skimmed over her. She wore a pair of denim capris with a cream colored tee. Her feet were bare, her toenails painted bright pink with a tiny white flower adhered to the polish.

  He watched the slow curve of her mouth lift into a tantalizing smile. “Good morning to you too.”

  Nick’s pulse leaped. Oh, yeah. He had it bad. “Can I come in for a minute? I need to talk to you.”

  Two faint lines dented her brow. “Sure.” She stepped back and allowed him inside.

  She followed him into the living room where he took a seat on the couch. “Come sit by me,” he said when he saw her hesitation about what to do.

  He opened the laptop, but didn’t log in. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”

  Her face paled. “Tell me what?”

  “Alec called this morning. I’m sorry, Ellie, but someone got a picture of us together. It’s on the Internet.”

  “Seriously?” She visibly relaxed. “I thought you were going to tell me you’d changed your mind about me.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “No. But hopefully you won’t change your mind after you see the pictures.”

  She leaned in close to his shoulder as he logged on. “Mmm, you smell nice.” Her warm breath tickled his ear.

  Nick looked at her sidelong, her lips close enough to kiss. “Thanks.” He held back until after she saw the pictures for herself. Before hitting enter, he said, “Just to warn you, it’s a few shots of us kissing.”

  With their heads close together, they waited as the website loaded. Seeing it again, Nick realized it wasn’t that bad. Sure it looked like a great kiss, but it wasn’t scandalous.

  “Oh.” She cleared her throat. After a long pause she said, “My hair is really getting long.”

  Nick started to laugh. “Yeah, it is, but I kind of have a thing for women with long, curly hair.”

  She tipped her head and smiled coyly. “Well, judging from the way you’re kissing me, I might have guessed that.”

  Throwing his head back, he laughed. “Who was kissing who?” Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought she would be this understanding. Maybe he’d finally met someone who truly wasn’t affected by his fame.

  Her smile widened. “I guess this means our relationship isn’t going to pass as platonic.”

  He sobered and wound his finger through one of her curls. “I love you.” He slid his hand down the length of her hair. “I was so worried you wouldn’t want anything to do with me after seeing this.”

  “Now that’s where you’re wrong.” Her eyes were soft as she took one of his hands. “I love you, and unless you tell me to take a hike, you’re stuck with me.”

  He gave into the desire and leaned down to kiss her. Cade came in just as their lips touched.

  “Hey, you’re kissing my mom.”

  “That’s because I love her.” Nick hooked an arm around Ellie’s shoulders and pulled her close.

  Cade stood in front of them, eyeing both of them. “Does this mean you’re getting married?”

  “Yes,” Nick said.

  “No,” Ellie said at the same time.

  Ellie gasped and looked at Nick incredulously. He just shrugged. Ellie looked back to her son. “We haven’t decided that just yet.”

  That’s what she thought. Nick had already made his decision—now all he had to do was convince her.

  Cade grinned. “I like Nick.”

  Ellie slanted him another glance. “I like him too.”

  By the look she was giving him, he figured the wait might not be as long as he’d originally thought.

  * * *

  “This is so weird,” Ellie whispered to Betsy as they watched the camera crew busily transform her family room into a photography studio. Ellie sat at the bar in the kitchen watching the whole thing come together.

  “I think it’s kind of fun.” Betsy’s eyes gleamed with animation, taking it all in. She kept Cade upstairs and out of the way, but every once in a while Betsy would sneak down to see what was going on.

  Fun was not the word Ellie would have used. “I wish you could do this then.”

  Betsy rolled her eyes. “You are so silly.” She patted her on the head before going back upstairs. “Try to enjoy this.”

  Part of Ellie was tempted to follow Betsy back upstairs to Cade. Nick had tried to prepare her for this, but it was just so bizarre to think people would really care about where she was born, where she went to school and other useless facts. Bryan, the PR guy interviewing her, was a nice person and tried making this easy.

  “Okay, only a few more questions. These are a little more personal, so try to be honest.”

  How much more personal could he get? If he wanted to know how much she weighed or her bra size, she was drawing the line. “Okay.”

  “So, any skeletons in your closet you care to disclose before you’re exposed?”

  Ellie started to giggle, then realized he was dead serious. “What do you mean?”

  Bryan grinned and leaned in close. “You know, any DUI’s, extramarital affairs, anything scandalous you don’t want people to know about.”

  Did toilet papering the high school principal’s yard her junior year count as scandalous?

  “To be honest, the picture of me kissing Nick showing up on the Internet is going to seem pretty scandalous to my brothers.”

  He looked at her dumbfounded. “You’re kidding, right? You’ve never been arrested for drug use, shoplifting—nothing? ”

  She felt her face go hot. “The only drugs I’ve ever used are the kind they give you after giving birth to a baby or having a root canal, and my only run-in with the law is the speeding ticket I got six years ago.”

  Bryan started laughing. “Wow, I heard you were squeaky clean.” A woman named Shari started messing with Ellie’s hair while Bryan finished the interview. “So,
you’re divorced and have one child?”

  “Yes.” Apparently that wasn’t scandalous.

  He gave her a wry grin. “And you’re staying in your parents’ house while they’re living abroad, right?”

  “Yes.” Her head jerked back. “Ow,” she said when the woman pulled on her hair.

  “Sorry, honey,” Shari said, patting her shoulder. “The brush got caught.”

  Ellie saw Nick watching her with a worried expression. This whole thing had really upset him. He had been giving another guy the details on how they met, but stopped talking and walked over to her. He took a hold of her hand. “You okay?” His voice was filled with concern.

  She squeezed his fingers. “I’m fine.”

  Shari moved in front of her. “Excuse me, Mr. Coulter, I just need access to this gorgeous face of your girlfriend’s. Making her up is going to be a piece of cake—I’m already starting with a natural beauty.”

  Ellie felt warm inside when Shari said she was Nick’s girlfriend. He grinned and moved out of the way. “She is beautiful.”

  Ellie felt beautiful when Nick looked at her that way.

  After that, a photographer took a lot of pictures of Nick and her together. It was all very surreal to Ellie, and by the time everyone left, she was exhausted. She stood in the kitchen, watching Nick tell the director goodbye. The cameras and the crew were gone, leaving her house back in order.

  Nick stepped next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry about all of this.”

  She put one arm around his waist. “I can’t believe this is how you have to live your life.” It made her feel sorry for him. This is something he dealt with frequently.

  His shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry,” he said again, sounding depressed.

  Ellie turned toward him and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his solid chest. His heart beat steady and strong as his arms encircled her. “It’s not your fault everyone loves you.” He didn’t ask for this. He just happened to be a very good quarterback with extremely good looks.

  She could feel him shaking and could hear soft laughter rumbling in his chest. “You are so amazing. I love your take on the media’s intrusion of my privacy.” He pulled back slightly to look down at her. “It’s good to know you’re a glass-is-half-full kind of girl.”

  She tilted her face up and smiled. “That’s because I’m in love.” She batted her eyelashes playfully. It seemed like ever since she’d admitted being in love, she looked at life through rose colored glasses.

  He laughed again and gave her a toe curling kiss, leaving her breathless. They drew apart just as Betsy descended the stairs.

  “Okay, you two. If I catch you kissing anymore, I’m going to have Owen marry you ASAP.”

  Nick raised both of his eyebrows and then started kissing her again.

  Ellie giggled and pushed him away. “Stop.” She stepped out of his arms. “I think we need to take things slow.” It was one thing to disclose their love for each other publicly and quite another to get married. It was too soon and if Nick changed his mind…she didn’t want to think about any of that just now. She was thinking positive thoughts.

  Nick folded his arms across his chest and looked at her in disbelief. “Ellie, we just released a story about us and some pretty tight pictures.” He laughed. “I think we’re way past slow.”

  Okay, so he had a point. Still, marriage was a scary thought. She felt excitement mingled with utter terror. What if it didn’t work out?

  “He’s right, Ellie,” Betsy said, placing her hands on her hips. “Besides, what’s stopping the two of you from getting married right away?”

  “Betsy!” Ellie gasped. “We can’t get…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence. Why did they have to talk about this right now? Her rose colored glasses were getting a little hazy.

  Betsy shook her head. “I’m going home to start dinner. Nick, talk some sense into her.”

  Nick was too good to be true, and Ellie knew it was time to start being honest with herself. Marrying this man would be the best thing that happened to her since the day Cade was born.

  Nick still kept his eyes on Ellie, his mouth tilted up at one corner. “I will, but don’t make dinner. I’m ordering take out.” He glanced over at Betsy. “Do you and the pastor like Italian?”

  “We sure do.” Betsy laughed and told them to call when dinner arrived, then left without another word.

  * * *

  A couple of days after the photo shoot, Ellie hung up the phone after talking to her parents. They both took the news about her romance with America’s most eligible bachelor reasonably well—considering Ellie hadn’t mentioned Nick in any of her emails or Skype sessions.

  They both were happy for her, but her father still had his concerns about Nick’s reputation as a player. The pictures of them kissing didn’t help. Fathers don’t like to see the word “score” next to their daughter’s name. Ellie encouraged him to call Pastor Stewart for a report on Nick, knowing the review would be positive. This seemed to mollify her father.

  Now for her brothers. When they had discovered Nick Coulter had moved in next door, they’d been envious and couldn’t wait to meet him in person. When they’d asked if Ellie had met the quarterback a few weeks ago, her answer had been a little sketchy.

  She called Nathan first since he was the least likely to come across the picture. “Hey, how’s my baby sister?” he asked without a trace of sarcasm.

  “Good. I’m good.” Her hands were shaking slightly. It was stupid to be nervous. She was a grown woman and a mother. “I, uh, needed to talk to you about something.”

  “Is everything okay?” He immediately sounded like an overprotective brother.

  She cleared her throat. “Yeah, but I’m gonna put you on hold for a sec and get Wes on the other line.”

  “El, are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m okay. Just hang on and I’ll explain everything.”

  Pressing a few buttons, she called Weston. He answered right away, his deep voice filled with warmth. “Hi, Ellie.”

  Twisting her finger around her hair, she took a fortifying breath. “I have Nathan on the other line. I need to talk to both of you.”

  There was a pause. “Uh, okay.” Now he sounded tense.

  “You both there?” she asked after connecting the lines.

  “Yeah,” they said at the same time. The two of them sounded so alike.

  “Well, you guys know Nick Coulter bought the big house across from Mom and Dad’s, right?”

  Weston laughed. “Yeah, have you finally met him?”

  You could say that. “Well, yes, and…” She cleared her throat. How would her brothers take this after they saw the pictures?

  “Ellie, what is going on?” Nathan questioned.

  Might as well just tell them. “Nick and I…we’ve gotten to know each other and there was this photographer who got a picture of us, um…kissing.” She cringed and closed her eyes.

  Both of her brothers started to laugh. “Are you serious?”

  She wasn’t entirely sure which one asked her the question—or if it was rhetorical. “I just thought I should be the one to tell you in case you come across the picture on the Internet or on the cover of Celebrity Weekly.” She knew they wouldn’t ever buy People magazine, so maybe she would wait to mention that one later.

  “You’re serious? You and Coulter are dating?” Nathan asked in disbelief.

  “Or just making out,” Weston said dryly.

  “I’m too old to be making out.” Ellie let out a big breath. “We shared a couple of kisses, okay?” A couple of really great kisses.

  “Holy cow, El,” Weston said, “I just Googled his name with yours and I gotta tell you, Sis, that ain’t just any kiss.”

  Ellie felt her cheeks burn. “Okay, well, I also wanted to let you know about the article and photographs featured in yesterday’s People magazine.”

  “What? Wait,” Nathan said, preventing her from say
ing goodbye. “People magazine? This sounds serious.”

  “Wow,” Weston said. “So are you guys getting married or what?”

  She bit her lip and decided to be straight with them. “I’m not sure—Nick wants to marry me, but I’m a little gun-shy about marriage.”

  “Ellie, Thomas was a selfish jerk. Don’t let what he did stand in the way of your happiness,” Nathan advised her sincerely.

  “Yeah, and besides that, Nick Coulter would be a really cool brother-in-law,” Weston added playfully.

  Ellie laughed. “You are impossible.”

  “We love you and just want you to be happy,” Nathan said, speaking for both brothers.

  “I love you guys too. I gotta go, but I’ll try to keep you posted.”

  “Tell Coulter we said hi,” Weston said before she ended the call.

  Standing up, Ellie moved to the kitchen and pulled the pancake mix out of the pantry. Cade would be up any minute, and he would be hungry. She smiled about the conversation she just had with her brothers. If she didn’t marry Nick, they would probably never speak to her again.

  * * *

  A few hours later, Ellie had her head in the closet, searching for a shirt her sister-in-law had given her for her birthday last year. At the time it had seemed a little too classy for a single mom who only dressed up for church. Now she desperately needed something for her date with Nick tonight, especially since they were actually going out. In public.

  She wasn’t sure she was ready for that, but being in love made you do crazy things. She pushed the last of the hangers to the side and finally spotted the silky taupe colored shirt. As she reached to pull it out, she heard her phone ringing. She debated about rushing to answer it, but figured it would be safer to let it roll over to voicemail.

  Especially if it was Thomas calling again. He was the one person she’d avoided for the past couple of days. He had tried calling yesterday evening and had left multiple messages. She had yet to listen to any of them. Whatever he had to say, it wouldn’t be good.

  Laying the shirt across her bed, she turned to find the expensive jeans her other sister-in-law had given her when she couldn’t fit into them anymore. Ellie had only worn them once and had decided to save them for special occasions.