Fair Catch (10 page)

The next thing Ellie knew, she was wearing the hideous dress. She had the hat on her head and was holding a bag with the bread and the plate of roast beef, potatoes and gravy concealed inside. Betsy laid her hands on Ellie’s shoulders and pushed her out the door. “Have fun.”

Ellie snorted again and walked around to the front of the house. Yep. She was absolutely crazy.

Much to Ellie’s surprise, Betsy’s plan actually worked. No one even questioned Ellie as she called for Spot. She quickly found herself at the back of Nick’s house. Knocking softly, she wondered if Nick would even answer his door. Now that she was here, dressed the way she was, she wondered what in the world she had been thinking. Betsy’s plans always sounded so conceivable while still in the planning process. Before she chickened out, she reminded herself why she had just sneaked past all of Denver’s local news station trucks.

Her heart started to pound when she saw Nick coming to the door. She’d almost forgotten how nice looking he was. Suddenly she didn’t feel very brave. Betsy’s pep talks about how attracted Nick seemed to be to her didn’t sound as probable at the moment. Feeling shy, she lowered her chin so the brim of the hat covered her face.

The door opened and she heard him laugh. “Betsy, my mother would be so proud of you.”

Ellie looked up and watched his eyes widen in confusion, surprise, and then amusement. He stepped back and indicated with his arm for her to come in.

Ellie stepped inside his house and heard the door close behind her. There was no going back now. She peeled off the horrible hat, her hair cascading around her shoulders. “In case you’re wondering, this is Betsy’s idea.” She opened the bag and pulled out the bread.

Nick gave her that crooked grin of his and folded his arms across his chest. “Making bread again?”

She wished he wouldn’t do that. His T-shirt pulled tight across his chest and his arms looked huge. “I don’t make bread, remember?” Ellie offered the bread to him and softened her voice. “But I did bake it.”

A look of pleasure flitted behind his eyes as he reached out with one hand to take the gift. “Thanks.”

She ran her tongue across her lips, her mouth impossibly dry. “I wanted to bake it this time. Last time I didn’t…I mean, I did bake it, but not for you. I mean, it was for you, but I didn’t know it was for you.”

Could the floor just open up and swallow her whole? She felt her cheeks heat up as hot as the oven had been to bake the bread.
Rats!
How come she couldn’t recall the sassy little cheerleader she’d been in high school? She knew how to flirt then.

Nick’s head tipped slightly to the left as he studied her, a slow smile curved his mouth. The poor man was probably trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She desperately wanted to turn around and run for home. Still, there was something in his eyes that made her stay rooted to the spot, because—call her even crazier—Nick Coulter acted as if he actually found her attractive, even in the flowered getup she was wearing.

Chapter Eight

Nick
scanned the length of his unexpected guest and smiled again. The dress actually looked appealing on her. Her cheeks were a lovely shade of pink and matched the flowers in the floral printed dress.

She was nervous. It was cute.

He was curious. Why had she gone to such elaborate lengths to come and see him?

Leaning down, he inhaled the aroma of the warm bread. “This smells really good. You have no idea how hungry I am.”

“Oh. I almost forgot.” She opened up the bag. “Betsy sent over some roast beef, potatoes and gravy.” She handed him the covered plate. “I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“But you delivered it.”

“Yes.” She blushed again and dipped her head.

“Come on in and have a seat.” He held up the delicious smelling food. “I’ll just put this in the kitchen.”

When he came back to the den, Nick almost choked as he watched Ellie shimmy out of the dress. She seemed completely unaware of how irresistible she was.

She glanced up and caught him staring. “What? I have clothes on under this thing.”

“I know that.” He chuckled and held out his hand. “Here, let me hang that up for you.”

She looked down at the dress, crumpled at her feet. Bending down, she picked it up and hung it over her arm. “It’s okay…I’ll just hold onto it.”

They stared at one another until she broke eye contact, looking around the cozy room. “This is nice in here.” She sat down on the couch, twisting her hands together. “Your interior decorator works fast.” She looked at everything but him.

“This stuff is from my other house.” How did she know about the interior decorator? Had Ellie Garrett been asking about him? “But I’ll be sure and invite you back over once everything is done.”

Her eyes continued to look around the room. Finally, they settled on his face. “Okay, that would be nice.”

She was definitely nervous. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Nick decided to get to the bottom of this. “So, what’s the plan?”

“A plan?” Ellie shifted in her seat and stammered, “I don’t have one.”

He let out a soft chuckle and leaned forward. “If you planned on getting me out of here incognito, don’t you think I need a loud Hawaiian shirt to match?”

Looking troubled, she bit her plump lower lip. Nick ignored this—at least he tried to.

“I actually wasn’t planning on making a jail break. I, uh, kind of wanted to talk to you.”

His eyebrow rose. She had gone to an awful lot of trouble just to talk to him. This might be good. Nick took a seat next to her. “What about?”

She scooted back and cast him a fearful look. Now it was his turn to feel nervous. Maybe she came to tell him to leave her alone for good.
Shoot
. What had happened to his plan to ignore her?

“Um, I just wanted to clarify something.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “You know the other day when we were running and you offered to go to Disneyland with us? Well…” She paused and swallowed, averting her gaze.

His gut clenched with apprehension—he’d thought about little else. How much rejection could one man take? Looks like the whole purpose of this visit was to remind him she didn’t want him or his help. “Yeah, I remember.”

She cleared her throat. “Well, I think I might have given you the impression I didn’t want you to come with us, and that’s not true.” Her eyes darted up to look at him. “I’m sorry if I was rude, I just didn’t want you to feel forced or obligated. If you want to come with us…if you haven’t changed your mind…” Her voice trailed off, but her eyes remained locked on his and asked the rest of the question.

The breath seemed to leave his lungs. Wow. Talk about being blindsided. “My offer is still good, Ellie. I’d like to take you and Cade.”

She looked relieved, her shoulders relaxing, the tension draining away. “Okay. Thanks.”

The dress slipped from her lap, reminding him about the assembly of news people outside. He needed to warn her about the reality of his life. “But you might not want me hanging out with you if everywhere we go there are cameras flashing.” He shrugged. “I can’t guarantee you won’t end up on the cover of some tabloid or website.” He winced. There would also be a lot of gossip and speculation as well. He should warn her about that too.

Before he could tell her, she tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Well, you might not be recognized if you’re wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt and I wear the muumuu.”

What was she saying? He swallowed and leaned in close. “What about Cade?”

Ellie smiled mischievously. “We’ll just put Mickey Mouse ears on him and he’ll complete our ensemble.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “So, you want to spend two days in the Magic Kingdom dressed like a dorky tourist family?” The words were out of his mouth before he thought about the implication—a family.

The room grew smaller, more intimate. He looked into her eyes, trying to discern what she might be thinking. Maybe fear or wonder? Probably both.

Suddenly, Phillip Jacobs singing his hit song
You’re My Whole World,
interrupted the moment and Ellie sat back, fumbling with her phone.

“Hello?”

Nick sat close enough to identify the caller by the sound of her voice.

“Did you make it in?” Betsy asked, unable to mask her excitement.

“Yes, Betsy. Your plan worked brilliantly.”

Betsy giggled and whispered something he couldn’t hear. Ellie turned slightly away from him and mumbled. “Okay.” She closed her phone and nervously met his gaze. “Sorry. That was Betsy.”

“So I gathered.” He sat back, wondering how long she planned on staying. Maybe they could share his dinner and the bread she baked while they talked and listened to a little music. He had more than one Phillip Jacobs CD, and every one of them had been given to him personally by the artist.

“We could—”

“I should go—”

They both spoke at the same time.

Her lips twitched, trying to hide her smile. “I really should go.” She reached for the dress. “I better put this back on. Betsy said Owen is coming to get me.”

Nick frowned. It wasn’t fair. He couldn’t even walk her across the street.

Ellie misread his face. “I know the dress is ugly. But hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

He laughed.

Ellie glared. “What’s so funny?”

“You are. I was just thinking about how unfair it is that I can’t walk you home.” He looked at her a little sheepishly. “You actually looked good in the dress.”

Her eyes widened. “In this?” She held up the muumuu.

His smile grew. “I have a feeling you would look good in just about anything.”

She blushed and lowered her lashes. “Thanks, I understand why you can’t walk me home.”

When she looked at him again, he shrugged. “It will get better. After a while, I’ll just be yesterday’s news.” He leaned in close to her. “Then you won’t have to disguise yourself and sneak into my house.”

“I didn’t sneak into your house.”

“Yes you did.”

“No…I…” She looked exasperated and didn’t finish.

“I’m just teasing.”

She raised her chin. “Well, if you give me your cell phone number, I won’t have to resort to espionage.”

He grinned and held out his hand. “Sure. Let me see your phone and I’ll put it in for you.”

Ellie transferred her phone. Their fingers brushed, sending a spark of electricity up his arm. He heard her softly gasp as she pulled her hand quickly away.

Nick froze and raised his eyes to meet hers. He couldn’t move, still reeling from the brief contact. His fingers burned where Ellie had touched him. Had he ever felt this kind of chemistry? Not even Roxanne or the many other girls he’d dated had affected him this way.

His new neighbor was lethal and his heart would probably stop if he ever got the chance to kiss her. Still…it would be worth the risk.

Her face reflected panic and she abruptly turned away from him to put back on her disguise.

He could hear her scrambling to put the dress back on as he punched in his number. When she stopped moving, Nick looked up. He couldn’t help laughing. She was stuck in the dress with only the top of her head sticking out.

“Stop laughing and help me,” she mumbled through the dress.

“Hold on.” When his hands touched her hair, she stopped struggling. Some of her hair had caught in the zipper. Gently, he tried to loosen the strands free. Her curls felt soft between his fingers and he wished he could linger.

“Did you fix it?”

“Not quite.” His voice sounded a little strained. The soft curls recoiled when he freed them from the zipper. She smelled good too, a mixture of vanilla and fruit. As the dress slid over her head, he lifted her mass of curls to the side to re-zip it. Her slender neck was so inviting. He was so tempted…

Someone tapped on his door. It had to be Owen.

Ellie stepped away and her hair fell free, tumbling down her back. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He handed her the phone. “I put my number in. Call me so I can get yours.”

“I will.” She took the phone back, grasping it with the tip of her fingers, clearly trying to avoid any more contact.

He was tempted to reach out and take her hand just to see if the electric charge had only been a one-time thing. Instead, he walked to the door and opened it for the preacher. “Where’s your disguise?” Nick teased.

Owen rolled his eyes. “I’m coming as myself.” He let out a big breath and asked Ellie if she was ready to head back home.

“Yes.” She shoved her hair under the floppy hat. Once her hair was concealed, she looked at Nick sidelong. “Thanks for talking.”

He grinned. “Thanks for coming over. You made my night so much more enjoyable.”

Owen took a hold of his pretend wife’s arm. “Sorry about all the dramatics.”

Nick chuckled. “Actually, all the dramatics have been a nice distraction.” Even though it wasn’t the first time he’d been sequestered in his own home, it certainly had felt like the loneliest. That was until his adorable neighbor showed up.

“You gonna be okay over here?” Owen asked with concern.

“Yeah. My agent will take care of this tomorrow.”

Both Owen and Ellie hesitated, and Nick wished he could find some way to sneak out with them. Owen raised a hand and waved. “Let me know if you need anything.”

After he closed the door, Nick groaned and leaned against the door. He should’ve asked the pastor to get his phone out of the car.

* * *

Ellie wondered if Owen could feel her trembling as they made their way around the side of Nick’s property. She tried to slow her rapidly beating heart by taking several deep breaths.

Owen patted her on the arm. “You okay?”

How could she answer him? She was far from okay. Her fingers still burned from Nick’s feather-light touch. “Yeah.”

The hum of the news trucks and murmurs from the reporters floated across the yard as Ellie and her escort stepped onto the sidewalk. She kept her head low, suddenly afraid of being discovered. What a laugh the media would have if they found out a twenty-seven-year-old divorced mother had just sneaked into the famous quarterback’s house to deliver food, make an apology, and invite him to go to Disneyland with her.