“What does that have to do with me?” Brow a rumpled mess, she sets down the menu.
“Later, we found out that Marlow thought it would be funny to make you have a sneezing fit, so she planted cat hair on your tennis uniform in the locker room. She was wicked.”
“And you’re going to marry her.”
“I thought I was going to marry my date, here tonight,” I say, playing along with her elaborate attempt to deny our attraction to one another.
She checks the time on her phone. “Jude is late.”
“And I’m getting hungry.”
“Be a gentleman and have some patience.”
I level her with my gaze. “Pippa, I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
“Yeesh. Alright. Alright.” She looks around as if my date will materialize.
The comment is meant for her. After the kiss we shared under the maple trees, I’ll wait for Pippa even if it takes another ten years.
Her eyes drift to meet mine. The flickering candlelight from the tables paints her skin like soft sand painted on a canvas.She’s the woman of my dreams, but this is reality and there aren’t any cameras on the premises.
Then Pippa abruptly hops to her feet as the couple at the nearby table gets up. “Pardon me. Don’t mind me. I’ll just be sitting over here.” She lowers down and wrinkles her nose. “Oh, the chair is warm. Well, thank you. Hope you enjoyed your meal. Can’t wait to try that whipped ricottacapreseappetizer,” Pippa rambles.
“You can’t just rush customers out of the restaurant,” I say softly.
“They were done eating and paid their bill,” she says innocently.
“They’d hardly set down their napkins.”
“They probably have theater tickets or have to get home to the babysitter. Hurry, scurry in the city.” Her accented voice rises a pitch as if she’s trying to rationalize her irrational behavior.
“This isn’t a seat yourself joint. What about the rules?” I ask.
She waves her hand. “It’s fine, Chase. I’ll mind my own business and wait over here, but let’s hope Jude doesn’t take too long since the runner-up is Marlow.”
“Marlow is not the runner-up.” I shake my head slowly and deliberately. I haven’t spoken to my father since the scene at the restaurant in London. I know it’s only a matter of time before I have to face him, but Marlow isn’t going to be part of the conversation. That’s a non-starter.
“Your father wants you to marry her,” Pippa says as if begging me to tell her otherwise.
I will tell her otherwise, loudly and repeatedly. “My father also did everything in his power to keep me from playing football. And look, I’m one of the top players in the country. Just because Rhett Collins wants something doesn’t mean he’ll get it. Me, on the other hand?—”
“You what?” she asks, leaning across the aisle toward me.
“Have you ever watched a Bruiser’s game?”
She leans back in the chair and her cheeks tint pink. “Of course,” she says quietly.
The corner of my lip lifts because I didn’t expect the sheepishness accompanying her answer.
“I didn’t peg you for a football fan.”
“I’m not necessarily. Just, um, appreciating athletic talent and skill.” She picks up a few crumbs with the pad of her pointer finger and lets them drop onto a napkin.
The conversation takes an interesting turn because, byathletic talent and skill,I think she means a particular athlete’s talent and skill.
“Would you say that you’ve watched, say, a decent amount of football? Is that correct?” I’m baiting her because I have a sneaking suspicion that I know the answerandthe reason why, by the way she shifts uncomfortably and fiddles with the salt shaker.
“Mmhmm.”
