Fair Catch - A Football Romance by Emerson Rose Page A

cold beer, but she has an image to keep, so wine it is.
    When the waiters are gone, I catch Angel eyeing the glass of Pinot Noir.
    “You sure you don’t want some? Just one is probably all right, isn’t it?”
    Her lip disappears between her teeth, and a smile spreads across her face.
    “Okay, what the hell. It’s just one glass. I’ll be fine.”
    With that, we raise our glasses and clink them together. I watch her face transform when she tastes the wine I know my sister has chosen especially for someone who doesn’t drink often.
    It’s light with a touch of sweet, and it goes down easily.
    “Oh, my gosh, this is good. I’m not much of a wine drinker, but this is delicious.”
    “Yes, Olivia’s great at choosing wine. I think it’s one of the reasons this place has been such an incredible success.”
    “If the wine is this good, I can’t wait to taste the food. How long has she had Poppy’s?”
    “She opened it about ten years ago. I was still in high school. She’s done well for herself.”
    “A pro football player and a restaurateur. What does everyone else do?”
    “Well my brother, Noah, is a lawyer, and his wife, Maria, stays home with their three kids. Abel is a stockbroker in New York. He has a ten-year-old daughter, Maya, but he was never married to her mother. She took off when Maya was only two. James is a hairstylist. He is the co-owner of Edge, and he’s gay. He and Mark adopted two kids from China, though, so they are also contributors to the Kelly family tree. You know Olivia. She’s married to Allen, who is an investment banker, and they have three kids too. Abigail is a physical therapist. She works at MBS, as a matter of fact, and she’s married to Thomas, and they have five kids with one on the way, making her second only to my mother in the number of children.”
    “Wait, that’s only six, isn’t it, or have I lost count?”
    “No, you haven’t. I left David for last. He’s the brother who is an ass. He is married to Misty, and they have two adorable kids, but he can’t be bothered with them because he has a trashy girlfriend.”
    “Yikes, sounds like the black sheep.”
    “He’s a whole heard of black sheep, but I don’t want to ruin our evening talking about him.”
    “Sounds like a beautiful family, aside from David, the asshat black sheep, that is.”
    “You’re always welcome to come and meet them tomorrow night. Did I mention my mother’s having dinner?” I wink at her, and she takes another sip of her wine.
    “You’re relentless.”
    “I am when I want something bad enough.”
    I slide my chair around so we are sitting side-by-side and slide my hand under the tablecloth into her lap, searching for her fingers to link with mine.
    “I feel like we’re at a show, and all of those people are the actors, but there isn’t a plot,” she says.
    Instead of threading our fingers together, she places my open palm flat on her thigh and covers it with her own while she takes yet another drink from her nearly empty glass of wine.
    I love the heat seeping through my palm, but being this close to her apex is making me crazy. If I were smart, I’d move away, but that might send the message that I’m not interested, and I am so interested.
    “We could make up a plot. How about that guy over there is hiding from the law and that guy on the opposite wall is an FBI agent? The outlaw has drastically changed his appearance, but the FBI agent has a sixth sense, and he knows something’s up with him.”
    She lets out a squeal and sits up in her seat to examine the crowd closer.
    “My turn. Okay, see that lady over there with the gold dress alone at the bar?”
    I lean in close like I’m not sure who she’s pointing at, even though there’s no way you could miss that woman. She’s all but wearing a red flashing light with that gold dress that says I’m a gold digger .
    “Which one?” I ask.
    She turns her face to mine, and we are so close, I watch her eyes dilate. She