Romancing the Running Back by Jeanette Murray

Dance. Get his input. Do it. What do you have to lose?
    A lot of face. It was still too new, too raw for her to discuss. If she screwed it up at some point, or if it fell through from events out of her control, she wanted it to implode quietly.
    “Just, you know, work. Fashion.” Even to her own ears, it sounded shallow. There was more to fashion than just prettying things up. She inwardly cringed at the slip and decided a change of subject was in order. “Congrats on your first win of the season . . .”
    *   *   *
    It wasn’t until they were nearly to Cassie and Trey’s house that Anya remembered. “Thank you for lunch. It was . . . an experience.”
    “It’s meant to be,” he said with a smile, either missing or ignoring the fact that she hadn’t actually said she enjoyed it. “Sorry you almost chopped your finger off.”
    “Apparently you were right, I’m just no damn good with produce,” she said on a laugh, then stopped when he didn’t follow along on the joke. “Get it? Because you told me I was washing the lettuce wrong at the cookout? And then the cucumber incident?”
    “Yeah, about that . . .” He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face while parking in the driveway of Trey’s house. “Sorry. I don’t really know what got into my head. It was . . .”
    “Pompous?” she supplied.
    “Not the word I was looking for,” he grumbled.
    “Stuck up? Arrogant? Weird?”
    “Let’s just say it was a mistake. Can we go with that?”
    Anya shrugged. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t stuck her foot in her own mouth a time or two. They were never going to be besties, that much was clear. But he was Trey’s best friend, and she was Cassie’s. They were in this wedding business until the end. They could easily be friendly, if not friends. “Apology accepted.”
    “Thank you.” He waited for her to say something more, then made the
well?
gesture.
    “Hmm?” She bent over and grabbed her purse from the floor of the SUV.
    “Aren’t you going to apologize for calling me an eco-nut?”
    She made a sound that indicated she was thinking about it, then said, “Nope!” and hopped out of the car while hegrowled. That made her laugh, and she wiggled her fingers in a good-bye wave. His hands gripped the steering wheel in a choking gesture, and she laughed again. For all his bluster, for all his intimidation factor, he was very easy to poke fun with.
    Cassie opened the door right as Anya was about to use the key her friend had provided. “Hey! Where’s Josiah going?”
    “He’s probably late for a Save-the-Whales convention,” Anya said automatically, then winced as Cassie raised a brow. “Sorry, that’s getting to be a habit. I don’t know where he’s going. Our errands are done, so he’s probably heading home. I’m sure he’s got better things to do than to chauffeur me around town on his one day off during the season.”
    “There’s nothing better than driving you around,” Cassie disagreed, closing the door behind her. “How was it?”
    “Decent. I went to five venues, and starred the two I think would fit what you’re looking for the most. I can rip out the page of my notebook if you want, or just text you the info so I can keep the page in there with the other wedding details.”
    “Text me. But that’s not what I meant. How’d it
goooooo
,” she said again, drawing out the last word emphatically.
    “Uh, fine. We didn’t use your names, and nobody recognized Josiah today, so as far as keeping the date a secret, we’re still good. The two I think best work are—”
    “Oh, for cripes sake.” Cassie walked past her into the kitchen, getting out a bottle of water and setting it down on the counter before plopping on the bar stool at the island. “How was being alone with Josiah?”
    That took her aback for a moment. “It was okay. He drove, I did the talking. Efficient.”
    Cassie groaned and let her head bang on the counter a few times.
    “I don’t understand