Page 9 of The Perfect Putt

“Whine? I was not–” he cuts off his words and sighs. “My usual sounds good.”

“It’ll be right out.”

I spin back toward the counter. Diane gives me a motherly look. “As for you, don’t be mean to my boy now. He’s a good one.” She points her pen at me.

“Yes ma’am,” I say dutifully because you don’t contradict the woman who gives you pie. She walks off toward the kitchen window and I glance to the side to find Naomi smiling at me. “Don’t,” I grumble.

“Molly tried to help you,” she says in a low voice so Miles doesn’t hear. “But you insisted you didn’t care if anyone heard.”

“And I still don’t,” I say, straightening my back and lifting my chin. “I stand by my words.”

“Is that so?” Miles’ voice comes from my right. I whip my head over to find him occupying Molly’s spot. She waves her fingers from the other side of him, a mischievous grin on her lips.

I swallow down my fear of losing the job I desperately want. No sense in backing down now. “Yes.”

“Then it’s good you’ll be working for me.”

I raise a brow. “Why’s that?”

He leans in. My breath catches at his sudden proximity.

“Because I’m going to change your mind.”

Chapter six

Miles Day

“No, I will not take a photo of Ellie so that you can see what she looks like,” I say into my headset. As often as all of our schedules can manage it, four of my friends, Shaw, Brock, Emmett, and Jason, all get online and play Halo together. It’s a way we stay connected with all of us having such busy jobs. We each play different sports professionally, except Brock, the agent who manages us all.

“Fine, I’ll Google her then,” Jason replies.

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Because if she’s cute I’ll come visit,” he says like it’s obvious.

“Don’t be gross,” Sutton–Shaw’s fiancée–says, making me laugh. Lately, she can be heard in the background of almost every game we play.

“How is that gross? I’m trying to find the love of my life. Maybe she lives in Florida,” Jason says.

“That’s a fair point,” Shaw says.

“She better be willing to move to Alabama then, because your contract with the Lions is way too good to give up for a girl,” Brock interjects. Jason is the highest paid quarterback in the NFL, so I don’t blame Brock for discouraging him from moving.

“Don’t be such an agent, Brock,” Sutton scolds. “Jason is our friend, so if he fell in love with Ellie and moved to Florida we’d support him.”

Brock mutters something about how Sutton shouldn’t be allowed to be on the chat. Since they’re siblings–twins, at that–they tend to fight like it.

“Jason is not going to fall in love with Ellie,” I say, hoping to distract Sutton from Brock’s grumbling. Their fights can be entertaining, but they usually derail the game and I’d like to keep our winning streak tonight. I’ve just captured the flag and I’m going to need some cover from the guys if I’m going to make it back to our base alive.

“Why not? Is she taken?”

“No, she’s not, but she’s my assistant, so I’d prefer it if my friends didn’t date my employees.” She’s not exactly my assistant yet, but she starts tomorrow so it’s best to set the boundary now.

“That’s a smart decision,” Emmett speaks up for the first time in a while. He tends to stay quiet during our games, and in general. He’s not fond of talking.

“So it’s not because you’re into her?” Jason questions, a smirk in his voice.

My mind flashes to Ellie’s wild curls in the dim light of the diner. Her pink lips turned up into a wry smile as I teased her. Even after she essentially poured gasoline on my career and threw a match at it, I couldn’t help but enjoy sparring with her. There’s something about needling a reaction out of her that’s addicting.

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