Page 67 of Faking the Shot

He saw how she glanced to the side as two of the WAGs walked past. He couldn’t remember who they were, if they were a player’s sisters or whatever. But he didn’t like the way they looked at Ainsley, and he wondered if her concern had something to do with them.

So he drew her closer, wrapped her in a hug much like during their bike ride, except this time felt a little more than just a show.

He wanted to protect this woman, wanted to prove the naysayers wrong. She was special, and didn’t deserve the condescension of others.

“Zac,” she whispered.

“Just follow my lead,” he murmured back. This was his turf, his arena, and those here needed to see that he wanted her here. So he cupped her head, and pressed his lips to her cheek, closed his eyes and breathed her in.

She froze for a second, then relaxed. Then he wondered what she would do if he went with his first inclination and kissed her. Probably push him back and give the game away. But hopefully there’d be time for a kiss, down the track, soon.

He cradled her for a moment, until Chris cleared his throat. “You gonna give the girl a chance to breathe?”

“Right, sorry.” He pulled back, caught her smile, her pink cheeks. And he wondered if she was such a good actress that she meant to look as starry-eyed as that, or whether she might just mean it after all.

She lifted her hand to his cheek, and he was sorely tempted to press a kiss to her palm. But again, perhaps that was too much, too soon. She wanted to convince people this was real, and that might be pushing things a little far.

“So, you two.” Drew pulled alongside. Held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Drew.”

She grasped it. “Ainsley. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” He held onto her hand. “You can thank me, you know.”

“For?”

Zac sighed. “He’s the one who used my phone to send you a message.”

“You’re him?”

Huh. He hadn’t expected her to brighten up like that.

“Then I do thank you. Thank you.”

Drew blinked. “Uh, you’re welcome.”

“You can let go of her hand now,” Zac drawled.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Ainsley glanced at Zac, then back at Drew. “Isn’t it good how God can use all sorts of things and people for his purposes?”

“Um, yeah?” Drew’s forehead had creased. “But that was nothing to do with God. That was just me playing a prank.”

“Was it though?” Her head tilted as she smiled at him more. “Or did God spark that idea that gave you a nudge to do what He wanted?”

Zac bit back a smile at Drew’s look. He wasn’t used to Zac’s girlfriends talking about God to him.

“I, um, guess?”

“God’s got your number, man,” Chris said.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ainsley called.

“Nice to meetyou,” Chris said, giving Ainsley a fist bump.

She laughed. “Sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”

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