Page 29 of Mr. Charming

“It’s a gift. Maybe if you do this favor for me, the Decker Davis catalog magically gets erased?”

He groans, and I smile at him. The waitress comes over and takes our order. After she walks away, he’s staring at me again.

He crosses his arms. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you seem pretty desperate, and Toby and Theo would probably kick my ass, so… what do you need me to do?”

I almost drop my glass when I yelp. Decker looks at all the other tables staring at us.

I get up and hug him, kissing his face. “Thank you! Thank you!”

He stiffens but doesn’t fight me. “You’re making a scene. People are going to think you’re actually my girlfriend.”

“Should I sit in your lap? If someone snapped a picture, it’d be all that more real.”

“Tedi…” His voice sounds drained, so I go back to my seat, not wanting him to change his mind.

“So tomorrow night?—”

“Tomorrow?” He leans in. “Thanks for the notice.”

Our dinner arrives as I explain to him that it’s only one dinner, then he’ll be free and clear.

Fifteen

Tweetie

I show up at the steakhouse Bud picked for this dinner. Not surprising. He’s an old-school guy. Not that I go to dinner with him often, but when he came to Nashville to talk about me moving to Chicago, he picked a steakhouse there too.

I head over to the hostess, unsure if anyone has arrived before me.

Laughter coming in through the circular doors tells me some of the other guests are arriving. I turn to see Conor and Eloise. She’s laughing at something he’s saying, and he’s staring at her as if all his happiness is wrapped up in her. Pathetic.

“What a surprise. A steakhouse.” Conor lifts his eyebrows. I’m sure it was the same with him when Bud visited him before his trade.

“Hey, Tweetie, can’t wait to meet your girl tonight.” Eloise rises on her toes and hugs me.

“She’s not my girl.”

“And she’s bringing her boyfriend, right?” Conor’s smirk is so wide I want to punch it off his face.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I’m sorry. I heard about that.” Eloise gives me her sad eyes and sad mouth. Whatever.

I really need to shake off this shitty mood I’m in tonight.

I circle around, ignoring the topic of Tedi. “Caldron. Private room?” I tell the hostess, and she smiles at me. Actually, she gives me that smile that says she’d meet me in the coat room or the bathroom later if I wanted.

“You’re the first to arrive. Do you want to be seated or wait here?”

She’s cute but too young for me. I should give her one of the Chipmunks’ numbers.

“Hey,” I hear Eloise say after another cold gust of wind seeps into the warm restaurant.

“I think we have more who just arrived, give us a second.” I hold my finger and turn around to see Jade and Henry being hugged by Eloise. Couple number two has arrived.

Couple number three, Rowan and Kyleigh, come in soon after, but there’s still no sign of the only person I want to see tonight. And I’m not even sure why. Is it because if I see Tedi with another guy, it will somehow solidify that there’s no future for us?

I turn back to the hostess after we all say hello to one another. It used to be handshakes, maybe a pat on the back, but ever since the girls have infiltrated our group, it’s all hugs and kisses on cheeks. They’ve taken what should be a one-minute process and made it into a fifteen-minute ordeal. “We’re ready.”

“Great.” The hostess looks over my shoulder, pulls the menus, and whispers something to a coworker who’s come up to the hostess stand. She tries to be sly about it but fails as she checks us all out. But neither of them says anything directly to us about being Falcons players.

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