Page 63 of Playmaker

“So this is the woman you’re teaching to play golf.”

“Again, yes.”

“And she’s a lawyer.”

“She’s still a lawyer.” I shook out a bowl before dropping it in the drying rack.

“And you hate lawyers.”

“I hate most of them. I will admit to some lawyers being acceptable people, despite their chosen occupation.”

“I assume she’s one of these exceptions.”

I rinsed off some cutlery. “Obviously.” Sometimes I forgot that was Callie’s job.

“But why are you doing this?” She shook her head. “If there’s nothing going on between you, why go to the effort?”

I pulled the plug on the sink and snatched the tea towel from her to wipe my hands. It wasn’t that there wasn’t something between us, just that we weren’t doing anything about it. Or had I been wrong, thinking I saw appreciation in her glances sometimes, when she didn’t have her bristles up?

“I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to her, I said I wasn’t dating her. We have an arrangement. I teach her to get through her company golf tournament successfully, and she goes to my sister’s wedding with me.”

“That’s bullshit. You could get any number of women to go to the wedding with you. Or go on your own and seduce the bridal party.”

I leaned my hip on the counter. “I have no interest in seducing anyone at my sister’s wedding.” Not anyone who my family would have invited. “And it might not be as easy to find someone as you think. For a lot of reasons I don’t want to go alone, and I’m careful about who I take with me. Partly because asking someone to a wedding can give rise to certain expectations.” I glanced toward the balcony, where the one woman who wouldn’t was sitting.

Faith snorted. “And you’re sure Callie won’t get any expectations.”

“Not even if you put them on a platter with her name on them.”

* * *

It hadn’t beena perfect evening. Hailey was still jealous of Callie. I never brought dates over to Hunter’s place, so her jealousy was amusing. I wasn’t sure how much longer Kook would be able to maintain his popularity with the kid, but I’d enjoy it while I could.

Callie had been quiet, but I thought she’d mostly been comfortable. She appeared sincere when she thanked Faith and Seb for inviting her over. Callie had fit into our group surprisingly well. I hadn’t felt like the odd person out while my two best friends were all couple-y.

We were halfway to her place when Callie broke the silence.

“Your friends think you didn’t hook up with that model because of me.”

I shot her a glance. I’d picked up on that but hadn’t realized Callie had as well. “Does that bother you?”

She shrugged. “That’s not the reason, is it?”

“You made it perfectly clear when I first met you that sex was not on the table. I listened. You don’t feel like I’m pushing you for that, do you?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her turn her head to look at me. “No, not at all. But…” She didn’t complete the sentence.

“I understand that you don’t want to muddy the waters with the arrangement we have. And we have become friends, I think. But you are an attractive woman, and I haven’t missed that.”

“Really?” She sounded shocked.

I wished there was more light so I could see her expression better. “Why would I lie?”

She was silent for a moment. “Thank you. Um, you’re also attractive.”

I held in a smile. I was confident in how I looked, and spent a good portion of my time keeping my body in shape. But it was nice to hear she appreciated the effort. “By the way, when do you have time to go shopping?”

“Shopping?”

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