Page 7 of Romancing My Grumpy Goalie

“It was more like she was hitting on him,” Ben informs Jace with a grin.

Jace brings his bottle back down and hoots and hollers right as my drink arrives, a tall glass of locally made craft beer, and I take a gulp. Maybe I’m the one who needs this booze tonight.

“Ben, you’ll have to tell us more than that,” Jace says with a laugh.

I take another big swallow.

“They were all over each other. She bumped into him, and coffee went everywhere.”

“We werenotall over each other.” She might have been all over me, but I barely touched her.

Jace’s eyes are sparkling, and he takes a sip of his drink.

“Pretty sure you were.” Ben laughs. “That’s not all. She ripped her shirt off and used it like a towel to clean him up.”

Jace spits out his drink, and it sprays all over me. “What?”

“Gross, man!” I grab a napkin and wipe down my front. Why am I always the one getting disgusting substances all over me?

“Sorry,” he says to me. “Are you serious, Ben? She ripped her shirt off on the field?”

“She had a tank top on underneath. But still.”

That moment is seared into my memory, and no matter how hard I try to get it to leave, it won’t.

“He was obviously checking her out. There was some on-field chemistry going on, if you know what I mean.” He elbows Jace, who howls in laughter.

“Enough. I don’t know this woman. She means nothing to me.”

Jace’s eyes go wide, and I turn to see what he’s gaping at behind me.

Anabelle is standing right there in a formfitting black tank top, cutoff jean shorts, and cowboy boots, the typical wear for the Dixie’s Tavern ladies who line dance. Her highlighted brown hair is hanging in loose curls around her face, and she looks so good my mouth goes dry.

From the look on her face, it’s obvious she overheard the entire conversation. Our gazes connect, and her expression shifts from mortification to indifference. Then she forces a smile. The shift happens so quickly, I could have imagined it.

“Hi there, laundry soap guy. Good to see you again.”

“Laundry soap guy?” Ben questions. “What in the world is she talking about? Did you whip out some laundry soap to clean up the coffee mess or something?”

“Apparently, you’re not as famous as I thought, big boy.” Anabelle saunters closer to me, and I catch a whiff of her perfume. I have to fight to keep my eyes from rolling back in my head. This woman has “hot mom” down to a perfect science.

I shake off the haze. “Big boy?”

She shrugs. “What can I say? I’m a mother. It just rolls off the tongue.”

I swallow. I refuse to be sucked in by this woman. She’s oozing confidence and cheerfulness, and I can’t let a woman distract me from my goals. I put my old, comfortable glower back on. I’d almost forgotten about it in the shock of her appearance. Why should I care what she thinks anyway? I was right before. She means nothing to me.

She takes in my darkened expression, and her smile falters for a hair of a second before she turns it up a few notches. Her face is bright like sunlight, and I can hardly bear to watch.

“I’m off to do some line dancing. You gentlemen have yourselves a nice evening.” She turns on a booted heel and saunters over to a group of beautiful women.

I turn, and Jace is focusing on all those ladies.

“Is that a little dribble of drool I see coming from the corner of your mouth?” I grab a spare napkin and make like I’m going to wipe away his spit.

He swats my hand away. “Cut it out, man. You’re being weird.”

I smile.

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