Page 60 of The Lady and the Footballer
“Are you looking for your father?” Rhys asked, his usual surliness softened in the presence of a beautiful woman.
“No,” she scoffed. “He is the last person I am looking for right now. However, I could use a conversation with your centre forward.”
All eyes at the table turned toward Colin, who slowly meandered toward Lily, lowering his voice so the entire team was not involved in this conversation.
“I can handle this, Rhys,” he said in a low voice, his eyes on Lily, but that only earned him a returning look of reproach.
“Bythis, do you mean me?” Lily asked, one brow raised.
“Well, are you here to see me or not?”
She fixed him with a leveled stare before lowering herself into the very place he had been sitting. She picked up his cup, taking a long drink of ale. Colin couldn’t help but admire the graceful column of her throat until she slammed the drink back on the table, sputtering and coughing as she attempted to keep it in.
“That was—that was?—”
“Not the fine wine you are used to?” Tommy asked, leaning in. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it, his eyes twinkling as they flicked to Colin more than once, trying to get arise out of him. Colin wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “Tommy Ward, at your service. Now, what seems to be the problem?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lily knew there was no coming back from what she was doing.
When she had seen Colin sitting among his teammates in the glow of the pub from the outside window, she had told herself that she would wait for him in the street until he left.
But she had grown cold in the chilly early December air and had received more than a few curious and perhaps far too interested glances.
It had prompted her to decide that she was done with waiting and did not care anymore what her father thought. As long as she didn’t jeopardize Colin’s position on the club or in the mill, she would do what she wished. She was already facing the worst of consequences – the promise of marriage to Lord Nathaniel or another of his ilk.
When she had pushed open the door, the entire pub had turned to look at her, and it seemed most were well aware of her identity this time.
But the only man she had eyes for was Colin.
Until the captain had stopped her, and she had decided that the best way to protect Colin was to have fun with all of them.
Getting a slight rise out of him wasn’t the worst thing, either.
When Tommy kissed her hand, she sensed at once that he knew there was something between her and Colin—but how much he truly understood, she couldn’t be certain. Still, she trusted Colin enough to hope he hadn’t revealedeverything.
Before she could say anything, the captain rejoined them.
“Listen, Miss Evans, it is not for me to question your decisions?—”
“You might as well,” she said with an eye roll. “You would only be joining an illustrious club, for it seems that everyone in my life is wondering what has happened to my sense of reasoning.” She paused. “Some present company excluded.”
Mr. Lockwood’s gaze swung to Colin, whose jaw clenched rather tightly.
“What did you do?” he demanded, and Colin glanced around at the growing onlookers.
“Since Miss Evans is now here,” he said, “it might be a good time for us to have a conversation I have been waiting to have with you. Tommy, would you join us?”
Tommy practically jumped from the table in his eagerness to be included.
Colin tilted his head and led them to a table in a secluded corner of the room – the very same one where he and Lily had shared lunch together at what felt like months ago. So much had changed in Lily’s life over the past few months that it seemed the fastest and longest of her life.
“Miss Evans and Ihavebeen spending some time together,” Colin began once they were situated at the table, Lily beside him, Rhys and Tommy across from them. Rhys’s arms were crossed over his chest as he looked unimpressed with the start of this conversation, while Tommy appeared more interested in these revelations than sponsors were at a football game.
“But only because we were both looking out for the club's best interests.”
Lily noted that he only explained their intentions and not their actions, and she hoped the other men didn’t notice the same.
