by Jaci Burton
Megan came out of the bedroom dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a black silk tank top. The silver chain she was wearing dangled between her breasts. And she wore a pair of heels that accentuated her legs. Her hair lay in soft waves against her neck, and he got an instant erection.
"Woman--are you trying to get us to stay home tonight?" he asked.
She frowned. "What?"
"You look sexy as hell, and all I want to do now is peel off those clothes you're wearing and lick you all over."
She grinned. "That's a tempting suggestion. I'm okay with staying home."
He laughed, then pulled her against him and kissed her enough to let her know how much he appreciated everything about her. But he had plans for tonight--at least the earlier part of tonight--that didn't include taking his woman to bed.
"Dinner and drinks with our friends first."
With a sigh, she took a step back. "If you insist."
She grabbed her jacket, since it was a little cool out with a threat of rain. He grabbed his jacket, too, and they headed out in Megan's car to the bar.
Their friends were already there, so they pulled up chairs next to Reid and Sam.
Bash was working the bar, but his assistant manager was also there, so he took a break to sit with them.
"I miss wine," Chelsea said, laying her hand across her stomach. "It's a rough life cooking a baby."
"Poor you. I'll drink for you," Megan said, lifting her glass to take a sip.
"That was just mean, Megan."
Megan winked at Chelsea.
"Des called me and said that she and Logan can't make it," Emma said. "Benjamin has a cough, so they're staying home."
"I hope he's okay," Molly said.
"He's fine. But they don't want to be gone in case he ends up sick."
"Understandable," Carter said.
They all sat and drank for a while, talking about work and what was going on outside of work. Once everyone was there, Brady decided it was time.
He stood. "So I'd like to do this in front of friends."
They all gave him his attention. Megan looked perplexed.
Good. He wanted her to.
"As you know, it was a hard road for me after my brother died. I didn't want to associate with anyone and I pretty much kept to myself. But thanks to all of you, who kept after me and forced me out of my shell, I now have the group of you who I call my friends. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for being there for me."
"Hey, we're nothing if not persistent," Deacon said with a grin.
"And annoying," Zach added.
Bash laughed. "What are friends for?"
Brady smiled. "And because you're all special to me, I wanted you to bear witness to me proclaiming my love for this woman." He looked at Megan, who smiled up at him.
"Without Megan, I wouldn't have become the man I am today. I wouldn't have been able to exorcise the demons of my past. I wouldn't have been able to make friends, to be able to love as freely as I have. I love you, Megan, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving myself worthy of you."
He pulled the ring out of his pocket. Megan's eyes widened as he kneeled in front of her.
Brady heard the collective gasps from their friends, but his eyes were only on Megan as he took her hand in his.
"Will you marry me?"
Her eyes had filled with tears. "Yes. I love you."
He slid the diamond ring on her finger, then pulled her to stand and planted one very hot kiss on her. Their friends applauded and cheered.
When he pulled back, she said, "You know I didn't need a ring."
"Yeah, you did."
"Well, it's sure a sparkler."
He smiled at her. "So are you."
She kissed him, then looped her arms around his neck. "I've got you now, Brady Conners."
"Yes, you do. Don't ever let go."
READ ON FOR A PREVIEW OF JACI BURTON'S NEXT PLAY-BY-PLAY NOVEL,
Rules of Contact
COMING SOON FROM BERKLEY BOOKS.
FLYNN CASSIDY SAT at one of the corner tables of Ninety-Two, his new restaurant in San Francisco.
They'd opened just two weeks ago and so far, things were going well. Right now one of the major entertainment media outlets was doing a feature on the restaurant, so he had to be present for it. Which meant camera crews and bright lights and a lot of damn people in the way of regular business. He had already wandered around and apologized to his patrons, who seemed to take it all in stride. Hopefully the crews would get all the film and sound bites they wanted and would get the hell out shortly.
"This is so thrilling, Flynn."
He dragged his gaze away from the camera crews and onto Natalie, the woman he'd been dating the past two weeks. She was a looker, for sure, with beautiful auburn hair that touched her shoulders and the most incredible green eyes he'd ever seen.
"Yeah, thrilling isn't the first thing that popped into my head when the crews showed up today."
Natalie grabbed his hand. "Oh, come on. Who doesn't want to be on TV?"
Him, for one. As a defensive end for the San Francisco Sabers football team, he'd had plenty of cameras and microphones shoved in his face over the years. But since the restaurant was new, he couldn't turn down some publicity for it. So he'd done the interview, and now he just wanted to stay out of the way while the film crew got their overview shots of the restaurant.
"Do you think they'll want to get some film of the two of us together?" Natalie asked. "You know, kind of get some background on your personal life, like what you do on your time off away from football and the restaurant, who you're seeing, stuff like that?"
Warning bells clanged loud and hard in Flynn's head. He'd gone down this road with more than one woman, and had ended relationships because of girlfriends who were way more interested in the limelight than in him.
So lately he'd made sure to steer clear of any woman who had an entertainment background. No models, no actresses, no one he could suspect of chasing face time in front of a camera. He'd figured since Natalie was a financial analyst, he was safe.
But seeing her gaze track those cameras like a vampire craving blood, he wasn't sure career choice had much to do with someone needing popularity and limelight in her life.
"Maybe we should move to one of the more prominent tables, Flynn," Natalie said. "You know, that way we might be in one of the camera shots."
He bit back a sigh. "I don't think so."
She pushed back her chair and stood. "I'm going to go to the bar and get a drink. You know, all casual-like, and see if maybe they notice me."
He leaned back in his chair. "You do that."
This relationship was doomed. Just one of the many Flynn had seen go down in flames in the past couple of years.
Maybe there wasn't a woman out there who was interested in him. Just him. Not Flynn the football player. Just Flynn the guy.
He shook his head, mentally notched up another failure, and took a long swallow of his beer.
*
SINCE THE ORDERS had slowed down and she had the kitchen under control, Amelia Lawrence washed her hands in the sink and tried her best to hide, avoiding the cameras. The last thing she wanted was to be on television. She was head chef at Ninety-Two. This whole publicity thing was on Flynn and she didn't need to be interviewed, filmed, or in any way noticed.
But as she did her best game of hide-and-not-be-sought, she also spotted Flynn's new girlfriend, doing her best job to try to be seen by any of the camera crew.
Oh no. Not another one of those kinds of women.
She'd worked with Flynn for the past couple of months, even before Ninety-Two had opened. And in that time period she'd seen him go through no less than three women, all of whom seemed to be way more interested in his prowess as camera candy than anything else.
She felt bad for him, and felt nothing but disdain for the women who couldn't appreciate what a fine man Flynn Cassidy was.
He was supr
emely tall and ridiculously well built, with a thick mane of black hair and amazing blue eyes. She could spend at least a full day doing nothing but appreciating his tattoos. And who didn't love football? Plus, the man had fine culinary taste. When he'd hired her, they'd spent several weeks arguing over the menu for the restaurant. She had to admit he had good ideas.
So did she, and she appreciated that he listened to hers. But the bottom line was that it was his restaurant and his call on the menu. But in the end they'd blended both their ideas, and she loved the way it had turned out.
So why couldn't the man find a decent girlfriend? He kind of sucked at it, actually. If she were a native of San Francisco, maybe she could help him out, but since she'd only moved here recently from Portland, she knew only a handful of people. Her only ties here were a friend from college and her friend's husband. Otherwise, she was pretty much alone here.
Just the way she wanted it.
She still thought she could find better women for Flynn to date than the ones he'd been parading in and out of the restaurant lately. She could spot posers a mile away. Maybe she could offer her service to Flynn.
"Orders up."
She focused her attention on the incoming orders, on directing her staff, on minding her own business, and not on Flynn's idiot girlfriend, who was currently preening for the cameras.
With an eye roll, she dismissed the woman and set about making scallops.
Because Flynn Cassidy was decidedly not her problem. And no matter how much she felt sorry for him, she wasn't going to get involved in his personal life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jaci Burton is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of the Hope Novels, including Make Me Stay, Love After All, Hope Burns, Hope Ignites, and Hope Flames, and the Play-by-Play series, including All Wound Up, Quarterback Draw, Straddling the Line, Melting the Ice, and more. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and dogs. A lover of sports, Jaci can often tell what season it is by what sport is being played. She watches entirely too much television, which she considers "book research." When she isn't on deadline, Jaci can be found at her local casino, trying to become a millionaire (so far, no luck). She's a total romantic and loves a story with a happily ever after, which you'll find in all her books. You can learn more about Jaci at her website at jaciburton.com.
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