Fair Catch (11 page)

“Let’s go in my front door.” Owen directed her toward his house. “Then we can go out the back to your house.”

With her mission accomplished, all the adrenalin drained out of her. “I can’t believe I just did that.” Her knees almost buckled.

Owen opened the door and mumbled, “Neither can I.” He eyed Ellie a little sternly after closing the door. “You don’t always have to go along with Betsy’s ideas, you know.”

Ellie grinned. “You’re married to her. You should know by now she’s hard to resist.”

A smile creased his face. “You have a point.” He laughed and shook his head. “The look on Nick Coulter’s face was priceless. He won’t know what hit him with Betsy playing matchmaker.”

Ellie put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean
him
? I’m the one who just dressed up in this—” She swept a hand over the dress. “—and sneaked past reporters just to clarify a misunderstanding.”

Owen’s eyebrows arched up. “Okay, you both won’t know what hit you. Can I take you home now?”

“Yes.” She needed chocolate and a long, hot bath. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “I did promise your parents to look after you.”

Speaking of her parents… “You’re, um, not gonna say anything about this, are you?”

He barked out a laugh as they reached her back door. “No way. Your dad has his hands full with his graduate students and seeing the sights with your mother.”

Ellie frowned underneath her hat. She was a responsible adult. She caught a glimpse of her dress. Okay, an adult. But still, he made it sound like she was an unruly child who needed to be grounded.

Before she could protest, Betsy flung open the door and waved at them with excitement. “Hurry up. You two just barely got out of there in time.”

Chapter Nine

“What
are you talking about?” Ellie peeled the large hat off her head.

Betsy grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front room. The news people were clamoring around a big black limo. All three adults watched the media part as the door opened. Out stepped a man in a nice, charcoal gray suit. His dark, wavy hair looked perfect. Ellie could tell the tanned face underneath the aviator sunglasses was handsome. He gave the media a dazzling smile and took off his sunglasses with a flourish.

“Who is that?” Ellie asked, standing in front of the large window in her living room. It provided a perfect view of Nick’s house.

The good-looking guy closed the car door and tucked his sunglasses inside his suit pocket. He gave the cameras another dazzling smile, clearly used to having an audience.

Betsy squinted. “Not anyone I recognize.” She moved next to Ellie.

The pastor whistled from behind the two women and they both turned around. “Now that’s what I call cutting it close. Just a few more minutes and Nick Coulter would’ve had some explaining to do.” He looked pointedly at his wife and then Ellie. “You girls could’ve caused him some real trouble tonight.”

Ellie gulped back the guilt. Owen was right. What if one of the reporters had stopped them on the way back and noticed Ellie wasn’t the same woman who had fed them earlier? What kind of story would be generated by her little stunt?

She closed her eyes, just imagining the headlines.
Famous quarterback befriends poor, divorced woman. Could this be love?
Her eyes flew open wide. How on earth could she really be seen in a public place like Disneyland with the celebrity athlete? No one in their right mind would believe they were only friends. No one in their right mind would believe he was really serious about dating her. She would be a big joke.

“I wish I could hear what he’s saying,” Betsy said, shooting a glance back at her husband. “Owen, go out there so you can tell us what’s going on.”

The pastor barked out a laugh again. “Woman, you are not about to rope me into this any further.” He kissed his wife affectionately on the cheek. “I’m going home.” Then he paused, lifted his finger and shook it at them. “Don’t you two do anything else tonight that might get Nick in hot water.”

Betsy gave him a mischievous smile. “Yes, dear. Whatever you say.”

Ellie didn’t want to make trouble, especially for Nick Coulter. “I won’t talk to Nick again. I promise.”

Owen’s face softened while his wife’s mouth opened in disbelief. “You don’t need to go to that extreme.” Owen’s eyes sparkled with humor. “I’m sure Nick wants to talk to you again. Let’s just wait until things cool down around here, okay?”

Ellie nodded mutely. Owen smiled again and then winked at his wife before going home through the back door.

Twirling her finger through one of her curls, Ellie wondered if things would ever calm down again. She gazed back out the window in time to see the dark haired man hold up his hand, like he hoped to quiet the crowd around him. All at once the microphones were pointed directly at him. He flashed another white-toothed smile and said something. Then he turned and knocked on the enormous wooden door that belonged to Nick.

The media leaned forward, but didn’t press closer. Ellie waited with baited breath and felt her heart flutter when Nick opened the door. Nick shook the man’s hand and then waved at the cameras with a dazzling smile of his own. To Ellie, the smile was forced and didn’t reach his eyes.

The two men disappeared inside and closed the door. All the reporters scrambled to get in front of one of their cameras. “Ooh, I’m dying to know what’s happening.” Betsy pressed her face against the glass. “Maybe I can go out just to see.”

Ellie moved next to Betsy, stumbling over one of Cade’s toys. She lifted a hand to the glass and looked out, and watched the animation on the faces of the reporters. Her breath fogged up the window and she chided herself for being so careless. Now she’d have to clean the front window. Something she only did when absolutely necessary.

Betsy nudged her with her arm. “Let’s turn on the television to see if they’ll say anything about this. Sometimes they announce teasers before the news starts.”

They went to the television and Ellie saw Cade fast asleep on the couch. She couldn’t let him sleep very long. Otherwise, he’d be up all night long. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Right after a commercial, a petite young woman with blonde hair stood in front of Nick’s house. “I’m Tiffany Burke. Behind me is the beautiful home of former Sacramento Defenders quarterback, Nick Coulter, located in Pleasant Wood, Colorado.” The camera panned Nick’s house and yard.

“Mr. Coulter’s agent, Alec Lawson, has just informed us that Nick Coulter will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning right here in this exclusive neighborhood.” The camera panned around the neighborhood, stopping on Ellie’s home.

“Did you see that?” Betsy pointed to the television screen. “They just featured our homes on Channel Eight news.”

Ellie could only feel relief she and Betsy no longer had their faces pressed to the glass of her living room window.

The perky blonde continued. “Stay tuned for my exclusive interview with America’s most eligible bachelor, the one and only Nick Coulter.”

Something akin to jealousy twisted in Ellie’s stomach as she tuned out the rest of the reporter’s words. That cute little blonde couldn’t wait to get her hands on Nick.

Betsy gasped. “I can’t believe it. There’s going to be a press conference right here. I wonder if they’ll interview any of the neighbors?”

I hope not!
If that was going to be the case, then Ellie was getting the heck out of Dodge. Where could she take Cade until things died down?

* * *

The next morning, Ellie looked outside her bedroom window, surprised to see even more vans parked than before. It now looked like the newspapers wanted in on the interview. A white table, trimmed with navy blue bunting, sat on the lawn just outside Nick’s front door. A couple of men were setting up microphones on the table.

Not wanting to wake Cade up, she slipped quietly downstairs to start breakfast. Breakfast food was the only meal she didn’t mind cooking. She turned on the television in the family room loud enough to hear in the kitchen. Changing the channel from Nickelodeon to channel eight, she waited for the commercial to end.

The channel eight’s anchorman flashed on the screen, announcing the press conference would be starting in fifteen minutes. Feeling a little edgy, Ellie went to the kitchen and pulled out the waffle iron. She listened to the news from the kitchen while she whipped up the batter.

When she heard the announcement for the press conference to start, she abandoned the waffle batter. Cade still wasn’t up, so breakfast could wait. She perched herself on the edge of the couch and watched the screen focus on Nick’s front door.

She started to chew on one of her nails, but stopped herself. Her breath caught when Nick and his agent stepped outside and took a seat at the white table. Even on television, Nick made her heart flutter. He and his agent were dressed similarly in button-down dress shirts, a tie and dress pants. Neither man wore a suit coat.

She smirked when Mr. Lawson announced Nick would only be taking a few questions and there wouldn’t be any one-on-one interviews. Looks like Tiffany Burke wouldn’t get her exclusive.

Cade came into the family room and crawled up on Ellie’s lap. She cuddled his warm little body, keeping her focus on Nick. Cade’s face lit up and he pointed to the screen. “Hey, that’s Nick. Can I go ask him to play football again?”

Ellie smiled tenderly at her little boy and hugged him close again. “Not right now, honey. He’s very busy at the moment.”

Ellie’s eyes lingered on the television screen, watching Nick answer the reporter’s questions. He looked so good and completely at ease in front of the cameras. He smiled and answered questions both about his personal and professional life. When Nick was asked if he was dating anyone, Ellie held her breath, probably right along with all of the reporters and single women from all around the nation.

He flashed a smile and shook his head. “That’s something I’d like to keep to myself.”

“So, you are seeing someone?” Tiffany Burke shouted out.

That’s what Ellie wanted to know.

Nick’s grin widened as he pushed away from the table. He lifted a hand and waved. “Thanks for your time.”

Pandemonium broke out as the media shouted out different questions. Mr. Lawson, looking more like a movie star, took Nick’s arm. “Mr. Coulter won’t be doing anymore interviews and respectfully asks that you allow him and his new neighbors their privacy.”

A few reporters asked more questions, but the two men ignored them and walked back into the house. Officers from the Pleasant Wood police department stood like sentinels in front of the stone house.

Blondie flashed her smile for the camera. “This is Tiffany Burke, reporting live with Channel Eight.” She cast a sidelong glance at Nick’s house. “Nick Coulter, professional football player, philanthropist and now a resident of Pleasant Wood, Colorado. What’s next for our all-star player? We’ll keep you up to date.”

Up to date?
It was more like she “wanted to date.” Ellie didn’t miss the predatory look in Tiffany Burke’s eyes. Standing up, Ellie snapped off the television and took Cade’s hand.

“How about homemade waffles this morning?”

He skipped alongside her, asking if he could help. While Cade ate his waffles, Ellie sat down at the computer in the corner of the kitchen, and did what she’d wanted to do for the last week: She Googled Nick Coulter.

The results were too numerous to count. She clicked on one link, taking her to an online gossip website. There were several pictures of Nick with his trademark smile, either in his uniform or a tux. Her mouth went dry—he looked great in both.

The next set of pictures made her stomach turn over. Nick had a different woman next to his side in every shot. A few she recognized as actresses and models. The other women were just as beautiful.

She pushed the back button, unable to look at those pictures. What did she expect? He hung out with football players watching reruns of their games?

Moving the mouse, she selected a link that led her to a story she’d completely forgotten about. At the time, she was trying to keep up with a toddler and fighting depression and bitterness over the betrayal of her husband. But as she read the report and saw the pictures, she was reminded that Nick Coulter was a man of the world.

Roxanne Kirkham, a young and upcoming model, had been his girlfriend for over six months. Apparently, Nick didn’t usually date women for more than a few weeks, so the media speculated his bachelor days were about to end.

Scanning the article, she read about the scandal and the subsequent interviews Roxanne did for a number of popular
magazines and
Celebrity Weekly
. The young beauty, with her copper colored hair and green eyes, was tall and thin, like she’d missed one too many meals. She claimed to be pregnant and named Nick Coulter as the father.

Ellie felt sick inside, clasping at her stomach as she continued to read. Nick denied the allegations, stating that as a commitment to his Christian faith, he and Roxanne had made the decision to wait until they were married to become intimate. People were skeptical. Premarital sex in today’s world was just a part of dating. Most everyone thought he was lying, especially given that before professing to be a devout Christian, Nick had enjoyed women and the playboy lifestyle his celebrity status afforded him. His faith and integrity were put on the line and most people called him a hypocrite.

Then Alec Lawson blew the lid off the whole thing. Nick’s manager located Juan, Roxanne’s lover, who stepped forward and, for an undisclosed amount of money, revealed proof that Roxanne wasn’t telling the truth. Juan said Roxanne had never been pregnant and probably never would be due to a medical condition she had once let slip.

Ellie felt an ache in her chest, her heart going out to Nick. He had been devastated by the break up and stayed away from the Hollywood scene for a few months. As he emerged, it was to further his humanitarian efforts for kids throughout the United States. The article indicated that he rarely took a date to a party and that he spent the entire evening drumming up support for his summer camps.