Love 'Em or Leave 'Em (12 page)

There were high fives and hoots of congratulations for the date winners. Ashley was pleased to have another opportunity to get out of the mansion, even if it meant going on a date. Another group date! Plus, she was curious to see how things went between her and Luke.

But golf? Ashley had played golf a couple of times with friends years ago, and once with one of her boyfriends, but she had no true interest in the game and had never developed any skill. More times than not, she'd whiff the ball when she swung. Was whiff a golf term, or had she made it up? She would wind up, concentrate, aim at the ball and whiff right over the top. So humiliating. She'd look like she was going to nail the ball and then, poof! All that action for nothing. Ugh.

Her best experiences had been when she'd golfed with girlfriends. When they hit a bad ball, they would hit another one, or pick it up and throw it closer to the hole. Ashley hoped tomorrow would be similar.

The limo picked them up promptly at seven the next morning. Luke was ready and waiting at the course.

"Wow, does he look hot!" Tami said, with a hungry look.

Ashley couldn't argue. He stood at the front of the clubhouse dressed in tan shorts and a brilliant white golf shirt with a Whistling Straits logo. The fine fabric of the shirt rippled over his muscular shoulders. His arms, legs, and face were tanned. Obviously Luke spent a lot of time outdoors. He stood taller with his golf shoes on, looking casual and comfortable. He was in his element.

Luke helped them out of the limo and greeted each of them warmly with a kiss on the cheek. Not a bad way to start the morning. Ashley put a hand to her cheek as she stepped away. They were ushered into the pro shop and fitted with clubs and shoes. Each of them wore their own version of appropriate golf attire. Ashley wore tan Dockers shorts and a black sleeveless top with a collar. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a simple black visor.

Tami was an entirely different story. She wore fitted white micro shorts which showed off her gorgeous long legs. Of course ... she was all legs. Her top was a hot pink stretchy tank top that molded to her everywhere. The low V-neck nicely displayed her generous assets. She wore her thick, dark hair down, sported a classy pair of designer sunglasses, and had a smile that shimmered with rose-colored gloss on her full lips. She looked like a million bucks. She also looked like she belonged on a photo shoot, not a golf course. Luke's gaze, as well as those of the cameramen and country club staff, roved over Tami at every opportunity.

Cricket, on the other hand, looked like she'd walked off the cover of some preppy golf magazine. She moved confidently around the pro shop wearing black pleated shorts with a classy peach sleeveless golf shirt and a cute little coordinating visor. As she turned an educated eye to select a putter, a golf glove hung out of her back pocket.

Cricket was a golfer.

Ashley felt the pit in her stomach grow.

Outside, two golf carts sat ready. One held a large black golf bag strapped on the back. Tami edged in next to Luke. "I hope you don't mind if I ride in your cart. I could use a few pointers."

Ashley could have pointed out a few things to her, but didn't waste her breath.

After hitting a couple of practice balls at the golf range, Ashley didn't feel any better. Luckily she'd hit most of the balls off the tees, but none had gone very far. She hopped in the cart next to Cricket and tried to drum up some courage.

Cricket looked over at her. "You don't golf much, do you?"

"That obvious?"

"Let me just say you could use a few tips."

"I need a lot more than tips. How about a body double who golfs? That would be helpful."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll be fine," Cricket assured her. "I don't want to offer help where it's not wanted, but I think if you correct just a few things you'll be able to hit the ball better."

"Really?" Ashley asked skeptically. "You think you could do something to improve my dismal skills?" She looked at the huge course laid out before her. "I am so bad at this game. Why couldn't I have gone to a baseball game, or to the zoo or something?"

Cricket smiled in sympathy. "Don't worry. After we tee off, I'll stick by you and we'll see what we can do to get your ball in the air."

"Thank you. Anything you could do to help would be appreciated. I'll pay you back somehow. I'll even rub your feet. You get me through this horror of cameras filming every embarrassing swing and I'll be your new best friend."

"No problem. I'm glad to help, and you don't need to rub my feet," she said and laughed.

They arrived at the first tee. Luke stepped up to take his first shot. After sinking the tee deep into the dense grass, he stood back and took a couple of practice swings. Luke moved with such fluidity. His eyes fo cused somewhere down the fairway as he stepped up to his ball, his stance totally relaxed as he wound up and swung. Luke hit the ball with such precision and force that it flew high into the air and seemed to glide forever before popping down not far from the green.

Amazing. Ashley had never seen a golf ball hit so beautifully or so far before. Not that she'd had much opportunity. The ex-boyfriends she'd golfed with were not very good. In fact, next to Luke, they were total losers.

Luke invited the ladies to hit. Tami sauntered right up and bent down with her tight little butt in the air and placed her ball on a tee.

What a sleaze.

When she hit the ball, there was a nice little loft to it that Ashley would have died for. But then, she'd love to have a figure like Tami's too.

Cricket stepped up and tried a couple of practice swings. When she hit the ball it was grace in motion. Ashley heard a nice little "ping" as her club hit the ball and it soared high into the air and straight down the fairway. Beautiful.

"Your turn," Luke prodded Ashley when she didn't move to the tee box.

"Oh yeah, right." She tried to approach the tee box with confidence and set her ball and tee in the grass, and sighed. She searched for some real courage, but the damned camera was focused on her-waiting.

Suddenly turning to the others, she leaned on her club. "Listen you guys, I am so not a golfer. I mean, I'm not even good at minigolf."

"Not a problem," Luke reassured her. "We're just here to have fun. No pressure." He offered her a warm smile.

Fun. Just here to have fun.

She focused on the ball and took a deep breath in an attempt to relax.

Yup, just have fun.

She took another deep breath.

Okay, now you're stalling. Just hit the dumb ball.

She wound up and swung, trying to keep her eye on the ball and not the group gathered to watch her tee off. Her club came around, and by some miracle hit the ball. Her euphoria was short-lived as the ball took a forty-five degree turn to the right. At least it went a somewhat respectable distance.

Ashley picked up her tee and walked over to the group. She glanced at Luke. "Yeah, that was really fun" A smile curled at the edge of his mouth.

Back in the golf cart, Ashley and Cricket were able to go the opposite direction of Luke and Tami.

"Okay, just shoot me now. Put me out of my misery"

"Oh come on, you were fine. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Easy for you to say. You golf like the club is an extension of your arm. What's with that? Where did you learn to golf?"

Hesitating, Cricket replied, "Well, I grew up a coun try club kid. We spent our summers at the club swimming, golfing, and playing tennis."

Perfect, how could she not have guessed? Cricket, always impeccably dressed and displaying perfect manners. The girl was bred to play good golf. Unlike Ashley, who was born to embarrass herself. If there was one thing Ashley had, it was humility. Lots of it. How could you not when you screwed up as much as she did?

Approaching the next ball, Ashley said, "Okay, Country Club, I beg you, help me survive this miserable day" They smiled at each other and walked up to her ball where Ashley received her first lesson. Cricket walked her through every shot. She taught her how to properly hold the club and where her feet should be planted.

She still wasn't golfing well, but at least she seemed to hit the ball more often and accurately.

Across the fairway, Tami worked Luke at every opportunity.

Watching Tami's performance made Ashley ill. She and Cricket would look at each other and roll their eyes as Tami batted hers at Luke and laughed at every amusing thing he said.

It felt that their date was more like a twosome than a foursome.

After six holes, Luke approached. "Hey Ashley, how about we switch off and you join me for a while?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Her pulse began to race.

He walked over to her cart and removed her golf bag. "And why would that be?"

"You've seen me golf. I'm terrible," she said, following after him "And I happen to know good golfers hate to play with bad golfers. I don't want to cramp your style."

He lowered his sunglasses enough to gaze over the top at her. "Don't worry-I'd never let you do that" With a quick wink, he turned and walked away with her bag.

Ashley stood, mouth open and cheeks scarlet.

Tami pouted her way into the cart with Cricket. Ashley climbed into Luke's cart. He appeared unaffected as he grinned at her. "Ready or not, here we go."

The cart flew forward and Ashley put her foot up on the side to keep herself in place. Apparently Luke liked it fast-at least when driving.

Golfing together wasn't quite as horrible as she'd thought it would be. While her drives were short, she hit pretty straight, and Luke's constant banter kept her entertained. Each time he hit the ball, Ashley couldn't help but watch in awe. There was such power in his swing. His muscular arms gripped the club gently and his whole body wound up and then released in one smooth, awesome swing. His athletic physique was a beautiful combination of strength and grace. She wondered how it would feel to be held in his arms.

"Are you this good at every game?" she asked.

Leaning toward her, he gazed into her eyes. "Oh yeah, I can play any game you want. What'd you have in mind?"

Torn between wanting to know what those games might be and smacking him for his provocative comment, Ashley settled for giving him a stern look and she walked around to get back in the cart. "Sports, Luke. I'm talking about sports. I asked if you're good at all sports"

Pulling forward to drive toward Ashley's ball, Luke responded. "I love pretty much any sport with a ballbaseball, tennis, soccer, golf," he gestured to the breathtaking course around them.

"And football," she added.

"That one's my favorite," he said. "I also enjoy fishing and trap shooting. Basically anything that gets me outside is a winner."

"So, are you bad at anything?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, let's see" He thought. "I'm not the best at some, but I don't embarrass myself either."

"Unlike me," she pointed out as he pulled the cart up to her ball and she hopped out.

"I wasn't talking about you."

"Right," she said, grabbing a club. "Who else is here embarrassing themselves on the golf course? You know, I just don't get it. How is it you're so good at everything you do? You play just about every sport, you're pretty smart for a dumb jock, and you're goodlooking. It's not fair."

The moment the words were out of her mouth she regretted them. Why feed his ego when it was obvious that he was far more confident than anyone she'd ever known?

Not missing the opportunity, he replied, "You think I'm good-looking?" The smirk returned.

She'd love to wipe it off, maybe with her golf club. She tried to hide her flushed face as she prepared to hit her ball.

"No, really" He refused to let the subject go, the irritating man. "You said I was good-looking. I thought I wasn't your type, that you were immune to all my charms" He leaned in close to her.

"Oh, you are priceless, not to mention full of yourself!" Ashley swung the club and nailed the ball, sending it a respectable distance down the fairway for the first time.

"Not bad," he said, admiring her best shot of the day. "You should golf with attitude more often. Anyway, you're the one who started it with the goodlooking comment. To be honest, I've been wanting to talk to you again. I'd like to get to the bottom of this thing about me not being your type."

"Here we go again."

"How do you know I'm not your type when you hardly know me? Shoot, we've barely spent any time together. How can you make such a quick judgment about someone you don't know?"

"That's an excellent point," she agreed, hoping to change the subject as she climbed back into the golf cart to avoid the approaching cameraman. "You don't know me. So why have you kept me in this game when I've only been on one group date with you? You've spent a lot more time with some of the others."

"True," he said as he pulled away, "but did it occur to you that maybe I know who I'm interested in and I'm just trying to give the others a final chance to show their best colors?"

"Right," she replied, skeptical but also a bit wary. This was not the answer she'd hoped for. He made it sound as though he was interested in her. "You know," Ashley said, glancing back to make sure the camera cart wasn't within earshot, "if it were me in your place, I'd ditch the ones I have no chemistry with first."

"Is that right?"

"Then I'd get rid of all the money grubbers. You don't want to keep any gold diggers hanging around to get their hooks into you. Do you?"

"Excellent point," Luke agreed, which encouraged Ashley to continue as he drove slower. The cameras couldn't catch their conversation while they were moving.

"Good. Then you need to get rid of the annoying ones, the ones with irritating habits." She quickly glanced up at him as she jabbered on. "Bad laughs, body odor, and people who babble on and never shut up. 11

"So, what's your point?"

"My point," she said, turning toward him in exasperation, "is that you're doing it all wrong"

"Am I?"

"Yes. First of all, you've kept the biggest gold digger I've ever met."