Hello Quarterback (Hello #8)

12. Ford

12

FORD

I didn’t bother with the hat and sunglasses that were always in my truck for when I went out in public. No, this time I was in a nice button-up with the sleeves rolled, a pair of jeans, and still somehow felt completely naked as I waited for Mia outside like Tallie instructed. I was to open the door for her when her driver arrived.

A nondescript vehicle pulled up along the sidewalk, and I could hear people pointing and talking about me. But then my phone went off in my pocket. I pulled it up and saw a new text.

Mia: Last chance to back out.

In response, I opened the car door. Her eyes held mine as I took her hand and helped her out. There was no going back now.

The instruction packet that Tallie sent me bordered on neurotic, covering everything that I should do on this first date, including placing my hand low on her waist as we walked into the building. What she hadn’t covered was the way my body would react to touching Mia’s shapely curves, feeling the swell of her ass right below my fingertips.

It also didn’t help that Mia was wearing a silk top that was incredibly soft to the touch. Had she done that on purpose?

We reached the front door, and a host held it open for us, shooing away a few people who were following us and taking pictures on smartphones. Once we got inside, a server led us to a table that was marked as reserved. It had a white tablecloth with a votive candle sitting on top, and it was clearly in the window so people could see us from the street as they passed by. A crowd of people was already forming in the window.

Mia asked, “Is it like this for you everywhere you go?”

“Unfortunately,” I said, shifting my gaze away from the window and trying hard to pretend the people weren’t there.

She chuckled softly like it had been a joke, and I supposed it was. Milo preferred to lay low like I did, but Krew enjoyed the attention. He got a thrill from signing autographs, living out his childhood fantasies.

A server came by, and I ordered a water while Mia purchased a coffee. She glanced at the gold watch around her wrist, saying, “I have eleven minutes until noon. I’m getting my caffeine in.”

I chuckled at the comment. “No coffee after noon?”

She nodded. “My nutritionist is giving me ideas on how to handle the stress of being a CEO. Who knew that drinking caffeine late at night would keep you awake and spike your cortisol?”

I chuckled at the sarcasm in her tone. Then I got distracted by the way she fluttered out her napkin and put it over her lap.

She said, “Does the team have a nutritionist?”

I nodded. “Actually, I have them work with my chef so I’m only eating things that are on my plan. I learned a lot about nutrition in college though. That’s what I majored in.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Because your favorite subject in high school was lunch?”

I had to laugh at the way she teased me. She didn’t pull any punches or try to be cutesy like a lot of girls did, nor did she try to talk about football like she knew the sport. I found it refreshing.

“I was probably interested in nutrition because I grew up on a ranch,” I confessed. “We spent a lot of time talking about the best foods for the animals we raised, and I guess it made sense to me that I should learn that for humans too.”

She nodded. “Do you ever miss living in the country?”

“All the time. I bought a house as close to it as I could.”

She smiled. “I am a city girl through and through. I love my condo. And my coffee shops. And having anything delivered at a moment’s notice.”

A server returned with our drinks, and she took a cautious sip from her black coffee. As soon as it hit her lips, her eyes fluttered closed and her shoulders relaxed.

It was cute, endearing. I smiled as I said, “I can see liking the amenities of the city. But don’t you ever long for the peace and quiet?”

She shook her head. “The city is its own kind of white noise machine. Somehow it all fades into the background and helps me focus on what really matters.”

I leaned closer. The smell of her perfume blended with aromatic coffee was more than intoxicating. “And what really matters to you now?”

She bit her lip, glancing toward the window and then back to me, and I realized that this was a show for her. For us. She was pretending to be interested in me because of our agreement—it made my chest feel heavy in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

When you got to my level, a lot of people wanted to know you because of who you were in the world, not because of who you were as a person. And Mia was one of them—to be fair, I was one of them to her as well. We were both benefiting from our arrangement.

“Acquiring the Andersen sisters matters to me,” she answered. “I know it’s a long shot, but I really believe Griffen Industries can make a difference this way... What matters to you?”

Before I could answer, the server appeared again to take our orders. I ordered something that my nutritionist would approve of, and Mia got something that sounded delicious. When the server left, we were sitting across from each other quietly, and I realized I didn’t know how to act, what to say when I wasn’t being my real self. So I decided even if this relationship was fake, I didn’t need to be fake too.

I took a sip of my water and set the glass down. “You asked me what mattered to me,” I said.

She nodded.

“My charity. The team donates a lot of money to it, and that’s part of the reason why I want to keep working with the Diamonds.”

“I read about it,” she admitted. “The headlines at least.” Then she asked the obvious question. “Did you lose a parent?”

My throat was unexpectedly stiff as I swallowed down a lump that formed there. Something about her looking at me with those blue eyes, talking about my mom, it hit me in my feelings. So I nodded and said, “I was so young when she passed. Cancer.”

Mia tilted her head, her blue eyes so full of compassion it almost threatened to drown me. “I’m so sorry,” she said.

“I can’t go back and help myself, but I can help other kids who are going through the same thing. That’s why I want to keep fundraising, to create an endowment so we can bring on more counselors and end the waitlist.”

“That’s amazing, Ford,” she said. “It really is.”

I smiled at her praise. “Thank you.” For some reason, the way she was looking at me, like she admired me, made my chest feel lighter. The reaction confused me. I had thousands of fans, and she’d declared us merely business partners, so why did her approval affect me this way?

The food arrived, and we ate the rest of our meal while talking about nothing important. I walked her back to her car, and just like Tallie asked, I leaned in, kissing Mia on the cheek. Her skin was soft and warm under my lips, and I didn’t want to pull away. So I lingered a moment longer, humming, “Do you think it’s working?”

She pulled away, an emotion in her eyes that I couldn’t quite read. “I hope so. Goodbye, Ford.”