First Down (First and Ten #1) (2 page)

Ronnie watched her two friends across her desk and wondered why this was the first time she was hearing about Alex’s crush. “You want a chance with Lourdes?”

“I’m not talking about this.” He crossed his arms over his chest and remained mute as the women stared hole into him. He wasn’t going to reveal anything to these two sharks. Who knew what they would do with the information. “So who’s coming today?”

Ana leaned over, smiled into her friend’s deep blue eyes, and tried to read them. “You like her, Alex, and it’s killing you that she couldn’t be less interested. She may be the first woman not to fall at your feet.”

“She’s not the first woman; you and Ronnie were never interested in me.”

Ella and Jordan walked in, and the Stanford Five were together again, saving Alex from further interrogation.

Ronnie waved them over and smiled at her friends. This group represented her favorite people in the world outside of her family and Gerald. “Thanks for coming. Welcome to argument seven hundred and sixty three between Alex and Ana. Today we’re featuring a debate on Alex’s crush on Ana’s cousin.”

Ana stood and straightened her dress before addressing her friends. “I just hope it’s not about the chase and he has some genuine interest in her.” She gave Alex a death glare to make sure that he understood her message.

Ella erupted in laughter. “It’s nice to see that some things never change.” She stepped forward and hugged Ronnie before taking a glimpse around the office. “This place is awesome. Congratulations.”

Jordan sat in Ana’s abandoned seat and twirled the chair around in a circle. “These are comfortable. It’s probably a good idea to make your clients as relaxed as you can when you tell them what you charge.” 

Ignoring his comment, Ronnie checked her watch and noticed that she had about ten minutes before her guests would begin arriving. “My clients will be here soon, so I’m going to check on the refreshments and make sure everything is ready. I want you all to mingle today. No excuses.”

Ella pulled out her lipstick and was about to reapply it. “I don’t want any of you telling the men what I do for a living. I need to start dating, and I don’t want anything to hamper my chances. As far as anyone is concerned, I work at a bank, and that’s it.”

Ana laughed in agreement. “I work at the lab at the University and nothing more.”

Jordan stood and fixed his pants. “I don’t care if you tell people what I do. Women like doctors, and I’m planning on using it to my advantage.”

Alex punched his friend in the arm and let out a laugh. “Just don’t tell anyone that you have a doctorate in infectious diseases. That would totally kill your game.”

Jordan looked down his nose at Alex. “It’s a good thing that you can throw a ball.”

Ronnie walked toward the door and grabbed Ana and Ella’s hands. “Let’s go, ladies. I want to fill you in on who’s invited this afternoon.”

The ladies walked into the large reception area and Ronnie handed them each a glass of champagne. Ronnie held her glass up in toast. “To all of our dreams coming true and no one seeing our true geekiness on the first date.” It was the same toast they’d been making since they met all those years ago in school.

“I want you ladies to know that I’ve been working on my casual chit chat, and I think I’ve got it down. I have several things memorized, and I plan on trying them out this afternoon,” Ella said.

Ana took another sip of her champagne and fidgeted in her dress. “If you have to memorize things to say in a casual conversation, then it’s no longer casual. We should amend Ronnie’s earlier toast and hope no one will see our geekiness in the first ten minutes. It’s the best we can hope for.”

“Speaking of hopes…..Mr. Jack Ellis has been blowing up my phone line in search of you. He set his sights on you in San Diego and hasn’t given up his dream. I tried to dissuade him, but it hasn’t worked yet,” Ronnie said.

Ana flipped her hair and gazed out the window. “I was hoping that he would stop calling and my lack of a return phone call would give him the message. Why can’t he take my silence for the rejection that it is? I have no interest in getting to know him.”

Ella poured more champagne into her glass. “Who is Jack Ellis, and what’s wrong with him? Also, do you think I will become less awkward if I’m slightly inebriated?”

Ronnie took the glass out of Ella’s hand and set it down. “Jack is one of my clients, and he’s a defensive end for the Miami Sharks. He’s a popular sports figure in town and has a ton of endorsements. He has his mind set on our Ana, and he’s not being easily deterred. And…you do not become less awkward when you’re drunk.”

“Is he cute?” Ella inquired.

Ana appeared bored as she responded. “If you like overly large men with big muscles and green eyes, then yes…I suppose he’s attractive. But he’s a football player…..definitely not my type. He certainly doesn’t match the picture that I have in my head of my future boyfriend.”

“Actually, Jack is a nice guy. And I don’t say that easily,” Ronnie responded. “I’m not suggesting a match, but as far a football players go, he’s a good guy.”

Ana crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Fine, I’ll go out with Jack if you go out with that lawyer who’s been asking you out for the last several weeks.”

“Never mind about Jack then. I have no desire in dating a lawyer, because he’s exactly like me. I have no interest in dating myself. Changing the subject…there’s going to be lots of fun people here today, and I want you both to make an effort to circulate. My client base has expanded, and I now have several tennis players and golfers as clients. They are easier than the hockey players, not as much fun as the baseball players, but less entertaining than the football players.”

The front doors to the office opened, and several large men entered and greeted Ronnie loudly.

Both Ella and Ana stepped back, so they wouldn’t be crushed in the melee. Standing against the wall, they watched Ronnie handle the crowd.

Ella leaned over and whispered in Ana’s ear, “I definitely need more champagne if I’m going to survive this. What about you?”

Ana took Ella’s hand and walked toward the bar in the corner. “I don’t think champagne is going to be enough, so let’s see what else they have.” They moved around the edge of the large group of men and made their escape. “Can we hide in Ronnie’s office?” Ana mumbled.

“No, I have to practice my casual conversation today.” Ella noticed her friend’s pained expression. “And so do you. No spacing out while people talk around you. We are going to engage ten people and have fifteen-minute conversations with them, and then we can leave.”

“Do you have a spreadsheet on this? Maybe you’d like to show me the stats that you’ve run up to measure our success?” Ana laughed.

“I might’ve run a few numbers about the statistical probabilities.” Ella smoothed her hair as she responded.

“I hope you don’t say things like during our casual conversations, because people are going to figure out that you have a doctorate in economics real quick.”

“No, they’re not. I bet most of these people don’t even know that you can get a doctorate in economics. They’ll just think that I’m a math geek.” They stepped up to the bar and smiled at the cute man who was making drinks. “Hi there, handsome. Can you make us a couple of martinis?” Ella asked.

The guy watched Ella and tried to hold back a smile. “Sure. Would you like them dirty?”

“What?” Ella squeaked.

“He’s asking if you want a dirty martini; it means that he adds some olive juice,” Ana replied.

Ella dropped her shoulders. “I was hoping he was flirting and found me attractive. When I called him handsome, it was too much, right? I should have saved that for later in the conversation. That’s not something that you open with.” She turned to the man. “The dirtier the better. Two please.” She smiled at Ana and laughed. “You’d think that I would be better at this than I am. How is it that my two sisters are former beauty queens, and I still struggle when speaking with men?”

Ana patted her arm. “They stole all the social skills in the gene pool, which is okay because you stole the brains. I definitely think you got the better end of the deal.”

They took their drinks and moved over to the couch that faced the windows that gave them an incredible view. “I like Florida, and I’m glad we all decided to move here to Miami.” Ana took a sip of her drink and felt the cool liquid burn down her throat. The martini was definitely going to help with the next hour of social interaction she was being forced into. Who knew, maybe a miracle would happen, and an interesting man would show up.

Two men walked toward them, and Ella whispered in Ana’s ear, “Our first victims. One down and nine to go.”

Ana pasted a smile on her face and wondered how quickly she could grab another drink.

********

An hour later, they were both slumped against the couch. Ana rolled her head over and examined Ella. “This is a lot of work. How many more conversations do we have to have?” She straightened her dress and wished that she was in her usual uniform of jeans and a T-shirt. “I’m getting hungry…let’s go to Wolfie’s for dinner. I need a pastrami sandwich and some pickles to recover from all of this casual conversation.”

Ana heard a deep voice respond. “That sounds like a great idea. Are you ladies ready to leave?”

Ana turned and had a sinking feeling that the man she’d been avoiding was headed her way. She lifted her head and looked into Jack Ellis’s smiling face. “Hi, Jack. How’s it going?” She watched him walk up to the couch and then squeeze in next to her.

He patted her knee and gave her a big smile as he leaned back and placed his arm across the back of the couch. He stared into her pretty face and wondered if she felt the electricity between them.

Ana was squished by Ella on her other side, as a big man sat next to her. “Sure, have a seat; there’s plenty of room.”

“Nothing like having the defensive line crash your party,” Jack replied as he moved his arm closer to her shoulders. “Good thing you ladies are small; otherwise, we’d never fit.” He stared into the deep toffee eyes that had captured his attention weeks ago, and realized that she was prettier than he remembered.

Ana tried to move, but there was no place to go.

Jack leaned forward and put his hand out to Ella. “I’m Jack, and this is my friend Clark.”

Ella sat up and extended her hand. “I’m Ella. It’s nice to meet you.” She turned, did the same with Clark, and felt herself fall into his ocean blue eyes. She’d never fallen into anything, much less the baby blues of a football player. Nothing came out of her mouth as her memorized casual conversation flew from her head. The sad part was that nothing flew from Ella’s head…ever. It was one of the few things that she had going for her.

Clark took her small hand and held it. “Nice to meet you, Ella.”

She nodded her head and continued to stare at one of the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He had enormous shoulders, a sculpted face, and long blond hair. She felt Ana pinch her leg, and she finally pulled herself out of his spell. “We should go.” She tried to wiggle herself free, but found that she was wedged against Clark. She needed more than two martinis in her stomach to face a man who looked like him.

“How come we couldn’t leave earlier when I suggested it? I thought we had to have two more conversations,” Ana asked. She was happy to make an escape. She just wondered why it was now and not a half-an-hour earlier.

“We just did, and we’re done, so let’s go eat,” Ella replied.

“Finally.” Ana pushed herself off the couch, stood, and fixed her dress. She held out her hand to Ella and helped her up then extended her hand to Jack. “Nice to see you. Take care.” She turned and headed toward Ronnie’s office to get their purses. She knew that she was being rude, but she didn’t really care. Jack Ellis was not a man who understood subtlety, and she didn’t want to encourage him in any way.

Clark watched them leave and let out a small snicker. “She really likes you, Jack. I can see why your charm is so famous.”

“Shut up, Clark. You were not any help.”

“I didn’t have a chance. Those two hot-footed it out of here before I could do anything. We usually have to peel the ladies off, not convince them to hang around. Those two ran away from us like we smelled bad.”

“Let’s go over to Wolfie’s and catch up with them. I’ve never wanted a chance like I do now. Did you see her dress and the way the hem fell against her legs? It was like she knew what would drive me crazy and decided to wear it.” He shook his head as he watched Ana walk away.

“You’re not making any sense, Jack. Women who dress in bikinis throw themselves at you, and you don’t react. Then a woman who looks like the girl next door has you crazy. She’s dressed for a garden party or something. That’s what my sisters wear when they go to their junior league meetings.”

“Exactly. It seems a little warm in here. Do you thing the air conditioning is working?”

“Oh…it’s working all right. It’s just the effect that Ana is having on you. Let’s go to Wolfies and see what this is all about.  I’m hungry, and I could go for a Reuben sandwich.” Standing, he rubbed his shoulder and watched Ella walk out of the office with a group of people. “Her friend Ella is pretty cute. Maybe I should ask her out.”

“That’s a good idea. If Ella likes you, then maybe Ana will want to hang out as a group.” Jack heaved himself off the couch and surveyed the room. “I wonder what the net worth of this room is,” Jack said.

“I can’t count that high. Math was never my thing.”

CHAPTER TWO

Their small group walked down the street to the famous deli and exchanged notes on how the afternoon went. This was Alex’s usual crowd, but it wasn’t Jordan’s, Ana’s, or Ella’s. The sidewalks were crowded for a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of October. It looked like a mix of locals and tourists out enjoying the perfect afternoon in Miami’s South Beach.

Ella started to pat her hair down in an attempt to tame her curls. “Is it getting really big yet? This humidity is killing me. Am I destined to have bad hair days forever?”