The Ladies Who Brunch

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.” When those words left the lips of Damien Shaw, my childhood nemesis, I should have told him to kick rocks right then and there. But sadly, his scheme to impress his boss left me with something to gain from it too—getting my meddling mother, who was obsessed with my love life, off my back just in time for my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary celebration in Hawaii.

My brain tells me to be cautious, but my heart leads the way as we give in to our feelings toward one another and visions of our future are all I can see. Until that vision is threatened by one admission that has us struggling to catch our breaths and acknowledging what we truly feel. And even though I know that walking away was the right thing to do, I fight to uphold the promises I made to his son and myself—the types of promises that have me realizing there is no other man I could see my future with.

That was the agreement between me and Maddox Taylor, the NFL’s most notorious playboy and mega-talented quarterback who happened to be out in California for one night—one night in which I broke all of my rules and gave in to the undeniable attraction I felt for the man. He wooed me with dirty jokes, 80s musical references, an obsession with Steve Harvey, and a very specific piercing. How the hell was I supposed to fight that?

When Grant Thomas, the handsome stranger standing in front of me in line at the coffee shop, stripped his uniform shirt off and handed it to me, I could have sworn I was on an episode of Punked. Not only was the man Gabe Kapler’s doppelganger, but he was also a pilot and good with babies, which my six month-old daughter could attest to as she settled in his arms while I changed into his shirt, contemplating all of my life choices at that moment.