Page 25 of Hello Quarterback

His gaze narrowed under carefully groomed gray eyebrows. “You are nothing like the quarterbacks I’ve known.”

I lifted my chin. “I’m better,” I said. We both knew it was the truth. And at the end of this season, I’d have the ring to prove it.

He cleared his throat. “I’ll expect to see Ms. Baird at our team dinner. Not as a stand-in for my daughter, but as your date. I don’t take kindly to lies, young man. Because if time’s taught me anything, it’s that talent can always be replaced.”

I dipped my head in understanding while fighting a shiver.

He turned on his heel and left the room, and finally, the shivers broke out, making the water tremble around me.

This was serious and nothing I could back out of now. Everyone had to believe that what I had with Mia was real. And tonight’s date would be the time to prove it.

15

MIA

Tonight,my stylist and makeup artist had come to my penthouse to prepare me for our first date. Not because I wanted to impress Ford, but because I knew that photos of us would hit everything from major newspapers to the biggest influencers’ TikTok accounts. I had to lookamazing. Like a successful CEO who scored a quarterback, not a friend he met for dinner.

As the stylist tied the straps at the back of my red silk dress, I wondered if Ford’s heart was racing as much as mine.

A million different ways I could mess this up were playing through my mind—each of them ending with me getting humiliated on a national stage and earning a vote of no confidence from a board swayed by a doubting fucking Thomas.

“How’s that feel?” my stylist asked.

I rolled my shoulders and then swung my arms side to side to test the fit. “It’s perfect.” I turned to her, offering a grateful smile. “How do you always find the dresses that make me look like a Kennedy?”

She chuckled. “You look better than a Kennedy.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“You look like a Kardashian.”

I had to chuckle at the compliment, which was really showing the difference in our ages. But it was nice all the same—I knew she wouldn’t compare me to the powerful, beautiful family unless she meant it. “Only because I’m dressed by you.”

She squeezed my side, then snapped at the makeup artist. “Add some bronze to that cleavage of hers.”

The makeup artist rushed over, dusting some powder over my chest that highlighted the girls without making me look obscene or overly done up.

I stared at myself in the mirror, in the red, ruched dress that gave me an hourglass appearance without being restrictive at all. She paired the dress with matte black heels, a matching black purse with everything I’d need, and diamond stud earrings. With flawless makeup and my hair in an elegant twist at the base of my neck, I felt like royalty. “Thank you, fairy godmothers.”

They both smiled at me, and I glanced at the clock on my wall. “Ford should be arriving in the limo any moment.” Zeke was driving us both to the event.

My stylist said, “I’ll clean up everything here. You go along, Cinderella.”

I smiled at her, then walked toward the private elevator. It was already waiting for me, the doors opening instantly when I pushed the button. Without pause, I stepped onto the marble floor, seeing myself in the mirrors reflecting muted light.

I couldn’t help wondering what Ford saw when he looked at me. Because even though I knew we were trying to impress everyone else, deep down, I wanted to impress him too.

The elevator dinged open, and like something out of a fairy tale, Ford waited at the back of the limo. Over our years as acquaintances, I’d seen him all types of ways—sweaty after a game, serious after a press conference, in casual jeans and T-shirts. But never had I seen him like this.

He wore a suit that fit his broad, muscled shoulders perfectly and tailored black pants that hugged his strong thighs. He leaned back casually against the limo as if he were just as comfortable there, waiting for me, as he was on the football field.

And whether he meant to or not, I saw his eyes track slowly up and down my body before his lips lifted in a grin. “Beautiful.”

With a smile, I did a spin.

He whistled, making me laugh.

Maybe that was the best and worst part of this—enjoying being around him, all the while knowing we would never be more than friends.

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