Page 1 of Catching Coy
Chapter One
Coy Jones, 27
Charleston, South Carolina
Shooting Guard for the Denver Mountaineers
“Nico is going to kill me because … I’m already in love. First day.”
* * *
It was the dimplesthat did Coy in. Two of them, pressed into the woman’s cheeks as she grinned and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Bellamy. Welcome to the Ranch House.”
Her smile had him smiling back, and relief over this whole experience, the fact that he’d let Nico talk him into finding love on a reality TV show—it settled through him as he stared at her and got a little lost in her blue eyes. He’d binge-watched a few seasons ofThe Catchover the last couple months, preparing to do it himself, and he’d made fun of every single person who insisted that they’d known from the minute they met. He took it all back.
She—Bellamy—gently tugged her hand away from Coy’s and tilted her head, tucking a piece of her wavy, shoulder length brown hair behind her ear. “Um? Mr. Jones?”
“Coy,” he corrected. Heat crept into his face at how transparent he’d just been, another thing he’d scoffed at on the screen. The way some contestants made it so obvious how they felt. Come on, this was all a game, and they needed to play things better if they wanted to win. “Is this cheating? I thought I couldn’t meet any of the women until the big thing tomorrow at the gym.”
Bellamy laughed, her own cheeks growing pink. “I’m not … Um, no. I’m not going to be on the show. I’m the manager of the Ranch House.” She gave him a good-natured grimace. “I’m just here to show you down to the house you’ll be staying at and then make sure you’re fed and all that.”
Coy’s eyes widened. Yeah, Nico was definitely going to kill him. Coy put his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rocked backward on his heels. “That is really unfortunate. Seriously.”
She folded one hand over her stomach and tapped her lips with a finger. “Yeah, charmer. I can see why they chose you. You’ll do great with this.”
He couldn’t help laughing. “I doubt that. I’m much better at playing on the court than in something like this.”
She moved her finger away from her lips—it took Coy a second to drag his gaze from there as well—and waved her hand. “Eh.” She winked and held out a hand back toward the door he’d just come through. “Let me show you where you’ll be staying.” She walked past him, only glancing back to see if he’d follow, which he did, of course.
They met his assistant, Zane, as they came back out on the porch. “You must be Bellamy,” he said, holding out a hand. Coy couldn’t help scowling at him. Why hadn’t Zane clued Coy in on who Bellamy was? Coy could have backed out of this long ago and driven up to take this girl out without all the crazy he was about to step into finding love on reality TV. “Zane Campbell,” he said, introducing himself. “Coy’s assistant.”
“Good to meet you in person, Zane.” She grinned back, which made Coy jealous. “I was just going to take Coy over to the house he’s staying in. She chewed on her lip. “I forgot to clear this up—are you with the crew here at the Ranch House or with Coy?”
Zane turned to his boss. “With him. I’m not sure he knows how to feed himself.” He and Bellamy laughed.
“Now, now.” Coy held up a hand, rolling his eyes at his best friend. They’d met playing basketball at Arizona State. “I can make toast and pour a glass of milk.”
Bellamy glanced between the two of them. “I see what you mean,” she said to Zane. “Luckily, I’m here. I won’t be staying in the house with you, but I will be feeding you breakfast most days. And no one turns down my cooking.” She smirked and headed off the steps, walking toward a side-by-side ATV parked in front of the SUV that Zane and Coy had arrived in.
“Do you guys want a ride?” She pointed to it. “Or follow me down?”
“You go with Bellamy,” Zane said to Coy. “I’ll bring the car down. I still need to call Agnes and confirm the schedule for tomorrow.” He waved them on and got back in the SUV. It was another one of those moments Coy was glad that Zane took care of all this stuff. He’d been on the phone when Coy had first arrived at the Ranch House, leaving him to go inside alone, meet the woman of his dreams and discover that she was not supposed to be the woman of his dreams.
“Hop in.” She gestured to the passenger side as she opened the door for the driver’s side and got in.
Coy folded himself inside the vehicle, pulling his knees up and making Bellamy giggle. He turned and caught sight of the dimples again and lost pretty much the rest of his heart. He’d better keep this to himself. Contracts and Nico said he had to find love among eight women they were introducing him to tomorrow.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “The ride is short.” She nodded down the road to a gabled, white-brick house with a wrap-around porch. She started the side-by-side and punched it out of the drive, whipping Coy’s head back and making her laugh again. He couldn’t see the dimples, but just the laugh made a thousand basketballs bounce around inside his chest, excitement pounding right along to the beat.
“So, that’s a big guesthouse,” he called over the sound of the engine.
“It’s not a guesthouse,” she called back. “You know Taggart Dubois?”
“Of course.”
“That’s his wife’s house. Well, his too now, I guess.” Bellamy laughed again. “Anyway, they’re on tour right now so it works out.”
“And that one?” He pointed to another house further down the road, similar in architecture, but two stories rather than the sprawling ranch style house Bellamy pulled up in front of.
