At least, Gavin is trying to play catch, even if he’s not doing a good job of it.
Brenne jogged forward until she reached them. “Why don’t you let me show you how it’s done?” she said cockily, then took up a scrimmage position. Mark smiled, called out a couple of “huts,” and then snapped back. She dashed off the line, looking back over her shoulder for the ball.
It spiraled toward her, and she caught it, then rushed down the field. She’d gotten about ten yards when she heard the thunder of her brother’s footsteps coming for her. Mark was fast, scary fast, but this wasn’t her first rodeo. When she heard him about to lunge for her, Brenne spun, starting off toward the sidelines before jigging back toward center. With fancy footwork, she made it another twenty yards before Mark grabbed her.
She surrendered the ball, laughing. Gavin ran up to her, giving her a high five. “That was really good!”
“Thanks,” she said, her face flushed with the effort and the cold. “Now let’s see if you can do it. I’ll run defense for you.”
They spent another hour running plays, and Gavin finally began to get the hang of it. In fact, by the end of their practice, he’d run a touchdown into the end zone. Brenne ran up to him with her arms out, intending to give him a high five, but he grabbed her by the waist instead, spun her around, and then kissed her.
It was the first time Gavin had kissed her, and she was caught entirely off guard. It wasn’t unpleasant, and she was surprised at his level of skill. Gavin broke it off, taking a step back and searching her expression.
She wished she could have melted into his arms, but when his lips were on hers, all she could think was that they weren’t Alex’s lips. Damn you, Alexander Parsons. Are you going to curse me for the rest of my life?
Brenne gave him a shy smile and looked away as Mark joined them in the end zone. “Good play,” he said, shaking Gavin’s hand. “If you ever get tired of running one of the biggest companies in the world, you could have a career in football.”
Gavin laughed. “I’ll take that under advisement. Now how about we head to the concession stand? I heard you have a delicacy called the chocolate churro quesadilla that I have to try.”
Brenne was still trying to get the taste of the churro abomination out of her mouth when they loaded up into her father’s pickup truck to head back to the ranch. “You know, Daddy Warbucks,” she said, turning around to look at Gavin, who was occupying the back seat, “we could have played catch in the yard. You didn’t have to rent an entire stadium.”
Gavin shrugged. “Why not? It had the right kind of ambience.”
“How much did you pay to rent it?” Mark asked.
“Somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty-five thousand. It was just the three of us and the concession stand, so I saved on staffing costs.”
Brenne’s mouth dropped open. Mark started coughing heavily. When he caught his breath, he croaked out, “Pretty steep for ambience.”
“Probably not a drop in the bucket to him,” Brenne said. “So what if he spent the price of a new car on four hours of venue space?”
Gavin’s brow furrowed. “To put things in perspective, if one included all my various investments and stock options as well as my CEO salary and bonuses, you could say I make roughly five million dollars an hour. So I just spent the equivalent of less than twenty seconds’ pay.”
Brenne and Mark looked at each other. She swallowed, not sure how to respond. She wasn’t even sure if she could respond, since her mouth had gone dry. “I guess when you put it that way…” Mark began, then trailed off, at a loss for how to finish.
“When you put it that way,” Brenne filled in, knowing she couldn’t let the awkward moment continue, “you got an absolute bargain.”
Gavin smiled, then slid forward to put a hand on her shoulder. “I know your brother is the star athlete, but you played pretty well yourself, Miss Brenne.” He’d picked up the southern affectation of adding Miss before a woman’s name, but it just didn’t sound right when it came out of his mouth.
Because you’re used to Alex’s molasses sweet drawl, an inner voice put forth. She ignored it and answered his question. “I’ve been around the game all my life. All my brothers played football, except Jack.”
“What does Jack do?” Gavin asked.
“He cracks jokes,” Mark volunteered. “He’s always been more of a cut-up than an athlete. While most of us brothers manhandle each other during our own football games, Jack stands on the sidelines and heckles us.”
“Unlike the other MacAllens, Jack has an artist’s soul,” Brenne said, making Mark chuckle. “He paints and draws and whittles little shapes out of wood. He’s really quite good.”
“I would like to see your brother’s art,” Gavin said.
“He doesn’t really show it around,” Mark explained. “He got a four-year agricultural degree to please my parents, and although he knows his way around the ranch, he’s not a natural farmer. So he snuck away to art school. My parents didn’t even know about it until he failed to intercept one of his grade reports.”
“He got a scholarship,” Brenne filled in. “And he found a way to attend classes and still cover his chores at the ranch. Jack has natural talent, but it’s hard to start a serious art career out in the middle of nowhere.”
“I imagine you’re correct. I’ve yet to see an art gallery in Whiskey River,” Gavin said, scratching his chin. The rest of the drive back to the ranch, they talked about the other things that were missing in their tiny town. Although she could live without most things, Brenne said she did miss a movie theater and that driving forty minutes to the closest cinema was a pain in the behind. Mark voted for a sports complex.
“I find myself missing Thai food,” Gavin said. “My diet has never been so beef heavy.”
“Welcome to Texas,” Brenne said with a smile.
They finally arrived back on the ranch. “You staying for supper again tonight?” Mark asked as they climbed out of the truck.
“If you will have me,” Gavin replied politely.
Mark nodded. “I’ll let Mama May know.”
She and Gavin were left alone in the yard, and Brenne was suddenly nervous. She’d always felt comfortable around the billionaire, but now that he’d kissed her, things felt different. This is a good thing, she told herself. This moves the plan forward. He likes you, and that was the whole point. Now you just need to stay the course and convince him to move his company elsewhere.
She knew she should be playing into the kiss, snuggling up to him and batting her eyes at him, but Brenne couldn’t bring herself to do it. As the moment stretched between them, enough to enter awkward territory, a sudden idea popped into her mind.
“Come on, follow me.” She trudged off down the path that was a little wet and muddy thanks to the recent rains. Gavin fell into step behind her, and they walked quietly in the direction of the cabin near the lake.
Brenne opened the door, moving aside to let Gavin in. He looked around him, his eyes wide. “We’ve used this as guest space for ages, and then Jim redecorated it for a magazine spread a few years ago. It looks out of place on the farm, but not between the pages of Design Digest.”