“Tell me which teddy bears turned into wolves and I’ll happily kick some ass,” Levi promised. His teammates wouldn’t get away with disrespecting women while he was around.
“Don’t worry about the Knights,” Piper assured him. “They’re perfect gentlemen.”
No, they aren’t, Levi thought. His fellow football players were human, just like everyone else. Good guys, for the most part, they made mistakes, occasionally behaved like jackasses, and when pushed, could use their fists before their brains.
However, Levi didn’t want to shatter Piper’s illusions. And even if he did, there was a code. What happened between teammates, stayed between teammates.
“I understand reason number one,” he said rather than throw out meaningless platitudes. “What’s number two?”
“My mother.” With a groan, Piper’s forehead landed on the bar. “Other people’s weddings are like a dagger to her heart. A reminder that her only daughter is over thirty and single. Not that she doesn’t harp on the fact the rest of the time. But days like today are her chance to ramp up the guilt trip.”
“How does she find out?” Levi asked. “I assume you don’t tell her every time a friend becomes engaged.”
“You’ve heard of a nose for news?” Piper rubbed her temples. “My mother’s superpower is her ability to sniff out even a hint of a marriage ceremony. Then, she shoves the first available man at me because a woman needs an escort.”
The solution to Piper’s problem seemed simple.
“Tell her you already have a date,” Levi said.
“You poor, poor deluded man.” She sighed. “Since you’re lucky enough to say you’ve never met my mother, I’ll let your naiveté pass just this once.”
“How would she know?”
“She has eyes everywhere,” Piper said.
“Come on,” he scoffed, certain she exaggerated.
“If I don’t miss my guess, she already has a picture of you. By morning, she’ll know your name, profession, and estimated annual income.” Piper looked him up and down. “Handsome, though not my type. Good build. You know how to wear a suit. Custom-tailored?”
“Yes.” Levi glanced at his jacket and frowned. Under her perusal, he suddenly felt the need to sit up straight and barely checked the desire to raise a hand to see if his sandy blond hair was combed. “What difference does—"
“Mom would love you.” Piper brightened as her mood seemed to perk up in an instant. “Holy, moly. I just figured out a solution to my problem.”
“Which one?” Levi asked with a smirk.
Piper ignored his comment as she continued to give him the once over.
“Bear with me,” she said. “Repeat what I just said.”
“You think I’m handsome.”
“Not that,” she said with a dismissive wave. “The last part. My mom would love you.”
“And…?” he asked, not certain he wanted to know.
“Date me.” Before Levi could refuse—or agree—Piper continued in a flurry of words. “Not real dating. Just for show. And not just weddings. Anytime I need a no-strings-attached escort, you can be my backup.”
Levi winced. Backup? Without trying, Piper hit a nerve. He should be immune—he wasn’t. No matter how much time passed. No matter how accustomed he became to standing on the sidelines while another quarterback led the team. No matter how thick his skin became. Now and then an unexpected jab snuck past his defenses and hit home.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Piper said when Levi didn’t answer. “Our arrangement won’t be one-sided. When you need a faux date, give me a call.”
“You’ll be my backup?” The idea was novel enough to bring an ironic smile to Levi’s lips. “I haven’t had one of those since college.”
Misunderstanding his meaning, Piper ginned.
“You fake dated in college? Then you’re an old pro.”
“Practically ancient,” Levi muttered. At least in football years. Rather than launch a lengthy, sad story explanation, Levi didn’t correct Piper’s assumption.
“We can hash out the particulars later.” She bubbled with enthusiasm. “Deal?”
Without thinking, Levi shook Piper’s hand. Why not? He could think of worse things than to spend his free time with a beautiful, interesting, dynamic woman.
“You need a backup?” he asked. “I’m your man.”
CHAPTER ONE
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SUNDAYS WERE THE best. Slow and easy. Mellow. Lowkey. Peaceful. No running around. No answering the phone every five seconds. No deadlines. No pressure.
If perfect existed outside a private tropical island, Sundays came as close as Piper could imagine.
Of course, she mused, everyone’s idea of perfection was different. Other than the sundrenched beach of her dreams, she found her happy place in numbers. From the time Piper was a little girl, she could always count on the non-shakable absolutes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.
Piper’s homelife always seemed to be in a state of flux. Her parents' never-ending bickering, threats of divorce, reconciliations. Her brothers’ obnoxious superiority complexes. The general ups and downs of adolescence, puberty, and the terrifying/exciting spurt toward adulthood. She’d needed a source of stability. To calm her brain, she used mathematics. To soothe her soul, she had a secret weapon—her best friend, Darcy Stratham.
Not that Darcy didn’t have her flaws. One rather conspicuous flaw. If numbers were Piper’s salvation, football was Darcy’s religion, her first love, and her obsession all rolled into one.
For a woman who couldn’t care less about any sport, having a best friend who lived and breathed all things football, Piper was often bemused to realize how much secondhand knowledge she’d acquired despite herself.
Though Piper would never call herself a dyed in the wool fan, she couldn’t help but have a rooting interest in her city’s NFL team, the Seattle Knights. How could she not? Her best friend was the team’s new general manager. On top of that, Darcy had recently become engaged to Joshua McClain, the Knights’ first-year head coach. Connection after connection.
Plus, thanks to a guiding hand from the Knights’ owner, Riley Preston, in the past five years, Piper’s fledgling accounting business had gone from barely squeaking by to a healthy, thriving enterprise.
Piper shook her head and smiled. Football, like it or not, had become a huge part of her life, both professionally and personally. While her list of clients continued to grow, somehow the men who arrived needing financial advice became her friends, her family. Her teddy bears.
Propping her feet onto her desk, Piper leaned back in her chair and let out a contented sigh. Her life had far surpassed the dreams she harbored while working in Baltimore as a grunt accountant in someone else’s firm. She’d paid her dues. Suffered and endured touchy-feely bosses, male counterparts taking credit for her work, and women coworkers who started rumors that claimed she slept her way to every promotion because they resented her drive and ambition.