He’d asked her out over another homemade breakfast, and Ellie had easily accepted. They were doing things a bit backward, she knew. But so what? Wasn’t it more important that they were trying to give this thing between them a go?
She sure thought so.
“Wait, what?” Cassie stopped mid-stride, nearly stumbling when Natalie bumped into her.
“You and Lucky are…” Natalie was so stunned, she could barely speak. “When? I mean…you never even…h-how did this even happen?”
“Do you really have to ask?” Cassie shot their other friend a smirk. “Think about it, Nat. You and Logan…me and Arch…”
“Ohmygod!” Natalie threw herself into Ellie’s unprepared arms. “This is so great! Lucky’s such a good guy, and I’ve always said, he just needed to find the right woman to settle his wild ass down. And you…” The woman’s brown eyes beamed with genuine happiness. “I’ve always thought you two would be perfect together.”
“You have?” Both Ellie and Cassie asked at the exact same time.
“Oh, sure.” Natalie waved their shocked expressions away. “I mean, I know he always teased you, and you always said he annoyed the hell out of you, but I also know what a big heart the guy has, and I just…” Her shoulders fell with a satisfied sigh. “Well, I just think this is the best news I’ve heard all day.”
“Really?”
Natalie went in for another hug and a soft, “Really.”
“Cass?” Ellie shot her other friend a hesitant glance. “What about you? Are you good with this?”
“Are you?”
“What do you mean?” she frowned at the unexpected question.
The woman shifted the massive garment bag from one arm to the other. “I mean, does he make you happy?”
“Oh. Um…yeah. I mean, it’s all still very new, but…” She thought about all the times he’d made her laugh over this past week and smiled. “Yes.” Ellie gave a confident nod. “He does.”
“Then that’s all that matters to me.”
“Yeah?”
Cassie nodded her pretty blonde head. “Arch might be a different story, but you let me worry about him.”
Now that comment really left her feeling puzzled. “You don’t think Archer would be okay with me dating Lucky?”
“My well-intended fiancé worries too much. And, as it comes with the territory of their profession, he’s very protective of women. Given Lucky’s reputation as a ladies’ man…you can see where he’d be a little big-brother where you’re concerned.”
Oh. That.
“Well, feel free to tell Arch he’s wrong about his teammate. Lucky’s not…” She shook her head from side to side. “He’s not really like that. I know he puts on a good front, but—”
“She’s right,” Natalie quickly came to Lucky’s defense. “I’ve known him a long time, and while he’s definitely had his fair share of women over the years, Jason’s not as big of a player as he pretends to be.”
“No.” Ellie shared a look with the other woman. “He’s not.”
“And you figured all this out in less than a week?”
With an ornery grin lifting one corner of her mouth, Ellie turned to Cassie and asked, “How long did it take for you to fall in love with Archer, again?”
“You’re inlovewith him?”
Her gaze flew to the man still standing in the wings. Crap. She’d been so caught up in her unplanned confession, she’d all but forgotten he was still there.
“That’s not what I said.” Ellie gave her head another quick shake. “But we are seeing each other, and it is exclusive. So I would really, really appreciate it if you’d stop trying to ask me out because…and I don’t mean this bad in any way, but…it’s just never going to happen, Neil. I’m sorry.”
There. She’d cut ties with the man the best way she knew how. Even so, she half-expected him to make some joke or toss out one of his lame pick-up lines. Thankfully he didn’t.