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  “Autographs are part of his contract, he shouldn’t be avoiding them.” The man says quietly.

  “Now, how long do we need to let this relationship go on?” my father asks.

  What? What is he talking about? He has no say in what I do with my relationships.

  “Long enough to make him look good. You really came through on the suggestion to hook them up together. He’s stayed out of trouble and it’s been less of a headache to have to clean up after him.”

  I can’t believe that I’m hearing this.

  “Well, I’m glad that it’s working.”

  “Did the first meeting happen like we planned it?” The other man asks.

  “According to her guards, yes. They had put the word in the organizers ear to team them together. I was told that they had great interaction and were seen laughing throughout the entire time they were working together. The news crew there also caught some great candid shots. Then with you bringing him to the dinner event, I think that was icing on the cake. It sealed the deal and let them think it was fate.”

  “That’s excellent.” I hear the other man say, and a clap echoes through the room.

  “We need to get a timeline together for the future of their relationship. You want to have his image even cleaner, well I want more positive light brought to my family. Since I’m up for re-election soon, I think a good angle can include him. And makes me continue with the family man image, especially if I’m welcoming to my daughter’s boyfriend.”

  “I think that we can work something out. Let’s sync calendars and come up with a list of events leading up to re-election. Maybe make this thing last through the season, the kids seem to like one another enough.”

  “Yeah, but what if they fizzle out like so many relationships do?” My dad asks.

  Really? Is my entire relationship with Grant fake? My father is in on it, whoever this guy, who obviously works for his team is in on it. Does that mean that Grant is in on it too?

  I fight the urge to barge into the library and yell at my dad and this other guy. But a part of me is a little embarrassed for falling for this whole scheme that they concocted. I fell right into it and had no idea that it was happening.

  What is real anymore?

  Instead I turn around and head back to my bedroom and slam the door. I grab my phone and pull up my texts with Grant.

  Me: I’m not feelin so hot, Gotta cancel date 2nite.

  I watch the bubbles pop up, dance and then they stop.

  Grant: I hope you feel better. Call me later?

  I put the phone back down on my bed as I sit at the end. I want to cry, but I know that crying would be pointless. What would I be crying for?

  Oh, the fact that my relationship with Grant is a complete sham? Or that my dad is playing the puppet master?

  I hear a knock on my door, calm myself and take a deep breath. “Come in.”

  My father appears in the doorway.

  “Is everything Okay sweetie, I thought I heard a door slam.”

  I control my breathing and while every inch of me wants to blow up at him with what I overheard, I decide against it.

  I need to sit on the information for a few days. Then figure out, somehow whether or not Grant is a part of their plan.

  “I’m fine Daddy, I was on my way downstairs, but before I even got to the stairs, my phone rang. I ran back and the door must have carried with me as I ran in.”

  He looks me over but doesn’t say anything.

  “Very well, just wanted to make sure that everything was okay. I will be attending a lecture this evening with your mother. Will you be okay for dinner?”

  “Of course, Daddy.” I say to him.

  How can he look so undisturbed that he’s been lying to me for weeks? When he’s been pulling the strings and running my life for me. I force another smile.

  “You sure that you’re okay?” he asks.

  “Yes, I’m good.” I nod and force another smile for good measure.

  “Very well,” he closes the door and I fall back on the bed and squeeze my eyes shut.

  Is my relationship the result of one of my father’s business deals?

  Chapter 20

  Grant

  It’s been a couple of days and it would appear that Emily is ignoring me. I don’t think I did anything wrong, so I’m confused. I’ve reached out to her a few times and have received silence in return.

  I’m confused. Is this how relationships happen? A chick gets pissed off and then ghosts the dude? I have no idea what happens in a relationship, since it’s been so long since I’ve had anything resembling a relationship. But I know that this is not how people communicate.

  I pull up to the back alley behind her house and pull out my phone to send her a text.

  Me: I’m parked in the back of your house. Please come out and talk to me.

  I wait a few minutes and finally see the dancing bubbles.

  Em: Ok.

  I sit in my truck for what feels like an eternity before she comes out of the gate and when she does, her beauty strikes me, just as it always does. She’s wearing shorts, a plain gray sweatshirt and her hair is in a simple ponytail as she slides into the passenger seat of the truck. She makes my stomach do flips each time I see her. And by the look of caution on her face, a part of me is truly worried.

  I turn my body towards her and smile as she sits in the passenger seat.

  “Hi there stranger.” I say.

  “Hey.” She says softly.

  “What’s with the cold shoulder?” I ask gently getting down to business.

  “Cold shoulder?” She averts her eyes.

  “If you don’t want to be with me anymore, just tell me. I’m a big boy and I don’t want to play games.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything.” I reply honestly.

  “Are you in cahoots with my father?”

  “Why would I be in cahoots with you dad?” I ask her with confusion.

  “Something to do with the team and his re-election?” she asks. “Ringing any bells?”

  I hold up my hands, “I swear. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is this why you have been ghosting me?”

  “I haven’t been ghosting you per se, I’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.” I shake my head.

  She takes a deep breath and leans back against the seat. “The other day, I overheard my father and who I am assuming is the Seahawks owner talking about setting us up together. Every time we saw one another at the beginning, it was a planned outing.”

  “So, it wasn’t just pure luck that we were seated together at the charity dinner, or partnered at the food bank?” I ask feeling my stomach drop.

  “Not some serendipitous story that is one for the books.” She shakes her head.

  “What if we weren’t attracted to one another? What if I didn’t show up to those events? Or if you didn’t?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugs, “I think it’s part of whatever this image clean-up of yours is that they have going on. My mom mentioned before that you had a bad image and then it’s changed since we’ve started dating.”

  “I guess so. But why wouldn’t you have outright asked me if I was involved in any of this before assuming so right away? You know that I will be honest with you.”

  “I don’t know. But now what does that all mean for us? Is our relationship real?” She looks down at her hands in her lap.

  “Why would it be anything but?” I ask. “Everything that we’ve done when it’s just been us, no one else has any control over that. We’ve gone on dates, we’ve laughed, we experienced, and we…we started to fall. That’s not something that can be programmed by someone else, that’s all us, we did the falling, that was not orchestrated by anyone but us.”

  “We did?” She looks up at me asking.

  “I mean, I can’t speak for you. But yes, I’ve been falling for you hardcore. I admit that my experi
ence with being in a relationship is limited, but I know that when I see you, I’m mesmerized. I get the butterflies in my stomach and just want to constantly be touching you in some way. I know that when we talk on the phone or text, my cheeks hurt from the constant smiling. And when we kiss, when we’ve made love—I feel like I’m floating.”

  She has tears in her eyes, and she moves across the center console quickly with her fingers digging into my hair. Her lips crash down onto mine and our tongues collide.

  I pull away from her. “What’s happening?” I ask.

  “We’re making up.” She replies moving in again.

  “I don’t think we can make up if one of us wasn’t aware that we were fighting.” I say.

  “Well, then we’re just making out at the back of my parents’ house.”

  Epilogue

  Emily

  4 years later

  It didn’t take long after the initial contract terms for the Seahawks to re-sign Grant. The team made it to the playoffs his first year, got close his second year, then the final year they worked even harder, made it into the Super Bowl and got a ring.

  I opened up my first small marketing firm and catered to specifically small businesses and female entrepreneurs. I was in my second year of business and had just hired two more people to start to take the load off of me.

  Grant and I moved in together after a year of dating and today we just closed on our first home together. It’s a cute craftsman house with a large backyard and a few more bedrooms than we originally wanted.

  My father was re-elected and never found out that I heard of his putting Grant and I together. I know that ultimately, he meant well enough, and once he saw that we were in love, he didn’t do anything to purposely pull us apart. I think deep down, he started to really want me to be in the relationship with Grant, and not once did he display that he wasn’t happy for us, or that he didn’t like him.

  Grant and I still attend a lot of charity functions, after all with his team commitments, and my side of the family, philanthropy is now part of our normal routine, we are partners through and through.

  Some days are harder than others, when he’s out of town and I’m feeling needy, but he makes up for it with his ravenous appetite when he returns.

  My long hair is in braids and I’m fiddling with one end of a braid when Grant finally gets out of the truck. He places an arm around my shoulder and the other on my swollen belly as we look up at our newest purchase.

  “Are you ready?” He asks.

  “You have the keys?” I look up at him. He pulls them out of his pocket and wiggles them in front of my face. I take them and start waddling up the sidewalk to our new front porch.

  “The moving truck will be here in about an hour. But there’s a surprise inside.” Grant tells me as I fit the front door key into the lock.

  I look back at him with a smile. “A naked surprise?”

  “My god woman, get sex off your mind!” He acts embarrassed by my guess, even though he loves my insatiable appetite for sex.

  I push the door open and step inside.

  The open space is just as I remembered it. There’s a large kitchen with a breakfast bar and French doors leading out to a pool in the backyard and some green space. I look at Grant and he points up the stairs.

  I waddle as fast as I can to the staircase and make my way upstairs. Every room is open, except the room that we were designating for the baby has a closed door.

  Grant moves in front of me and kisses my cheek.

  “I hope you like it, babe.” He opens the door and bright light fills the entry way.

  The crib is set up in center of the wall with a mural of a football field with a mixture of football helmets, jerseys, and footballs with letters spelling out Logan above the crib.

  Little clothing is folded neatly on the dresser with Seahawk’s attire and a rocking chair holds the teddy bear that I had as a baby.

  I look over to Grant who stands at the doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

  “How did you get this?” I point to the chair.

  “Your mom may have helped me put all this together.” He shrugs sheepishly.

  “But I thought we just got the keys today?”

  “We got the keys a few days ago. I just let you think we got them today to give me time to put Logan’s room together. I wanted this to be the last thing that you had to worry about.”

  “You’re so good to me.” I reach up his neck and pull his head down to kiss me. As we deepen the kiss, Grant’s arm moves up my side and he cups my breast.

  I feel a stirring in my tummy then wetness slides down my legs.

  “Um, Grant?” I say breaking the kiss and pulling away to look down at my feet.

  “Yeah?” He says quietly nipping at my ear.

  “I think we’re having a baby.”

  “Yeah, I think we both already knew that.” He laughs.

  “No, I think we are having a baby right now.” I pull his chin to look down and point at the puddle of grossness at my feet.

  “Okay, so just to be sure, you didn’t just pee, right?”

  “That’s baby juice.”

  “Gross. I mean crap. Okay. Let’s um—get you to the car?”

  “Did all those baby classes just go out the door?” I hide my laughter at his sudden panic.

  “I am fully in control, we are good.” He nods with a crazed look.

  “Okay. Where’s my travel bag?” I ask.

  “Travel bag? Babe, the moving truck won’t be here for another forty-five minutes.” He starts pacing in the bedroom.

  “Slow down there. Don’t pull out your rookie moves now, we trained for this. There is a bag stuffed in the back of each of our cars. Go look behind my seat and meet me in the master bathroom. I need to clean this up and shower before we head to the hospital.”

  “Bag in truck. Shower. Okay.” I shake my head as he bolts out of the house. I look around the baby’s room and spot a spit up cloth and use it to wipe up the floor.

  I take my time and remove my clothing then jump in the shower. The warm water hits my skin and is so soothing that I just stand there with the warmth hitting my lower back as a contraction hits.

  A few minutes later, Grant comes into the bathroom and drops the bag on the toilet seat.

  “Okay, stupid question, aren’t you afraid of the baby falling out? We should go to the hospital, right?”

  “I just need to clean up and then we’ll go. The baby won’t fall out, my contractions are far apart. We’re good.” I say as a small contraction hits.

  “How are you so calm? How come I’m panicking? Oh my God, I should be the calm one, what is happening?” he mumbles to himself.

  “Can you hand me the towel that is in the bag? Should be towards the bottom of it.” I ask shutting off the water.

  He bends and retrieves the towel then puts it in my waiting hand.

  “Okay. I’m going to call the doctor and tell him we’re on the way, you get dressed. Oh wait, do you need help? Are you okay? Squeeze your legs together and keep our son in there until we get to the hospital.”

  I laugh and shake my head. Grant walks out of the bedroom and down the hallway, as I finish getting dressed. I zip up my bag and hold it out to Grant.

  “Ready?” I ask him knowing that by the look on his face, he’s anything but ready. In fact, it looks like he is about to freak out.

  He takes a deep breath.

  “I’m ready. Game on,” he holds out his hand.

  “Game on. You got this, Rookie.”

  The Quick Snap Novella Collection

  To learn more about The Quick Snap Novella Collection, click here: https://www.ladybosspress.com/quick-snap

  Acknowledgments

  Where do I begin with this?

  I think that writing this book was one of my most favorite experiences, because I got to explore anothers world. Thank you, Kristen Proby for letting me into this world and for how uplifting and supportive you are.


  Thank you to my tribe, Jess, Maren, Shay & Mary for in one way or another supporting me. Each of you ladies play a role in my life, and without each and everyone of you, I would have given up long ago.

  Thank you to my husband, who doesn’t complain as I spend my weekends writing, and even answered some of my football questions.

  And most of all, to the readers. Thank you for loving me and for asking for more.

  Also By Tarrah Anders

  The Neighborhood Series

  Your Neighborhood Bartender

  Your Neighborhood Bastard

  Your Neighborhood Vixen

  Your Neighborhood Convict

  Your Neighborhood Chef

  Your Neighborhood Cowgirl

  Your Neighborhood Biker

  Your Neighborhood Manager

  Your Neighborhood Regular

  Your Neighborhood Legend

  The Neighborhood Series Boxset

  THE MELTED SERIES

  Frozen Over | FROZE | Freezing

  The Night Moves Series

  STRIPPED | The Night Manager | Tapped

  The Night moves Boxset with missing scenes

  STANDALONES

  New Year, New You

  The Brute

  Summer Fling

  CLUTCH Endgame

  Change of Scenery

  More than Friends

  No More Heartache

  Fly Girl (Girl Power Romance Collection)

  Speakeasy – StorybookPub

  What Happens in Vegas

  What Happens in Miami

  About the Author

  Tarrah Anders is a contemporary romance author who is all about the feels, with the twists of sexy mixed in between. Writing has always been a passion and Tarrah loves to share her words, her characters and the world that they live in with her readers. Tarrah enjoys creating characters that you can be friends with, so get ready to make some new friends.