Match Me If You Can (Chicago Stars #6)(74)

“Could I have just a little privacy here, dude?” She cupped her hand around his small head.

Annabelle took a gulp from her iced tea glass. Molly deserved everything good that had happened to her, and Annabelle didn’t begrudge her any of it, but she wanted those things, too: a great marriage, beautiful children, a fabulous career. Heath took a seat next to her on the glider. Since he was leaving soon, he’d opted for iced tea with the women instead of beer with the men.

“A bee!” Pippi exclaimed, pointing at the floor. “Look, Pwinz, a bee!”

“It’s an ant, honey,” her father said.

The men began talking about training camp, and Janine announced that she wanted to run an idea for a scene in her new book past the women. Danny finished his snack, and Molly set him on the floor to play. She’d just finished putting her clothes back together when a too familiar voice chirped from the path outside the gazebo. “There you all are.”

Annabelle froze.

Everyone turned to watch through the screen as a tall, lovely, pregnant woman come toward them.

Annabelle couldn’t believe it. Not now. Not while she was still trying to cope with last night’s disaster.

“Gwen?” Krystal’s face split in a smile. She jumped to her feet as the door opened, and the rest of them followed.

“Gwen! What are you doing here?”

“We thought you couldn’t come.”

“We’re leaving today. Why did you wait till so late?”

“You’re finally wearing maternity clothes.”

And then, one by one, the women fell silent as the implications of Gwen’s appearance hit them. Molly looked stricken. She turned to gaze at Annabelle, then at Heath. The other women were only a few beats behind. Dan’s calculating expression indicated that Phoebe had told him about Annabelle’s scam, but the rest of the men were oblivious.

Kevin snatched up his beer as Pippi made a grab for it. “Gwen called me yesterday to make sure we had room,” he said with a grin. “She wanted to surprise you.”

And did she ever.

“Where’s your husband?” Webster asked.

“He’ll be along in a second.” With the women surrounding her, Gwen still hadn’t spotted Heath, who’d come slowly to his feet. “Our closing got postponed,” she said, accepting the glass of iced tea Sharon handed her. Annabelle was too queasy to take in much of her explanation—something about a problem with the bank, their furniture going into short-term storage, and a week to kill before they could move in.

“Hey, guys.” Ian stepped into the gazebo. He wore wrinkled plaid shorts and a Dell Computer T-shirt. The men called out greetings. Darnell slapped him on the back, sending him pitching into Kevin, who clasped him around the shoulders.

“You haven’t met my agent yet.” Kevin drew him past the women. “Ian, this is Heath Champion.”

Ian’s extended arm froze. Gwen drew in a quick breath, and her hand shot to her rounding stomach. She stared, first at Heath, then at Annabelle.

Annabelle managed a weak smile. “Busted.”

Heath shook Ian’s stalled hand without giving anything away, but Annabelle knew sudden death when she saw it.

“Nice to meet you, Ian,” he said. “And, Gwen…Good to see you again.” He nodded in the general direction of her stomach. “Fast work. Congratulations.”

Gwen simply swallowed. Annabelle felt Heath’s fingers coil around her upper arm. “Would you excuse us? Annabelle and I need to talk.”

Just like that, the book club sprang into action. “No!”

“Don’t move!”

“You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“Forget it.”

Heath’s expression was a cluster bomb about to detonate. “I’m afraid I’ll have to insist.”

Kevin looked puzzled. “What’s going on?”

“Business.” Heath marched Annabelle toward the screen door. If she’d tossed a sweater over her head, it would have been a bona fide perp walk.

Molly shot ahead of them. “I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Heath said flatly. “You’re not.”

Krystal shot Phoebe a frantic look. “You scare everybody in the NFL. Do something?”

“I’m thinking.”

“I know…” Molly grabbed her daughter and thrust her toward Annabelle. “Take Pip with you.”

“Molly!” Phoebe shot forward in outrage.

Molly regarded her sister helplessly. “How rough can he get if he has a three-year-old watching?”

Phoebe snatched her niece out of harm’s way. “Never mind, sweetheart. Mommy’s having one of her crazy spells.”

Gwen made a faint, fluttery motion with her hand. “Annabelle, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

Annabelle managed a shrug. “Not your problem. I brought this on myself.”

“Exactly,” Heath said. And then he steered her out the door.



They walked without speaking for several minutes. Finally they reached a grove of trees, and that was where he turned on her. “You conned me.”

More than once if she counted this morning, but she hoped he hadn’t figured that out. “I needed a sure bet to get you to sign the contract, and Gwen was the best I had. I promise, I was going to tell you the truth sooner or later. I hadn’t worked up the nerve.”