“Stop here,” Declan says and disentangles himself from me. “I’ll be right back.”
Before I can say anything, he jumps out of the car, walks to the speaker box and talks into it. The gate begins to roll away as he joins me.
“This is all very 007 of you,” I say, my curiosity piqued.
“It’s not that dramatic,” he says with a laugh as the cab pulls through and stops at the entrance of a beautiful two-story stone house. It’s craftsman in style, spread out and simply breathtaking.
I wish I could see it in the daylight.
I can hear the ocean not far away. “Are we near the beach?”
“Yes,” Declan says with a smile after he pays the cab and leads me to the door. “This house is on cliffs that sit above the Sound.”
“Wow.”
The door swings open and a pretty, small blonde woman smiles widely. A tall, slender, tattooed man is standing right behind her. He has a sleeve that runs down over his hand and to his fingers, and I’d recognize that face anywhere.
“Hi! I’m Samantha. You must be Callie. Declan has told us a lot about you. This is my husband—”
“Leo Nash,” I reply for her and feel myself blush. “Sorry. I’m a fan.”
“And I’m flattered,” Leo replies and shakes my hand. “Hey, Dec.”
“Hey,” Declan says and the two do the man-hug thing that I don’t understand in the least, as Samantha leads us all into the heart of the home: the kitchen.
“Your home is beautiful, Samantha.” I’m trying to absorb it all at once, and it’s impossible. The style is contemporary, with little pops of rustic and shabby chic thrown in here and there. The combination is both homey and eye-catching.
“Thanks. You can call me Sam,” she says with a grin. “We just finished building it about a year ago. I think we just about have it the way we want it.”
I nod, just as the doorbell rings, and rather than waiting for someone to answer it, the door is opened. “Hey guys! We’re here.”
“Oh good,” Sam says and all I can do is pray to God that I don’t have the stupid dog look on my face. Because Will Montgomery just walked through that door.
“Will, this is the friend I told you about, Declan Boudreaux,” Leo says. “And his girlfriend, Callie.”
“It’s good to meet you both,” Will says, shaking our hands. “This is my wife, Meg.”
I shake myself out of my stupor to see a beautiful redhead standing next to him. She’s rocking a boho chic style of clothing that I wish with all my might I could pull off. She also has tats on her arm, and she’s smiling kindly.
“I’m not a cook,” Sam warns us all as we congregate in the kitchen. “I didn’t want to risk killing any of you, so I ordered in from Palomino downtown.”
“And I picked up some cupcakes from Nic’s bakery,” Leo adds. “I helped.”
“Yes, you were an integral part of the process,” Sam says and rolls her eyes.
“Nic is our sister in law,” Will-mother-fucking-Montgomery informs me. “She owns a bakery in Seattle. And I hope you got a lot of them because I’m hungry as hell.”
“You’re always hungry,” Meg says and shakes her head. “Feeding him is the same as feeding a third-world country.”
“Best cupcakes in the world,” Sam says as she pulls warming dishes out of the oven and sets everything out in her gourmet kitchen buffet-style.
“I like your jersey,” Will says to me with a smile. “Except the wrong name is on the back.”
I’m beginning to relax now, not exactly sure how I feel about having dinner with a rock star and a football hero, but at least I can breathe.
Kind of.
“No, it’s not,” I reply and link my fingers with Declan’s as I lean against the kitchen island.
“It doesn’t say Montgomery,” Will says, as if I’m slow.
“No. It doesn’t. Sanders is my favorite player,” I reply with a laugh.
“What?” He covers his heart, as though he’s been stabbed and is dying a slow death. “This hurts.”
“Sanders is an excellent running back, and when you managed to throw the ball at someone on your own team today, he’s the one that ran it in for a touchdown.”
Silence descends on the room for several long seconds, and then everyone, including Will, busts up laughing.
“I like her,” Sam says, wiping tears from the corner of her eye. “She can stay.”
“Well, despite the abuse you’re slinging at me, I had the team sign the game ball for you today.” He jogs over to the entryway and returns with the ball, then passes it to me.
“Wow, thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Declan said you’re a big fan, so I thought I’d send you back to New Orleans with something special.”
“Thank you.” I grin, turning the ball in my hands, looking at all the signatures. Then I surprise even myself when I throw it over to Will, who catches it easily and throws it right back.
“Good arm. Looking for a job?”
“No.” I laugh and set the ball aside. “So how do you and Declan know each other?” I ask Leo. “I’m assuming it’s through music.”
“You’re right,” Leo says with a nod. “Declan helped write and produce several songs on a few of our albums.”
“Wow.” Stop saying wow. My gaze turns to Declan, who’s watching me with happy hazel eyes. “Impressive.”
“Hasn’t he told you who he’s worked with?” Meg asks, while loading up a plate. “I used to play with Leo, before Nash went nuts. He’s my brother. Well,” she clarifies with a shrug, “the closest thing I have to a brother anyway.”
“Who have you worked with?” I ask Declan, who just shakes his head.
“Lots of people.”
“Okay, he’s being modest,” Leo says with a grin. “I’ll tell you. He works with us, but he’s also worked with Bruce Springsteen, Adele, Coldplay, just to name a few.”
My eyes are trained on Declan, who won’t meet my gaze. If I’m not mistaken, he’s blushing.
He’s embarrassed.
“That’s something to be proud of,” I murmur and kiss his shoulder. “What do you do, Meg?”
Taking the focus off of Declan makes him relax, and I learn that Meg is a nurse at the children’s hospital and Sam is a magazine editor.
I love, love, that these women are married to important, wealthy men, but have maintained their own careers, their own identities. I have a lot of respect for Sam and Meg.
Dinner is delicious, but I can’t eat much. I’m too nervous and excited to eat. After dinner, Meg, Leo and Declan wander into the sunroom/music room off the kitchen to play songs and talk music.
Sam, Will and I are cleaning up from dinner, which is easy given that dishes go in the dishwasher and the food just needs to be recovered and put in the fridge. We take our cupcakes, Will grabs four of them—grumbling when Meg yells out that he can’t have six because other people want to eat them too—some coffee, and sit in the living room. We can hear the music and murmurs from the next room, but we can still talk.
“How did you meet him?” Sam asks right away and bites into a lemon cupcake.
“I own the bar that he plays in a few nights a week,” I reply and take a bite of my own chocolate cupcake, and just about die in ecstasy. “Oh my God, these are so good.”
“Best ever,” Sam agrees. “Nic is a genius when it comes to cake.”
“Nic is my new favorite person,” I say as I stuff the rest in my mouth, not even caring that I’m not by myself.
Will smiles proudly. “Atta girl.”
“I was just teasing earlier,” I say to him and shift in my seat. “You played a good game today. I really am a Seattle fan.”
“It’s okay, Callie. I played like shit today. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Oh?” Sam asks with a raised brow. I’m still not sure how Sam and Will are connected, except through Leo and Meg, but something tells me that it goes deeper than that.
“Everything is perfect, and I’ll fill you in in just a bit.”
“Okay.” Sam nods and sips her coffee.
“Okay, I have to ask, and forgive me for being rude, but I am dying to know how all of you know each other. I mean, I know Meg said that she and Leo grew up together, but you’ve also mentioned a sister-in-law Nic.”