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“Ask Dee out.” Wyatt looked at his watch and started combing his hair with his fingers. “Now’s as good a time as any. Go get the girl and get out of here so I can have my breathing treatment with Tina alone. I’ve got a shot to shoot and I can’t with your sad mug sulking in here.”
Booker clapped Wyatt on the shoulder and left him to wait for Tina, hoping as he closed the door that good fortune would find them both when it came to females.
Chapter Ten
Dee
As the game started, Dee drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs full of the Florida night air. After being in the emergency department for a total of five hours the outside oxygen tasted sweeter. With Elijah and Booker refusing to leave her side for the last two hours of her observation the cubicle of a room had been suffocating.
Especially with the side glances Booker had been sliding her and Elijah’s smirks that followed. Her son had gone full fan boy for five minutes after Booker had returned from seeing Wyatt but the new quickly wore off and the two of them settled into a football conversation. The dialogue didn’t take long to turn from the punch on Perry to the scouts who would be watching Elijah later that night. The topic led to Booker’s insistence of driving both Elijah and Dee to the game once the doctor had cleared her to walk on crutches.
The ride to the stadium had been filled mostly with music from Eli’s phone. Her son had perfected his gameday playlist early last season and superstition dictated he had to listen to it. Booker didn’t bat an eye at her boy’s request. With a firm nod, he relinquished the reins to the speakers willingly after hearing about the eleven-game win streak Elijah had stretched out.
“There’s the scout.” Booker scooted closer and nudged her shoulder.
Dee surveyed the crowd, landing her sights on a man wearing a windbreaker and a lanyard brandishing the Sacred Valley University logo. Though the school was a few states north of Florida, she recognized the logo immediately thanks to a pennant in Eli’s room. Her son had a real shot at playing ball on the college level—a shot that started with the man five rows from them.
A surge of pride shot through her, making her reach out and grab Booker’s forearm in excitement. “I can’t believe they’re here for my son. My son!”
A smile split her face as she turned back to face her boss. She expected his eyes to be glued to the field, but, instead, she found his gaze fixed on her. With a smile as bright as the stadium lights, he gently patted her hand. “He seems like a good kid.”
“Thank you.” Dee nodded and released Booker. Why had she grabbed him like that? He was her boss, not her date. As her cheeks warmed, she looked back out over the field to hide her embarrassment and started to ramble. “He is a good kid, but don’t tell him I said that. His head is big enough already. If it gets any bigger, I’ll have to buy a new helmet. This mama can’t afford that.”
When Dee realized what she’d said she clapped her hands over her mouth. Through her fingers, she began to apologize. “Oh, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Not at all. I’m happy with my salary. Truly. The pay is more than generous, sir.” She added the last word on a whisper.
Booker locked eyes with her and sandwiched her clasped hands between his. “No, sir. Tonight, we’re not here as boss and assistant. We’re friends.”
“Friends?”
“Yes, unless you want to be more than than that."
A voice rang out over the bleachers. “Branson drops back to pass, heaves one up the left side of the field, and it’s…Intercepted by number 52…Elijah Ingram! He’s turned on the jets with one man left to beat. He’s across the twenty, the fifteen, and he’s all alone now…Touchdown!”
In response to either the touchdown or what Booker had said, Dee’s heart raced to the speed her son had topped on the field and she screamed. All around her the crowd went wild. The scene mimicked her insides. Her son had scored the first points of the game in front of his scouts and Booker Watson had without a doubt been on the verge of asking her out.
Dee clapped until her palms were red and stinging. Beside her, Booker leapt to his feet pumped both fists in the air. When the applause died down, he returned to his seat, sitting so close their thighs touched. To Dee’s dismay, he did not revive the conversation. Rather, he started giving her play-by-plays of each snap until his phone began to ring. As he answered, his neck and ears pinkened as if she’d caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Strange.
Booker mumbled an excuse and cleared the bleachers within seconds. Taking advantage of her alone time, Dee gave herself a peptalk. Get it together, girl. You’re thirty, not thirteen. You’ve been asked out before. Or not asked out. Either way, you’re fine. Fine.
After a few times of repeating the last word, she felt fine, too. Better than fine as she watched Elijah deflect an endzone pass that would have tied up the game. Losing herself in clapping, she missed Booker’s return.
“Is Elijah’s school a private institution,” Booker asked as the horn for halftime sounded.
Dee nodded and pointed to the marching band storming the field. “Won state three years in a row. For football and their drumline.”
As if on cue, music started. Trumpets blared, cymbals clanked, and trombones wailed to rally the audience. People began clapping during a rendition of “Hey, Baby,” the rhythm reverberating around the stadium until the roar of a plane passing overhead broke into the song.
“Surprise,” Booker yelled, drowning out the noise of the plane and the band.
Dee tilted her skyward. What she saw made her gasp.
A purple banner reading, “Happy Birthday, Dee. Love, BW,” flew high for all to see. Her head snapped toward Booker and she whisper screamed, “Love?”
“No, no, no.” Booker stammered back, pointing at the end of the banner. “From BW, not love BW. I told them to write from.”
Dee nodded in understanding and blew a long stream of air past her lips in relief. Saying yes to a date was one thing. Saying love before the date? A whole other thing entirely, a thing she was not ready to tackle. The corrected version pushed down the panic building inside her, but did nothing to stop the somersaults in her stomach when Booker caught her by hand.
“Not saying I’m ruling love out, but I’m happy to settle for dinner after the game.” Booker rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. When Dee shivered, he repeated the action, but this time, he raised her hand up to his mouth and kissed it softly. Then, he smiled and lowered their still joined hands. “Will you join me?”
