Coach Maddie and the Marine by Blaire Edens Read Free Book Online Page A

answered, the words clipped, his jaw clenched.
    Maddie’s heart went out to him. She hadn’t known about his brother dying over there.
    The crowd buzzed with chatter.
    “Hey,” he yelled over the crowd noise. “Have your boys here on time for the next practice. We’re playing catch-up since yesterday’s practice was such a disaster. See you then.”
    He dismissed the crowd with a wave.
    The meeting had lasted less than five minutes and it was a total success.
    The tension began seeping out of Maddie’s neck and shoulders, and she took the first easy breath of the day. The players and parents were heading toward their cars and she hadn’t had to utter a single word.
    “How did you do that?” she asked when all the cars were gone. “I went to school for all those years to understand human behavior and I have no idea what just happened.”
    “How did I do what?” he asked. He twirled a whistle on the tip of his finger.
    “Grab control of that meeting, make all those parents and kids happy, and get rid of them in less than five minutes?”
    “Just told them how it was going to be. Cut straight to the point. No reason to waste more time than necessary on a meeting. I hate meetings.” He grinned. “Now it’s time for your first official football lesson. Meet you back at your house in a little while? I’ll stop by Jerry’s Bakery and get some snacks in case it ends up being a late night.”
    “Give me time to take a quick shower,” she said. She ignored the shivery tingle that started in the depth of her gut and worked its way all the way to the top of her head.
    It felt too much like hope.
    ...
    Andrew and a group of neighborhood boys were playing football in Maddie’s front yard when David pulled into the driveway.
    “Getting an early start on practice, boys?” he asked, shutting his car door.
    “Yes, sir, we can’t wait for practice. My dad says you’re the best player to come out of Mississippi since Eli Manning. I can’t believe you’re my coach,” one kid said, his excitement bubbling out.
    He held up a hand. “Technically, I’m only an assistant. But tell your dad I said thanks for putting me in the same category as Mr. Manning. That’s quite an honor.”
    He jogged up the front steps and rang the doorbell.
    Maddie took his breath away. Fresh from the shower, her coppery curls hung wet around her face. There was nothing like the smell of a woman just out of the shower. She wore a brilliantly colored, loose cotton skirt that flirted with her ankles, and her thin green T-shirt left little to his already active imagination.
    How could his attraction grow when just a few hours ago he’d decided there was no way an affair with her could figure into his plans?
    Screw football. He wanted to play an altogether different game with her.
    But he wasn’t going to wade into those dangerous waters. There were plenty of other women in the world. He vowed to keep reminding himself of that.
    Getting involved with Frank’s widow was the worst thing he could do.
    “Come on in. Yum,” she said. He wished she was talking about him, but he was quite certain she was referring to the box of doughnuts he held in one hand.
    “My thoughts, exactly,” he replied, looking her up and down. He didn’t mean to say it. It came out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. He also didn’t mean to ogle her like a high school sophomore but he couldn’t help it.
    “Uhh,” she stammered. “Here, just put those on the coffee table. I’ve got some iced tea in the fridge or I can make some coffee, if you prefer.”
    “No, tea’s fine. It’s good to be back in the South where the girls know how to sweeten it just right.” He winked at her.
    While Maddie was in the kitchen, David looked at the collection of photographs scattered among the built-in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace. Most were candid shots of Andrew, Maddie, and a woman who looked so much like her she had to be her sister, Callie.