Fangirl Down (Big Shots, #1)

Wells barked a humorless laugh. “I don’t need to do that, belle.”

“I know.” She gathered her hair in a hand, tilting her chin toward the flame. Inviting him to join. “I want you to.”

That sealed it. Josephine wanted something—Josephine got it. Period.

With a sigh, Wells angled himself in his seat and leaned in toward the cupcake. Without counting down, they blew at the exact same time, extinguishing the flame. Somewhere deep inside him, a pothole paved itself over. Maybe the road was never going to be perfect, but it was getting better. Good enough to drive on.

“Your swing has been looking a damn sight better, son,” Jim was saying.

Wells had to run that statement back several times to process it, because he was so lost looking at the man’s daughter. Could anyone blame him? How did she always know the right thing to say? To do? Was she actually an angel?

“Thanks,” Wells said slowly, narrowing his eyes to examine his girlfriend for evidence.

“Joey, how is your swing? You been keeping in stroke?”

Now that got Wells’s attention.

He nearly got whiplash looking at Jim so fast. Then back to his girlfriend.

“Jesus Christ, Josephine,” Wells started, hot irritation licking at his skin—but only irritation at himself. “I’ve never seen you hit a golf ball.”

Jim’s spoon clattered onto his coffee saucer.

A horrified and much deserved silence passed over the table.

“Never?”

“No,” Wells said miserably. How was that even possible?

Josephine was laughing at him. “Calm down. We’ll get to it.”

“No, I don’t think you understand, this needs to happen today.”

“Rolling Greens still hasn’t opened its doors after the hurricane. And we don’t even have a tee time anywhere else,” his girlfriend sputtered. “Halfway through a day this beautiful? There aren’t going to be any spots left.”

Wells gave her a look that said oh come on. “My name has some pull, Josephine.”

“So does yours, by now, Joey-Roo.”

Joey-Roo, mouthed Wells with a smug wink.

Josephine kicked him under the table while taking a giant bite of her cupcake.

I’m going to marry this woman.

Done fucking deal. Someone direct him to the nearest ring shop.

“Call Lone Pine and see if they can slide you in, Joey. While you wait for your tee time to roll around, you can show Wells the progress on the Golden Tee.” Jim clasped his hands, wringing them eagerly. “You won’t believe how far the shop has come in just a week. Joey cleaned it up real nice, got it all set for construction to begin.” He turned his broad smile on his daughter. “Did you talk to the contractor yet, honey?”

She stopped chewing. Swallowed thickly. “Yes.”

“When?” Evelyn asked.

Wells watched her closely when she didn’t answer right away. “This morning, actually,” she finally said, sending a jolt of surprise to his gut. “I gave him the all-clear to begin working.”

Jim could barely sit still in his seat. “Putting green, drive-through window, and everything?”

Josephine nodded. “That’s right. We even discussed the idea of a consultation lounge where guests can look at drone footage of the holes and get advice on their strategy. I told him . . . to go for it.” Her laughter was light. “All the bells and whistles.”

The more Wells heard about the project, the more he started to relax. This kind of effort would take months, at least. He wouldn’t have to give up having Josephine as his caddie any time soon. Right? “What is the timeline?” he asked.

When she took a sip of water instead of answering him right away, his palms started to turn clammy. “Two to three weeks,” she said, searching his eyes. “The hurricane created such a need for rebuilding that they doubled the size of their crew. That should get us through the Masters, at the very least.”

He couldn’t be expected to speak when his throat was completely dry. “Yeah,” he managed. Two to three weeks? “The Masters.”

Something extremely worrisome was occurring to Wells.

A doubt that had been loitering in the back of his mind but with this revelation was making its way to the forefront, where it could no longer be ignored.

Could he even compete without Josephine?

When she left, who was going to talk him down off the ledge when he wanted to give up? Who was going to drop wisdom on him at the exact moment he needed it, in the perfect dose? No one, that’s who. There was no one else who had Josephine’s magic.

No one in the world.

When she left, where would that leave him? Sinking back down the leaderboard?

Would she want to maintain a relationship with someone who spent four out of every seven days on the road? Maybe she’d meet someone local. Another golfer, probably, since she worked at a pro shop. And this guy would be nice!

Dear God, he needed a distraction. Anything to keep him from begging this woman to stay with him on the tour, like a selfish prick, instead of realizing her own dreams. Thankfully, the waitress chose that moment to drop the bill in the center of the table and sail away.

Wells stood, ripping his wallet out of his back pocket, credit cards spilling out. “Let’s go see that golf swing, belle. The fact that I haven’t yet is bullshit.”

“Ooh!” Evelyn patted her hair. “Now that’s some language.”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Wells muttered.

Josephine hooted a laugh.

“No, no! I’m paying!” Jim half shouted.

“Yes. We insist!” Evelyn chimed in.

Wells and Jim lunged at the same time, proceeding to rip the check in half.

Evelyn buried her face in her napkin. “Lord have mercy on us all!”

“You can pay next time,” Jim blustered.

“I can pay every time!”

“Oh, like hell you will!”

Josephine burst into a laughing fit, falling back in her chair. With sparkling eyes, she looked over at him. “Are you sure you want a next time?”

“Yes, belle,” Wells growled, finally giving in to the unrelenting impulse to grab the leg of her chair and pull Josephine as close as possible, planting a firm kiss in the center of her forehead. “I want all of your next times.”

And he was dangerously close to asking her to remain his caddie indefinitely.

As in, forever. Through the Masters and beyond.

Apparently he was more selfish than he realized.

“Don’t think about the timeline,” she whispered.

“Impossible. But I’m going to try like hell for you.” Don’t kiss her mouth in front of her parents. You’ll never be able to stop. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” She brought her lips to his ears and whispered, “Happy birthdays, Wells.”

And there was nothing else to grab onto. Nothing to anchor his feet or keep him from slipping down the embankment into love. Total and complete worship of Josephine Doyle. He landed hard and didn’t even bother trying to get up.

Considering she’d just delivered her two weeks’ notice, it was a dangerous place to be.





Chapter Twenty-Nine




Josephine stood at the edge of the Golden Tee, watching Wells saunter through the space, hands in his pockets. He was not a hands-in-the-pockets type of guy. They were usually planted on his hips or his arms were crossed over his chest. She knew this man. Knew he was torn between being happy for her and apprehensive about the expiration date on their arrangement. And yeah, she was nervous, too.

Because when the shop was ready and the time came to return to real life, back in Palm Beach, Josephine wasn’t sure she’d be able to leave him.