A Complete Game (Washington DC Soaring Eagles #3) - Aven Ellis Page 0,5

helping me do that.”

“No thanks needed. I’m glad I can help. No. That’s not right. I want to help.”

“You aren’t simply helping. You’re going above and beyond. With your time. Possibly your money. I can’t express my gratitude enough to you.”

Brady studies my face. I feel myself grow warm under his questioning gaze. I feel as though he’s trying to peel back the layers from my words. For some reason, my breath catches in my throat. I’ve never had a man study me in the way Brady is doing right now.

“You’re passionate about ferrets. You’re their advocate,” he says. “I admire that.”

A ferret advocate, I think. Now that would be a dream job.

As soon as the thought comes to my head, I quickly bat it away, as if it’s a gnat that’s bugging me.

“Why are you furrowing your brow?”

I blink. “I was?”

He takes two fingers and sweeps them across his brow to indicate a crease. “You had a worry line right here.”

My brain scrambles for an excuse, so I don’t have to discuss how his idea of being a ferret advocate is super appealing to me. One, it’s not exactly a profession that I went to the University of Virginia for, and two, my father would have a stroke if I told him I was giving up my corporate job to become a champion for ferrets.

“Okay,” Elisa says, returning and saving me from lying to Brady, “everyone is fine with moving you to the last spot of the day. Can you come back here around two?”

“Not a problem,” Brady says.

Elisa turns to me. “Addison, can you run out around one o’clock and get your ferret?”

I nod. “I can.”

“Okay, we’ll do it then,” Elisa says, smiling brightly at both of us. “It will be a first for our calendar, which, in thinking about it, might generate some different publicity for us.”

Brady’s mouth curves up in that hint of a smile again. “So that means I’m guaranteed one of the twelve months, then?”

Elisa laughs. “I guess you are.”

From what she told me about the shoot, not every player would be used. So when I release pictures from the shoot, we have to make sure it’s a player who will be featured. The biggest stars—like AJ, pitcher Chase McLeary, and Brody—are givens. But before the ferret angle, Brady was not a guarantee. It would all depend on how his shoot went and what kind of shots the photographer got of other players today.

“All right, well, I’m going to grab another cup of coffee,” Elisa says. “I’ll be right back.”

After she is out of earshot, Brady turns to me. “Can you bring both?”

I smile in delight. “You want to pose with Willy and Petey?”

“Why not? Unless Petey isn’t friendly or bites or something.”

I laugh. “Oh, no, he’s wonderful. Willy is my ambassador and loves people. Petey is a little shyer, that’s all.”

“Then bring him. Willy shouldn’t hog the spotlight,” he says. “In fact, I’m pretty sure they have the entire spotlight, and I’m just a prop for them.”

And then, the most amazing thing happens.

His face breaks out into a smile. Brady’s whole face lights up, with the smile reaching up to his pale-green eyes and causing them to crinkle in the corners.

Then I feel it.

There’s an undeniable fluttering in my stomach. Shock sweeps through me at the same time.

My God, Brady has given me butterflies.

I’m at a loss for words as I try to process the sensation sweeping over me as a result of his beautiful smile.

“So you’ll bring both of your boys?” Brady prompts.

My heart flips. He called my ferrets my boys. Brady, while barely knowing me, understands my connection to my pets. They are my family. Willy and Petey might not be conventional like dogs or cats, but I never wanted conventional. I fell in love with ferrets because they suit me.

And Brady somehow gets that.

I blink and come back to the moment. “Yes, I’ll bring both of them.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you back here at two.”

Then he turns and walks away.

I’m left breathless by his exit. I’ve met Brady before, but I feel as if I’ve met him all over again this morning. His willingness to champion a cause close to my heart, for someone he barely knows, has touched me.

And while I have to work this morning on a project I’m excited about, I’m already counting the minutes until Brady returns this afternoon.

* * *

The morning passes by in a whirl of activity. I’m taking pictures of the photographer taking pictures.