Play Date (Play Makers Book 3) Read Online Free

excitement. He was the only person in her world at that moment, and from the answering look on his spellbound face, he knew it.
    “I am stealing every part of this,” Rachel whispered to Erica through her tears. “It’s just too beautiful. I have to have it. Of course, I’ll have to find a husband first, but wow.” She sniffled into a tissue, then strained to catch Sean’s eye, praying for a miracle.
    Maybe he’d be inspired to find a bride of his own and they could try again. There was that little spark between them, wasn’t there? Couldn’t they work with that?
    There was only one problem, she noted with amused distress. Sean did indeed have a love-struck look on his face. Unfortunately, he wasn’t directing it at his date.
    He was looking at the bride.
     
    • • •
     
    Despite the crowds, Rachel managed to mingle a bit after the ceremony, first by infiltrating a friendly group composed of three couples: Erica’s boss and his wife, their beer client and his wife, and an art history professor and her husband. Predictably they sang the bride’s praises and told charming stories about her. Then they insisted Rachel tell them something about herself, so she launched into her favorite subject—her current crop of kindergarten students and the exciting new program her school was spearheading that provided more field trips and supplies in exchange for in-depth evaluations each quarter.
    Sean stopped by for a few minutes, mostly to apologize and make sure she had a plate of hors d’oeuvres from the mobbed buffet table. He complained that Beth was running him ragged, but he’d get away soon and pay Rachel the attention she deserved. She was barely able to reassure him before he disappeared again.
    After that, a brash woman approached her to compliment her dress, but it was only a ploy to lure her into another conversation group. And this time, it was more like a school of sharks. The woman and two male colleagues were sports agents and the other two guys were sports reporters. All they could talk about was the latest NFL scandal, which revolved around a revered coach who had been hiding a gambling problem and who had apparently profited from betting on his team’s games. Rachel tried to slip away, but they insisted on hearing her opinion, which they then trashed, assuring her that yes, gambling might be an addiction, but no, there was no reason to cut this guy any slack despite her “bleeding heart” attitudes. He should be drummed out of the league. Tarred and feathered at a minimum.
    She was about to assure them she didn’t actually care, since she wasn’t a member of the Church of Football, when Jason Spurling dragged her away from them by her elbow without bothering to make an excuse.
    “How did you get stuck with those vultures?” he demanded.
    “Good question.” She gave his brawny arm a squeeze. “Thanks for the rescue.”
    “I like being seen with the most beautiful girl in the room. Just don’t tell my new sister-in-law I called you that.”
    “Or your wife,” Rachel reminded him, arching an eyebrow in pretend disapproval.
    Jason laughed. “She knows how hot she is. We’ve been fighting about it all day. I keep trying to nail her, but all she wants to do is yell at waiters.”
    “You two are too much,” Rachel said fondly. She wasn’t quite sure how the Spurlings survived their constant bickering, but somehow they did, producing a gang of darling, if hedonistic, children, none of whom Rachel had spotted yet that evening. So she asked, “Where are the kids? I want to spend time with them.”
    “Save yourself,” he drawled. “They’ve been drinking soda since six a.m. so they’re full-on animals. We locked them in a room with a bunch of video games and two paid assassins—I mean, babysitters.”
    “Thanks for the warning.”
    As much as she loved those children, she suspected Jason was right. They’d get chocolate on her new dress, or draw pictures on her neck with indelible