“I’m not going to hurt her,” Shea said as he looked Michael in the eye, “I can’t, because if she left me, I don’t know what I would do.”

Michael and Bryan laughed, as they both leaned back in the chairs, going on two of the legs. It was so country in this classy place, that Shea was worried they might get kicked out.

“Damn, he’s got it bad,” Michael muttered.

Bryan smiled over at Michael, smacking his arm.

“Can you blame him? It's our Eleanor, she’s captivating.”

“Captivating, what a great way to describe her.”

“Harper! I have to go, Shea is out with my daddy and Papa. I gotta go!” Elli yelled as she washed her hands.

Harper had called while she was using the bathroom.

“Tell me what happened!”

“My family did what they always do, and then Shea yelled at me all the way home for keeping things from him-”

“I thought you told him about everything!”

“No, I didn’t tell him shit!”

“Then all that, you brought on yourself.”

“I know!”

“Okay, so keep on.”

God, she drove Elli crazy.

“Then he dropped me off and drove off, basically breaking up with me-”

“Oh no!”

“I’m with him now, Harper. I mean, you know it works out.”

“I know, but still, your heart must have hurt when he left.”

The tears came hot and fast to her eyes, but thankfully didn’t fall.

“It did, but it was my fault. He came back about half an hour later. I showed him the house, he didn’t think I was a crazy stalker fan and then…we had crazy monkey sex all night!”

“SAY WHAT!?”

“Yes! Now I must go! He’s out there with my Papa, Harp. Papa.”

“Ahh, you better call with details later!”

“I will, bye.” Elli hung her phone up and headed out towards the table. Things were going well, nothing too bad. Except for her Papa showing up, that was unexpected and totally her daddy’s fault, but Shea was handling it well. Elli headed to the table just as everyone started standing; they all turned when she reached the table. Shea reached for her jacket, holding it out for her.

“We’re leaving?”

“Yes, Ellibug, we have meetings this afternoon. Shea said something about a dinner with his sister.”

“Yeah,” Elli nodded before wrapping her arms around her daddy’s waist. “Thanks for brunch.”

“Oh, baby, anything for you,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.

She released him and began hugging her Papa hard.

“Wanna go to one of the away games with me, darlin’? Maybe the one in Florida, spend some time on the beach?”

“Sure, let me know the date and I’ll work something out if I have an event.”

“Which you will, like always,” Bryan said with a grin as he kissed her cheek.

“I don’t think I scared him too bad,” he whispered in her ear as he hugged her tightly.

“Hopefully not,” she said as he shook hands with Shea.

They all walked out together and waited for their cars from valet in silence.

Elli shivered since it was started to get crazy cold. Gotta love Tennessee weather. Last week it was 80, and this week it was 60. Shea wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugging her close to him. She smiled at the feel of his hard body against her soft one. When she saw her daddy and Papa watching them, she became nervous. But hell, they might want to get used to it. Shea wasn’t going anywhere, she hoped.

After leaving the club, they drove back to Elli’s house, where they gathered up her bag and Adler, before jumping in separate cars and driving back to Nashville. Shea had complained about her driving. But when he left, how was she supposed to get home? She wanted to see him off at the airport and she needed a car to get home. He agreed, but was not happy about it.

When they got to his condo, she put her things in his room, while he stayed in the kitchen to set up Adler’s bowls. It was so cute how much he cared for Adler. He was just as excited about having Adler at the house as Adler probably was about a sleepover somewhere else.

“Baby, we need to go get him a dog bed. We forgot his at the house.”

Elli rolled her eyes as she came out of the room.

“Shea, he can sleep on the floor for a night.”

“No, I want him to feel at home. We’ll run to Petsmart real quick, he can go with us.”

Adler looked up at Shea lovingly, and Elli rolled her eyes again.

“Whatever. What time do we need to be at your sister’s?” she asked as she grabbed the leash and hooked Adler up. He started running in circles from excitement, making her laugh as Shea chuckled.

“6:00. We have time to run out and then come back and relax, maybe-”

He pulled her to him, and she grinned up at him, “Maybe I can seduce you?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to burst out in a fit of giggles.

“Shea Adler!” she pushed him away and started for the door. When she reached the door she looked behind her and he was grinning at her.

“We’ll see.”

“Oh, will we now?”

“Maybe.”

After a trip to Petsmart, Shea, Elli, and Adler walked out with over $300 in stuff that Shea insisted on paying for. Elli shook her head as she watched Shea load everything into the car. New bed, leash, collar, bowls, a dog car seat, a 40 lb bag of the best food in the store, toys, toys, and more toys. Oh, and some bones and treats.