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Cover Copy
Roses are red, violets are blue.
Only one woman could make NFL star Gideon Wells walk away from the Super Bowl: His Mama, “Queen” Elizabeth, the beautiful, strong black woman who adopted him and his two white brothers when they were just kids. So when Elizabeth develops a pressing health issue, Gideon doesn’t hesitate to come home and run the flower shop she loves almost as much as her boys. But there’s an unexpected complication in Queen Elizabeth’s shop: and that complication looks really good in a gardener’s apron and pruning gloves.
This mama’s boy has a naughty side too.
Janelle Gold has always thought of herself as a geek, more into books than sports, preferring brains over brawn. So a gorgeous jock like Gideon Wells is not exactly the type she usually goes for. But there’s something about the hot quarterback that makes Janelle think sometimes opposites do attract, and it’s not just his dedication to his family, or the fact that he can hold his own in the flower shop. There’s just something irresistible about a man who stops to smell the roses.
Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com
Books by Crystal B. Bright
Mama’s Boys
The Look Of Love
Forget Me Not
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Forget Me Not
Mama’s Boys
Crystal B. Bright
LYRICAL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
Copyright
Lyrical Press books are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Crystal B. Bright
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First Electronic Edition: February 2016
eISBN-13: 978-1-61650-713-8
eISBN-10: 1-61650-713-6
First Print Edition: February 2016
ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-714-5
ISBN-10: 1-61650-714-4
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
his book is dedicated to my family and friends, who have always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you for blowing my head up when I needed it while keeping me grounded. Thank you to Lisa Adkins, who laughed at my lack of football knowledge, then helped me whenever I asked questions about it. Thank you to the love of my life, Jimmy. Thank you for sharing your football know-how, too. My characters went from being Mountain Lions to Wolves because of you. Your love and support means everything to me. I love you.
Author’s Foreword
I have always had a soft spot for rough and tough men who are put into awkward situations. I think it brings out a vulnerable side to men...plus it can be a bit comical. Movies like “The Nanny”, “The Tooth Fairy”, and “The Game Plan” are examples of men put in strange situations but also make them endearing.
Because of that fish-out-of-water type of genre, I got the idea of having three brothers, all stars in their sports, put into a situation where they would have to run their mother’s very feminine businesses. I also wanted to write a series about brothers. What’s hotter than three sexy brothers?
I hope you all enjoy my story about the Wells brothers and the way they run a hair salon, a flower shop and a clothing boutique.
Enjoy!
Crystal***
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the professors at Old Dominion University and Seton Hill University who taught me a lot about crafting a great story. Thank you to Lyrical Press for taking a chance on an unusual series. Thank you to every author I have read. I learn from each and every one of you.
Chapter 1
Gideon Wells pressed his phone to his ear in a feeble attempt to drown out the shouts and chants of his teammates in the expansive locker room. The sounds brought him back to the first time he’d run with a football to the goalpost as a kid, trying to balance the big shoulder pads on his feeble frame. Time had changed him and his body, and ramped up his love of the sport.
He couldn’t blame the men for their excitement. The Super Bowl only happened once a year for two teams. Gideon’s Virginia Beach Wolves had made it. He hadn’t stopped smiling since their last game. Every time he’d talked about his upcoming participation in the Super Bowl, his first and, hopefully, not his last time, his skin had felt like he had electric sparks dancing over it. He hadn’t been able to think about anything else but this game.
Then the call from his mother had come a week ago with news that had made him feel like he had been doused in ice-cold water. Gideon’s thoughts had split between his mother and his career, two aspects of his life that gave him purpose.
At the first ring, he paced the red-carpeted floor ringed in a black-and-gold border in honor of his team’s colors. His mother had approved of him going to play for the Wolves, not because the team made Virginia Beach their home and he could still be close to his family, but because they wore her favorite colors. Recalling his mother’s almost regal voice forced him to smile.
Gideon took a deep breath on the third ring. The great thing about being a Super Bowl team had to be the way people catered to them. This locker room in Pasadena, California had been repainted with their colors and had their emblem over each wall. The fresh-paint smell still lingered in their air. Between the paint and the new carpet, the place had a new feel even though the stadium itself had been around for decades.
In his white tights, he didn’t want to think about the confining feeling constricting his legs and waist. The armbands he wore compressed his limbs from his wrists to the middle of his biceps.
The cleats on his shoes sank into the plush carpeting. He wanted to wait before suiting up with the