Shea smiled, as he turned the soup down.

“Elli’s coming for lunch, and then maybe a little open mouth kissing.”

“Let her swallow her food before you pursue that,” Shea let out a chuckle. His sister’s humor killed him.

“Have fun though, call me later?”

“Sure.”

Grace wished him luck, and then told him she loved him before hanging up. Shea smiled as he finished up everything for lunch. He had remembered Elli saying she liked fruit so he made sure to cut some up for her. He also got some mango ice cream for her, another favorite of hers. He was walking through the living room, making sure it was clean, when the door bell sounded.

Shea ran his hands down his shirt, nervously, then through his hair as he walked to the door. Shea opened it to Elli, who was leaning against the door jam, holding up a bag. She looked sexy as hell in a pair of shorts and a little tee that hung off her shoulder. She had big glasses on her face, and on her head was an Assassins hat with her name on it.

“Well, hello,” he said looking her over, loving the fact that her toes were purple, one of the team colors.

“Hey,” she said holding out her arm, handing him the bag. “For you.”

“Ooh, presents,” he cooed as he moved out of the way for her to come in as he peeked in the bag. To his delight, it was a copy of Pride and Prejudice with a book cover, as well as the 2005 movie version.

“Not much, but since you don’t own it...”

“Thank you,” he said pulling her into his arms and kissing her softly. Her hands came up his arms to his neck, rubbing softly as he kissed her. He pulled back, looking into her bright green eyes as she smiled up at him. Elli’s eyes were like fresh green grass, the kind of green that made you stop and look at them when you got even just a small glimpse. They were captivating. He moved a piece of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear and the brim of the hat.

“We’ll watch it after lunch.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I’m not sure I can date a guy who hasn’t at least seen the movie.” He smiled as he hugged her tighter to him.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.” He took her hand and then led her through the condo, to his office, his bathroom, and his bedroom. Elli was quick to leave the bedroom, even though he had a beautiful view of Nashville through the windows that lined the walls. He took her through the living room to the kitchen, where she looked around with a smile.

“Grace did a good job in here. The house, it’s you.”

“Yeah, she knew what she was doing,” he said with a grin, as he pulled a chair out from under the table.

“Ready to eat?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m starved.” She sat down, and Shea moved around, placing stuff on the table, going back and forth from the kitchen. When he finally sat in front of her, she was smiling as she looked at the spread.

“Looks great.”

“It's not much, but it’s better than the same old takeout we’ve been eating.”

Elli nodded as she started serving herself. Shea did the same as they made small talk. Did she find the place okay? Was the wedding good last night? Just little stuff. He loved listening to her talk and he loved when she got excited or found something funny. Her face would get so bright, almost as bright as the sun.

“Are those vintage guitars?” Shea looked over at the wall that Elli was pointing to. He nodded as he looked back over at her. She was getting up with an awed look on her face.

“They are beautiful.”

He stood up and went beside her, looking up at the nine guitars that graced his walls.

“Do you play?” he asked.

“Sorta, but not good. My instrument was fiddle, and a little banjo.”

“Wow, could you get anymore country?”

“Shut up. My dad made all of us kids play an instrument. When we would all play together,” she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, “it was great, some of the best times of my childhood.”

“What did everyone play?” he asked. She glanced at him, and then looked back up at the guitars.

“My dad played guitar, Noah played the upright bass, Liam would play the banjo, and Victoria played the mandolin.”

“What did you play?”

“The fiddle.”

“Oh, did your mom sing? Don’t you need a singer for that kind of stuff?”

Elli laughed as she shook her head.

“No, my momma never had a musical bone in her body. She watched,” she looked down at the ground, then back up at him a few moments later, “I used to sing.”

“Oh, cool, you’ll have to play and sing for me one day,” he said with a grin.

Shea turned and started cleaning the mess they had made as she looked up at the guitars.

“That Gibson Hummingbird is beautiful,” he heard her say as he stood in the kitchen. He heard her come up behind him and she sat up on the counter as he loaded the dishwasher. He shook his head as he smiled at her.

“You never cease to amaze me, Elli. You know guitars?”

“I told you I play a little.”

“Yeah, but usually women don’t know anything about them.”

“True. How did you get into them?”

He smiled as he shut the dishwasher and leaned against it.

“When I came to the team, Wavier used to call me Boston. He said I was too Boston to live in Nashville, so I decided I wanted to be able to do something that was Nashvilley, so I started collecting guitars. Well, one day Wavier came over, and he was impressed with my collection and he said, ‘Hey, bring two down, let’s jam.’ I froze; I didn’t know how to play. When I admitted that, he tore into me.”