Love 'Em or Leave 'Em by Angie Stanton Page A

and country club staff, roved over Tami at every opportunity.
    Cricket, on the other hand, looked like she'd walked off the cover of some preppy golf magazine. She moved confidently around the pro shop wearing black pleated shorts with a classy peach sleeveless golf shirt and a cute little coordinating visor. As she turned an educated eye to select a putter, a golf glove hung out of her back pocket.
    Cricket was a golfer.
    Ashley felt the pit in her stomach grow.
    Outside, two golf carts sat ready. One held a large black golf bag strapped on the back. Tami edged in next to Luke. "I hope you don't mind if I ride in your cart. I could use a few pointers."
    Ashley could have pointed out a few things to her, but didn't waste her breath.
    After hitting a couple of practice balls at the golf range, Ashley didn't feel any better. Luckily she'd hit most of the balls off the tees, but none had gone very far. She hopped in the cart next to Cricket and tried to drum up some courage.
    Cricket looked over at her. "You don't golf much, do you?"
    "That obvious?"
    "Let me just say you could use a few tips."
    "I need a lot more than tips. How about a body double who golfs? That would be helpful."
    "Oh, don't worry. You'll be fine," Cricket assured her. "I don't want to offer help where it's not wanted, but I think if you correct just a few things you'll be able to hit the ball better."
    "Really?" Ashley asked skeptically. "You think you could do something to improve my dismal skills?" She looked at the huge course laid out before her. "I am so bad at this game. Why couldn't I have gone to a baseball game, or to the zoo or something?"
    Cricket smiled in sympathy. "Don't worry. After we tee off, I'll stick by you and we'll see what we can do to get your ball in the air."
    "Thank you. Anything you could do to help would be appreciated. I'll pay you back somehow. I'll even rub your feet. You get me through this horror of cameras filming every embarrassing swing and I'll be your new best friend."
    "No problem. I'm glad to help, and you don't need to rub my feet," she said and laughed.
    They arrived at the first tee. Luke stepped up to take his first shot. After sinking the tee deep into the dense grass, he stood back and took a couple of practice swings. Luke moved with such fluidity. His eyes fo cused somewhere down the fairway as he stepped up to his ball, his stance totally relaxed as he wound up and swung. Luke hit the ball with such precision and force that it flew high into the air and seemed to glide forever before popping down not far from the green.
    Amazing. Ashley had never seen a golf ball hit so beautifully or so far before. Not that she'd had much opportunity. The ex-boyfriends she'd golfed with were not very good. In fact, next to Luke, they were total losers.
    Luke invited the ladies to hit. Tami sauntered right up and bent down with her tight little butt in the air and placed her ball on a tee.
    What a sleaze.
    When she hit the ball, there was a nice little loft to it that Ashley would have died for. But then, she'd love to have a figure like Tami's too.
    Cricket stepped up and tried a couple of practice swings. When she hit the ball it was grace in motion. Ashley heard a nice little "ping" as her club hit the ball and it soared high into the air and straight down the fairway. Beautiful.
    "Your turn," Luke prodded Ashley when she didn't move to the tee box.
    "Oh yeah, right." She tried to approach the tee box with confidence and set her ball and tee in the grass, and sighed. She searched for some real courage, but the damned camera was focused on her-waiting.
    Suddenly turning to the others, she leaned on her club. "Listen you guys, I am so not a golfer. I mean, I'm not even good at minigolf."
    "Not a problem," Luke reassured her. "We're just here to have fun. No pressure." He offered her a warm smile.
    Fun. Just here to have fun.
    She focused on the ball and took a deep breath in an attempt to relax.
    Yup, just have fun.
    She took