"Yep," Adam replied as he took Rachel's hand.
He turned, a sly smile on his face as he pointed to Charlotte. "And you're single."
"Not tonight."
He gave her a perplexed look. "Not tonight?" he asked.
"I actually have a date."
She saw Jordan's face fall a bit before he quickly recovered, and she tried to convince herself that she was just seeing things. He wouldn't be bothered by the fact that she had a date because he wouldn't be interested in her. And it didn't matter even if he was because she didn't date hockey players.
"Oh," he tried to say casually. "Did I miss him?"
Charlotte looked around the room and realized he was gone. "Um..."
"He's in the bathroom," Adam said gently.
That's when Charlotte heard tiny footsteps sprinting towards her. "I'm here! I'm here!" Aiden yelled.
She turned to find him waving his hands in the air as he sprinted towards Jordan before stopping abruptly in front of him, his nervousness taking over.
"I do hope you washed your hands, young man," Jordan said. Aiden just nodded quietly as the hockey player stuck his hand out for the boy to shake. "I'm Jordan."
"I know."
The group laughed a bit as the boy slowly shook Jordan's hand without letting go. Charlotte walked up behind him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Jordan, I would like you to meet my date for the evening: Aiden Ward."
Jordan looked up at Charlotte, his face immediately becoming softer as he realized his foe was a six-year-old boy.
"So are you my adversary for Miss Stone's affections?" Jordan asked.
"I don't know what that means," Aiden said innocently.
"To be fair, he did bring me flowers," she said, pointing to the bouquet on the coffee table. "You're going to have some ground to make up already."
Jordan smiled and stood up, his blue eyes staring directly at her. "Well, that is quite an opening challenge," he said with a smirk on his face.
Charlotte felt her cheeks flush and was trying to find a way to get out of this situation. Luckily, Marco chose that moment let her know that dinner was ready, and she ushered everyone into her dining room. She had spent hours earlier in the day making sure the table was all set up to look its best with her white china, cut glass goblets and silverware. Each place had a napkin set off to the side in napkin holders that she had specifically chosen because they looked like hollowed-out hockey pucks. The chef had already put a salad at all of their places and his assistant quickly poured wine for everyone, except for the apple juice for Aiden.
As everyone got situated, Charlotte walked at the head of the table and raised her glass to her guests. "To eating good food with good people!"
"And to Charlotte, for being a wonderful host with a generous wallet," Adam said with a warm smile.
Jordan raised his glass towards her, and she felt a rush of warmth through her entire body.Remember the rules, she thought.No hockey players.
Jordan tried to distract himself from staring at Charlotte too long as they finished eating, turning his attention to her date instead. After interacting with so many young fans over the years, he knew exactly how to make them respond to him.
"Would you like to help me clear the table, Aiden?"
He turned and gave Jordan a huge grin before grabbing the silverware from everyone and going with his hockey hero into the kitchen. The rest of the crew followed them with their plates, cups and silverware in hand.
"You can just put it on the counter," Charlotte instructed.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
She turned quickly, somehow putting herself only inches away from him, her body so close he could feel the heat through his suit. "Um, yeah, no, that's fine," she stammered before taking a breath. "It's calming to do them after a night of entertaining."
