Charlotte gave her friend a side glance. "You're implying Jordan."
"I'm just saying, that guy couldn't take his eyes off of you the entire dinner," she replied. "He's definitely got a reputation though, so just don't over think it."
"I don't know. It's kind of rude to check out a woman when she obviously has another date," she said sarcastically.
Rachel laughed. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Aiden would dump you in a heartbeat if Jordan King asked him."
"Can I get some help?"
The two women turned to see Aiden with his long untied laces pooling on the floor around his skates.
"I got you, buddy," Charlotte said as she knelt down on the floor in front of Aiden. "Let's make sure we get these tight, OK?" She tugged on his laces and tied them with bows. "OK, stand up and let me know if they're tight enough?"
"They're perfect!" he exclaimed.
He grabbed his helmet and buckled it around his chin before hobbling off on his skates. His excitement seemed to be infectious as Charlotte walked behind him, the nervousness in her chest growing. She knew Jordan was here. She just didn't know if he would care about seeing her after that moment in her office. She wondered how many women he had tried that move on before — and how many hesitated like she had instead of just kissing him.
Charlotte stepped out on the ice with Aiden and took his hand as they worked their way around the rink with the other fans while she tried not to look for Jordan. But it wasn't hard to find him. As they rounded the end of the rink, she glanced up quickly to see the dark brown hair on the back of his head as he and another player skated together. Charlotte watched as he spun around on his blades, skating backwards to talk to his teammate, and she couldn't help but stare. He was still as gorgeous as he was when he was standing in her office, so close to her.
Jordan's eyes locked onto hers and she realized he had caught her staring. A smile spread across his face and he tapped his friend on the shoulder. She tried to duck her head down to cover up her indiscretion, maybe play it off like she was just looking ahead to make sure she didn't run into anyone. But Jordan knew and skated right towards her. She was about to open her mouth and say something — what exactly she hadn't quite figured out — when he ducked down.
"I see you have the lovely Miss Stone as your date again!" he said to Aiden. "How did you get so lucky?"
The boy shrugged. "She's just my friend."
Jordan stood up and turned, skating backwards in front of them as he stared at Charlotte. "Then how did I get so lucky?" he said with a small smile.
"You better watch yourself, King, or you're going to run into the boards."
Jordan smirked and just crossed his feet a few times, matching the turn of the boards without taking his eyes off her. "I know this rink so well I could skate around it with my eyes closed, darling." He turned to his teammate who had taken up a spot right next to Aiden. "Where are my manners? Charlotte, Aiden," he said, giving the boy's name an extra bit of emphasis. "This is Birdie."
"That's not my real name," his teammate said.
Aiden looked up in awe before finally coming to his senses. "It's Alex Orlov. They call you Birdie because Orlov means eagle in Russian."
"It does," he replied with a smile.
"And you're the best defenseman in the league."
"Smart kid. Keep going."
Aiden smiled up at the player with more confidence. "You learned English by watching American reality shows."
Alex ruffled the hair on the boy's head. "I sure did," he said, turning to look at Charlotte. "Speaking of which, I'm a big fan of your mom's show and thought maybe—"
"You also won a gold medal for Russia in the last Olympics, which is gross."
"You are not so smart, kid," Alex responded, laying his Russian accent on thick this time.
Aiden seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he just blocked the defenseman from getting some dirt from Charlotte, but she was thankful that the boy had diverted the hockey star's attention. Aiden, however, seemed unphased.
"I'm trying to learn how to skate as fast as you."
"Then let's see what you can do."
The boy turned to his parents skating behind him. "Mom, can I skate with Birdie?"
Rachel's eyes got wide with concern while Adam just nodded. "Go ahead, kid."
