Charlotte just smiled and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. It honestly didn't matter if her mother thought that Jordan was a big deal. He was a big deal to Charlotte. Big enough that she was willing to risk getting her heart broken again by a hockey player in exchange for hoping it would never come to that.
"He's a good guy, mom," she replied simply, deciding it was better to not go into details at this point.
"That wasn't what I was asking," her mother responded in a sing-songy tone.
Peter just ignored his wife, giving Charlotte a soft fatherly look before kissing her gently on top of her head. "I'll have to figure out what to tell the guys when they ask why my daughter is dating the enemy."
"He's not an enemy."
"He plays for the Pirates and he's dating my daughter. He's the enemy."
Charlotte laughed and took a drink from her water, hoping her father's reluctant acceptance of the situation was a sign that things would be fine, that she could handle her mother's prying. Sure, she was well intentioned, but Charlotte remembered some time around high school when her mother switched from bragging about herself to bragging about her kid. It was one of the reasons Maggie had insisted on dragging her daughter onto that stupid reality show at times. Charlotte knew that her mother really was proud of all that she had accomplished in her life, but sometimes she had a strange way of showing it.
Of course, that whole kitchen conversation was pushed out of her mind when she pulled her tight blue dress out of the bedroom closet, the one she saved only for when she really wanted to make certain heads turn. She could tell it definitely caused a rise in her father's blood pressure for all the wrong reasons, but he curtly said good night and told her to have a nice dinner. It was fine. She knew he was being protective of her and didn't want to see her get hurt. It was a very sweet fatherly thing for him to do, but it still made her thankful for the extra half hour at the bar by herself.
Charlotte continued to drink and watch as people walked in, shedding their winter coats as soon as they were inside. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice him until he was right next to her.
"Charlotte?"
She turned to see Declan Reed staring at her with a model on his arm. Declan was the last person she ever expected to be in a place like this, and the last person she would ever want to see here or anywhere else. She desperately pulled herself out of her shock, trying her hardest to act like this unexpected run-in didn't bother her.
"Declan," she said curtly. "Haven't seen you in awhile."
The sneer on his face made it clear that he remembered the last time he saw her.
"It's been a couple years, right?" he asked, trying to act like he didn't remember when she knew he did.
"A couple years."
She took another drink, hoping it would give him the hint that it was time for him to go, but that would've been too easy.
"Wait, are you Charlotte Stone?" asked the woman beside him.
She plastered on a fake smile and turned to the tall model standing there. "Raquelle, right?"
"I didn't know you knew Charlotte!" she exclaimed to her boyfriend. "I'll have to get your number from Declan. We need to have lunch sometime."
Ugh. The thought made Charlotte's stomach lurch. People like Raquelle were the exact reason why she left New York, and a good reminder of why she was happy to be living in Detroit now.
"Sure. Lunch sounds awesome," she answered politely.
"Charlotte?"
For the second time in as many minutes, someone recognized her. This time, it was the Pirates' captain, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who recognized him.
"Jordan King!" Declan bellowed. "Good to see you!"
"Yeah," he replied apprehensively, his dark eyes peeling away from Charlotte to stare at his on-ice adversary. "How's New York?"
Declan leaned in towards Jordan. "Couldn't be better," he said as he snaked his arm around his model girlfriend's waist and pulled her close. Then he turned back to Charlotte, his jeering smile practically burning a hole into her soul. "It was good to see you again, Charlotte."
Charlotte raised her glass in goodbye and watched as he walked out, his final smirk a confirmation that she was definitely glad to be rid of him.
Seeing Declan and Jordan in the same place actually made her happy suddenly, reminding her that Jordan was nothing like the man from her past. Everything that was bad about her time with Declan had been overtaken with everything that was good about her relationship with Jordan. But that feeling disappeared quickly when she saw the accusatory way he was staring at her.
"Ready to eat?" she tried to ask casually.
"Sure," Jordan said quietly, grabbing her arm lightly to steer them towards their table.
