Page 49 of Heartless As Puck

He scoffed. “Do you plan to tell your family the truth?”

A nasty shard of guilt sliced through me. He had a point. I’d kept the real story from them, and I’d been dodging their calls for as long as I could. Eventually, I’d have to face them. Could I lie to them the same way I had to Hazel?

I had no idea.

FIFTEEN

AUSTIN

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” I asked Jane as we lingered in the dining area after finishing an early dinner.

“Yes. I knew I’d have to do things like this from the beginning.” She flashed me a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing breathing exercises on and off during the day. I should be fine.”

“Okay.” I hoped she was right. I didn’t want her to be miserable. “Shall we meet down here in an hour then?”

She nodded and made her way up the stairs. I went to my own room and spent half an hour planning out the conversations I still needed to have with some of the players on our team. Then, reluctantly, I opened my closet and pulled out the suit I saved for our biggest charitable events.

This evening, several members of the Chicago Chaos were attending a charity gala to support a youth hockey league for disadvantaged children. I believed in the cause wholeheartedly, but I did wish I didn’t have to dress in a suit and parade in front of potential donors to bring in more money. I’d rather just throw some of my own at it and leave the more outgoing guys on the team to do the socializing.

Unfortunately, it was one of the few downsides of being captain that my presence wasn’t optional.

I buttoned up the shirt, then undid the top one when it felt too tight around my neck. I chose a plain silver tie and put it on methodically, the way my father had made me practice a thousand times before. He hadn’t only been concerned with me being a great hockey player but looking the part as well.

I checked my reflection in the mirror and smoothed the front of the shirt, then adjusted the waistband of the trousers until everything was sitting the way I wanted it to.

I added a watch and a neat little pocket handkerchief, and made sure my black shoes were polished until they shone before putting them on. Perhaps I didn’t like being put on parade, but I was going to make management proud they’d chosen me to be the captain.

When I was as ready as I could be, I waited for Jane in the living room. The car would be arriving in five minutes, and I knew she wouldn’t be late. She never was. Although the longer she took to come down, the more I wondered if she hadn’t climbed out the window and run away.

Finally, with a great deal of relief, I heard her footfalls as she came down the stairs. I stood and went to meet her but stumbled over my own feet as she came into view.

Holy fucking crap.

I just about swallowed my tongue.

“J-Jane?” I sputtered, hardly able to believe my eyes.

She grabbed handfuls of her floaty pink skirt and lifted it, her gestures and expression self-conscious as she reached me.

“Is this all right?” she asked, nibbling on her lower lip, which was petal pink from some kind of lipstick or gloss.

I couldn’t help staring. In this dress that made her complexion look like peaches and cream and emphasized the curve of her breasts and the slenderness of her waist, she looked like some kind of daydream fantasy.

Her glossy, dark hair spilled over her shoulders in loose curls, falling almost all the way to her waist. Was it usually that long, or had she added some kind of extension?

Subtle eyeshadow made her eyes look mysterious, and she wore a delicate bracelet around her right wrist that drew attention, once more, to her petite frame.

“It’s perfect,” I said honestly. “You’re going to steal the show.”

Her cheeks pinkened. “I just don’t want to let you or myself down. I went shopping the other day and picked up a few new things.”

Oh shit. I should have thought of that. She’d insisted in the contract that she’d be allowed to choose her own clothing and accessories, but I’d given little consideration to the fact she might have to buy new ones.

“If you need a clothing budget, we can work something out for that,” I said.

She shook her head. “I don’t need much, and I think I’ve got the bases more or less covered now.”

I made a mental note to have Gus add another couple thousand dollars onto her payout anyway.