Page 82 of Hard to Get

More heat expands beneath my ribs. I nod slowly. “There are a few things I’ve been tossing around. But I haven’t completely fleshed things out or thought them all the way through.” I lift my gaze and meet his eyes. “I should do that.”

The corners of his mouth hitch up and those dimples pop. “Good idea.”

Oh my God. I eat more of my salad as my mind turns all this over. But my thoughts are speeding, too fast, too chaotic. I need to calm down. I meet Jayden’s eyes again. “Thank you.”

He shrugs, smiling. “You’re a brilliant woman.”

Unexpected pressure builds behind my eyes. I can’t burst into tears here. I drop my gaze again and blink a few times, then choke out, “Thank you.”

“In case you haven’t noticed… I kind of like you.”

My eyes sting. No, no, no, no tears. I can’t look at him. I don’t know what to say.

He reaches across the table to touch my hand. “Hey. It’s okay.”

I nod quickly.

“But there’s something you should know.”

“What?”

He runs his tongue over his front teeth, then says, “We’ve been outed on some hockey gossip blog.”

I gaze at him, my lips parting. “Outed?”

“Yeah. There was a photo of us having lunch at the Tea House that day.”

“Oh.”

“And of course a bunch of bullshit about us dating.” He rolls his eyes. “They make up shit when they don’t know anything.”

I look around the room, expecting to see cameras pointing at us from all directions. Maybe that waitress is sneaking a pic of us.

I sigh. “Well, damn.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. And here we are in public again.”

“I don’t want to sneak around with you,” he says slowly. “But the truth is, it’s going to happen.”

“I know.” I make a wry face. “It’s fine. People are going to talk no matter what.”

“Are you sure?” His eyes are serious.

I nod. “I am.”

He lets out a short breath. “Okay.” Then he changes the topic. “I looked over all the stuff you gave me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I came up with ideas of what I need to focus on. I met with our defensive coach last week to see if he’ll work with me on those things.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah. He was actually kind of amped about it. And he told me all the good things I do, so it wasn’t totally humiliating.”

I shake my head, smiling ruefully. “Oh come on. There are a lot of good things you do. You’re a great skater. Great hockey sense. You move the puck well. Powerful slap shot.”