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He caught me looking at his mouth, but I quickly covered for myself. “I was saving that for last.”
Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “You snooze you lose.” Then tossed what was left of the green rind onto his plate.
I finished my veggies, then laid back down on the lush padded lounge. “Want me to get you more?” he asked, but I just shook my head and yawned.
“No, thanks.”
“Gigi?” he asked, his voice deep but almost apologetic? I turned my head to him. “That picture, I mean, it’s—”
“Probably altered. There’s a ton of software out there. If they can erase crow’s feet and cellulite I’m sure they can make things look like—that,” I said, not knowing what else to say about such an uncomfortable topic.
He just nodded. “I’m really sorry it got out somehow. There wasn’t anyone else around, I looked. I don’t know who even took it.” The show of concern on his face looked genuine. Why he couldn’t always behave like this—oh whatever. That didn’t matter.
“Beau,” I said, waiting for his eyes to find mine. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not big on social media anyway. It was shocking when I first saw it because—well, I’m practically naked. But after that, it really doesn’t affect me. Not as much as it’ll affect you, anyway.” I giggled, closing my eyes.
“How’s it going to affect me?”
I kept my eyes closed as I spoke, “You might have cockblocked yourself. That’s all.” Another giggle bubbled out of me.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing, Moreau. Drop it.”
“And we’re back to Moreau again?”
I rolled over and looked at him, his elbows now rested on his thighs. His eyes did a not so quick scan of my body. That damn smile of his quirked up the corner of his lips. “I’m guessing we won’t have anymore half naked photoshoots. No reason for you to pick me up and try to cop a feel.”
“I was not—”
I laughed, putting my hand on his knee. “The other lumberjacks and I will fade into the background. Just like most women’s hockey teams. You and your guys will become the main focus. We won’t see each other, Moreau. You and I both know how this works.” I yawned again and turned to my back.
“Angelique and Marcel are pretty dedicated to getting you guys as much attention as they can,” he said, and I nodded.
“I know. But the question still remains whether anyone will actually care or not,” I said quietly so nobody else would hear.
We sat in silence for a while and I’d half thought Beau’d gotten up and left. Then I heard him speak up, “I’m sorry for calling you lumberjacks. That was a shitty thing to say.”
“It really, really was.” I looked into his eyes. He had an almost brooding demeanor about him that quite honestly shocked me. I didn’t know him well enough to say if it was an honest reaction or not, but it seemed like it to me.
He nodded his head and said, “And how I treated you at the rink was out of line. I was pissed off, too, for what my team and I had to wear.” Beau let out a loud groan. “I’m going to catch so much shit for those pictures it’s not even funny.” To my surprise, he dropped his head down and shook it from side to side.
In all my craziness, I hadn’t once considered what the consequences would be for Beau and the rest of the men. They looked hot but still—tight white jeans? “If you’d been asked to wear tiny bodysuits and silver stilettos, you would have had a fit, too. Trust me.”
His eyes scanned my face. “I know. I can’t blame you one bit for freaking out. To be honest, I did the same thing in the locker room,” he said, laughing slightly.
I shook my head. “Yeah, I probably could have handled it a little better. And I’m sorry for going off on you at the front desk. Kind of—”
“You mean you believe I can write my own name now?”
That cracked me up. “Uh, let’s not go too crazy. I heard you told your team they could trade rooms,” I said, giving him a disapproving look and shaking my head at him.
“How in God’s name did you read that entire document before you came down here? Did you memorize it in fifteen minutes?”
“Something like that,” I said, feeling the heaviness of sleep wafting over me.
“I’m not kidding, how did you read it so fast?”
“I have mad skills.”
