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“Baby.” He lowered his face and silenced her with a soft kiss. His hand slid up her arm to the back of her neck. “You’ll ruin my reputation in the league,” he whispered across her lips. She opened her mouth as if to respond, and he silenced her with a kiss, because God knew what she might say next. A long, deep kiss that tasted of lemon and sugar. A kiss that was meant to suck the breath from her lungs and give her something to think about besides those damn romantic sayings she’d probably found in an Internet meme. A kiss meant to slip inside and heat up the pit of her stomach, to make her heart beat a little faster, and leave her wanting more.
When the kiss ended, she opened her eyes wide and licked her lips. She wasn’t the only one heated up and wanting more. “Ready to go?”
She nodded, and he once again took her soft hand in his. They wove their way through the bar and out onto the street. Inky patches of overcast sky hid the stars she’d said he wanted to pull out just for her. A thick chill hung just above freezing and seeped through the weave of Sean’s hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Damp air clung to his cheeks and exposed neck and nipped at the tips of his ears.
“Are you planning on going to the Biscuit in the Basket fund-raiser?” she asked. Multicolored lights from storefronts shone in her blond hair and on the side of her face.
He’d heard something about the fund-raiser but hadn’t given it much thought. “Maybe.”
“All the money goes to youth hockey, but it’s a strictly twenty-one-and-older event. There’s lots of booze and gambling.”
He wouldn’t mind playing poker with the guys.
“I’ll get the tickets. It’ll be a good place for us to be seen together.”
Of course. They needed to be seen together. That shouldn’t bother him, but for some reason it did. “Where are you parked?”
“Parking lot down a block.” She dropped her hand from his and shoved it into her pocket. “Do you need a ride?”
“No. I jogged here.” The cool night air chilled his palm where it had pressed into hers. “I’ll jog back.”
“In this weather?”
“It’s only a mile or so.” He stuck his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. “I still get lost in this city, and it’s actually easier for me to get around on foot.”
They moved past a seafood restaurant and a coffee shop.
She looked up at him and her shoulder bumped his arm. “I could show you around.” She thought a moment. “Have you been to the Chihuly Garden? It’s by the Key and your apartment.”
“No. I really haven’t had a lot of time since I was traded.”
Her lips pursed as she paused in thought, and he wondered if she was trying to drive him crazy. “We’re limited this time of year,” she said, as if they’d still be pretend dating. “And I refuse to have anything to do with the zoo. Captivity is sad and mean.”
He could suggest a Woo-Hoo Tutu, but thought better of it.
“I help raise money for the endangered species, but that doesn’t mean I approve of warehousing animals. It’s just wrong.”
He didn’t like cruelty to animals as much as anyone, but he wasn’t opposed to a fur rug beneath his feet.
He grabbed her elbow and walked to the curb. He looked one way and then the other, then stepped into the street between a Prius and a micro car.
“The producers of Gettin’ Hitched contacted me today.”
He looked down the street at a headlight in the distance as she threaded her arm through his and hurried beside him. “They offered to move the taping to the Fairmont here in Seattle.”
“Still not interested.”
She cozied up to his side, and a lock of her hair rested on his shoulder. “They even moved the day to make it convenient for yo
u.”
He looked down at her, getting all snug against him in order to warm him up. “I’m not getting anywhere near that drama.”
“It’ll be painless.”
“That’s what you said before.”
“That wasn’t my fault. It’s hard to find reliable leakers these days.” She shook her head and stepped up onto the curb beside him. “Please say you’ll come to the taping. Yum Yum and I could really use your support.”
