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“In Finland? Can’t you do it somewhere closer?”
He shrugged. “I’ve done one in Orlando. Edmonton. Stockholm. The best players in the league are invited to play. It’s a special game that fans love, especially in the off season. The advertisers do too because it makes them a lot of money. It’s in all players’ contracts to participate if chosen.”
“From all the fans.”
“Right.”
“The league is showing you off.”
He full out grinned now. “Pretty much.”
“That’s cool you’re invited. You’re special.”
He came around the bed, sat on the edge, stroked my hair back. “All I care about is if you think I’m special.”
When he said things like that, when he touched me gently and almost reverently, it made that berm I carefully built around my heart begin to weaken.
“How long will you be gone?” Did I sound needy and clingy because I felt it. A few days in his bed without a berm and I craved him.
This was a problem.
“I have a meeting later this morning with a potential sponsor in Chicago. OutdoorNow wants me to be their spokesperson.”
“OutdoorNow? Wow. That’s… wow.” It was the biggest outdoor company around. That they wanted Dex to represent them was really cool. Daunting. A little crazy. I could feel the excitement in him for it.
“Do they want you to model in your underwear?” I teased.
“Only for you, sugar. I don’t have the deal yet. After the meeting, I’m on the overnight flight to Finland. I’ll be back on Monday night.”
Monday. As in three days from now. I felt a pang of loneliness, of missing him, and he was right here.
He was leaving. Just as I told Bridget and Aspen he would.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
“Sugar, in the mornings, you’ve had my mouth too busy to tell you. Then you work all day and I’ve been coaching while you’re writing at night.”
It was true. We’ve been busy. Once word spread that Dex had coached Aspen’s Polar Bears and had been swayed to help with the boys’ team after, all the kid teams wanted him to help out and he didn’t say no. He was there from three until after nine ever since.
“This isn’t me giving you updates on my house construction,” I reminded. “It’s Finland, not Fargo.”
His shoulders drooped and he gave me a slightly sheepish look. “Okay. Right, I’m sorry. I pushed it off because I want to be here with you with nothing else in the way. Besides, you’re keeping your writing a secret.”
“I told you about it,” I countered. “And I don’t do that work from Finland.”
He gave me a look for that added sass on the end. “You’re still not letting me read it.”
“No way.” The latest book was hotter and more intense than the others I wrote. I was happy with what I typed, but what would Dex think? He said I was a bad girl, but that was all part of sexy times. I was so far from bad that it was ridiculous. Besides, it didn’t matter if I shared my latest story with him or not. He was going to Finland. And then back to Denver and all the trips that went with the hockey season.
Why should I show him my story if he wasn’t sticking?
“You’ll be back in Hunter Valley, on Monday, or Denver?”
“Here. In this bed with you.” He patted the empty spot beside me.
I flushed thinking of all the things we’ve done in this bed.
He sighed. “I’ve got to go. Plane’s waiting. It’s still early so go back to sleep.”
