AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I can no more imagine Tess on ice skates than I can see her flying to the moon.
“When I take a vacay.” She waves it off. “And I’m a huge fan of the Seattle Hawks.”
I do a double-take. I’ve never heard her talk about the Seattle Hawks in her life. Sure, she follows ice hockey, but I didn’t know she could name the players.
“I thought you followed Spirit through and through, Tess?” I ask.
“Well, I do.” She shrugs. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the other talent.”
They both laugh, and I almost want to slap myself.
“Well, I am going to an all-stars game tomorrow as it happens to support the Miami Gliders. It’s a charity I help sponsor with some of the other NHL guys.”
Tess claps her hands together while I stand there wide-eyed.
“I’m sure I could get you in if you wanted to go?”
Tess all but shrieks, then her face falls. “I would love to,” she says. “But I’m going away for the weekend. It’s a new guy I’m dating, so it might be rude to cancel at the last minute.”
I have to hand it to Ashton. Tess has dropped the walls to her hard-hitting composure straight off the bat. I don’t know how he does it. She isn’t usually this chatty with strangers. This only leads me to believe that Ashton can well and truly charm anyone at any time.
“Well, maybe next time,” he says, turning to me. “I was going to ask you later, as a surprise.” He tugs on my hand.
We all walk to the other end of the auction house, people are starting to gather.
“That would be awesome.” I try not to gush, but it is a little difficult. My mind is going haywire, and I know I have to get it together. I need to get my game face on.
As we enter the conference room, I see Phil Davie’s talking on his cell and pacing back and forth.
Ashton laces his fingers in mine, and I feel a lot taller than my five-foot-four as we walk toward the front to get a seat.
“Are you okay with me being here?” he asks as Tess mingles her way through to the front.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I nod. I feel nervous, but I know once things get underway, I’ll be fine.
He smiles. “You don’t just have to say that. I can kill some time if you want to get this done and dusted without me here. I don’t want to distract you.”
I bite my lip as I look at him. “You’re very distracting.” I let him know there’s no point in hiding it. “But it seems a little silly of me to be shy around you now.”
Our eyes lock, and he looks sexy as he tilts his head, smiling. “Why’s that? Because you just had me seeing stars?”
“You hadmeseeing stars,” I inform him. Right at the same time, I hear a voice I don’t want to hear.
“If it isn’t little Maddison Gray.”
Urgh. Phil Davie’s.
He’s always sniffing around my listings and being smug about his latest big sale every time I see him.
He is everything you would expect a Miami realtor to be, driving around in his Ferrari with his three-hundred-dollar haircut. He works for Davies Agencies, founded by his father and his grandfather.
He has the flashy suit, the black hair gelled back, and the cheesy smile to go with it all.
“Phil.” I turn my head as he sizes up the company next to me.
“Holy shit, Ashton Rivers? The best star defender for the Seattle Hawks?”He balks.
It’s like he’s on commentary replay for the NHL.
