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I bite my lip. “And no cameras?”
He lifts my chin. “It’s like walking out the front door of a bank you just robbed. Act like you own it.”
I sigh and push his hand down. Partly because I hate what his touch does to me. “You’re the King of something alright. Bad ideas.”
He chuckles and points to the door before walking away.
I hold my breath and I give it a light knock.
“Come on in.”
I poke my head in, feeling awkward as hell. “Hello.”
“There she is.” Lonnie waves me in impatiently.
I walk in tentatively and notice the six girls in red and white uniforms. Half hanging around the large sofa. The other half spread across the floor, doing stretches.
I swallow and Lonnie winks at me. “Ladies, this is Pepper Woods. You might have heard of her, she was on the California Mermaids for three years and before that, she was teaching skating to kids at the local community ice rink in her hometown.”
“You’re Chase’s girlfriend, right?”
“Fiancée,” Lonnie corrects quickly. “So hands off, ladies. That goes for you too, M.J.” My eyes follow to the woman she’s pointing to. The one who looks like she’s checking me out—and rolls her eyes.
“Welcome to the Denver Ice Queens.”
I release a nervous breath, which Lonnie must catch. “One thing, ladies. Pepper suffered an accident a few months ago and this will be her first time on the ice since. So it’ll be a few games before she officially joins us out there. I’ll be working with her privately till then.”
I swallow. That’s their story? That I’m a little rusty and need time to adjust? In New York they’d tell you to go find someone who isn’t broken for the job.
But the girls in front of me don’t do any of that. They moan and stretch out their arms.
“Oh no. What’d you hurt?”
“That sucks. How’d it happen?”
“We’ll help you get back on.”
Lonnie puts an arm around me. “You’re in good hands.”
“It was awful. Thank God no one else was on the rink with us. I fell twelve times. This injury you guys conjured up—no longer a big fat lie at the rate I’m going.”
Chase chuckles as he unlocks the door to his apartment. “Well, you’ve got a few days to recover. The Ice Queens don’t come to away games. I’ll take you back to town before I leave for Toronto.”
“How long are you going for?” Immediately, I regret asking. The question seems innocent enough but a guy like Chase Reeves will probably think I’m getting clingy or something. I’m not really his fiancée. I don’t need to know how long he’ll be gone. “You don’t have to answer that. I don’t need to know.”
He exhales a laugh. “Don’t apologize. You have a right to know how long I’ll be out of town…wifey.”
“We’re not actually getting married, are we?”
“I don’t think it’ll get that far.”
I pause as we enter his apartment. “You mean you’d actually do it?”
“Would you? Or should I have an armed guard outside your bridal suite?”
I avoid the urge to slap his arm playfully and just narrow my eyes at him. “Very funny.”
He closes the door behind me and I step farther into the minimalist decorated bachelor pad. It’s lofty with a large cowhide rug in the living room area. Two gray sofas and probably one of the biggest TVs I’ve ever seen.
