“Yes! And when I watch it, I get hungry, and I want to eat everything they’re making!”
“Yes, same,” Aiden says. “Do you watchChristmas Cookie Challenge?”
“Oh, that’s comfort viewing,” I declare. “I watch that all the time.”
“But now we’re entering Christmas cookie season, so it’s a must watch.”
“Confession. I’ve already been buying and eating Christmas cookies.”
Aiden’s eyes sparkle at me. “Tell me all about them. I have to watch my sugar intake for hockey so I can’t eat cookies the way I want to. Which would be every day.”
Does he have any idea how cute he is right now? Does he?
“Right now, I’m in my chocolate candy-cane sandwich crèmes era,” I say. “It’s two chocolate cookies with a candy-cane crème filling. I’ve bought a box on my last two trips to Whole Foods.”
“I’m going to have to get those,” Aiden says decidedly.
“Oh no, I’m already a bad influence on you,” I tease.
“Perhaps you are,” he says, eyeing me with interest.
The butterflies take off in my stomach. I haven’t had a reaction to a man like this in … forever.
I’m about to say something when a woman approaches Aiden from behind. “Oh, there you are, I felt bad I had lost you,” she says. “You’ll need to report to the blackjack table in fifteen minutes, Aiden.”
“Understood,” he says. “I’m going to make some bids, and then I’ll meet you there.” The look on his face wills the woman to go away.
“Of course,” she says, smiling at him. Then she retreats.
“Sorry about that,” Aiden says. “She’s my assigned handler for the evening. They’re supposed to be with us while we’re out on the floor. I gave her the slip when I came to introduce myself to you.” He pauses and rakes his hair off his forehead again. “But I suppose I should place some bids. Care to help me?”
“Help you bid?” I ask.
Aiden nods. “I’ll tell you something, but only if you don’t tell anyone else.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll bid on five or six items—a high bid so I’ll most likely win. Then I turn all those items over to the raffle, so they have more items to give away and they’ll make a lot of money for the foundation, too.”
My heart is touched. “That’s really kind of you.”
Aiden shrugs. “Not really. Hockey has been very good to me. It’s a way I can pay it back. And there’s some fans attending tonight who could never afford the luxury packages. But in the raffle, everyone has a chance to win, and that’s fun.”
“I love that you do this,” I say.
“I enjoy it. I did it at the fundraisers for my last team, and I already told Clancy I was doing it tonight.” John Clancy is the head of public relations for the Miami Manatees.
“So what should I bid on, Scarlett?” Aiden asks.
Scarlett.
Hearing my name roll off those full lips of his causes a shiver to run through me. I like it.
I like ita lot.
We walk down the length of the table and discuss what he should bid on. One is a spa weekend at the Hotel Fredrico. Another is a set of luxury-class roundtrip tickets on Premier Airlines. We also decide to place big bids on a chef’s table experience for six at a posh restaurant, a Miami Copperheads basketball experience package, and a beachfront stay at a resort in the Bahamas.
“If I win half of these, that would be awesome,” Aiden declares as he puts the last bid down.
