I grabbed a second bottle and tossed it to him. “Tell me about it. Seems kind of unreal, right? Turns out, the owners of this place are moving across the country later this year, and they’re looking to offload. I was thinking about making an offer.”
Honestly, in the past month and a half, this place had started to feel more like a home to me than the apartment I had back in DC. I might have lived there longer, but in all those years, I never had the desire to make the place my own. It was cold and impersonal. This place was nothing but warmth.
He nodded, then moved to one of the stools around the island and took a seat, twisting his water bottle open and taking a swig. “Think you’d be stupid not to. Lord knows you have more than enough money to buy yourself a vacation home. Even a rustic mountain mansion in the middle of the woods,” he teased.
The sip of water I’d just taken hardened and hit my stomach like a rock at the wordsvacation home, but I pushed the discomfort down for another time. “So, how are Alice and the kids?” I asked, shifting gears and guiding us to a new topic. “She still putting up with your ugly ass?”
Luke grinned and flipped me off. “Everyone’s great. Alice made sure to remind me repeatedly to give you her love and to get your ass home soon.”
I forced my mouth into a smile. “Send my love right back to her.”
Luke’s eyebrows lifted on his forehead, his grin turning knowing. “Don’t think I didn’t miss how you skated right around the second part of her message.”
A chuckle worked its way up my throat. I should have known better. If there was one person aside from my mom I couldn’t get shit past, it was Luke. He knew me too well.
“What can I say? I’m enjoying myself.”
“I bet.” His gaze returned to the windows. “I can see why you like it here so much. Saw it just driving through town. Couldn’t get over all those mountains. Place kind of reminds me of being inside a snow globe.”
“Yeah, it really does. And the people are great. They know exactly who I am, but they don’t treat me any differently than anyone else. They couldn’t care less what I do for a living. Gotta tell you, it’s been a relief.”
“Tired of all those adoring fans?”
I arched a brow. “You mean the fans who like to stop me in the middle of the street and tell me what a fuck-up I am any time I miss a goal?”
He snorted, all too familiar with what I was talking about. He got it regularly as well. We all did. “Everyone’s a critic.” He finished off his water and underhanded the empty bottle into the recycling bin beside the trash can. “I’m glad you’re feeling the love here, but I’m more interest in one specific person, not the whole town.”
“Oh, I see how it is. You’re not really here for me. You only came to meet Holly.” Not that I minded. There wasn’t a doubt inmy mind she’d win him over in a matter of seconds. “If you want to meet her, just say so.”
“I want to meet her,” he said without hesitation. “McClusky and Lee are jealous as hell I’m going to meet her first.”
There was no point in delaying their meeting. Luke could be a persistent asshole when he wanted to be. And when it came to the people he cared about, there was no stopping him. “All right,” I gave my head a good-natured shake. “She’s at her shop today, but I’ll give her a call and set something up.”
“Jesus,”Luke grunted, scooping salsa onto another chip and shoving it into his mouth. “Have you tasted this shit?” he asked around the food in his mouth. He’d barely swallowed the last bite before cramming another into his mouth.
“How could I? You’ve been shoveling the stuff into your face so fast I haven’t had a chance.”
He didn’t look the least bit apologetic as he stuffed another chip in. “This is the best salsa I’ve ever tasted.” Another bite. “You think if I asked really nice, they’d give me a couple gallons of this stuff to take home?”
Dear lord. My best friend was going to send Holly running with the way he was eating. “You think you could cool it for five minutes? The last thing I want to do is have to Heimlich your ass because you choked on Mexican food during a short vacation you’re not even supposed to be on.”
He picked up another chip, shooting me an unrepentant look as he scraped the damn salsa bowl clean. “Cut me some slack,would you? You know we never get to eat like this during the season.”
He was right. Eating during hockey season wasn’t about enjoying food, it was about fueling us enough to get us through each game. Some of the guys stuck to a macrobiotic diet while we were playing, but we all made sure to eat as clean as possible. Alcohol was out of the question, so a meal like this was a real treat.
“At least close your damn mouth when you chew. And, for the love of God, stop talking with food in your mouth.” I spotted a flash of something sunny out of the corner of my eye and turned just as Holly reached the hostess stand.
“Holy shit.” The humor in Luke’s voice had my head twisting back in his direction. “Look at you. You’re fucking sprung, man.”
I didn’t bother denying it, mainly because it was true. Instead, I pushed to my feet, waving my hand to get her attention. The instant her eyes hit mine and that brilliant smile lit up her face, my blood heated and my cock twitched, desperate for her like it always was.
My lips turned up automatically in response to her own. It was always that way. The more time I spent with her, the more my own mood mirrored hers. That was why it was so fucking hard for me when she’d had that migraine the other week. Seeing her in pain like that nearly fucking gutted me.
“Hey, Sunshine.” I reached for her as soon as she was close enough, pulling her against me so I could seal our mouths together. I managed to end the kiss before I could do what Ireallywanted and spread her out on the table so she could be my dinner, and when I finally pulled back, that pink blush I loved so much had bloomed on her cheeks.
“Hi back,” she replied.
A throat cleared behind me, and I turned to shoot Luke a look that would have made most other people piss their pants. Thebastard gave me a smug grin that I was tempted to punch off his stupid face.
