“Nah, I’m fine. Really. Besides, you’re up in five, four, three …” He mouthed two and one silently before pulling the curtainaside.
The stage lights burned into London’s corneas, taking away his sight. He blinked and stepped forward, hoping he wasn’t about to crash into anyone or anything. Someone was at his side. “I’m taking your arm,” she said in a velvetvoice.
He didn’t fight her, didn’t even jump when her hand slipped through the crook of his elbow. His eyes slowly adjusted and he found himself center stage in front of a hundred-plus people. His teammates sat at a table to his left. He was the last bachelor on the program because he was late, so he had no idea what they had gone for. That was fine with him. No one to compete with but himself. He put on his winning smile and waved to the crowd of mostly women dressed in their finest. There were shiny dresses, shiny hairdos, and shiny lips all over the room. Shiny. Shiny.Shiny.
The hotel was decorated in warm tones. Emerald-green carpet with gold woven in a geometrical pattern covered the floor. White tablecloths draped the tables, and fresh flowers graced eachtabletop.
He was so out of hisleague.
His attention turned to the woman on his arm, and London’s heart flippered to a stop. “Maia?” hewhispered.
She faced him, their eyes locked, and he was lost in her deep brown eyes. He’d never tired of staring into them, the color a mixture of dark gray and deep brown. Luminescent. That was the word he’d picked for them all those years ago. It fit her even more now. Her black hair was full, and he’d bet his SUV it would waterfall through hisfingers.
Maia put the mic to her bright pinklips.
London couldn’t stop staring at her mouth as it formed words he didn’t hear. They were exactly like he remembered them—full and without that dip in the middle of the top one. More often than not, they tasted like cinnamon. She had a thing for cinnamonbears.
As if she could read his thoughts, she said, “… teddybear.”
Applause rangout.
“What did you say?” heasked.
She spoke through her unmoving smile. “I said you were a teddybear.”
He grunted. “That’s not what you said atprom.”
Her nostrils flared. Had he not been watching her so intently, he would have missed the tiny display ofanger.
“Tell us, London, what do you have planned for the lucky lady who wins a date with you tonight?” Maia tipped the mic hisdirection.
London panicked. No one told him he was supposed to come up with a plan tonight! He thought he had a couple days to put thattogether.
Maia quirked an eyebrow. He had nothing and she knew it. And she wasn’t going to let him off thehook.
It took two to play a game. Maybe it was the challenge in the arch of her eyebrow or a host of unfinished business that spurred him to take up thegauntlet.
He brought out his best smolder, the one the photographer forFootball Todayhad taught him, the same one that won him most handsome football player two years in a row—yeah, that one. He leaned closer to Maia, making it look to the crowd like he was leaning into the mic when all he wanted was to put his hand on her side. His fingers brushed the fabric and a small gasp escaped her perfect lips, triggering too many tender memories tofight.
The smart-aleck response he’d prepared died and he said, “My perfect date doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. A gazebo, a night full of stars, and soft music is enough if it’s with the rightwoman.”
Under the chorus of oohs and aahs, Maia whispered, “You remember?” She searched his face, her eyes glistening. The tenderness in her gaze told him so much more than the distance she’d tried to put between them all those yearsago.
“I remember everything,” he replied just aslow.
Emotions flipped over Maia’s face as if they were on cue cards and she could speed-read. The last one must have readice,because she closed off her heart. He swore there was a crackingsound.
“What did I tell you, ladies? He’s a gem.” She stepped away from him. “Let’s start thebidding.”
Chapter Three
“Thanks for supportingour vets tonight with your donations. Have a wonderful night!” Maia waved goodbye and stepped backwards until she was through the curtain opening. She held her smile in place until they dropped shut, and the audience disappeared fromview.
Gathering yards of fabric, she hiked her dress up enough to give her thighs room to move more than three inches. The gown was exquisite—when she’d put it on, it was like wearing a second skin. However, she’d had to walk like a Barbie doll all evening, and getting out of the building and away from London was her toppriority.
I remembereverything.
Good-luck kisses. Healing kisses. Kisses full of truelove.
