Page 66 of Something Like That

“I’ll have white wine, please,” Alex said. “The house wine is fine.”

“And I’ll have a dry martini, please.” Janelle glanced at him and Ty. It was quick, but Nick would bet she was looking for judgement.

She sure as hell wouldn’t get any from him. Just because he was restricting himself to water didn’t mean everyone else couldn’t enjoy themselves. Besides, he knew what she was going through right now. She deserved a drink, or ten, if she wanted. And who the hell in her life made her so worried about ordering a freaking drink with dinner?

“So, Tyler…” Alex took a sip of her water. Nick couldn’t help but watch her lips on the glass, the long column of her throat as she swallowed. “I know you retired at the end of last season. What are you up to these days?”

“I did.” He gave her a smile that made Nick want to rip his lips off. “I figured it was time, given that my back wouldn’t stop aching like a mother fucker. But I didn’t leave the game completely. I’m doing a little scouting for San Francisco.” He leaned back in his chair. “But mostly I’m taking it easy. Trying to figure out what exactly I want to do with the rest of my life.”

Nick snorted. “You retired at the end of last season, almost a year ago. If you haven’t figured out what you want by now, I say it’s a lost cause.”

Ty grinned. “What can I say? Playing professional hockey did absolutely nothing to prepare me for life outside of the rink. Did you know adulting is hard?”

Alex and Janelle both laughed. Nick felt his own lips turn up in a grin.

“Here, here.” Janelle lifted her water glass in a toast.

They all clinked glasses and took a drink. He felt his gaze straying to Alex once again. She glanced at him and smiled. Her hand landed on his knee, her palm hot, even through his jeans.

He took another sip of water. And choked when her fingers slid up and curled inward to rest on his inner thigh. His cock rejoiced, stiffening behind his fly.

“You okay?” Ty glanced at him. Nick could tell he was getting ready to thump him on the back if needed.

“I’m good,” he said, although it came out all cracked and broken. He covered his mouth with his napkin and coughed again. “Just some water slid down the wrong way.”

He glanced at Alex again. She deliberately kept her gaze locked on Ty and Janelle, who were eyeball deep in small talk. He had no idea what they were discussing, mainly because his focus was completely centered on the hand inching closer and closer to his cock.

She squeezed his inner thigh. He swallowed back a moan. Holy shit. She was seriously going to kill him, right here in the middle of the restaurant.

And, the sad part, he was more than willing to let her.

Chapter Fourteen

Alex couldn’t believe how bad she was being. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and placed in on top of her empty plate. She’d had a glass of wine with dinner, and had ordered—and eaten—the most delicious, decadent, creamy, cheesy, buttery, mushroom risotto for dinner, followed by chocolate molten lava cake for dessert.

And then there was Nick.

She’d spent the better part of the last two hours touching and teasing him under the table. She had no idea where the urge had come from, but he’d been sitting there looking all sexy and everything, so she’d reached over and grabbed his thigh. The muscles had tensed under her fingers, and a thrill had raced through her. So, she kept doing it.

A touch here, a brush of skin there. And she may have, at one point, slipped her heel off and played a game of footsie with him. It had been fun and freeing. And she’d loved his reactions. The way he tensed, or shifted slightly. The way his breath hitched when she did something really naughty, like squeeze his upper thigh.

However, she was so hot and bothered now, she could barely stand it. All the teasing was getting to her.

His hand landed on her knee. She covered her gasp with a small, fake cough against her elbow. The silk dress was no match for his heated palm.

The urge to squirm was so intense, she grabbed onto the seat of the chair to stop. Focused on the story Janelle was telling, the one about the time she’d ended up in charge of the fifth-grade bake sale, which thankfully Alex had heard plenty of times.

He slipped the silk up over her knee, brushed his fingers against her bare skin. Goosebumps prickled up her thigh, nerve endings sparking in their wake. His touch followed them, sending heat to band low in her belly. Everything below her bellybutton throbbed, picking up and copying the erratic rhythm of her heart.

She glanced at him. He was watching Janelle intently, like he was absorbed in her story—and maybe he was, at least partly—but there was a bit of color in his cheeks. He glanced at Alex, his fingers continuing their leisurely glide up her leg. The heat in his eyes killed the breath in her lungs.

The waiter chose that moment to come by and ask if there was anything else they needed. Nick slipped his hand out from under her dress. She swallowed back a whimper, although, at this point, she wasn’t sure if it was one of relief or disappointment.

Tyler glanced around the table, his brow raised in her and Nick’s direction. Oh, goodness, did he know what they’d been doing? How could he possibly know? Had they been that obvious?

Heat exploded in her cheeks, burned the tips of her ears. Her face and chest probably matched her dress. She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick shake his. She didn’t trust herself to look at him.

“No, thanks,” Tyler said, turning back to the waiter. “Just the bill, please.”