Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“I need you again, too.” Though her cheeks were flushed, her pupils dilated, she wiggled out of his grip and gave him a playful look over her shoulder on her way into the living area. “After food and my surprise.”
They made quick work of the burgers, splitting an order of fries. Washing everything down with drinks while laughing at Pierre’s exploration of the suite. The damn dog sniffed every inch of the carpet and plopped his butt down in various spots to leave his mark. The hotel would definitely be charging his credit card for the violation, but Sig couldn’t have cared less. Not with Chloe sitting in his lap, feeding him french fries with the perfect amount of ketchup, as if she’d studied his habits.
There was a shroud of doom hanging in the air above their heads, but they were ignoring it. Smiling through the worry. Pretending tomorrow was a year away, instead of mere hours. For Sig’s part, he knew exactly what he needed to do. Chloe was worth the sacrifices he was prepared to make, so he’d make them with a smile on his face.
“Is that my surprise?” Chloe asked, pointing at the brown paper bag.
“Yup. Open it.”
He groaned as she leaned forward in his lap to retrieve the bag, that tush pressing down in just the right spot. Fuck. Fingers digging into the arm of the chair, he watched her open the top of the bag and peer inside, grinning when she started to laugh.
“A shaving kit!” She twisted around, oblivious to the stiff dick syndrome she was causing. “You remembered.”
“Of course I did.”
“You’re going to shave for me? Now?”
Her excitement made him lighter than air. “That was the deal, right?”
“Yes!” She hopped off his lap and dashed for the bathroom. “It’s a good thing you didn’t let me open the bag before we ate, because our food would have gone cold.”
Sig pushed out of the chair and adjusted himself with a wince, before following in her wake. “What is it about this everyday ritual that has you so excited?”
“I don’t know.” When he entered the bathroom, he found the shaving cream and razor laid out neatly on the sink, Chloe sitting on the opposite side of the vanity, those graceful, bare legs swinging back and forth. Lord. With messy hair and smeared eye makeup, wearing his shirt . . . she stole his fucking breath. “I always wonder why you shave when so many guys on the team have beards. But it makes so much sense for you. You like tidy. You have your personal traditions, and you don’t deviate from them. When your mind is made up over something, you never change it.” There was a hint of something dark he couldn’t name in her eyes, but she quickly blinked it away. “You aren’t the type to wake up one morning and decide to grow a beard. And I guess . . . I don’t know. I guess I want to watch you shave because it’s part of your daily routine. Your dependability is one of my favorite things about you and I want to watch you . . . be you. In the quiet moments, too.”
“The same way I wanted to watch you pick out an outfit.”
“Yes.”
“What other routines of mine are you interested in?”
A sparkle set off the blue of her eyes. “I wouldn’t mind watching you put on your hockey pads. Do you think you’d be able to sneak me into the locker room?”
Sig squirted white shaving foam onto the flat surface of his four fingers and begun smearing it evenly over the lower half of his face, noting that Chloe watched this happen with grave fascination. “What is this apparent obsession with hockey pads and how have I been unaware of it for six months?”
“I love hockey pads,” she whispered.
His throat hurt from holding in a laugh. “Because they make me look bigger?”
The suggestion seemed to surprise her. “No, because they keep you safe.”
Now his throat hurt for a whole different reason. “Oh. Yeah, they do. Although Burgess pointed out recently that I used to be a lot more reckless. I didn’t realize until I played a few games and noticed what he meant. I keep my guard up, I anticipate better. I keep . . . me safe, too, Chloe. For you. You did that.”
She released a long exhale and scooted closer to him.
For several moments, she watched him shave in silence, the quiet scraping sound filling the scant space between them.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything,” he responded.
“What was it about me . . . that first night? What did you see?”
Sig’s hand dropped to the counter like a stone, the importance of the question obvious. So important to her, he could feel the weight everywhere. “It was your voice, first. You sounded . . . essential. You turned everything alive and brought the present into focus. Made it bigger. More beautiful. And that was before I even turned around.” Letting go of the razor, he reached up to cup her face, his heart turning over when her eyes took on a light sheen. “You talk about trusting me, Chlo? That night, I saw a person who made me want to trust the good in people. In life. Because you were the proof, standing right in front of me. I saw all of that in one night because you’re not hidden. You’re a fucking star that fell out of the sky and I was lucky enough to be standing in the right place.”