Destiny on Ice (Boys of Winter #1)(59)

“We’ll catch up with you at Christmas,” my always supportive dad says after I give him the bad news.

“Yes, definitely,” I reply, knowing I’ll be out of the contract with the Wolves by then.

I start imagining holidays spent with Brent—putting up a tree, drinking eggnog, and exchanging special gifts, all as an official couple.

I hear my mom sigh and realize Dad has his phone on speaker. “Honey,” my mother starts out of the blue.

“Yes, Mom?”

”Please promise me you’ll be sure to eat a real dinner on Thanksgiving. I know how caught up in your job you get, but you have to have some turkey. No fast food, okay?”

I assure her, “Mom, I don’t really eat fast food, anyway.”

“Oh, that’s good, honey. But promise me about the turkey.”

“Yes, Mom,” I dutifully reply. “I will absolutely have some turkey on Thanksgiving.”

I talk a bit longer with my parents, and then I call Lainey.

“Sestra!” she sings out when she answers.

I start laughing. “Sounds like someone’s been binge watching Orphan Black again.”

My sister may have a slight obsession with Tatiana Maslany.

“Guilty as charged,” she replies. “I just finished with another multi-season viewing. I swear I might die waiting for season five.”

“You’ll live,” I assure her.

“Oh, hold on a minute. I’m getting a text.”

I imagine Lainey holding out her phone to read her new message. When she returns to our convo, she huffs.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“That was from Dad. What’s this about you not coming home for Thanksgiving?”

Sighing, I break the bad news to her. “It’s true, Lain. That’s why I’m calling, to let you know I won’t make it home this year. Dad just beat me to it.”

“Damn, your job is so freaking all-consuming.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” I reply, feeling sad.

“I’m seeing it now more than ever, Aubrey. When do you have time to, like, live a life?”

Lainey is right. No wonder I fell for a client. I have no time for anyone other than whoever it is I’m life-coaching. What am I going to do when I’m assigned to someone new? Sure I’ll have a little time off, but then another assignment will come along. Do I really want to spend months away from Brent?

“I have a lot to think about,” I murmur.

“What’s that mean?” Lainey wants to know. “Oh wait. Holy crap! You met someone out there in Las Vegas, didn’t you?”

I’ve been dying to share my new relationship status with my sister, and finally here’s a chance. As long as I’m fuzzy on the details she won’t guess my new love interest is my client.

“I kind of have,” I admit.

Lainey squeals into the phone, “Details, Aubrey, I want details. Tell me everything. Plus, I want to know when I get to meet him. Will you be bringing him home to Pennsylvania for Christmas?”

“Whoa, slow down. We’re in the early stages of dating. Although I have known him since August.”

Another excited squeal assaults my ear. “What’s his name?”

This should be safe. “Brent,” I reply.

“How old is he?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Ooh, you cougar. A younger man.”

“Lainey.” I roll my eyes. “I’m only two years older than him.”

“Okay, whatever. Tell me more. What does he do? How’d you meet? Is he hot?”

I answer the only question I can, and luckily it’s the one I know Lainey wants to hear the most. “He’s absolutely gorgeous, Lainey.” Now it’s my turn to squeal a little. “He’s tall, like over six feet, and he has all this nice, thick dark hair. And then there’s his face.”

“Cute, huh?”

“Gorgeous.”

“What about his body?”

“Oh my God, it’s to die for. He’s built, all masculine and strong.”

I sigh, and so does Lainey.

And then she says, “Mmm, he sounds like he’s smoking hot.”

“He is,” I assure her. “He really is.”

“So what color are his eyes?” Giggling, she adds, “They’re not sunflower brown, are they?”

It’s safe to answer truthfully on that one. “Um, no, they’re more whiskey colored.”

“You were so funny that night, Aubrey,” Lainey goes on, referring to the party where I was drooling over Brent, only to find myself waking up in his bed.

If Lainey only knew that guy is my guy she’d die.

I can’t share that with her, but I can say, “You know what’s really wild, Lainey?”

“What?”

“The guy I’m dating looks an awful lot like the guy from that night, the one I was drooling over. I swear they could be twins.”

“Wow, lucky you,” she says. “That dude was sexy as hell.”

Smiling at the serendipitous way things sometimes work out, I say, “Yes, he certainly was.” And is.

Lainey then surprises the hell out of me when she asks, “Are you in love with him?”