Roman (Cold Fury Hockey #7)(40)
Brian shrugs his shoulders. “So what if she is? Sisters fight, you know.”
“But not newfound sisters who have over two decades of lost time to make up for,” I say tartly.
My dad laughs, throwing his head back, and when his eyes return to me they’re sparkling with amusement. “Now that I’ll give you, but honestly, Lexi, I’m sure Gray was just giving advice, and if you choose not to follow it, she’s going to be fine. She might still be concerned, but trust me when I say she wants you to be happy too.”
“Do you really think so?” I ask gruffly, my throat once again clogging with emotion.
“I know so,” Brian says firmly, then his hands come to my shoulders. “Gray may be a high-powered woman who can be slightly intimidating on the best of days, but at her core, she has a heart as big as the ocean. Just trust me on this, okay?”
“Okay,” I say as I huff out a relieved breath followed by a smile. “Can we hug it out now? Then I’m going to call Roman.”
Brian laughs again and wraps me in an embrace. Standing on my tiptoes to accept it, I see Georgia watching us with her hand over her mouth, head tilted, her eyes shining with emotion. She’s as moved by this father-daughter moment as I am.
Which brings to mind…
I pull away from Brian and look to him, then to Georgia, and back to him. “You two clearly had talked about me before you came here. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, that,” Georgia says as she walks over and loops her arm through Brian’s. “We had our first date today, and I think it was marvelous. So good, in fact, I feel comfortable eating tabbouleh on our next date.”
Wait! What?
Before I can even process that, Georgia pats Brian’s arm and turns to look up at him. “And when might that next date occur?”
Brian looks down at Georgia and grins at her. “I’m thinking dinner…tonight. You game?”
“Oh baby,” she says with a purr. “You have no idea.”
And…this just got weird. “O-k-a-a-a-y,” I say slowly as I back away from the weirdness toward the door. “I’m just going to leave you two alone to kiss it out or something.”
“I don’t kiss on the first date,” Georgia says primly as I open the door with a backward reach of my hand. Then her eyes practically glow with wickedness as she winks at me. “But I’m totally open to at least second base thereafter.”
“Ugh,” I say dramatically as I clap my hands over my ears. “Don’t ever say that stuff in front of me again.”
Brian’s lips press into an amused smile as he watches me walk backward out of the office, my hands still secure against my ears to muffle any sound. And when I’m clear and can shoot a hand out to pull the door closed behind me, I watch as Brian turns to Georgia and, sadly, I hear him say, “Second base, huh?”
I pull the door shut fast and it slams loudly, cutting out any further naughty flirting between my dad and Georgia. But then I put them out of my mind as I dig my phone out of my pocket and pull up Roman’s number.
My heart beats madly as the phone rings, but I’m disappointed to get his voicemail. It’s simple and adorable in his light Czech accent. “Sykora. Talk to me.” Then a long pause. “Or don’t. I don’t care which, but I suspect you do.”
I smile as I wait for the tone, then leave a somewhat breathless if not confusing message. “Um…hey…it’s Lexi, but you probably know that because of caller ID and all that, but anyway…I just had the most amazing conversation with Brian and he may have pointed out I was a fool to stop seeing you, which is weird, right? But anyway, I want to know if you’re still interested in a goofy, ukulele-playing girl who works at a coffee shop. Or have I so thoroughly wounded your ego that you’re not willing to give me a second chance. If it’s the first, call me back. If it’s the second, throw the bag I left at your house onto the front lawn and text me when it’s ready. I’ll come by and pick it up. Okay, that’s it. I really hope it’s the first. Call me and I’ll play the ukulele just for you.”
I grin as I disconnect the call. I don’t know Roman well, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he’ll be charmed by that message and I’ll be hearing from him sooner rather than later.
Chapter 15
Roman
I open my front door before Lexi’s foot hits the bottom step of my porch, as I’d been watching for her car to pull into my driveway. She looks up at me with her right hand holding her ukulele by its neck.
“I’m prepared to serenade you if necessary,” she quips with a smile as she holds it up for me to see.
“Now why would that be necessary?” I ask her as I step out onto the porch and cross my arms over my chest.
“Well, because the text you sent me in response to my voicemail was very cryptic.” She steps up fully onto the bottom step and waits for my move.
And damn, she looks cute as hell in black leggings, black ankle boots with shaggy fake fur around the edges, and an oversized dark purple sweater that hangs off one shoulder.
It’s cold as hell outside, so I ask as I frown down at her, “Where’s your coat?”
“Figured I didn’t need it,” she replies as she stares at me. “I’d either jump out of my car and grab my bag from your front lawn, or I’d be warm inside your house.”