Rush: The Season (Austin Arrows Book 1)(27)

My eyes lock on to Ellie’s face just as she wraps her lips around the end of the red sucker.

I do my best not to watch.

I fail.

Apparently my dick has witnessed it, too, and since I have a cup on, that’s not a good thing.

Fuck.

“Can I have one?” Bianca asks, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I’m having a hot flash, something I didn’t think men actually had.

“Find Optimus,” Ellie tells her. “He’ll get you one.”

“Okay. Did you talk to him about scaling Mount Rushmore?”

I laugh as I watch Ellie’s eyes widen. Apparently she didn’t expect Bianca to share that with me.

I casually grab the bottom rail and stare up at her. “Yeah. How’s that coming along?”

“It’s coming along just fine.” Ellie narrows her eyes at me.

I nod. “I really appreciate this, by the way.” And I really do. When Spencer originally mentioned his sister would be the perfect pretend girlfriend for me, I was speechless. Probably because my brain instantly kicked off a slideshow of all the fantasies I’ve had of her over the years. How it’s going to work, we’ll have to figure out, but regardless, I’m looking forward to spending more time with her.

Ellie’s eyes sparkle. “Well, I really appreciate you agreeing to dance on my bar.”

“He’s gonna dance on the bar?” Bianca laughs, apparently finding the notion amusing. “Oh, my God. Will you record it and post it on Facebook?”

“That’s a brilliant idea.” Ellie sucks on the lollipop again, this time her eyes locking with mine.

Spencer’s words flitter through my head.

It’s just one night. How bad could it be?

For some strange reason, that night seems easy in comparison to every other night I’ll be spending in the near future.





Ellie

“Can I use your phone?” Bianca mutters aloud, her attention more riveted on the players out on the ice than on me.

“Where’s yours?” I ask. I reach for my phone in my back pocket, but it’s not there. I probably left it in the car. I don’t feel the need to be tethered to it when my daughter’s with me.

“Battery’s dead.”

“She can use mine,” Kingston offers, clearly realizing I’m phoneless.

I watch as he hobbles awkwardly on his skates over to the bench and grabs his phone, bringing it back to Bianca. “Just leave it on the bench when you’re done.”

“Cool. Thanks!”

“Sure, kiddo.”

“I could’ve let her borrow mine. It’s in the car,” I tell him, leaning on the rail and looking down at this ginormous mountain of a man. I mean, the guy’s big without all the goalie gear, but with it…

It isn’t often that I find myself not looking up at him. Sure, I’m in the stands and he’s down on the floor, but still, I like the view from up here. Then again, I like the view of Kingston any way I can get it.

Kingston takes a step back, his dark eyes never leaving my face.

It dawns on me that I’m still sucking on the cherry Blow Pop. I try to read Kingston’s expression, wondering if he even noticed.

Crap. I see the way his Adam’s apple does a slow bob in his throat.

Yep. He noticed.

“So, about that pretend relationship,” I say at the same time Kingston says, “The goalie god, huh?”

I immediately feel my face flame, but I try to hide it.

“I blame it on the wine,” I tell him.

“Wine?” Kingston moves toward me, but I shift back, away from the rail.

“Yep. Lots and lots of wine.” No more wine. “Now, about this relationship thing...”

“Keep it up, little girl,” he says, his voice low, eyes dark.

Note to self, no more teasing the beast.

Thankfully, Kingston opts to change the subject. “Why’d you come down to talk to Optimus?”

“He wanted me to meet Amber and discuss a couple of upcoming events. Apparently, they’ve got some concerns about my wardrobe.”

I feel the heated caress of Kingston’s gaze as his eyes slide down my body, then back up, stopping on my breasts as usual.

“And he has a problem with what you’ve got on?”

I can tell by the gruff rasp in his voice that Kingston doesn’t have a problem with my outfit. Still, I cross my arms over my chest, blocking his view. “He also wanted to go over the plan.”

That seems to break the spell, and Kingston looks me in the eye, sighing as though he’s disappointed. “Plan? As in scaling Mount Rushmore?”

Based on his tone, he doesn’t find that nearly as amusing as I did when I came up with it. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut when my daughter is with me. I sometimes forget that Bianca doesn’t understand exactly what is and isn’t appropriate to repeat.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“I was thinking it sounded hot,” he says, more heat glimmering in his dark gaze.

Clearly he has taken my attempt at a joke the wrong way. Desperate to redeem myself, I explain. “I told Spencer and Amber that I’d definitely be able to attend all home games. I can even bring Bianca to practice from time to time. Amber said I’d need to be more visible than that. Something about attending charity events with you. And she agreed with Spencer that I would probably need to beef up my wardrobe. Said if I’m supposed to be a woman trying to impress a man, I need to wear a dress.” I’m not entirely against wearing a dress, but I wasn’t all that happy that my own brother was giving me fashion advice.