Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1)(25)

But it makes me wonder…have I been missing something?

So yeah, I’m really questioning this whole Brandon thing and whether it’s smart to open myself back up to him. Shelley and I talked about it last night, and she’s never been a Brandon fan after he dumped me. She’s obviously pushing me to stay far away from him.

I also made the mistake of telling her about Alex last night after I got home and called her, and she now has it in her head that I need to be concentrating my efforts there. That, of course, was after she Googled him and saw his picture since, like me, she knows nothing about hockey.

Holy shit. Look at this pic I found of Alex, she had texted me just this morning along with a photo of him taken while he was running outside. It looked like a professional shot because the lighting was perfect and he was staring straight into the camera with his blue eyes shimmering in the sun. He was wearing only a pair of running shorts that came to mid-thigh, and his chest was bare but slicked with sweat. He was carrying his iPod in one hand and had his earbuds in. Slightly damp with sweat, his hair was sticking to his forehead and temples while the longer black locks bounced with his stride.

God, he was stunning.

Where did you find that pic? I texted back, because I was thinking of getting it and blowing it up to life size to mount above my bed.

Article about him in a fitness mag. You and Alex would make beautiful babies.

I had to laugh at her…blow her off, because it’s silly, really. But it was fun to giggle and whisper last night with my bestie about how hot Alex is while we both drank wine with our phones pressed to our ears, and it was fun to text her back and forth this morning over the picture she sent me.

But that’s all this is…just a little bit of fun.

My phone buzzes on my desk and I lift the receiver to my ear. “The fabulous Sutton Price at your service.”

“Hey, doll face,” Minnie drawls into the phone. “Your lunch appointment is here.”

“Lunch appointment?” I ask, confused, even as I pull up my calendar on my computer and see there’s nothing scheduled.

“Yeah—tall, dark and handsome, pretty blue eyes,” she says, and my stomach flip-flops at the image of Alex standing in the lobby. “He’s right on time.”

“He’s not on my schedule,” I say lamely.

“No, but he called first thing this morning and wanted to know if you were free for lunch and I told him you were.”

“Minnie!” I exclaim, both annoyed and pleased with her at the same time. Annoyed that she would take such a liberty and pleased for some unholy reason I cannot fathom that I will be seeing Alex soon.

“Get your tush up here,” she says, completely unfazed. Then she whispers into the phone, “Oh, and don’t forget to put on lipstick.”

Minnie hangs up on me and I just stare blankly at my computer for a moment. Placing the phone back in the cradle, I stand from my desk and smooth my skirt down. My fingers come up to push behind my ears some wispy strays that have fallen out of my ponytail. I step around my desk and start for the door.

I stop.

I turn back around and grab my purse.

I head for the door again, then I stop.

I reach in my purse and grab some lip gloss, dabbing a little on, because Minnie told me to and I don’t want to disappoint her.

Yeah, right.

When I hit the lobby door, my heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest at the prospect of seeing Alex. I’m nervous as all get-out, because last night I clearly stepped over a line with him, and I do believe I may have hurt his feelings. But I’m also excited at the prospect of just being in his presence. I remember the feel of him pressed up against me in the booth at Hoolihan’s, and I’m ashamed at how much I liked that feeling.

I wonder if I’ll ever be able to see him without feeling a small punch to my gut. As I step into the lobby, I realize Minnie was right—tall, dark, handsome. His hair looks stylishly windblown, his blue eyes so bright they hold me captivated from across the room. He’s dressed in a pair of faded jeans, running shoes and a long-sleeved Cold Fury black T-shirt that fits his chest and torso just a little too well.

Walking up to him, I say, “I understand we have a lunch appointment.”

He offers me a smile, the largest and warmest one I’ve seen on his face yet, and I feel my bones liquefy. “Yeah—hope you don’t mind. I enlisted Minnie this morning so I could have some time with you.”

How could I mind? The way he says he wants to spend some time with me causes my brain to go fuzzy, and for a split second I forget completely that we actually have some business to discuss.

Shaking my head to clear it, I look down at my watch. “Well, I have about an hour and a half until my next appointment. Where do you want to go?”

“I’m not a picky eater. You choose.”

“I have just the place,” I tell him with a smile and turn toward the door.

***

“It’s a damn good hot dog, right?” I ask Alex after I swallow my last bite.

Alex chews with a smile on his face and nods his head. When he swallows, he swipes his lips with a napkin and I can practically hear the paper scrape against the stubble. “I never thought you’d want to eat lunch from a hot dog street vendor.”

“Well, it’s too nice a day to pass up eating outside,” I remark, looking around the shaded park that sits in the middle of downtown Raleigh, just across the street from the capitol building.