Legend (Arizona Vengeance #3)(30)
I can’t describe the feeling. It’s a connection I’ve never felt to another woman before and it makes me feel proprietary.
Like I own part of her, and she owns part of me.
She looks around nervously as the rest of the team ambles through the lobby, some of the players stopping to sign autographs for fans that are staying in the hotel. I know I have made a statement to my teammates about bringing Pepper along, particularly to those that know her only as my neighbor who used to drive me batshit crazy.
We meet each other mid-lobby. Pepper gives me a shy smile and says, “Another great game under your belt.”
I shrug and bring my hands to her waist to pull her in a little closer. “I was just showing off for you.”
Her husky laugh causes a tremor to ripple up my spine. She shakes her head, “You’re just an amazing player. No other reason.”
As much as I used to be irritated by Pepper’s carefree and whimsical ways, I realize in this moment she’s very much a realist. Many women would have been all aflutter at the compliment I had just paid, but she didn’t even bat her eyes at me. I actually think I kind of like that and it makes her all the more sexy to me.
Also makes me want to try harder to make her bat her eyes at me.
“I would suggest we go out and have some drinks or a bite to eat, because Winnipeg is a beautiful city at night. But the fact is, it’s five degrees outside and the coat that you’re wearing is barely worthy of Phoenix winter, so do you want to get a drink here in the hotel bar?”
“Whatever you want to do. If you want to go be social, we will go be social. If you want to go to sleep because you’re exhausted, you should do that.”
“You’re not being very decisive,” I drawl.
She grins at me. “Hey, I’m just a part-time nanny that got a free luxury ride to watch a professional hockey game. I’m just being easygoing because I’m so thankful to have been invited.”
The smile that had been on my face slides away and I dig my fingers down into her hips slightly. “You are not here because you are a part-time nanny. You’re here because I wanted you to be here. You’re here for me, not for Charlie.”
Pepper’s cheeks turn pink, whether from the fact I just confirmed her place or I just complimented her again in a backhanded way. It’s the first major declaration I have made that she and I have something personal that’s more than sex.
I take Pepper by the arm and start maneuvering her toward the elevators. I lean in close and in a low voice tell her, “Look…I know damn well I told you that I didn’t have much room in my life or much to offer at this point but things between you and I just progressed in a way that I had not counted on, but also in a way I don’t regret at all. Don’t ever refer to yourself as the nanny again.”
We reach the elevators and I stab the button. I look at her with my eyebrows raised, waiting for her to acknowledge what I just said.
For a moment, I don’t think she’s going to answer me and it hits me…maybe she doesn’t feel the way I do. My stomach tightens and I almost prepare to recant everything I just said to her.
But then she steps into me and lays a hand on my chest, right over my heart. Her smile is soft, those full lips barely parting. Her eyes tell me part of the story, but her words do the rest. “I like you too.”
I put a hand at the back of her neck and force her up on her tiptoes to kiss me. She does and it’s soft but not lingering.
When I release her, she asks, “Where we going?”
“To your and Lucy’s room. We’re going to collect Charlie then you’re both going to come with me to my room.”
“But don’t you have a roommate?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Erik but he always buys a room for him and Blue to stay together.”
Our rooms are on the third floor and Lucy greets us with a quiet, “Hey” after she opens the door.
After Lucy gives me a rundown of the past five hours I’ve been gone—apparently, Charlie peed, pooped, slept, and ate—we collect her and head down to my room.
Oftentimes we have no choice about our accommodations, but in this instance, I put in a request to team services for a room with a king bed. No one batted an eye at this request because it was common knowledge that Erik didn’t stay with his assigned roommate which would be me. It was not common knowledge that I would have Pepper with me so I’m assuming they just thought I like a roomier bed.
Charlie wakes up as we are starting to get ready for sleep. I had stripped off my clothes down to my boxers. Pepper grabbed my white dress T-shirt that I had worn under my suit. She’s wearing it and a pair of white panties and she looks sexy as fuck.
I prepare a bottle of formula and sit in a chair by the window looking out at the lights of downtown Winnipeg. Charlie pulls on the bottle hard with one little hand pressed curled tight into a fist and the other latched onto my thumb. She stares up at me with solemn eyes and I can tell she recognizes who I am. She knows I’m her dad and that I will protect her from all the dangers in this world.
“You’re such a good little girl,” I murmur to her. “You have got me so wrapped around your little pinky and I’m pretty sure there is nothing you couldn’t ask for that I wouldn’t give you.”
True words, spoken straight from the heart, and not an ounce of self-consciousness that I can say these personal things while Pepper sits cross-legged in the middle of the bed and watches us. I glance up at her and our eyes meet. I like the soft look in her eyes as she regards me.