Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(7)
Shea was basically bouncing in his seat as he drove his chromed out Range Rover over to Grace’s house, where the party was being held. Grace had way more room than he did, plus she loved having parties at his expense. When he pulled up into her driveway, he noticed a huge black F-150 sitting on the side of the road. None of the guys drove that, so he wrote it off as one of the workers. Some of the team had already arrived with their families and the party was just getting started when Shea entered the backyard.
It was the perfect September day for a party. The sun was shining and the sky was brightly blue as kids ran through the sprinkler and went down the water slide that Shea said had to be there. He had a pair of shorts in the car, just in case he got to urge to go down it with Ryan, his nephew. As Shea walked through the party, he stopped to say hi to his teammates and their wives or girlfriends. He looked around the party and saw James, Grace’s husband, holding Amelia in his arms. Shea went straight to them, taking Amelia from him, kissing her loudly on the cheeks. She squealed in delight, kissing Shea right back.
“Hey Shea,” James said. Shea smiled over at him. He had always like James. He was a good man, treated his sister well, and was a great father.
“Hey, man, how ya doing?”
“Good. Amelia has been a terror about going to bed, though. I feel so bad for Grace, she’s gotta be tired.”
“I bet she is. The party looks amazing.”
“Like always, she out does herself, she’s over there with a photographer.” Shea whipped his head around so quickly that he was surprised he didn’t have whiplash. His beautiful sister was wearing a long flowing pink dress, her black hair up in a bun, with her big shades over her eyes. She was laughing and he smiled, but when he looked over at the woman in front of Grace, he lost his breath.
Elli was wearing a beautiful summer looking dress, her hair was down in ringlets, her eyes also covered with sunglasses, but he knew the color of them, since he had been dreaming about them for the past two days. His eyes drifted down Elli’s body. She wasn’t skinny like most girls Shea went after, but she wasn’t fat. She was curvy, sexy. He started walking without thinking, he was pretty sure James said something, but he was mesmerized by the beauty in front of him.
Right when he was about to reach the two women, Elli walked off, camera in hand, towards the kids slide.
“Shit,” he muttered as Grace grinned up at him, taking Amelia from him.
“She’s not your norm, Shea.”
“No, she’s better,” he said as he watched her follow the kids around, taking pictures. Grace laughed before kissing his cheek.
“I hope something happens between you guys.”
“Oh, it will.”
The party was going beautifully. Grace Justice was one hell of a party planner. The large brick house was covered in lights, with lanterns hanging above the party. The team colors were everywhere, on every surface. There was lots of stuff for the kids: water slides, games, and even a prince and princess reading stories off to the side in a flower garden. For the parents, there was food galore and drinks, to boot. The party was something straight from LA, in Elli’s opinion.
Elli was getting great shots: the kids, the teammates, everything. It was so amazing to get this inside look on the team, they were such a family. Elli was bending down, taking a picture of the most gorgeous little girl, who happened to be Grace’s daughter, when she felt someone standing behind her.
“I see you’ve found the most beautiful baby girl to take pictures of, Ms. Fisher.” Elli stood up and looked behind her to see Shea Adler looking down at her. She always thought he was tall on his skates, but he was still massive without them. He was such a big man, so strong. Being a defenseman, Elli guessed he had to be huge.
“I did, she’s gorgeous.”
“She takes after her uncle, right baby girl?” He scooped the baby up, kissing her loudly on the cheeks.
“You’re niece?” Elli asked as she turned off her camera. Then she looked at the two of them together and she could see the family resemblance: same blue eyes, dark as night hair. The baby pushed on his glasses, causing him to laugh as he put them back on his face. All the Sports Center guys made fun of his glasses. They were big and black, geeky looking, but Elli loved them. She thought he was geektastic in them. “So Grace is your sister?” she said when she found her voice again. Being as close as she was to him was making it hard for her to breathe.
“My twin sister.”
“Wow, I didn’t know, she didn’t mention it.”
“I doubt she talks about me a lot,” he said with a laugh as the baby tried to get down. “Alright, alright, calm down Amelia, go on, baby,” he patted her on the butt as she waddled away. “She’s a busy one. Do you have any kids?”
“Oh no, just a lot of nieces and nephews.” He smiled as he looked over at her, his blue eyes set just on her. They stood there staring at each other before his eyes raked over her body, making her nervous.
“It’s a beautiful party,” Elli said breathlessly.
“Yeah, like always, Grace outdid herself.”
“She did, this is really nice of you, though, having this for the team.”
“Yeah, I’ve done it the past three years, since I became captain, Wavier did it before me.” Elli nodded, he smiled, and she blushed. God, she was an idiot.