Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“It’ll be about ten years, I think.” She thinks about it. “I moved here with Trent when he was twenty-five and got his residency here. We thought it would be for four years, but he excelled here. He climbed the ladder quickly and became the best in his field.”
“I bet he’s the best,” I mumble and she just tilts her head to the side.
“What about you? Why Phoenix for your off months?” she asks me as we waltz, and I even lead us in a turn.
“Born and raised here,” I reply, surprising her.
“Really?” she says, shocked. “But there isn’t even ice here.”
I laugh at her. “My father moved here from New York,” I tell her. “Started me skating when I was three. When he passed away, I made it a point to always skate.”
“I’m sorry,” she says softly.
“Thank you. He passed away and six months later my mother married my stepfather.” I look into her eyes. “He tried to pull me out of hockey.” My body tightens and she must feel it, her eyes search mine. “Said I could only play hockey if I took up golf. Golf, after all, is the all-American sport.”
“I think that’s baseball,” she tries to joke with me, “or maybe it’s a toss-up between football and baseball.”
“But deals are made on the golf courses,” I repeat some of the words my stepfather drilled into my head, “not on the ice.”
“He doesn’t sound like a nice guy,” she states softly. “I’m sorry, that was rude and I shouldn’t have said anything.” Her eyes search mine. “It was out of line.”
“You’re right, he wasn’t a very nice guy,” I admit to her. “We didn’t see it though until many years later.” I share a look with her, hoping she understands the meaning. “It was always about him and never about us. He was a hedge fund manager. Made deals with some of the important people. Lots of mergers made because of him and many of those were made on the golf course. Of course, he thought I would be following in his steps.” I smile. “He passed away the day I signed my hockey contract.” I chuckle, my hand slipping from her shoulder to the middle of her back, and I pull her even closer to me. “Even in his death, he had to take away one more thing from me.”
“Well, you showed him,” she says softly. “You are on the ice making the deals happen.” She smirks at me. “Pretty sure there have to be some deals being made on the ice.”
I smile at her. “I tried to make deals with half my team to make sure we beat your cousins, Michael and Dylan, a couple months ago. Asked them to make sure they did not kick our asses. I even made a deal with your best friend, Ariella, that if she had another baby and it was a boy, she would name it after me.”
She shakes her head. “She really isn’t one of my cousins,” she shares and I stop dancing, making her step on my foot. “Oomph.”
“What did you just say?” I ask her, confused.
“She isn’t really my blood cousin,” she repeats the words and I look at her because everyone knows the Stone family. “She’s cousins with my cousins.”
“I can bet if you say that in front of your uncle Matthew, he might have something to say to that.” I glance at her and she just looks down, avoiding looking at me. “I’ve only met him a couple of times, but each time it was like—make no eye contact.”
She laughs and looks up. “He’s the best. He pretends to be this big bad wolf, but he’s a softie.”
“I dare you to tell him that to his face,” I tease and she just throws her head back and full-on belly laughs. “I want to be there when you do.”
“I don’t think we’ll ever be in the same room at the same time,” she replies softly and I can hear something in her voice. It’s a sort of longing. “But if we ever are…”
“I don’t know when Jaxon and Ariella are getting married. I’m pretty sure we are all going to be there,” I respond and she just smiles tightly. I have to wonder if she’d miss the wedding if Trent didn’t want her to go. “You can do it then.”
“We shall see.” She turns to look over at David to see him talking to two of the guys.
“What do you think?” I ask her and she turns back to me. “Think we can incorporate a turn in this dance?”
“Oh, that’s a little bit…” She looks unsure of herself. “It all depends.”
“On?” I ask her, getting bored just going back and forth.
“Are you going to go right or left?” she asks me, becoming stiff in my arms.