Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
The server approaches our table, but he puts up a hand, silently asking her to give us time, and she retreats. I lock my eyes on Magnus’s, trying hard not to get lost in their icy-blue depths.
“I keep my heart in a lockbox inside a lockbox,” I say softly. “I don’t take chances with it, because when I love someone, it’s with my whole being. I understand why you might have to move. I admire you for it. But I can’t risk the heartbreak, Magnus. For me and for my boys.”
He puts his elbows on the edge of the table, resting his forearms on the surface and looking at me intently.
“It’s early February. That gives us at least four months. If I have to play for a team other than Cleveland after that, it doesn’t mean we can’t be together. I know it would be hard. I understand if you don’t want to. But Blair, I’m thirty-one years old, not twenty-one. My shoulder’s not what it once was. Best-case scenario, I have a solid four more years in my career. I have a great money manager, and if I can get the kind of money the team that’s interested in me is offering, I can cover Elin’s care for the rest of her life and we’ll still be set financially. I’ll still work, too. I don’t plan to retire from hockey at thirty-five and do nothing.”
I lean back in my chair, reeling. “But ... we’ve never even kissed. You could meet someone in Seattle, and—”
“How do you know about Seattle?”
My face heats. “Oh, I ... kind of saw it on Jackson Hodge’s Substack. The Chirp Box guys think you’ll go to Seattle, too.”
His grin is like the sun bursting over the horizon at dawn; it lights up everything.
“You’ve been following hockey news.”
I shrug a shoulder. “Well, there’s this superhot guy who has me interested in it.”
His expression turns serious again. “I’m a man of my word. If you and I are together, I can’t develop feelings for another woman because I won’t be single. I don’t take any of this lightly. I didn’t mean to meet the woman of my dreams while I’m living out of a hotel and grinding to get what may be my last contract. But it happened, and I know I’ll regret it if I don’t tell you how I feel and what I want.”
I dig my teeth into my lower lip, my mind racing almost as fast as my heart. What he said hit home for me. I’ve told myself it’s selfish to have a man in my life for years. I never thought I’d meet someone who cares for my kids, too.
“What if we get to know each other better tonight?” I say. “And then we can talk in the morning and see if we both still feel like we do right now.”
Hope shines in his eyes, the corners of his lips quirking in a slight smile.
“Yes,” he says. “Let’s do that.”
16
Magnus
* * *
I can’t believe we made it to the elevator without me kissing her. Dinner was a slow, sweet torture. We talked about things we’ve been afraid to approach before.
She’d be happy with more kids if it happened. She wants to work as a nurse even if we’re financially secure and she doesn’t have to work. If we’ve been together for a long time, she’s open to relocating, though she’d prefer not to uproot the boys if possible.
My mom and Elin would love her. She’s down to earth like they both are. She cares, not just about the people she knows and loves, but about people she’s never even met. She thinks Sweden takes the right approach to healthcare, work-life balance, and protecting the environment.
We passed on dessert, and I paid our check in cash so we could leave as soon as it came. It was both the longest and shortest dinner of my life at the same time.
Now we’re back at the Grand Madison, where we picked up the overnight bag Jules left for Blair at the front desk. She unzips it in the elevator and peeks inside, stifling a laugh.
We’re in the back of the elevator and there are two people in front of us, so she discreetly opens the bag enough for me to see what’s inside.
I bust out laughing over what’s on top. There are at least thirty condoms.
She zips the bag back up, the elevator doors opening on our floor. When we reach my room, I scan the key card to open it and hold the door open for her.
“I’ll give you a tour,” I say once we’re both inside. “This is the bed, and that’s the bathroom.”
She looks around the space. There’s a king-size bed, a small sofa, a table with two chairs, and a TV on a credenza. The view is nothing special, just downtown Cleveland.