The Workaholic and the Realist (New Hampshire Bears #2) (11 page)

“What’s you point?” She turned on
Scandal
.

“He’s more of the type to have sex and bounce the next morning. I don’t think he knows the definition of wine and dine.”

“He could surprise you and be the best at it.”

“Could be,” I shrugged. “How are you and Kyson?” Getting off the topic of me was what I needed right now.

“Great, we’re planning a trip for the offseason. Hopefully somewhere warm with lots of water.”

“Fancy.” I tipped my glass to her. “Heard from Maxima?”

“Poor kid,” I sighed. “I’m sure she’ll make the right decision.”

“She will, but the question is will she be able to live with the consequences?”

I shrugged. “I have no clue.”

Chapter Fourteen

Keaton

Dress pants wrinkle free?

Check.

Dress shirt wrinkle free?

Check.

Sleeves rolled up and even?

Check.

Tie straight?

Check.

Hair good? Smell good?

Check. Check.

Flowers? Harlow’s gift?

Check. Check.

After going through this week without really talking to Harlow, my nerves were getting the better of me. This was Harlow. I’ve had sex with her, revealed my deepest goals to her, and introduced to my Grams. Well, the last part was an accident, but I would have, and I didn’t do that with just anyone.

Not to mention, I asked her out. She was right about asking me when the last time I’d been on a date. It had been a long while, but something deep inside told me to do this because it was the right thing. I couldn’t figure out where the little voice was coming from, but I was going to listen to it.

I knocked on Harlow’s door and adjusted my tie once more before she opened it.

“You are one hot honey-bunny.” I smirked as my eyes worked up and down her body. Her skintight strapless black dress was paired with bright red heels. She was perfectly eye level with me.

“Hi, puppy.”

“Here.” I handed her a red rose.

“Aw.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

“I have a gift too.” I strolled over the threshold and shut the door. “The question is are you woman enough to do it.”

She tilted her head, letting her long auburn hair fall over her shoulder. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“I got a present for you, and I want you to wear it tonight. For me.” I hand over a small pink gift bag.

She pulled out the small box, read it, and then looked up at me, then back at the box. I watched the corner of her mouth twitched.

“You’re asking me to wear vibrating panties on our date.” She still was holding back a smile.

“Are you game?”

“I’m guessing you want to control the remote.”

I ever so slowly nodded my head.

She looked me up and down at a leisurely pace, her smile widening. “Hold this.” She handed me the bag and her rose. I gaped, watching her reach up under her dress and oscillate her hips until her thin G-string appeared. She reached for the bag. Placing her underwear in my hand, she opened the box and pulled the vibrating panties out, putting them on and positioning them correctly on her. She gave me the remote, took the rose from my hand, but not her underwear.

“You can keep those.” She kissed my cheek and headed out the door.

I slipped her lacy G-string into my pocket and headed out to my car. Harlow was waiting by the passenger side. I opened it and watched her gracefully sit down, swinging her legs in. when I made it to my side, I checked to make sure the batteries of the remote worked.

“Oh,” Harlow jumped. “It works,” she said on a wispy exhale.

“This is going to be so much fun,” I chuckled and headed off to Firefly American Bistro and Bar.

On our way over, I desperately wanted to hit the button to send her over the edge, but she was very enthusiastically telling me about a new big client. She seemed so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin it.

We held each other hands as we walked into the restaurant. We hadn’t done this small gesture yet, but it meant a lot to her. As a guy, holding hands really wasn’t a big deal. I could care less, but females seem to get a huge kick out of it.

We were seated right away, and I held Harlow’s chair for her to sit down. “I guess being Keaton
Puppy
Jaco has its advantages.”

“It’s because I’m with a beautiful woman.” I kissed her cheek.

I took the seat across from her and held the remote in my hand and covered it with a cloth napkin to conceal it from others. When Harlow studied her menu, I clicked it on low and she jumped.

She gave me a flick of her eyes and went back to the menu. “How’s hockey?”

“Good.” I flipped it off as the waitress came over. I ordered a bottle of red wine and our appetizers.

“Do I get to pick dessert then?” She was so damn independent.

“Sure.”

“When are you heading out the road again?”

“Soon, but the season is almost over.”

I turned the underwear on low again, and this time she moaned a bit loud, but quickly cleared her throat to recover.

“Excited for playoffs?” The quiver in her voice was noticeable as she tried to hide the pleasure.

“Very,
very
excited.” Even though I cared less about hockey as she squirmed in her seat. “Uncomfortable?”

She gazed at me over the top of her menu. “No, not at all.”

“Sure?”

She nodded. I watched her release a slow breath, and I turned it off when our waitress came back with the wine. I ordered the steak and Harlow the salmon. Just as she was about to order her side, I turned it on again and she jumped. It took everything I had not to laugh out loud.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” the waitress asked, concerned.

“Leg cramp.” Harlow recovered and finished ordering. She glared at me, but my smile didn’t falter. “You think you’re so funny?”

“Yes, I do.”

Harlow wiggled again, and I clicked it up one more notch. Our eyes were locked tight, and I felt myself growing harder, thinking of how wet she was at the vibrations I was controlling.

“You’re close, aren’t you?” I could tell by the way she was biting her lip. I ended the vibrating when our first round of food came to the table.

Harlow’s hands shook as she reached for her wine glass. “Yes,” she finally answered my question. I decided to wait and torture her more later. Right now, I would let her enjoy her food.

My mind began to relive the marriage talk I’d had with Harlow. No other female had even had me utter the word before, but Harlow was special. If she’d said yes, I would have made her hop on a plane and we’d been in Vegas pledging our lives together.

However, her words to me rang true when she’d said people could show commitment in various forms. I would buy a house with her in a heartbeat. Maybe I should suggest that instead.

What the fuck am I thinking?

“Keaton?”

I glanced up from my untouched crab cake to see Harlow’s concerned expression. “Yes?”

“Are you all right?”

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

I opened my mouth to her the truth, but I stopped. How does someone ask another someone to buy a house together when neither have even declared their love?

Love?

“I’m thinking about love.” Let me see if I could ease into this subject.

“What about it?”

“You told me you thought you were love before, true?”

She nodded. “Have you?”

“No, well…” I trailed off.

“Well, what?” She seemed intrigued.

Instead of answering her, I turned on the panties. Harlow gasped loudly, and I watched as she struggled to keep her face relaxed and her moaning quiet. I covered my smile with my fingers, but my dick was growing harder seeing her this way.

I turned it off a moment later because I knew she was close again. I wasn’t going to let her come at the table. Thankfully, the food came, and I saw Harlow struggling to eat. She was in delicious pain, and she kept writhing in her seat.

On the other hand, my food was mouthwatering, and even though, I was still hard, my body began to relax.

“Now, who’s the one avoiding the question?”

I slowly chewed on my steak and bought myself some time. I reached down the remote, but Harlow stopped me.

“Don’t,” her tone low and serious. “Answer me.”

“I’ve never been in love.”

“But…” she knew there was more to say, but I didn’t say it.

I remained silent.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll go take these off right now, and we can call it a night.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

“I believe I could fall in love.” I finished my thought. “I could buy a house with someone. I could come home from road games to my significant other. We could lie around and read together, or workout together; hell maybe, we’d open a publishing company together because she’s the world’s best editor.”

Okay, I’d said too much.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” The waitress appeared at the table.

“We need the check,” Harlow answered, not shifting her eyes from mine.

This was the end then. I’d run my mouth, exposed my feelings, and she’d shot me down. I’d ruined it. When the waitress returned, I paid the bill, neither of us saying anything.

We didn’t hold hands to the car or utter a word to her house. I shut the car off when I parked in her driveway.

“Why, Keaton?”

“Why what?” I rested my elbows on the arm rest and stared at her. She wouldn’t even look at me.

“Why me? We aren’t the type of people to fall for each other.”

“Were Meadow and Kyson? You were their number one supporter in getting them back together.”

“They were each other’s soulmates.”

“But not us?”

“Keaton,” she sighed and slouched in the seat a bit. I gave her a few seconds to think about what she was going to say. “I’m a realist; I always have been.”

“So?”

“My reality of our future is dim.”

“Why?” I didn’t expect her to say something of that nature.

“You’re a hockey player who should be enjoying the women falling at your feet.”

I shook my head. “I want you, Harlow. You have been the only person I’ve told all my secrets to. You are the only person who I constantly think about. It’s you, Harlow. It took you saying you’d get engaged to me, like Remington, to realize how much I care for you. And you for me.”

The porch light reflected the tear falling down her cheek. “You could easily break me, Keaton. I may have had men in my life before, but none of them had a hold on me like you.”

I smiled at her words. I held out my hand, and she placed hers in mine. “Then let’s see what trouble we can get into together? As a team.”

She pursed her pips a bit and studied our hands laced together. “Okay, as a team.”

Chapter Fifteen

Harlow

My cheeks hurt from smiling. Keaton stayed the night but had an early morning practice. It was sweet of him to wake me up before he left by nuzzling my neck. Once he left, I did my yoga at home and got ready for my day.

Dacey came at exactly ten. I’d told her numerous times she could dress down, but she dressed as if this was some sort of fortune five hundred company.

“Harlow, I have Meadow’s first half of her latest book printed out and your new client, Joseph Green, is going to send the rest of his book by the end of the day. Oh, and this came yesterday.” She picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “I was going to discuss it with you, but you seemed on edge yesterday.”

“By the way, thanks for coming yesterday. I know it was Sunday.”

Dacey shrugged. “It’s fine. Vance worked out with the team. I only had plans to read anyway.”

“That sounds like fun, but in all seriousness, thank you.”

“No problem. But, um, I’m still curious about the email,” she said in her small voice, and her cheeks reddened.

“Oh,” I breezed over the page. It was a publishing house inquiring about my editing services. Most of the time, it was shit pay with no real benefit. “I’ll take care of this.”

“All right. I’ll get to work then.” She went to her desk and started clicking away on the laptop.

I had to hand it to Dacey; she had been a Godsend to me. I’ve even been able to take on a couple new clients.

“Dacey, we need to go over my schedule because I want to make sure I have time off in May.”

“How come?”

“Well,” I smiled. “I want to surprise Keaton with a cruise through the Mediterranean.”

“Wow, have you been through there before?” Dacey was suddenly interested in something other than books.

“Not really, but I’m excited to surprise him.”

“Does he like to explore?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but I want to get him to expand his horizons a bit. I do know he hasn’t been to many places, so I thought this would be a nice treat.”

“I think he’ll like it.”

I nodded and went back to the screen. We got our scheduled aligned, and then I went to work, trying to remain focused on the task.

After Dacey left for the day, my plan was to soak in a hot bath and read until Keaton’s game finished. He already told me he would be coming over.

“Harlow!”

“Up here,” I yelled when I heard Meadow coming in. “What are you doing here?”

“We came for a visit.”

I looked up to see Maxima was with her. Maxima looked exhausted. She had dark circles around her silvery-blue eyes, and they were blood shot too. As always, she wore an oversize sweater and baggy pants. Since I’ve known her, she’s lost over eighty pounds, but still dressed as if she hadn’t lost the weight.

I need to take her shopping.

“What did I do to get a visit?” I shut my computer off and stood up.

“I’m asking a favor from you tonight,” Maxima said softly. “My company is having a get together at the Bears game tonight, and I’m wondering if you’ll come.”

Maxima had never asked anything from me, and even though I planned to chill out tonight, I’d go for her. Plus, it’d be fun to see Keaton on the ice again.

“Let’s hit it.” I clasped my hands one time.

“Don’t you want to put on a Bears shirt?” Meadow glanced over my outfit.

“Nope. I look good in what I’m in.” I grabbed my purse, and we headed out to Maxima’s BMW. She didn’t seem be very materialistic, but she loved her car.

I desperately wanted to know if she’d made a decision about Remington and his question, but I’d wait until she brought it up. Meadow kept the conversation on her and her latest book. She was super talented sports romance author, and even I was excited about this new storyline.

The arena was packed tight, and it took the three of us forever to maneuver through the throngs of fans to get up to the VIP box. Maxima introduced us to her co-workers and boss. She seemed to work with nice people, and they welcomed us warmly.

We grabbed beer from the bar and took seats in the comfortable leather seats. I searched for number four on the back of a Bears’ jersey. My eyes land on Keaton’s flowing blond hair. It was really growing out, and I loved running my fingers through it. My gaze stayed on him until he went back down the tunnel.

Maxima was in between Meadow and me, and when I glanced at her, she seemed so sad.

“Are you okay?” I leaned over and whispered.

She nodded, giving me a fake smile.

“You’re lying.” Meadow saying what I thought.

“Remington came over last night.”

Meadow and I gave her our full attention. We both waited on the edge of our seats to hear more.

“His daughter is coming in two weeks, and I agreed to meet her. After that, I’ll make my decision.”

“So, if it goes well, you’ll be engaged?” Meadow clarified.

“Yes and we’ll stay together until he officially has his daughter.”

“Would you get any compensation out of this deal?” I asked. She was giving up a lot to play the fiancée role.

“We need to work out the details.”

“Gosh.” Meadow shook her head and turned her attention back out to the ice. “You’re so much stronger than me.”

“I don’t feel it,” she mumbled.

“It’s a lot to take in.” I took a sip from my beer as the lights dimmed and the announcer roared for the Bears to take the ice.

The three of us stand and cheer for our guys. The jumbotron flashes on Keaton’s face. As of this morning, according to my Google alerts, Keaton was the number one defenseman in the PHL. On top of that, I knew he had finished his book and still doing well in grad school. I was proud of him, but he did define the term workaholic.

We watched the game as if it was the first time we’d ever seen a hockey game. The game was intense. Keaton slammed every player he could into the boards. He was a physical player for sure, and his strong, masculine side made me hornier.

Through both intermissions, we mingled with Maxima’s co-workers and ate way too much food. Personable wasn’t one way I’d describe myself. I spoke what was on my mind; I wasn’t someone to
mingle
, but this time I enjoyed myself.

The last five minutes of the game was the roughest yet. It seemed every player was plowing over each other, and each shift tougher than the next. Even Kyson and Remington were slamming players into the boards.

Finally, the last horn blew, and the Bears won one to zero, and it was a tough one. The girls and I headed out, saying goodbye to everyone still in the VIP box. Meadow told us she was going to Kyson’s truck and go home with him.

“I’ll go with you and meet up with Keaton. Come with us.” I nudged Maxima.

She shrugged. “I should go home.”

“Hey.” I looped my arm with hers. “If you’re going to be engaged and live with this man then you need to hang out with him.”

“We have,” she exclaimed.

“Then let’s go wait for them.” I led her in Meadow’s direction, and I didn’t release my hold on her. I knew she’d try to get away.

Meadow dropped Kyson’s tailgate, and we all hopped up on it. We mainly talked the unusual warm weather for the end of March. All the snow was gone, and it was a muddy mess. It was killer on my heels.

“Look at these pretty ladies. Are you spoken for, or may I take you all home with me?” Keaton was the first one out.

“I’m in a committed relationship. I’m positive he wouldn’t appreciate me going home with you,” I joked as he approached me.

“I bet I could whip his ass.” He stood in front of me.

“Oh, I don’t know. He’s a bit of a bad ass,” I continued our ruse.

“So,” he tapped his finger to his lips. “I can’t persuade you to come over to my place and suck my—”

“Hey!” Maxima and Meadow both yelled, causing me to laugh loudly and Keaton to join in.

Remington and Kyson came out together and seemed confused about why I was holding my side still laughing.

“Something Jaco said?” Kyson questioned, wrapping his arm around Meadow’s shoulders.

“Yes,” Meadow replied with no more explanation than that.

“Who wants to grab some dinner?” Remington asked us all, but stared at Maxima.

“I’m game,” Keaton spoke up. “Honey-Bunny?”

“Sure.” Everyone else mumbled in agreement, and we all went to our cars. Well, I went with Keaton to his, since I’d come with Maxima.

We met at Red Arrow because it truly had the best food in town. We were able to find a table to fit all of us and ordered our drinks when the waiter came over.

No one spoke a word, and honestly, there felt was a lot of tension. I watched everyone around the table, and we all were glancing at Remington and Maxima. They looked scared to death. They both kept wiggling around their seats and avoiding eye contact.

“All right.” I dropped my menu and stared them both down. “We all know what’s going on between you two.”

“Harlow—” Keaton squeezed my thigh, but I ignored him.

“We’re your friends, and we are here to help, listen, and be here for you during this situation.” Maxima hung her head. “It needed to be said.” I picked up my menu. I was right. They’re both going through a life-changing event, and I didn’t want them to think they were alone.

Remington cleared his throat. “I know. I’m sure you guys don’t agree with the proposal I offered Maxima, but I need to get my daughter away from her mother. I’ve tried everything, and this is my last hope. Or my final straw would be to quit hockey altogether.”

Everyone gasped. Remington was
the
top player in the PHL. There was no one better this season than him.

“I’ll do it if I have to.”

“I told you I would make my final decision after I met her,” Maxima practically whispered.

“And we’ll all be here to support you both.” Meadow quickly added.

Kyson quickly changed the topic, and we all began to talk about the upcoming playoffs that would be upon us in a few short weeks.

Dinner was fattening, greasy, and delicious. When we finished, Keaton and I went back to my place. Instead of having a sex-filled night, we changed out of our clothes, crawled into bed, and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

It was a perfect night.