Underneath It All (Storm Series) (26 page)

With a wave, she left
, and Rob let out a breath. That girl drove him crazy. He made a ton of noise on the way back into the kitchen, but found Sarah elbows-deep in hot, sudsy water, and Sebastian drying a dish. “Wow, you restrained yourselves.”

Sebastian shot him a dark look. “Like you’re any better. You think we don’t know what you were doing out by the door?”

“Maybe so, maybe so. Karma’s a bitch, man.” He waited a beat then said, “Oh, look at the time, gotta go. Thanks for dinner, Sarah.”

As Rob g
rabbed his coat on the way out, Sebastian mumbled something about him being crazy. That was fine. Rob wanted to get home and start planning now that he finally had a reason to be excited about life again.

Karen proved to be a wealth of information, and within a few days he had the name of a contact at New Era Cap and a promise from the Storm PR guys to provide pictures for the event. He, Sebastian, Ben, Jordan, and Rick were confirmed—Rob didn’t want too many guys to complicate things, and the Storm would give the event five hundred pictures of each man, action shots of them on the ice. Rob joked with Rick that his would be him mid-punch during a fight, but seriously, if not that, then what?

Sarah and Sebastian wer
e still looking around for a place to hold the fundraiser, though they’d settled on a date in late January. Now the major hurdle was hoping like hell the weather cooperated. So far, in mid-December, the weather was cold, but hadn’t snowed more than a few flurries.

When Rob talked to the woman at New Era Cap, she was touched by the story of the kids and agreed to speak to her boss about a donation. Rob waited on pins and needles until she called back a few days later to say the company would donate one thousand Storm hats. He was thrilled. He’d had no idea how many to even ask for, and was surprised they’d settled on such a high number. The woman laughed when Rob said as much,
then reminded him that, even hurt, he was an assistant captain and one of the more popular players on the team, and with the other guys also attending—the captain, Rob; the newest star, Sebastian—New Era expected a good turnout for the event.

Rob had to hold the phone away for a minute while he laughed about the woman claiming in awed tones that Sebastian was a superstar in the making. Then he wondered if he should warn Sarah of this woman’s obvious devotion to his friend, but
finally decided if any woman could handle hangers-on, Sarah was that woman, since it certainly wouldn’t be the first time some chick had hit on Sebastian, even with Sarah sitting right next to him.

D
espite his best efforts, Rob had been feeling down the past couple of weeks, and, coupled with his recent excitement over the fundraiser, hearing about the large donation made things even better. He thanked the woman profusely then called Alaina. When she answered, he said, “Hey.”

“Hi
. How are you? How’s the shoulder? You stepped up your PT today, right?”

He was surprised she remembered a detail like that. Over and over he was struck by her thoughtfulness. Even
during the short time he spent in her classroom each week, it was obvious how tuned in she was to her students’ individual wants and needs. She was the same way with him—she got him on a level no one else had, even Christa.

“Yeah, I did.
A little sore, but not bad. That’s not why I’m calling, though.”

“What’s up?”

“I talked to New Era Cap.”

“And?”

Grinning even though she couldn’t see him, he said, “They’re donating a thousand caps. A thousand! Can you believe that?”

“Oh my God, Rob! That’s incredible!”

“I know. I was blown away.”

“You do realize that if you sell all the pictures and all the caps you’ll raise over thirty thousand dollars?
”

They’d decided to sell the pictures for five dollars and the hats for twenty, just as he’d suggested in the beginning. Each picture would be signed by the player whose picture it was, and the cap would be signed by as many players as the attendee wa
s willing to stand in line for.

“
That’s amazing! I can’t even fathom the school supplies we could buy. Speaking of that, I called the purchasing manager for the district. She said she’d work with you on what suppliers to use and who to call to buy the stuff after the fundraiser.”

“That’s great. I’m sure she’ll be a huge help. Oh, and
I was thinking about the backpack thing. Should we hold off on trying to get them donated until we have some idea of how many we can fill?”

“I
’d considered that too, but the delivery could take weeks and I know you’re not the most patient guy on Earth. I thought waiting might drive you nuts.”

“You have a point. How many do you think I should ask for then?”

“Five hundred? If that’s too many you can keep them for the next fundraiser, and if you think you have too few, you can always either go back and ask for more, or approach a second company.”

Or just buy the rest myself…
“That’s a good idea. I’m glad I have you around.”

“I bet,” Alaina agreed with a laugh.

“I want to get them in the students’ hands as soon as possible.”

“I agree. There’s so much need. I don’t want to wait until
the next school year starts either.”

“
Exactly. Hey, can you still come over after dinner?”

“Yeah. I’m about to head into that staff meeting
, and then I’ll be over.”

“Will you need food?”
He should really stay away from take-out, but he could thaw one of the many packages still left in the freezer.

“We do the staff meetings as a potluck.”

Rob’s mouth watered, thinking of all the great food he’d had at Alaina’s house. “What did you make?”

“I got assigned to appetizers, so I
did up some stuffed tomatoes.”

“Sounds good.”

“See you in a few hours?”

“Count on it.”

He hung up and grabbed his laptop once more. Typing one-handed was kind of a bitch, but since he’d never been a fast typist, now wasn’t much different. When he had everything written down in a Word document he’d created to keep track of stuff, he sat back, wondering what he should get for Alaina for Christmas.

They’d been dating for nearly three months now, and though in some ways it
was ridiculous to say he was in love with her after such a short time, he already felt that way—or not far from it. Rob was serious about her and their relationship and could definitely see a time in the not-so-distant future that he’d take the plunge and propose. If someone had asked him a year ago if he’d ever even consider marriage after a couple of months of dating someone, Rob would’ve laughed in their face. But Sebastian was proposing to Sarah slightly more than a year after they’d got together, so the notion wasn’t too crazy he supposed. Rob nodded. He liked having justification for the sometimes impetuous things he did, like this total one-eighty on the idea of marrying Alaina.

Speaking of marriages
…

“Hey dude,” he said when Sebastian picked up his cell. “Are you somewhere you can talk?”

“Hang on.” Sebastian returned a bit later. “What’s going on?”

“Well, good stuff
is happening with the fundraiser, but I wanted to check and see if the ring was done yet. I could go pick it up before Alaina gets here.”

“Shit, I’m not sure. Let me look at my e
-mail. It was supposed to be today. I’m so out of my mind I haven’t even checked.” Rob waited a few moments before Sebastian said, “Yeah, the jeweler sent me a message a few hours ago.”

“Cool. I’ll go now.”

“Thanks, man. Maybe I could leave without raising Sarah’s suspicions, but I want this to be a total surprise.”

“I know.
And it will be. Stop worrying.”

“I want her to be happy.”

“I understand.”
Boy, do I understand.

“You know, I think you do.”

Rob decided not to share exactly how much he did understand since now was Sebastian and Sarah’s time. His would come. “I’ll let you know when I’ve got the ring in hand. I’ll use code or something. You know, like ‘the eagle has landed.’”

“Whatever,
man. She definitely wouldn’t be suspicious if you said that,” Sebastian answered with a chuckle. “Later.”

Rob grabbed his keys and went
to make the pickup. The jeweler showed him the ring, and of course, it was gorgeous. After slipping the box into the inside pocket of his jacket, he went back to his truck and got home just before Alaina arrived.

They talked about the fundraiser then cuddled on the couch
, and as Rob leaned down to kiss her hair—he was obsessed with that shampoo—he smiled. The domestic life was pretty good.

~ * ~

FIF
TEEN

Alaina jumped when she heard the voice she’d been hoping to avoid. Spinning, her hand clutching the front of her sweater, she saw Kyle standing just inside the door of her classroom. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t r
ealize you didn’t hear me come in.”

“I didn’t. I guess my mind was somewhere else.”
On
someone
else and how much I miss him.
She willed her heartbeat to slow.
“What can I do for you?”

“Actually,
I can do something for you. I noticed you’ve got a lot to put away. Would you like some help?”

The offer was tempting. They’d been making Santas out of felt and cotton balls
, and bits of both were all over the room. Plus she still had everything out from the game they’d played when the buses had gotten delayed. But he wasn’t at the school to help her. “Are you sure you’re not needed elsewhere?”

“I’m sure.” Walking further into the room, he said, “Put me to work. Make me your slave.”
He winked then smiled, those blindingly white teeth making another unwanted appearance.

Seriously, how does
anybody get teeth like that?
It was actually kind of creepy.
And is he flirting? If so, eww.

She glanced at him again
, but his expression was unreadable. No doubt she was being paranoid. The man had offered to clean up with her, not asked her on a date. “Uh, okay. Why don’t you grab that roll of paper towels off the shelf in the closet and wet a bunch? I’ve found using a wet paper towel is good for picking up all those little pieces of things that get everywhere.”

“Excellent tip. I’ll have to remember that.” He left briefly then returned
and started to wipe down the tables. “Are you all ready for Christmas? Only a few days away.”

“Yes, thank God. I love these little buggers
, but a few days away from them does me good. What about you?”

“Not much to do. My family’s small.
Just me and my brother and our parents. Not even many cousins or anything, so Christmas is pretty quiet. I’ve always envied people who have those huge celebrations.”

A
s she swept the floor, Alaina thought of what she had in store for her where celebrations were concerned over the next couple of weeks and mentally cringed. “Not as great as you’d think it would be. Screaming kids, screaming—and drunk—adults. No, you’re better off, really.”

She wasn’t sure why she
revealed that kind of personal information to him. She supposed to make him feel better, since when he’d been talking she’d spied a faraway, wistful look in his eyes and of course, being the bleeding heart she was, it had pulled at her heartstrings.

“If you say so.” Kyle dumped the paper towel in the trash. “You have a nice holiday
break. Hopefully you’ll smile more when you get back.” He winked again then left the room.

She shook her head
at his odd comment and went back to cleaning. Alaina didn’t hate her family, but she hadn’t been kidding about the screaming. Or the drunkenness. That was part and parcel to having a mixed Irish-Italian family.

After the
room was clean, she went to the office to check her mailbox one more time before leaving for the day. A card sat inside and she pulled out the envelope, flipping it to the front, her eyebrows drawing down when she saw no name or other writing. She brought it back to her classroom and scooted onto the desk to open the card.

Sliding her finger between the flap and the envelope, she ripped until
she was able to remove the card. She was curious about who it was from and frowned when a gift card fell out. Leaving it on the floor for the moment, Alaina looked at the signature.

Kyle.

She hopped off her desk and retrieved the gift card. Twenty-five dollars to one of those fancy coffeehouses. Then she noticed the Post-It.

Looking forward to getting to know each other better.

She sighed. Unless she called attention to the fact Kyle had gotten her the gift, which she was reluctant to do for a whole host of reasons, she had no way of knowing if he’d given something to all the teachers or not. Alaina hadn’t noticed any other red envelopes in the mailboxes, but that didn’t mean he’d singled her out. After all, maybe the other teachers had already gotten theirs. She decided not to worry. If he
had
singled her out, he was wasting his time, and if not, she’d feel like a fool for assuming he had.

Her cell rang as she was dropping all her stuff into her bag
after having placed the gift card in the top drawer of her desk. She fished the phone from amongst the purse contents.

“Hey, baby,” Rob said, sounding pretty chipper.

“Hi, yourself. What’s up?” A brief debate raged in her head about whether or not to tell Rob about the gift card. She decided not to, since there was really nothing to tell and no good reason to rile him up unnecessarily.

“Just wanted to see if you’ve gotten a dress for T
ux ‘n’ Pucks. You haven’t mentioned buying one. Seb and I were going over how we’re gonna do this thing.”

Alaina burst out laughing. “This thing? How romantic of you.”

“Hey, I’m all about the romance.”

“Uh-huh. And the answer to that question is yes and no.”

“Come again?”

“I ordered one from eBay
, but it hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Hold up. You ordered a dress. From eBay.”

“Yes. Way cheaper than in the stores.”

A huff of annoyance came through and Alaina had to force herself not to react. Rob was so cute when he was exasperated. “I told you I’d pay for
your dress.”

“And I told
you
no. You already bought me one for the Thanksgiving party.”

“Why won’t you let me do stuff for you?”

“Seriously? Rob, I let you give me and my school thousands of dollars for supplies.”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t actually for
you
. That was for the kids, and I know damn well you’d never deny them anything.”

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Okay, whatever. I don’t want to fight about this.”

“I’ll back off, but you know how I feel.”

“I do. I gotta go, okay?”

“Okay.”

Hanging up, she swallowed thick
ly. It was one thing to be his girlfriend, and another to let him pay for every little thing for her. Why couldn’t he see she was trying to make her own way in the world? Rob meant well, but he could be a freaking bulldozer at times.

Alaina locked up her classroom and headed out. Kyle, of course, was outside with the kids. She went to rush past him, but he stopped her, reaching a hand out to grab her arm.

“Hey, hey. What’s your hurry?”

“Just want to get home,” she answered, avoiding his gaze.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine
. Just tired. Burning the candle at both ends and all that.”

“If
you’re sure…”

She finally looked up at him. “That’s all it is.”
Like hell am I gonna talk about my relationship with Rob to this guy.
“See you tomorrow.”

Obviously reluctant, he let her sleeve go. “Get a good night’s rest.”

“I will.”

When she got home, her package from eBay had arrived. After tearing open the box, she held the dress up to herself in the mirror. The style looked sort of Roman to her, with a jeweled band under the breasts and on the straps. It fit tight over the bodice, but a chiffon overlay billowed from the bottom of the band, empire-style. The dress underneath the overlay was satin and reflected the light nicely. The color was gray, which wouldn’t have been her first choice since the one she’d worn to Scott’s party was also gray, but she’d been relatively sure the garment would flatter her and also hide her figure flaws, so she’d purchased the item anyway.

S
he slipped out of her clothes then put on the dress and went back to the mirror. The sides of the bodice gaped. Even with a bra, she didn’t have the bust line to hold up the dress. Other than that, it looked great.

Alaina bit her lip.
She’d been counting on the stupid thing fitting. Would she have time to get the dress altered before Tux ‘n’ Pucks? The event was two weeks away, but she didn’t even know any tailors in the area, much less if they were working during the holidays.

Berating herself for going the cheap way out and not
shopping at a store where she could try things on, she took off the dress then dragged out her laptop. She knew why she hadn’t done the latter—because Rob would have railroaded her if he knew she was going out shopping. But her pride was causing trouble and costing her any savings she might’ve had from purchasing the dress from the popular auction site.

Thankfully, she found a tailor
not too far from her. Unfortunately, the man charged a premium because he wasn’t planning on working between Christmas and New Year’s and was scheduled right up to Christmas Day. With a sigh, she agreed to his price and told him she’d bring over the dress that day.

After
she arrived, she put on the dress and the tailor confirmed only the bodice needed taking in. Then, in a move that brought tears to Alaina’s eyes, he said he should be able to get the alterations done for his regular prices by Christmas. She thanked him until finally he pulled the curtain of the dressing room shut, ending the conversation. Wiping at her eyes, she removed the garment and left it in the changing area as he’d instructed.

The rest of school and the days surrounding Christmas flew by. She and Rob weren’t able to get together to exchange presents until a few days after Christmas because of her crazy family schedule. Rob had actually been able to go home for a few days as well.

He
’d insisted on picking her up, and when she opened the door, he let out a growl and attacked her, pushing his tongue inside her mouth, and then moaning as they dueled for dominance of the kiss. Alaina put her arms around his waist, underneath his suit jacket, and he pressed his erection into her belly with another moan. Finally they broke apart.

“Holy hell, woman, don’t make me go
so long without seeing you again.”

Cocking her head, she asked, “What are you going to do once you’re playing again and go on a road trip? Or over the summer if you go home?”

He held up a finger. “On road trips, I’m stuffing you in my suitcase. During the summer, I think you should travel home with me. Hey, that’s cool! We’ll be off at the same time. We should totally go somewhere. Ever been to Europe?”

She raised an eyebrow. Summer was months away and he
was already planning vacations for the two of them? And not just a jaunt to the Finger Lakes for the day, but freaking Europe. She didn’t even have a passport.
Wow.
And yet the thought didn’t make her want to go screaming and running the other way.
Huh.
Maybe she was more ready to take things to the next level than she’d thought. “Sure. We can talk about it.”

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

Well how about that?
He didn’t push. Grinning, she followed him to his truck.

He took her to an obscenely expensive
—at least in her opinion—Italian restaurant in one of Buffalo’s restored buildings. The restaurant was on the thirteenth floor and was high enough to see the entire harbor area. A little snow had arrived on Christmas, finally, and the whole area looked magical. “This is incredible. Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You’re welcome.”
Rob reached over and grabbed her hand. He still wasn’t using his left hand for much, but at least he had both of them available and had been able to ditch the sling. “I, um, I wanted to say something before I give you your gift.”

“All right.” Her eyebrows drew down at the look on Rob’s face. He spent most o
f his days with at least a half-smile on his face, besides those dark few weeks immediately following is surgery, but right now he was dead serious. What was going on? Should she be concerned? How could there be anything bad associated with a Christmas present? Clearing the lump in her throat, she said, “Go ahead.”

“Don’t get all worried. This is a good thing. Or at least I hope you think it’s a good thing.” Now a hint of a smile played across his features. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot. All the time, really. And I ke
ep coming back to one conclusion that I thought I should share with you.” Rob took a deep breath. “I’m falling in love with you.”

“Oh. Wow. Rob…” Tears welled in her eyes and she hastily wiped at them.

“Are you crying? Shit, I knew I shouldn’t have said it so soon.”

“No!” She looked around. Her outburst had attracted some attention from the other patrons. “No
, it’s perfect. You’re great. I’m just…overwhelmed.”

H
e frowned. “Overwhelmed good, though?”