Wicked Games (Denver Rebels) (25 page)

“That
is
a lot of hard work,” Nadia agreed in a marveling tone.

“It was. I’ll never forget how much she sacrificed in order for me to play hockey. She pretty much put her life on hold.” Reid shook his head slowly. “I can never repay her.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t expect you to,” Nadia said with a quiet smile. “Mothers are just wired that way. To nurture and sacrifice and put everyone else’s needs above their own. As far as I’m concerned, Mother’s Day should be celebrated every day of the year.” She paused. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m a woman who might become a mother someday.”

Reid grinned. “Riiight.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh.

“So, Mr. Rocket,” she said teasingly, “if you ever have a son, I assume you’ll expect him to play hockey.”

“Not necessarily
expect
. Strongly encour—” Without warning his mind flashed on an image of a beautiful caramel boy with thick curly hair and soulful brown eyes, or maybe blue.

“Reid?”

He blinked and the image evaporated, leaving him slightly stunned and shaken as he stared at Nadia. “Huh?”

She regarded him curiously. “Where’d you go just now?”

Into the future…with our child.

He swallowed hard. “Nowhere. Just lost my train of thought.”

“Well, be careful with that knife before you cut off a finger,” she warned.

“Uh, yeah. Right.” He finished dicing the tomatoes and dumped them into the pan, then added some water, two cans of tomato sauce, a pinch of brown sugar and a liberal sprinkling of spices. After splashing in some red wine, he stirred all the ingredients together.

As the fragrant aroma wafted through the kitchen, Nadia sniffed the air and sighed appreciatively. “God, that smells amazing. You’ve got my mouth watering over here.”

Reid grinned. “Wait till you taste it.”

“If it tastes even half as good as it smells,” she joked, “I might have to name my firstborn after you.”

Jesus!

Reid dropped the lid he’d just picked up. It clattered onto the counter and rolled toward the edge before he managed to keep it from tumbling to the floor.

“Whoa.” Nadia gave him a look of amused concern. “Dude, are you okay? You seem jumpy all of a sudden.”

“I’m, uh, fine.” He placed the lid on the pan and scrubbed a shaky hand across his jaw. When his gaze landed on the open bottle of Bordeaux, he nearly pounced with relief. “I need some wine. Would you like some wine?”

Nadia’s eyes twinkled with humor. “I’d love some.”

As he removed two glasses from the cupboard, she warned teasingly, “Easy with those, butterfingers.”

He grinned sheepishly as he poured the wine and handed her a glass.

She thanked him, swirled her wine and then took an experimental sip. “Mmm. That’s an excellent Bordeaux.”

Reid took a deep swig from his glass and gave an approving nod. Not bad for a five-thousand-dollar bottle of vino.

“It’s so rich and intense.” Nadia sipped some more, studying the distinctive label on the bottle. “1989 Château Pétrus. I’m not even gonna ask how much this cost.”

Reid grinned. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it. It was Hunter’s recommendation.”

“Hunter Duchene? Your teammate?”

“Yeah. He’s something of a wine connoisseur.”

“Really?”

Reid chuckled. “Why do you sound so surprised? What, you think hockey players aren’t sophisticated enough to appreciate fine wine? You think all we can handle is beer?”

Nadia laughed. “I didn’t say that!”

“But you were thinking it.”

“No, I wasn’t,” she insisted. “But c’mon, Reid. We’re talking about a guy whose nickname is ‘HD’ because his slap shots are so lethal, goalies see ’em coming in high-definition. We’re talking about the same guy who smashes the puck so hard, he’s been known to rip a hole in the net. So, yeah, it’s a little hard for me to reconcile a player like that being a wine connois— What’s wrong?”

Reid had dropped his chin to his chest and closed his eyes. “God, it turns me on when you talk hockey. Especially when you use phrases like
coming in high-definition
and
smashes the puck
and
rip a hole
…” He shuddered, setting his glass down. “If you could feel how hard I am right now—”

Nadia threw back her head with a delighted peal of laughter that had him grinning from ear to ear.

“You are such a dirty boy,” she teased, her eyes twinkling.

He winked. “And don’t you forget it.”

She grinned and drank more wine. When she put her glass down, Reid couldn’t resist leaning over and stealing a kiss from her. The Bordeaux was good. But it tasted even better on her luscious lips.

When the Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender” came on and Nadia started singing, it was all Reid could do not to get down on one knee and propose. He was thrilled beyond belief that she knew the words to one of his all-time favorite songs.

He cranked up the volume and sang along with her, his wooden spoon doing double duty as a microphone. She laughed and played air guitar while shaking her hair over her face like a bona fide metalhead. Reid fucking
loved
it.

They rocked out together, practically screaming the lyrics to each other over the song’s hard-pounding riffs. When “The Pretender” went off, they struck the same rocker pose with their tongues sticking out and their hands flashing devil horns.

They looked at each other, then burst into a round of shoulder-shaking laughter, gusty shouts of mirth that sent tears running down their cheeks.

It was several moments before they could speak again.

“That was so fun,” Nadia said breathlessly, her eyes sparkling.

“Hells yeah.” Reid was grinning hard. “Damn, girl, I didn’t know you liked the Foo Fighters.”

“Are you kidding? I love the Foos.”

Reid put his hand over his heart and sighed. “I think I’m in love.”

Nadia laughed and blushed, tucking her hair behind her ear.

He watched her, a warm glow of affection spreading through him. “Seriously. I didn’t know you could rock out like that.”

She grinned. “You should see me at one of Scarlett’s concerts. You wouldn’t even recognize me.”

“Yeah? You’ll have to take me with you sometime.”

Her eyes lit up. “I’d love that.”

“Me too.” Reid turned toward the sink and rinsed off the wooden spoon. “Speaking of Scarlett, I told Viggo she’s back in town and he really wants to meet her. Can we make that happen or what?”

“We can, but…” Nadia trailed off with a sigh.

“But what?”

“I was sorta hoping he and Jess might hook up.”

“Hmm.” Reid dipped the spoon into the bubbling spaghetti sauce and stirred.

“What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Viggo’s really interested in meeting Scarlett. He went online and looked up her band, then downloaded both of their albums—”

Nadia looked pleased. “He did?”

“Yup. So did I. We’ve both been enjoying their music. Scarlett’s a kickass drummer with a helluva voice. Not to mention that she’s gorgeous.” He gave Nadia a sideways grin. “If I hadn’t met you first—”

“Hey!” she protested.

He laughed. “Just kidding. Well, not the part about Scarlett being hot. The last part.”

Nadia mock-glared at him. “I get it.”

He grinned and winked. “Seriously though, babe. If you really want me to ask Viggo about Jess again, I will. But I already know what he’s going to say.”

Nadia sighed. “I’m really trying to be a good friend here, but I certainly don’t mind introducing Viggo to Scarlett if that’s what he really wants. If they end up hitting it off…”

“Then it was meant to be.”

She smiled. “Pretty much.”

Reid blew on the steaming sauce, then turned and brought the spoon to Nadia’s mouth. “Taste this.”

His cock twitched as he watched her lips open and close over the edge of the spoon. “Mmm,” she breathed appreciatively. “Oh my God, Reid. That’s absolutely divine.”

Grinning, he slid the spoon into his mouth and licked off the remaining sauce. “Perfect.”

“It is,” she agreed, picking up her wineglass. “You hit it out of the park.”

He sent her a sly look. “Does that mean you’re naming your firstborn after me?”

She laughed shyly and lowered her lashes to sip her wine.

Grinning, Reid put the lid back on the pan. “The sauce is ready. It just needs to simmer for about twenty minutes. Gotta let the spices marinate.”

Nadia’s eyes danced over the rim of her glass. “Marinate, huh?”

“Yeah, baby. Marinate.”

“Gotcha.” She sighed contentedly and looked around. “I can’t get over how amazing your home is. Every room is so big and gorgeously decorated.” She smiled. “It must be nice to have an interior designer in the family. Your sister Avery is very talented.”

“Thank you,” Reid said warmly. “I’ll be sure to pass along your compliments when she gets back from Germany.”

“Germany?” Nadia repeated curiously. “What’s she doing in Germany?”

“Attending a trade show. She goes to several every year, sometimes back to back. They’re held all over the world.”

“Really?” Nadia set her glass down beside her. “Sounds exciting.”

“She enjoys them.” Reid chuckled. “She always comes back inspired and excited about the latest trends in interior design. I’m sure she’ll want to redecorate my living room or something.”

Nadia grinned. “I hope not. Why mess with perfection?”

“That’s what I always tell her.” In the mood to hear something more mellow, Reid switched to a contemporary soft rock channel.

When Justin Timberlake’s “Not A Bad Thing” began playing moments later, Nadia’s face lit up. “Ohh, I
love
this song.”

Reid grinned. “Yeah?”

Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately—he knew all the words because Aria had played the damn song every day last summer during their family vacation at the lake.

Before he realized what he was doing, before he could think it through and maybe stop himself, he grabbed the wooden spoon and began serenading Nadia: “
Said all I want from you is to see you tomorrow…and every tomorrow, maybe you’ll let me borrow your heart….
”

“Oh my God.” She laughed softly and blushed, cupping her cheeks as she stared up at him.

Enjoying her reaction, he winked and did a shuffling little dance step that made her squeal as he crooned into the spoon, “
So don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me…
”

It was cheesy, totally cornball. But he could tell Nadia loved every moment of it. And he loved…God help him. He was too damn scared to even go there. But as he sang to her, the romantic lyrics captured his feelings so perfectly he could have written them himself.

When the song ended, Nadia clapped her hands in delight, staring at him with shining eyes. She looked so beautiful his breath caught and his chest ached.

“Wow,” she breathed, shaking her head. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you, Mr. Holden?”

He grinned, feeling sheepish. “Just fooling around.”

“I loved it. That song…” She trailed off.

Their eyes clung for a long moment. And then she looked away, biting her bottom lip as she stared out the window at the falling rain.

A streak of lightning forked across the sky. It was followed by a clap of thunder that Reid barely heard over the loud beating of his heart.

After another moment Nadia cleared her throat.

And the spell was broken.

“While we’re waiting on the sauce,” she said, “I’m just gonna check my email.”

Reid helped her down from the counter, then tweaked her nose. “It’s supposed to be your day off.”

“I know. But I need to take care of a few things for my coworker. She’s going to be out for a couple days this week, so I promised to pinch-hit for her.” Nadia shook her head at herself. “What’s with me and all the baseball jargon today?”

Reid chuckled and playfully swatted her backside, making her giggle. He watched as she padded over to the breakfast nook, sat at the table with her knees pulled up to her chest and powered on her laptop.

Turning away, he lowered the heat on the sauce and then took out a big pot to boil water for the spaghetti noodles. Before leaving that morning, Mrs. Keller—his ever efficient housekeeper—had tossed a Greek salad, baked a loaf of her homemade French bread and whipped up some tiramisu for dessert. So all he had to prepare was the main course.

“Aww,” Nadia cooed from the breakfast table.

“What?”

“One of my former students just had a baby, and her husband shared some pictures on Facebook. Their daughter is so adorable.”

Reid smiled. “Congrats to the new parents. But what’re you doing on Facebook? You’re supposed to be checking your work email.”