“All I had to do was pick a duck,” I grumble.
She pulls me over to a more secluded area. “I should thank you properly.”
“What does that mean?”
She pushes me so my back hits the concrete wall and steps closer to me. Rising on her tiptoes, she gives me another kiss that speeds up my pulse and makes my dick twitch.
Afterward we walk for a while. But I figure we should probably head home since we have a long drive ahead of us.
“One more ride, you choose,” she says.
I lead her to the closest one because I’m ready to have her completely to myself. We leave the rubber duck—who is yet to have a name—with the attendant. I warn him if anything happens to the thing, we’re going to have words, and he looks at me like I’m crazy because, yeah, it’s just a rubber duck. But it seems to mean something to Paisley which means it means something to me.
“Cart one?” I ask Paisley, knowing this could be her breaking point.
“Okay.”
The roller coaster isn’t as big as the others, so she should be fine. “I’ll hold your hand the entire time.”
“Deal.” We climb in the first cart, and I take her hand.
We roll slowly up the hill. From the rides earlier this evening, I know that she hates the first hill, so I let her squeeze me as much as possible.
“You got this,” I say to her.
She nods, then the roller coaster peaks over the first hill. Our cart teeters there, looking down over what’s below us—concrete and metal.
The roller coaster halts and we don’t move at all.
“Oh, man, it broke,” a guy behind us says.
“You good?” I ask Paisley, looking over to see her eyes squeezed shut.
“Maksim?” she whispers.
“Yeah?”
“I think I’ve had enough.”
I bite down my laugh and squeeze her hand again. “Deal.”
Thus far, Maksim has made good on planning original dates. Today he took me to a donut place before we had to be at the arena to meet with the at-risk youth. We’ve done no more than kiss, and he doesn’t seem as eager as I am for more. After the amusement park, he dropped me off at my house, kissed me goodbye, and I watched him walk down the pathway back to his car.
“Next week you’re coming with us to Nashville, right?” he asks me, caging me into a dark corner in the back hallway of the arena.
“I am, and speaking of the team, I need to report a meeting with you to Mr. Gerhardt.”
“All in due time. Back to Nashville—plan on one of our dates while we’re there.” He kisses the delicate flesh under my earlobe.
“We can’t have a date when I’m with the team.”
How on earth does he think that would work? We might as well announce we’re dating to everyone. I know I’m not really treating Maksim, so technically it’s a bit of a gray area, but no one else knows that.
“Trust me. We’ll be fine.”
“Maksim.”
He places his finger to my lips. “Trust me.”
This man is making me forget my better judgment. I nod and he bends down again, this time replacing his finger with his lips. I slip my tongue through his parted lips, and a strangled groan rushes up his throat. His hands tighten on my hips and he breaches any distance between us, rubbing his huge hard-on against my stomach. We both lose control and forget where we are, our tongues battling for supremacy, our hands clenching on the other, pulling, tugging, and grinding.
He closes the kiss and rests his forehead against mine, breathing heavily as his fingers grip my hips. “I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to make it.”
“No one put a stipulation on how many dates until we sleep together.” My insides contract with my words. I’m desperate to have this man in my bed.
“I did. It’s kissing only until all nine dates are complete. I want you to know what kind of guy I am. That I’m not who you think.”
My fingers thread through his hair. I love the blond strands against his darker roots. “You have nothing to prove. I never should’ve assumed. I already know what kind of man you are.”
His head rocks side to side as his forehead stays glued to mine. “No. I want to do this even with the blue balls it’s giving me. You mean a lot to me, and when the time comes, I want you to be as sure as you are the sky is blue.”
My thighs clench. It’s only been two dates, which means I have seven more to go. “How fast can you make these dates happen?”
He laughs, and I love the deep timbre of his chuckle. It vibrates down to the pit of my stomach and warms there like brandy. “It won’t take too long.”
And then with one quick kiss, he’s backing away from me.
We fall in line again as though we’re just two acquaintances heading down the hall. The sounds of footsteps from our little Fury Juniors coming down the hallway fills the space.
“Hey, I forgot to talk to you,” Maksim says. “Do you mind if I just work with Dru and Malcolm today? You could maybe give a tour of the arena to the others. They’re embarrassed—”
This time I look both ways and place my finger to his lips. “No problem.”
He smiles and opens his mouth, his tongue sliding around my finger. I knew he had a magical tongue, but holy shit, I want to fall to my back and spread my legs and let him use those masterful skills between my thighs. He kisses the tip of my finger, and I’m pretty sure my mouth could inhale a swarm of flies it’s open so wide.
“Thanks,” he says.
Just before the group is far enough down the hall where they can see us, he walks away, leaving me speechless.
For the first half hour of our time together, I take the rest of the group on a tour. We visit the offices and press boxes, then walk through the empty arena, past all the concession stands that would normally be lined up with people. Then we head back down and I show them the press room where the players do interviews after the games, and finally the locker room where each spot has a jersey hanging up for each player.
“They all shower together?” Lark asks. “Weird.”
“They’re all men,” I say.
“Still. They make so much money and they all have to see one another naked?” Lark’s look of disgust makes me look at Jana, who showed up a few minutes into the tour.
“Want to see one of the suites?” Jana asks.
A unanimous yes sounds from the group, so Jana takes us to an elevator. Using her key to the Gerhardts’ suite, she opens the door and allows everyone to file in.
“Man, talk about money,” one of the boys says, going to where the inside meets the outside. “Hey, there’s Malcolm.”
Oh shit, I completely forgot.
“Hey, everyone, let’s head back to the concession area. Maybe we can make a big pretzel. You have to be hungry.” I urgently weave through them to block any view of the boys and Maksim, but my feet come to a stop when I see what’s happening.
“He’s really good,” Marin says, a hint of adoration in her tone.
Malcolm has a stick and he’s moving the puck around the ice. Dru is continuing to skate the oval and doing pretty damn well. Maksim comes up behind Malcolm and puts his hands over Malcolm’s to show him how to handle the puck.