Chapter Five
Several perfect weeks passed, perfect in Beck’s mind at least. July came and Beck should’ve been more worried about the approaching August sixteenth deadline, when his family fortune would go to the hyenas instead of children in need, but all he could think about was Eve.
Beck worked out every morning from nine to eleven-thirty, showered at the gym, and then went with his two favorite girls to lunch. A standing lunch date. In the afternoon he’d practice at an indoor skating rink and catch up on emails from fans, sponsorship deals, and his investments. He was still spending his evenings and nights alone unless a teammate or friend called to have dinner, go to a movie, play basketball or tennis or something. He wanted to be spending more time with Eve and Paisley. He wanted a standard dinner date, a standard movie night, a standard go to the ice skating rink, the zoo, the park, the lake, anywhere, he simply needed to be with the woman and girl who had captured his heart.
Friday they had a picnic lunch at the nearby city park by the river. Paisley made friends and played on the park equipment, only eating when Eve insisted she took a few bites. Beck and Eve had time alone to talk about how she started her gym and how he got into hockey, starting ice skating at two years old on the lakes in central Minnesota. They walked back to the gym after their hour together, Paisley holding both of their hands and them swinging her as if they were a young family. They were almost to the gym when Beck got brave. “Hey, I’ve been thinking.”
“Don’t do that, it’ll hurt your brain,” Paisley chirped, her cheeks dimpling.
Beck laughed, swept her off the ground, and turned her upside down. Her pigtails brushed the sidewalk as she squealed. “How’s that feel on your brain?” he asked.
Eve grinned beside him. Beck had to work hard to earn laughter from Eve but she smiled easily. He loved her sweet, innocent yet alluring smile.
“Put me down!” Paisley demanded.
Beck swung her over to the grass and laid her down. “How’s that?”
Paisley scrambled and reached her arms up. “Throw me, Beck.”
Beck complied, sweeping her into the air and tossing her. She couldn’t weigh more than thirty pounds. After throwing her a few times, he held her in one arm and said, “You ready to go back to your job?”
Paisley had made sure to inform him that she was in charge of the play center and it was her job to make sure the “little kids” had fun. He loved being around children and helping children, but as an only child with only a couple of older cousins on his mom’s side, he hadn’t spent as much time around children as he would’ve liked. Still, he thought Paisley had to be the most amazing little girl and he was falling hard and fast for her beautiful, intriguing mother. Maybe his grandpa wasn’t as crazy as he’d thought and the angels had told Papa that it was Beck’s time to settle down. He’d happily settle down with these two, but first, they had to start going on dinner dates and somehow he had to get Eve alone and kiss her. That thought made his mouth go dry.
“Yes, sir.” Paisley sighed dramatically. “I mean, the kiddos need me, right?”
“For sure.”
He glanced askance at Eve, struck by the beauty of her blue eyes, but wimped out and asked Paisley instead, “Hey Princess, do you like going to lunch with me every day?”
“Of course, kind sir.” Paisley giggled.
“What would you think about dinner every night together and maybe doing some other fun stuff together like ice skating, swimming, or boating?”
“Yes!” Paisley cheered. “I’ve always wanted to ice skate!”
Beck couldn’t have loved her answer more. He looked to Eve. She was studying him as if she had to ascertain exactly what his intentions were before she committed. Did she not realize how invested he already was in the two of them? Did she think he was only a temporary addition to their lives? How to convince her of just how serious he was. . . If his grandfather had his way, Beck would be proposing soon. If he told her all, would she run from him? It definitely wasn’t the most romantic move: “Hey, I think you’re great, and by the way, I need to be married in… about six weeks or the hyenas are going to be not just the ugliest and most creepy, but also the richest scavengers on the savanna.” No, that little tidbit was something he should probably keep between him and his grandfather. Maybe at their twenty-year anniversary, he could tell Eve and they’d have a good laugh about it. He’d better slow down right now and talk her into dating him first.
They’d reached the gym and they stopped outside the front doors. Beck looked to Eve. “What do you think?”
Her gaze flickered from him to Paisley and back. “You’re okay with…” She lowered her voice. “Both of us?”
“Of course.” He loved being around Paisley and wouldn’t want to leave her out, though there was a part of him that dreamt of getting Eve alone.
Eve blew out a slow breath but finally said quietly, “Okay.”
Beck threw Paisley into the air and caught her as she squealed happily.
“I think she said yes!” And he was thinking about her saying yes to a marriage proposal already. He needed to slow down those thoughts before they ran away with him.
“Yay!” Paisley cheered.
Beck set Paisley on the ground, grabbed Eve around the waist, and lifted her into the air. She cried out in surprise and then laughed, a beautiful, light laugh that had his heart soaring with happiness. Paisley laughed with her and Beck grinned.
Eve rested her hands on his shoulders as he held her aloft by her waist. “You’re crazy, you know that right?”
“Crazy for you,” he said impulsively.
Eve’s smile slipped and her blue eyes grew far too serious. “We’ll see,” she murmured.
Beck lowered her to the ground, concerned all over again. The guy she’d married must’ve done a number on Eve to have her be so untrusting. Beck pushed the worries from his mind. They were going on a date tonight. Somehow he’d prove to Eve that he’d never betray her and that she was the one for him. It’d only been a few weeks but he felt the rightness of being with these two clear through to his bones. Paisley reached up to him. He picked her up and she grinned happily. He was pretty sure Paisley was on board. Now how to convince her beautiful mother?