What was her gorgeous, badass hockey player up to now?
The world saw him as aggressive and unrelenting on the ice and charming and cavalier off it. They saw him vacationing on yachts in the south of France, and they saw him surrounded by an entourage everywhere he went.
But they’d never seen him hold a teacup with his pinky out, lounge in bed with two little girls cuddled up against him as he read stories in funny voices, or look at her as if she was the embodiment of everything he’d ever wanted.
And they’d most definitely never seen him lay out a path of petals for a woman.
Nope. This is just for me.
But why had he done it? At the top of the stairs, she came to a stop to take in the literally hundreds of pink, white, and red balloons covering the living room.
And then Paisley came out of the kitchen with a big grin and a bouquet of roses. “Come on, LaLee.” The girl—wearing braids and dressed for school—waited at the bottom of the stairs.
“What on earth is going on?”
“You’ll see.” Paisley handed off the flowers, then slid an arm through hers and escorted her across the living room.
Evvie came barreling into her with a box of chocolate-covered strawberries. “Come on, LaLee. Come wif me.”
The three of them had to kick aside the balloons to get to the kitchen, where Cole stood by the island wearing a very nice suit, tie, and shiny black leather shoes.
“Well, hello, handsome.” She could not believe she got to sleep with that incredibly hot man every night. “Is anyone going to tell what’s happening?”
Suddenly, they were plunged into darkness, and then one by one, light bulbs on the counter lit up. It only took a moment to realize they were going to spell outProm?
And then, with a grin and mischief in his eyes, Cole was standing in front of her. “Hailey Casselton, will you go to prom with me?”
She reached for his hands. “Cole Montgomery, I would go anywhere with you.”
The girls squealed and jumped up and down. “She said yes, Cole. She said yes.”
“I know. I can’t believe it. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Evvie held up a strawberry she’d already snagged out of the box. “I have it now?”
Cole just laughed and said, “Sure. But first, hand them out to everybody.”
The little girl took her task seriously, choosing just the right berry for each of them. Hailey bit into the juicy treat, the creamy chocolate soothing the tart of the fruit.
“Go on and eat breakfast,” Cole said.
The girls ran off to the table where she saw an unbelievable spread that included a pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice, a platter of pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar, a bowl of fruit salad, strips of crispy bacon, glistening sausages, and a mound of cheesy scrambled eggs.
“You cooked all this?”
“Ha ha. That’s funny.” He shook his head. “No. I paid a young woman handsomely to deliver everything from Harley and Lu’s this morning.”
“You’re amazing.” She got up on her toes and kissed his mouth. “And rich.”
He chuckled.
And then she whispered, “I can’t wait to peel that suit off with my teeth.”
“I made it easy for you.” He put his mouth right at her ear. “I’m not wearing underwear.”
Standing on the other side of the island, where the kids couldn’t see the lower half of their bodies, she reached between them and rubbed his cock with her palm. He went rock-hard, and it made her blood go hot. When she squeezed, his hips snapped, pressing him deeper into her hand.
“Keep that up, and you’re gonna get it.” His whisper was closer to a growl.