“Understandable. At least we know the fan won’t fall and kill anyone.”
I follow him to the front door, and he scoops up my duffle bag. There’s another bag in the back seat of his car, one I stashed there earlier without him knowing, and it excites me.
“I really appreciate you and Cole doing all that work on the truck. You didn’t have to do that. I actually feel kind of bad. This marriage seems so one-sided.”
He chuckles. “It’s not, but if you really and truly feel that way, this weekend you can show me how appreciative you are.”
I laugh at that. “Didn’t I do that last night?”
His smile curls through me, warms me from the inside out. “Yeah, you did. But I want more.”
God, I want more, too, but not just in the bedroom.
We head outside, the late day sun falls over us, and we climb into his car. “We have to make a pit stop,” he says.
“Oh, where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I take in his mischievous grin. “I don’t like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one.” He reaches for my hand and takes it in his. His warmth shimmers through me, and I smile. Even though I know I’m going to end up heartbroken, I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. “You’re smiling.”
I chuckle. “Something wrong with that?”
“No, Kins. I love when you smile.” He turns his focus to the traffic, and I take in the buildings as we hit downtown Seattle.
“What are we doing here?” I ask.
“What part of “it’s a surprise” didn’t you get?” I pull my hand from his and whack his chest and he lets loose a fake oomph.
A few minutes later he parks, and I stretch out my legs as I climb out. With my hand back in his again, he leads me down the street and when we take the corner I know exactly where we’re going. He leads me to the rental space, and I stop at the door.
“Why are we here?” I ask.
He pulls a key from his pocket and jangles it. “Because we’re going to check out the space.”
I gasp, surprised and a little nervous. “How did you get that?”
“I have connections,” he says.
“Really?”
“Well, no,” he says and laughs. “But I made a few calls. pulled a few strings, and voila.”
“This is what you were up to the other day when I heard you on the phone?” He nods, and my heart wobbles in my too tight ches
t. “You are so sweet, Cason.”
“Shh,” he says and glances around. “I have a reputation to uphold you know. Can’t be letting anyone on the ice think otherwise that The Troublemaker isn’t going to knock their teeth out if they mess with him or his teammates.”
I chuckle but it holds no humor. Nibbling on my bottom lip I back up an inch and fold my arms across my chest. My heart thumps against my hand. He reaches for me and our bodies mesh as he wraps his arms around me. “What’s wrong?”
I exhale sharply. “I…just don’t want to get my hopes up, you know.” He frowns, and that’s when I realize my mistake. “I’m not saying you’re going to bail before the thirty days. I’m not saying that at all.”
“What are you saying?”
“I just…what if after thirty days my father still doesn’t think I’m worthy of my trust fund? That I’m going to blow through it, or that investing it into a restaurant is a mistake?”