Page 24 of Icebound

Even though she’s texting me back like I’m a tax collector, I can’t stop grinning on my way home.

6

NINA

Aknock on the door ripples through the apartment, loud enough to shake the leaves on my snake plants.

“Don’t come out, Gwendolyn. I’m sending Rhode away after I talk to him,” I shout at her closed bedroom door.

Silence greets me from her room.

I glance at my reflection in the hallway mirror, smoothing out my caramel strands that look like a watered-down version of Gwen’s highlighted hair.

“You can do this, Nina,” I say to the girl in the mirror. “You’re just going to talk to him and then go your separate ways because there’s no way a professional hockey player is sticking around when he finds out you lied.”

I'm slightly regretting having agreed to this, but I was curious. I want to know what Nashville’s Naughtiest Bachelor needs from someone like me. I was also shocked Rhode actually listened to me over text that I ended up saying yes. Isaac never took my needs into consideration.

That’s one of the reasons I had to fake a lot of orgasms.

After sliding a piece of cinnamon gum onto my tongue, I dab on some concealer from my purse, hoping to camouflage the evidence of my sleepless night.

The nerves about seeing Rhode again kept me up tossing and turning. My thoughts started spinning about how I couldn’t sleep, and just when my eyelids started to flutter shut, my alarm shrieked, so I went for a five-mile run to calm down. I’ll glue my eyes closed to make myself sleep tonight. That or chug a bottle of melatonin.

I swing open my apartment door. True to his word, Rhode’s holding a bundle of sunflowers under the crisp winter sun. Dressed in jeans, a hoodie, and a navy beanie, the laid-back vibe makes him look younger, but I still see the sprinkle of gray at his temples.

He really is the kind of sexy that crushes hearts.

He smiles, breath fogging up the chilly air. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite doctor.”

I wince at the reference. “You’re early.”

His grin falters. “What can I say? I was excited to see you, so I left straight from the rink. Traffic was easy too. How was your day? Busy at the hospital?”

He rattles off the words, making guilt gnaw through my intestines. I gesture to the sunflowers because I desperately need a distraction from his blinding teeth. Those have to be veneers. “You really brought me flowers?”

“Yeah, of course I did. I wouldn’t lie to you, and my mom taught me well.”

He holds them out with a tiny smile that makes him look a little nervous, but there’s no way that’s true. I saw the Tenerife photos, and this man is the embodiment of brazen arrogance.

I narrow my eyes on the petals. In my experience, only players who have an ego the size of Canada give women flowers. That, or men who have to apologize for something. “How’d you find sunflowers? They’re out of season.”

He rubs the back of his neck. “I uh, went to a few shops until I found some since I figured you like them with that tattoo on your wrist.”

“You noticed my tattoo?”

His eyes meet mine, and he swallows. “I noticed a lot of things about you, Nina.”

The gesture is so sweet that it makes my stomach hurt. He doesn’t seem like Nashville’s Naughtiest Bachelor, but who knows what he’s got hiding under his dimple.

I pick at the petals. “So, why did you send me five texts last night about your completely normal proposition?”

He points over his shoulder. “Do you want to talk over a cup of coffee? My treat. There’s a shop across the street called Roasted I thought we could try, but it’s up to you.”

I’d rather spend the day fighting with Gwen than go back there. I had one of the worst panic attacks of my life in their bathroom two years ago, so I avoid that place like it’s a horde of sweaty bodies.

Using my foot, I subtly scoot my backpack to the side. “Thanks, but I’m not a big coffee-in-the-afternoon person, and I prefer decaf, anyway. You can come inside if you want, and we can talk?”

Smiling, he leans closer, and I get a whiff of laundry detergent. I stop breathing, so I don’t have to smell the fresh scent. “That sounds perfect, thanks.”