Page 84 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“I haven’t had a conversation with the man in years,” Dalton said. “You’ll probably talk to him before I do.”
“Really? He said his son was going to run the team—I just assumed that was you.” Cullen shrugged. “I guess he must have meant your brother.”
“I don’t have a brother.”
Before Cullen could respond, Drea came bounding up to them, waving her cell phone in hand. She pushed her way into the group so she was standing right in front of Leona.
“Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!” Drea shrieked, as Dalton quietly slipped away from the group.
“What? What? What?” Leona asked, mirroring her best friend’s excitement.
“Zara, the Relaxation InSPAration blogger accepted my invite to come spend a week here and review the spa!!!” she squealed.
“Holy shit! That’s amazing! When is she coming?” Leona asked.
“Next month! Oh my God, I have to go tell Kyle!” she said, giving Leona a quick hug before bouncing off to find her boyfriend.
“Sorry, but that’s huge for Drea,” Leona said, turning back to Cullen. “Relaxation InSPAration is like the biggest spa blog on the Internet.”
“I didn’t realize such a thing even existed,” he commented.
“If it exists, there’s an Internet blog for it,” she answered. “So what did Gunnar have to say that was so important?”
“Wanted to know if I would come hang at their first training camp once they get their team together. Give an inspirational talk, maybe play around with the players a bit. Go be a role model or whatever.”
“Are you gonna do it?”
“I told him I’d do that for him if he did something for me,” he winked. “I knew if I said no he and Cowboy would just call later and harass me until I agreed. So I figured at least this way I could get something out of it.”
“What did you ask for in return?”
“A tryout,” he shrugged, like it was the most obvious answer ever.
“A tryout? For what? You're retired!”
“Not for me, for Josef,” he answered, pulling her back into him.
“What?”
“I told Gunnar I’d come talk to his new team if he got Josef a tryout with the academy team he’s leaving in Ireland.”
“Ireland?” she whisper shouted, not quite sure that she’d heard him correctly.
Cullen nodded, a sly, knowing smile appearing on his face. He’d been talking about it with Gunnar for weeks, since before everything went down with Atlanta.
“Explain yourself, sir,” Leona said, still unable to wrap her brain around what he was telling her. “I thought he wasn’t quite ready for an academy. That's what you told my parents the other night at dinner.”
“He isn’t. But it’s a good experience for him. He won’t make the team, and frankly even if he did I wouldn’t let him take the slot, not with Gunnar leaving. But this is going to give him the exposure he needs. Another year or so of us working together and then he’ll be ready. Maybe by then Gunnar and Cowboy will have a program set up where they are so he can be with guys I trust.”
She looked up at him, her eyes shiny with tears. She bit her bottom lip, and he could tell she was trying not to cry.
Leaning down and softly pressing a kiss to her forehead he said, “I hope those are happy tears, Menina.”
“Of course they are,” she answered, sniffling. Her hands found their way to his chest, her fingers drawing faint circles on his pecs. “I just can’t believe you did that for him.”
“Of course, Menina. I know what he means to you, and taking care of you also means taking care of him. Your family is now my family.” His words were earnest and heartfelt, and he hoped that she knew just how much he meant them.
“Has this teddy bear always been hidden deep down in you? What happened to that raging tiger who did nothing but growl at me?” she laughed.
