Page 58 of Shootout
She gazed into my eyes and leaned into me. My heart hitched at the sight of her, all sexy and beautiful and, for one night, all mine.
I placed my hands lightly on her hips. The silky gold dress tickled my palms, and I wanted nothing more than to take her someplace private and rid her of that dress and anything that might be under it—from my vantage point, not much. I leaned my forehead against hers and closed my eyes, battling my inner bad boy. Later if she was willing to forgo her renewed vows to keep sex out of our fake relationship, I’d get her out of that dress. For now, we’d attend the gala, have a great time, and let the evening go where it might.
“I have a proposal,” I said.
“What is it?” Her red lips parted, and I was mesmerized by them. “Banks?” Her words prodded me into responding. For a moment, I forgot what I was going to say. Then it came flooding back.
“Jessie, for just tonight, let’s pretend this is real. That we’re a real couple who have real feelings for each other.” I drew my head back to study her expression. She fussed with my bow tie for a long while, and I waited patiently.
“Just for tonight?” she verified.
“Yeah. Instead of feeling like frauds all evening, let’s not be frauds. Let’s embrace this thing between us and go with it.”
“There’s a thing between us?” Her big brown eyes opened wide and met my gaze while her fingers continued to toy with my bow tie. She sucked in a breath, and I could tell she was uncertain.
“Don’t you think there is? I do. Maybe it’s just forced proximity, but why not enjoy what we have while we have it?”
“This can’t be real, Banks. I’m not in a place to make it real, and you’ll probably never be.”
“I’m not talking about anything permanent. I’m talking about one night where we forget we’re pretending and enjoy each other.”
She considered my words as she stared over my shoulder at nothing in particular. I wanted to beg because being a real couple suddenly became important to me. When her gaze swung back to focus on my face, she smiled slightly.
“Do you think we can pull it off?”
I nodded. “Why not? It’s not like we dislike each other. I think it’d take some of the pressure off if we gave ourselves permission to have a great time and be a real couple on a real date tonight.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with you after the gala.”
“But does it mean you aren’t?”
She surprised me and laughed, followed by a quick kiss on my lips. “I guess that depends on when this real date ends. Does it end at midnight or some other time of our choosing?”
“Let’s not get bogged down in the details.”
“All right. I’m in.”
I wanted to jump for joy. Instead, I threw my arms around her, picked her up, and swung her in a circle, bashing into a couple teammates as they approached the entry.
“Get a room,” Wild growled. “Wait. Don’t get a room,” he added quickly when he realized what he’d said.
I lowered Jessie to the floor, smirking at Wild, and was rewarded with a grouchy glare. Chuckling, I led Jessie into the ballroom.
I paused inside the door, realizing we had assigned seating. We found our table, which included several of my teammates and their dates, along with Wild and his date, a buxom blonde I hadn’t seen before. She wore a dress that made Jessie’s appear chaste. Wild couldn’t keep his eyes off the blonde, which kept his attention off Jessie and me.
Jessie made small talk with a WAG next to her, and I chatted with a couple fellow Sockeyes.
While I may not be everyone’s favorite teammate, the guys tolerated my presence on the team. I’d go as far as saying that a few of them actually liked me. Of course, having a winning team made all the difference. If we’d been losing, then the guys would be looking for a scapegoat. My underperformance so far this season would put me in their crosshairs. Everyone had slumps. I’d had them before, and I would again. I’d battle my way back to where I was last season, but it might take more time than I had the patience for, considering I had new linemates to get acquainted with.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” I asked Jessie.
She nodded enthusiastically. “I’d love one. Chardonnay, please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I left Jessie at the table to stand in line at the bar. Ice, our captain, was in front of me. I watched as he ordered a white wine and a Coke. He caught me eyeing the Coke and laughed.
“I don’t drink.”
