Page 101 of Mr. Swoony

“Nothing.” I stand to compose myself because Tweetie must have seen the expression on my face in order to make him ask what we were talking about. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

I walk across the room, hearing Tweetie tell them they’re idiots and to mind their own fucking business.

Jade grabs my hand before I can leave. “Are you okay?”

I nod and open the door, sliding out. I just want to see Conor, feel his arms around me. Then my body will relax, remembering who we are together and that he’s not the guy those rookies seem to think he is.

I head down the small hallway toward the bathrooms and stop in my tracks. Conor’s standing in front of a brunette, the same brunette I found with her friends, writing the sign outside the security gate. She runs her fingers down his chest. He steps back but leans in, saying something to her. She pushes off whatever he said with a flirty smile and wraps her arms around his neck.

I clear my throat.

Conor turns his head, his face going pale just as it did the other night when I know he was hiding something when I came back into the bedroom with my bowl of ice cream.

He lifts her arms off him and steps back, saying something I can’t hear before he walks toward me, grabs my hand, and leads me down a different hallway, pushing open the back door.

“It’s not what you think,” he’s quick to say.

“Okay then, tell me what it is.”

He releases my hand, walking along the loading dock. “She’s just a fan, and I was telling her I wasn’t interested. She just couldn’t seem to understand it.”

There’s something on his face that I can’t read. As if he’s worried I won’t believe him.

I decide to trust him until he proves to me different. I saw him step back from her touch after all. “Okay.”

He stops his pacing and turns to me. “That’s it?”

“I can’t say my stomach didn’t drop when I first saw you two, but I believe you.”

Rushing over to me, relief washes over his face as he cradles my cheeks, pressing his lips to mine. He distracts me with a soul-searing kiss, the firmness of his lips, the gentle way his tongue sweeps into my mouth all conveying that I’m the one he wants and no one else. By the time he closes the kiss, I gasp for a breath.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he murmurs along my lips.

“No, we’re hanging with friends tonight. You can wait a few hours.”

His hands run over my body, grabbing my ass and pulling me into him. “One more kiss then?”

“Sure.”

This time our kiss has an urgency and desperation the other one didn’t. As good as it feels, a piece of me thinks there’s something more to that girl based on his reaction to me not being upset about seeing them together.

“Oh, god, get out!” Ruby shouts from behind us. “This isn’t your bedroom, it’s my bar. Go.”

Conor laughs and slides his hand in mine. “Sorry, Rubes, just needed a little alone time with my girl.”

Ruby tosses a dish towel over her shoulder. “And you got it. Now get in the backroom. The girls are out tonight and desperate to get in there.” She eyes me.

I offer her a smile that probably conveys Conor’s already had one run-in with a very handsy one. “Sorry, Ruby.”

She shoos us away, and Conor guides me through the bar toward the backroom. As we make our way through the crowd, the brunette passes by and shoulder-checks me. My mouth drops open, but she continues walking, giving me a look and a smirk over her shoulder.

Man, the girls weren’t joking when they said it’s hard to date a professional hockey player.

Forty-One

Conor

Having to rent another car, I wonder if I should buy my own. I can probably rent a parking space or even park it at my dad’s.

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