Page 47 of Breakaway

“Saturday. We’ll go do something fun.” His mouth curved appealingly. “Just fun. Right?”

She sighed. “Okay.”

“Dress warm.” Jase had just arrived at her place Saturday afternoon for their date.

“Where are we going?”

“Navy Pier.”

“Navy Pier! I haven’t been there in years!”

“I’ve only been there once. It was fun.”

“Okay. Sounds crazy, but okay.”

“You should know by now, I am crazy. I’m all about the fun, baby.”

She laughed. “Let me go put on another sweater.”

She returned to her bedroom and exchanged the long-sleeved sheer top she wore for a black turtleneck sweater. She eyed Jase when she returned to the living room. Instead of his usual leather jacket, he wore a ski jacket with a fleece lining, so she chose her black puffer jacket and looped a long black and grey scarf around her neck. She pushed aside her black high-heeled boots and pulled out her sheepskin lined Ugg boots. Then she peered into her purse to make sure she had gloves.

“It’s going to be freezing there,” she warned him as she locked the door behind them.

“Bah. It’s April.”

“It’s fifty-seven degrees!”

“That’s balmy! Wait ’til you come to Winnipeg in January.”

Like that was going to happen. Her heart beat a little faster. Intense curiosity to see where Jase had grown up flickered inside her.

They wandered around Navy Pier, surprisingly busy. It was a relatively mild April day. Probably lots of tourists were out. Jase bought her popcorn and they looked in the little shops at jewelry and souvenirs. Then he spotted the shop where you could build your own bear. “Hey,” he said, dragging her inside. “I want to build a bear for you.”

Okay, hewascrazy. Laughing, Remi followed him into the store, full of little girls and their mothers. All eyes landed on Jase—big, tall, gorgeous and decidedly out of place. Warmthseeped through Remi and heated her cheeks, but she had to smile.

She selected a furry brown bear, then they had to record a message.

“Remi is ‘beary’ beautiful,” Jase said into the small device, looking at her. She laughed again. The recording was tucked inside. They stuffed the bear, fluffed the bear and then had to dress the bear.

“Oh, no question.” Jase surveyed the choices. He reached for a tiny Chicago Wolves uniform. “Has to be this.”

Smiling, touched and charmed, Remi nodded. “Of course.” And her bear was dressed in the hockey uniform including a tiny stick.

She hugged the bear to her as Jase paid for it and they wandered back outside.

“I know,” Jase said. “We have to ride the Ferris wheel.”

It was late afternoon by this point.

Remi eyed the huge structure with its gazillion spokes and lights. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, Remi.” Once again he gripped her hand and tugged her along. She had to almost run to keep up with his long strides toward the Ferris wheel.

They had a gondola all to themselves. Remi gripped the side tightly, closing her eyes as they began to ascend, Navy Pier dropping away beneath them.

“Hey,” Jase said softly. “Open your eyes. The view is awesome.”

She pressed her lips together, her skin crawling, stomach jumping, but she opened her eyes.

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