Page 63 of Ice Princess

“Then can you come back in a second?” Gunner adds.

“It’s okay. I-I’ll go with the mocktail,” I tell Ann. The dinner’s barely begun and I already feel hot and breathless. I definitely don’t need to add alcohol into the mix.

Ann nods and darts off to get the order.

I lift the menu and fan my face, struggling to gain control of myself. There’s too much at stake. Later tonight, when the mood is right, I intend to steer the conversation toward the Lady Luck Society and wangle an invitation to the next meeting.

Before I can find a neat way to bring it up, Gunner unfolds himself from the table and rises to his full height. I crane my neck to look at him, but what I see makes me shudder. His paleblue eyes are narrowed slightly and his usually aloof expression is marred by a dark frown.

“Son, what’s wrong?” Sheriff Kinsey asks.

Carol’s eyes dart all over Gunner’s face. It’s clear as day that she’d run into incoming traffic to protect her son.

“Mom, I forgot something in the car. Can you come with me and get it?”

“I’ll come with you,” Victoria blurts, reaching eagerly for her bag.

“Mom.” Gunner speaks firmly.

Carol’s mouth curves down in an even bigger frown, but she gestures for Sheriff Kinsey to rise. Once her husband gets up, Gunner’s mom scoots out from the table and waits for Gunner to join her in the aisle.

“Rebel,” Gunner says gently to me, “can you scoot out for a second?”

The unease in the air feeds my burning curiosity. I can sense that something big is happening, but I’m not sure why.

I scramble to my feet. Gunner scoots out and towers over me.

I grab his arm and mumble just low enough that he can hear, “What are you doing?”

He looks at me determinedly, and I finally get it.

He’s going to talk to his mom about me.

I worry my bottom lip between my teeth and try to stop him. “I told you to follow my lead.”

There’s a stiffness to his shoulders and a tension to his jaw, but when he turns to me, he plants the softest kiss on my forehead.

I blink in surprise.

Without a word, Gunner spins away and escorts his mother out of the restaurant.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

GUNNER

This dinner was a bad idea.With mom and Victoria eager to shun Rebel at all costs, it feels like I dragged Rebel into the lion’s den without any weapons to defend herself.

Honestly, she shouldn’t have needed a weapon in the first place.

Ishould have been her defense.

But because it’s mom, I’ve been walking a tight rope, not wanting to step on any toes while watching Rebel parry countless attacks.

Rebel handled herself well, but a relationship—fake or otherwise—doesn’t involve just one person. It’s a team sport. If we were players on the ice, I’d be a crappy defenseman. In fact, I’d be kicked off the team. No questions asked.

Rebel doesn’t seem to expect much from me, which is probably why she didn’t look at me once for back up. She even tried to get me to stand down when I left the booth.

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