Page 40 of Much Ado About Hockey

“I’m driving my wife to dinner.”

“But you just got home…”

“And I’m hungry,” he retorted in that irksome way that set her on edge, but there was something more there. “You look beautiful. and I wanna show my woman off, so we’re going to dinner.”

“I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I’ve got a lot of wasted time to make up for then.”

“Jett…”

“I’m taking my wife out,” he pressed firmly, giving her a terse look – and she realized that he was expecting or anticipating an argument from her… because that was what normally happened. She said ‘no,’ or they argued, but not this time. “I wanna show my gorgeous woman off to the world and…”

“Steak,” she interrupted softly – and he paused, arching his eyebrow for a moment before a smile appeared on his face. “I’m working on my communication. I thought a steak would be nice for dinner – plus it makes it a romantic sort of dinner together.”

“I like the way you think,” he replied, starting the car and then tossed a smile at her again. It took everything she had not to flinch, comment, or gasp as he drove through the town. It wasn’t that he drove badly, but more along the lines of her husband was an aggressive driver and she was a control freak. It was hard to sit back and give up the reins, but they were obviously touching on ‘roles’ in their marriage right now. He was taking the lead, and she was following – eh, riding along in the passenger seat.

Pulling into a parking lot of a brick building, Jett turned off the car and moved quickly to open her door. He looked almost pleased with himself, puffing up his chest slightly, as if to say, ‘Do you see me?’ and‘I’m the man, opening his woman’s door’with his stance. She fought back a smile as a smoky scent emanating from the building touched her nose. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and sighed before looking at him.

“Have you been here?”

“No, but the team captain recommended this place for a nice evening out.”

“He’s got good taste.”

“We haven’t eaten yet, and I’m never telling Savage that,” Jett retorted, shutting the car door behind her before holding out his hand. Karen hesitated and instead moved to his side and looped her arm with his – cherishing his little surprised laugh.

“Oh, it’s like that, huh?”

“It might be,” she responded simply, smiling up at him and marveling at the look in his eyes.

“You look like dessert,” he whispered, wagging his eyebrows at her – and as she opened her mouth to make a smart comment that bubbled up in an uncontrollable rushed panic at how forward his comment was – Jett continued quickly. “Sweet, incredibly appetizing, and worth the wait.”

“Good save,” she chuckled – and he threw back his head to let out a sharp bark of laughter before guiding her to the front door.

Their first ‘date’.

It almost felt like an event, and Jett was pulling out all the stops. He requested a table for two in the back, pulled out her chair for her before pushing it in slightly, leaning down and kissing her cheek. This little move both surprised and thrilled her, leaving her flustered as she drank in the sight of him moving to take his seat opposite of her – and then hesitated. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, she was wearing a sweater and jeans, and this was a nice place.

“What?” he asked almost immediately.

Karen leaned forward to whisper to him and saw him do the same, leaning toward her.

“This is a nice place. We should have dressed up.”

“Man, I’m just glad I showered,” he whispered back, looking almost panicked… and a bubble of laughter rose up inside of her, escaping as she gave a little laugh. He lifted an arm and sniffedhimself obnoxiously, before grinning at her. She covered her mouth in the hushed restaurant, holding back yet another laugh at her mischevious husband.

And he smiled, looking pleased.

“That’s my girl – just relax and enjoy our time together. Okay?”

She nodded, picked up her menu, and hesitated. There were no prices. Was this one of ‘those’ places – the fancy places that had a prix fixe menu, or was exceedingly expensive? She was about to ask when Jett looked up over his menu.

“Would you think badly if I got something that would make Fred Flintstone jealous?”

“No… but I might take a picture of it,” she teased.

“Me too,” he admitted, grinning, and then pointed to her menu. “Do you like prime rib, maybe a nice filet mignon?”

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