Page 38 of The Puck Stops Here

‘Not at all,’ Aiden was quick to say.

‘You make it sound like we’re talking about horses,’ Blake said over him.

‘We have those too,’ she said. ‘But now you’re making me digress.’

His eyes danced. ‘My apologies, my lady, do continue.’

She pursed her lips on her laughter. So, Blake was capable of being playful. Who knew!

‘My grandparents hoped my mother would follow in their footsteps and be another darling of society, someone to show off to their friends, to be proud of… Instead, they found themselves with a high school dropout, pregnant at eighteen, a father unwilling to come forward, and they made no bones about expressing their disappointment.’

‘Parents can be assholes,’ Blake muttered around his bottle.

‘They’re actually not that bad beneath all the airs and graces.’

‘Spoken like a woman with a very forgiving nature.’

She laughed off Blake’s remark. He wouldn’t be saying that if he knew the path that had brought her to this point. Forgiveness couldn’t be further from the truth. As for her grandparents, life had moved on… as had their high expectations.

‘I actually adore them. They came to terms with the fact they couldn’t change Mum a long time ago. As for me, I hardly fit their idealistic view of what a woman should be…’Careful Astrid, a lady is right up Aiden’s street. ‘I chose the wrong profession and don’t spend enough time in the UK,’ she quickly added. ‘But it hasn’t stopped them loving me. Loving us both. Thankfully my uncle is the perfect heir to the title and more than willing to dance to society’s tune and give them what they need to show off to their friends.’

The brothers laughed.

‘Heir to the title,’ Blake mimicked. ‘God, the English are weird.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Aiden said.

‘Hey!’ She jabbed Aiden’s calf with her toe but it was the shove to Blake’s thigh that shot sparks through her body.Daft move, Astrid!

She glanced at Blake, praying he couldn’t tell, though she got the impression the man missed nothing where she was concerned. And right now, he was loving every inch of her, the hint of bra through her blouse, her nipples like projectile missiles…Bugger, wrong brother!

Though he was very much the right one according to her body.

She averted her gaze. ‘You can’t help tradition when it’s been around far longer than we have. It deserves some respect.’

‘There’s respect,’ Aiden said, ‘and then there’s being governed by the constraints and expectations set down by a society that has no relevance in today’s world.’

‘And now you sound like my mother.’

‘We love her already,’ Blake said.

A phone started to ring and Aiden shifted, pulling the chiming device out of his pocket. ‘One sec… Hey Harry,’ he said into the phone. ‘What’s up? …Now?’ Aiden glanced at Blake, eyes narrowing. ‘You’re sure it can’t wait? …Okay, I’m on my way.’

He hung up, eyed the phone for a second before looking at his brother. ‘I’m needed back at the rink.’

‘You best go then.’

He didn’t budge.

‘It’s okay, bro,’ Blake said. ‘I can take care of Astrid, make sure she gets home safe.’

‘I’m quite capable of getting myself home safe, thank you very much.’

A, she wasn’t a woman in need of a man to protect her.

And b, with her body in its heightened state, she needed free of Blake pronto.

She’d call him out on his whole‘I’m onto you’when she wasn’t sointohim!

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