Page 27 of Puck King
Stopping in my tracks, I turned to look at him.
“Am I right? Am I the best detective you’ve ever met?” He spread his arms wide and a few of the people on the sidewalk turned to look at him.
“I’ll have to buy you some milk bones.”
We were a block away from the arena when I realized I was experiencing something I hadn’t in a very long time.
I was having fun.
The crew of photographers had made their way to the arena. “We could sneak in the back.” Colton pointed to a side street. “But I think we should be seen together again. At least this time they won’t chase us. The security guards will make sure they don’t bother you.”
He was right. I gulped and nodded.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Should we hold hands?”
“Not yet.” He rubbed his chin “I think that’s scheduled for next week.”
When we were safely behind the heavy doors of the stadium, Colton pointed to the hallway leading to the dressing rooms with his thumb. “I’m this way.”
My treatment room was with the other health and training offices on the upper level. “Okay. I’ll see you…”
“Friday. Dinner.” He paused with his hand on the door. “I’m taking you to the best place in town.”
His wry smile was back, and if I were a betting person, the detective dog would definitely not be taking me to the best place in town – something told me it would be even better. Maybe there was more to Colton King. My heart started to beat a little bit faster than normal. As I headed to my office, I took a few deep breaths, trying to return to a normal beat.
“Don’t get excited. You can’t get excited about Colton King,”I repeated under my breath. My brain knew better, but my body hadn’t gotten the memo. An energy was coursing through my body, an electricity that spread from my fingertips to my toes.
Thirteen
Colton
When I arrivedto our family’s country estate, Everleigh was in the sitting room wearing her riding outfit. With the crackling stone fireplace, silver tea set, and my sister’s riding crops, I could’ve been at one of the Queen’s castles. What was the country one called again? I thought about it for a minute, but then realized that I didn’t care. This wasn’t England, and I wasn’t sitting down to a meeting with the Queen. My father had called a meeting. I was sitting down with the King.
Everleigh sipped at her tea while flipping through her phone, her nails making a clicking sound as she alternated between texting and scrolling.
“Good Morning, Sir.” George, the butler, pulled out my chair for me. “Coffee?”
“Please.” I couldn’t say no to the Blue Mountain Coffee we kept at the manor.
Everleigh didn’t look up from her phone, but pointed to a stack of tabloids on the side table. “Nice work.”
The image on the cover was of some country singer I’d never heard of, but in the bottom right corner, I recognized the owner of the auburn hair before I saw myself, blurry, behind her. The title read “Colton, Moving on Already?” I sighed and flipped through the magazine. There were shots of me and Alison through the coffee shop window, and one of us leaving with my arm up, defending her from the onslaught of attention. There was nothing overly affectionate taking place in the photos – it could’ve been two colleagues leaving a breakfast meeting. But something caught my attention. Through the frosted pane, Alison’s eyes were locked on mine and she was grinning, about to take a sip of her coffee.
“That woman deserves an Oscar.” Everleigh had been watching me as I read the short article. “She looks like she actually likes you.”
My eyes were drawn to the photo, and directly to Alison. It sure did look like she liked me.
“I think she’s even blushing.” Everleigh raised her eyebrows at me.
Pushing the magazines away, I brushed off the warmth that I was feeling in my gut. “What you’re seeing, Ever, is amusement. She thinks I’m a jock who’s been hit on the head a few too many times.”
Everleigh’s eyes glinted as she sipped tea from the fine china. “She’s perceptive, then.”
An eye roll was the only reaction I was going to give her. “We’ve agreed to have fun with this project. There’s no point in hating each other if we’re going to have to be together for the next six months.”
“There is a caveat to that time frame, but I almost don’t want to tell you about it.” Everleigh dabbed at her red lipstick with the linen napkin. “Once the team is out of the running for playoffs, you can break things off.”
