Page 109 of Rookie Move
She turned and hugged him across the chest. “I’ve sworn off crazy. Let’s hire a wedding planner and let her do everything.”
“Sounds good.”
It felt weird to cuddle Leo in public, but not weird enough that she wanted to stop. Though her phone, its top edge showing from the seat-back pocket, glowed a color she hadn’t seen before. Pink? That was odd. She untangled herself from Leo to take a look.
CONGRATULATIONS, the text read.—Nate.
“How does he do that?” Leo asked.
“No idea. He’s not on the plane, right?”
“Nope,” Leo agreed. “Didn’t see him at all at this game. Where does he live, anyway?”
“In a mansion on the promenade in Brooklyn Heights. He takes the ferry to his midtown office and walks to theBruisers HQ. It’s a good setup he’s got. Can we stay in Brooklyn?” Georgia asked. “I like it there.”
“Sure, baby.” He tucked an arm around her. “Maybe I’ll take Silas’s apartment for real when the lease is up. I guess I should have thought that through.” He laughed. “I’m kind of impulsive. Should I have waited to propose until I had a ring?”
“No!” She buried her face in his collar. “I’m sick of waiting.”
He gave her a squeeze. “Me, too, baby. Me, too.”
THIRTY-FOUR
2:45 PM, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH, NHL TRADE DEADLINE DAY
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
TOP STORY
“Area Teams Make Last-Minute Roster Adjustments Heading Into Play-offs”
—The Daily News
The official trade deadline was three o’clockPM, Eastern Standard Time.
Georgia no longer worried that her father would trade Leo just out of spite. In fact, it looked as though her office wasn’t going to be issuing any big press releases today. Though Hugh, her dad, and Nate were cloistered in Nate’s office, taking any last-minute trade calls from other teams, it didn’t seem that they were making any big adjustments. They’d traded one of their AHL players from Hartford to Anaheim in exchange for a second round draft pick.
She’d sent out that press release an hour ago—the new guy hadn’t started yet, so she was the one on duty. But the trade wouldn’t make the front page of the sports section, as the Rangers and the Devils had more interesting trades to report.
Still, Georgia sat at her desk, keeping up the vigil. Until three o’clock, anything was possible. Even Leo could still be traded if the other team offered something advantageous. That unlikely scenario would not make Georgia happy, but now she knew it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
They’d decided to get married on July 4th, at a yacht club on the North Shore of Long Island. Apparently Fourth of July weddings weren’t all that common, so that date was still open even though it was just four months away. She and Becca were interviewing caterers next weekend. “We have to hurry,” Becca had said breathlessly. “Only four months to shop for the dress, the shoes, the lingerie!”
Privately, Georgia imagined she might pray for her own death if it took four months to buy an outfit for a single day of her life. But she’d let Becca have her fun, at least for a little while.
She took her ten-millionth glance at the clock today, noting that there were only a few minutes left until Leo’s postseason slot on the Bruisers’ roster was official. When her e-mail dinged a minute later, she leapt on the message. But it wasn’t from Hugh or anyone in the organization. It was from Hockey Hotties.
Dear Miss Worthington, attached please find the proofs from our photo shoot on February 9th. Please have each athlete approve the pictures before March 7th.
She clicked on the attachment and her screen filled with the most amazing photograph. Leo, skin and muscle shimmering in luminous icy light, his powerful thighs outstretched as he skated past the camera.
Georgia just stared at the unforgettable photograph of her fiancé. And she was supposed to let the world have this shot of him? She flipped to the photo of Castro, which was also glorious yet tastefully captured. She closed thatpicture’s file, though, because it felt weird to gawk at the bare butt of someone she worked with.
Leo, though. He still filled her screen with his beauty. It made her want to run out of the office and find him right now.
“Hey,” someone said from the doorway.
Georgia startled at the sound of her father’s voice. She clicked so hard on the mouse to close the photo that her thumb cracked. Then she turned to face him as casually as possible. Had her dad seen? Did he notice that she’d been staring at Leo’s naked body on her work computer?
