Page 63 of Sweet Temptation (Men of Honor 2)
Realization strikes deep: that the sad girl I met a few months ago, has a smile now that radiates true happiness, one I’ve never got to experience until now. And I decide right this very second that I will spend the rest of my life making sure she smiles like this every day.
When she looks at me again her nose is pink and she crosses her arms over herself. “Holy shit it’s cold!” she laughs, jumping up and down.
“Damn straight it is. Now get your sexy ass in here and get in the shower, we have plans.”
“We do?” she asks, confused, “where are we goin’?”
“It’s a surprise!”
She graces me with another beautiful smile, and runs into the house, launching herself at me. I catch her easily as her legs wrap around my waist and my hands cup her tight, sexy ass. “Jesus Christ, woman, you’re cold.”
“You have a surprise for me, Sexy Sawyer?” she asks with excitement, ignoring my cold comment.
“Yeah, baby, it’s in my pants.” Her smile falters and she slaps at me playfully.
I laugh, “I’m kidding, well kind of. I will give you that surprise later, but I do have one before that.”
“What is it? Tell me,” she asks impatiently.
“You’ll see soon. Come on, we’re hitting the shower,” I start walking us towards the bathroom. She kisses my jaw on the way there and I decide that the later surprise is going to come first.
An hour later I’m pulling up to the rink. “You have another hockey game?” Grace asks, confused.
I bite back a smile, noticing the disappointment that she tries to hide. “Nope,” is all I say, before hopping out of the truck and grabbing my hockey bag. I meet Grace as she comes around the other side. Grabbing her warm, soft hand I lead her to the side doors of the arena.
Joe, the rink attendant, is waiting for us as soon as we walk in. “There’s our golden boy,” he greets with a smile, slapping me on the back.
“Good to see you, Joe. Thanks for doing this for me.” Grace becomes more confused.
“You bet, kid. This her?” he asks, moving his gaze to Grace.
“It is. Grace, this is Joe Paletti, he’s run this place for as long as I have worn skates.”
She smiles and puts out her hand, “Nice to meet ya, Joe.”
His lips twitch as he takes her hand, “You too, honey.” He looks back at me, “All right, go on back. You have an hour before anyone else comes in.”
I thank him again then grab Grace by the hand, taking her into the rink. I lead her into the box and sit her on the bench, “Are ya goin’ to tell me what’s goin’ on?”
I drop my hockey bag and pull out my sister’s figure skates. “We’re skating, baby.”
“EEEEKKKK!” she squeals and claps excitedly, “That’s what I was hopin’ it was,” she replies, ripping the skates from my hands.
On the way to my game last night she told me she had never ice-skated before. It was a shock to my fucking system; how the hell has someone never ice-skated?
“Well, it’s something everyone has to try at least once in their lives.”
She ignores what I just said and starts throwing her boots off in a hurry to put on my sister’s skates. Chuckling, I bend down and start tying them up for her. I watch her as she looks around in wonder and excitement.
“We get the whole ice to ourselves?” she asks in awe.
“Yup, the rink doesn’t open for another hour. So that’s how long we have.”
“How did you manage that?”
“I told you, Cupcake, I’m a fucking legend around these parts.”
She rolls her eyes playfully with a smile. Before I’m barely finished with the last skate she’s standing up. “Aren’t you going to wait for me?”
She shakes her head, “Nah, I’m good. I’ll just hold on to the wall till you come out.”
Her arms go out at her sides, trying to balance herself as she waddles towards the opening. I have a feeling this could be a total fucking disaster, so I waste no time getting my skates on and laces done up. The entire time I hear her laugh, squeal and a whole lot of ‘Uh ohs’
Standing, I walk to the opening and take my first stride onto the cold, hard ice, feeling at home. Looking over, I find Grace only a quarter of the way from where she started. One arm is out at her side, still trying to balance herself, while the other grips the wall. She’s bent over at the waist with her ass up in the air. She looks fucking ridiculous and cute as hell.
Chuckling, I glide over to her smoothly then slap her ass as I skate by. She yelps in surprise and grips the wall with both hands. She glares at me when I pass her for a second time, skating backwards. “Quit bein’ a show-off and help me.”
“Doesn’t look like you need any help, Cupcake. Your stance is good. Just stick your ass up a little higher.” Instead of being offended she laughs.
Taking pity on her, I stride over and take both her small hands, which have a thin pair of black gloves covering them. “Stand up straight.”
When she does as I say, I lead her away from the wall and begin skating backwards, pulling her in front of me.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she squeals, acting as if we’re going fast when we’re actually skating fucking slower than what my Grandma could.
Eventually she loosens up and I pick up the pace, just a little. Watching her smile, her laughter fills the silence of the arena, and the strangest sensation plagues me- one I’ve never felt before. One that tells me to grab on and never let go. The thought has me stopping our strides abruptly.
She looks up at me in confusion, “What’s wrong? Why are we stoppin’?”
“Come here,” I pull her to me and lean down, “wrap your arms around my neck.” When she obeys I cup her ass and lift her up.
