The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland

Dimples.

Big ones.

My eyes went wide.

No…it couldn’t be.

I continued to stare at the screen with my mouth hanging open until the guy’s face was no longer on it.

The woman next to me finished cheering. “See? I told you he was on fire. If this is your first game, you’ve picked a good one to watch. You don’t see a lot of hat tricks in a single period. Yearwood is having his best season ever. Too bad the rest of his team isn’t.”

“Yearwood? That’s the name of the guy who just scored?”

Jenna laughed at my question. “Yup. Team captain and arguably the best player in the NHL these days. They call him Pretty Boy for obvious reasons.”

“What’s his first name?”

“Max. I figured you knew him, since those are his seats you’re sitting in.”



• • •



“Hey, Pretty Boy. Are you looking for someone?”

Max walked out of the locker room. He’d looked right and then left, but hadn’t noticed me sitting on the bench across from the entrance.

He smiled when his eyes landed on me, and his entire face lit up as he walked over. He’d known I was at the game. Right before the second period intermission, he’d skated over to where I was seated and banged on the glass. But he hadn’t known the woman sitting next to me had given me her all-access pass so I could come downstairs to the locker room and see him after the game.

“You waited…”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out Yoda, holding it up in my palm. “I had to give this back. You said you were superstitious.”

He took it from my hand and slipped it back into my jacket pocket. Then he laced his fingers with mine. “I am. I just had the best game of my career. So guess where Yoda needs to be for every game from now on?”

“Where?”

“In my girl’s coat pocket while she sits in my seat.”

“Oh, I’m your girl now, am I?”

He swung our joined hands. “Maybe not yet. But the night is young.”

“Ummm… It’s almost eleven, and I have to work in the morning.”

Max stared into my eyes. My insides did a somersault. He raised our joined hands to his lips and kissed the top of mine.

“I’m glad you came,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if you would.”

“Really?” I tilted my head. “Because for some reason, I get the feeling you usually get what you want.”

“Is that a bad thing? Maybe it’s because I’m not a man easily deterred. I don’t mind working for something.”

“Tell me, did you have to work hard for the woman you slept with a few weeks ago?”

Max chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a handful, aren’t you?”

“What if I said I wouldn’t sleep with you just because you say sweet things?”

He raised a brow. “Not ever?”

I laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“That’s fine. I’m not in a rush. Will you at least have a drink with me?”

I smiled. “One. Because I do have to get up early tomorrow.”

“Deal. I’ll take whatever I can get.” He put an arm around my shoulder and started us walking. “Though I should warn you. It doesn’t matter what exit I walk out of, there are usually a few people hanging around for autographs. It feels wrong to just walk by, so it might take a while to get clear of here.”

I liked that he was the type of person to stop for his fans. “Okay.”

The minute we exited, people started screaming his name, and there were more than just a few of them. Security flanked us on both sides while he scribbled his name over and over. A few asked for selfies, and he leaned over and hammed it up for the camera. Those dimples definitely saw a lot of mileage. Some people professed their undying love, while others asked questions about the game tonight. Max took it all in stride, answering in good spirits. It took almost a half hour for the line to dwindle down. When we got to the last few people, a kid who was probably about eighteen lifted his chin to me as Max scribbled his name.

“Is she your girlfriend? She’s hot.”

Max stopped mid scrawl and leveled the kid with a warning glare. “Hey, watch it. Have some respect for women. Especially this one. She might be the future Mrs. Yearwood.” His eyes flashed to meet mine. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”





CHAPTER 2




* * *



Georgia



“So what does my good luck charm do for a living? Wait, let me guess…”

As he spoke, Max reached across the table and wiped the corner of my lip with his thumb. He showed it to me—sugar from the rim of my lemon drop martini—before sucking it off with a devilish smile that caused a tingle between my legs.

I sipped more of my drink to cool off before answering. “This should be interesting. I’m curious to see what it is you think I do.”

His eyes dropped down to my outfit. It was now almost one o’clock in the morning. We’d walked across the street from the Garden to the nearest bar and taken the most private booth in the back corner, but I was still dressed in my work clothes, having gone straight from the office to meet my blind date, and then the game.