by Grey , S. R.
Making matters worse, Noel proceeded to ask, “Really? What did you have?”
I’d had steak, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that. Not a Swedish-centric dish in the slightest.
So I fibbed, “Uh, I had Swedish meatballs.”
He nodded, commiserating. “I hear ya. The rich gravy that comes on those things can be a bit much.”
Aw, he was sweet.
But wait, why does he have to be so nice?
It’s going to suck taking advantage of him.
I dismissed all that, as I couldn’t exactly entertain guilt and get this shit done.
So, nodding, I said, “Yeah, for sure.”
Ugh, my stomach really was starting to hurt. And it wasn’t because of any food.
No, the prospect of duping someone, especially a clearly nice guy like Noel, was not exactly pleasant.
But I was backed into a corner. I was trapped.
What choice did I have?
I Like Maisie. I Like Her A Lot
One thing was for sure—Maisie Troy was an interesting woman. Not only was she more beautiful up close, she seemed sweet and nice. She’d been a bit standoffish at first, but she was loosening up.
How cool was it that she was from the States?
Arizona, we really were practically neighbors.
If something developed between us, we could keep on seeing each other back home.
Yeah, there was definite potential here.
Wouldn’t it be crazy if I’d had to come all this way to meet the woman I was searching for all along?
Shit, wait. I was getting waaay ahead of myself.
I didn’t even know this chick.
But I wanted to know her.
So I asked her, “What brings you to Sweden, Maisie Troy?”
She winced when I said her last name.
Okay, that’s weird.
Was she hiding something?
No, that can’t be right.
She didn’t look dangerous at all, except maybe to my heart.
Fiddling with the stem of her wineglass—and making an effort to not look at me at all—she said, “I flew over here with, uh, a friend for vacation. But she met a guy and left with him.”
Whoa, I didn’t expect that.
“Jesus,” I gasped. “So you’re here all alone?”
“Yep, I am.”
“Well that totally sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Yeah, wow.”
Maisie finally met my gaze, but she was smiling sadly. “Hey, at least I have a really cool room all to myself. It’s a suite too, so there’s that.”
I wanted to make her feel better, so I replied with an enthusiastic, “Nice!”
“Yeah,” she muttered. “I guess.”
I was curious about something, though, prompting me to ask, “Do you plan on sticking around Stockholm for a while? Or are you thinking about heading back to Arizona right away?”
Again, she glanced away. “Um, I don’t know. I guess I’m sort of playing it by ear at the moment.”
Okay, that made sense.
“Taking it day by day, huh?” I nodded approvingly.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Maisie was a little quirky, sure, but I liked her.
Finishing off her wine, she set the glass down and said, “Enough about me. Tell me why you’re in Sweden, Noel.”
I pointed up to a TV that just happened to be replaying our earlier hockey match-up. “I’m a hockey player. I played in that game earlier today.”
“What? No way!” Blinking up at the screen, but not seeming as surprised as I’d expected she’d be, she said, “That’s cool. So you’re on Team USA?”
I smiled proudly as I replied, “I sure am.”
“So I’m sitting with a real live hockey player.” She took me in and nodded. “Wow, color me impressed.”
She was saying all the right things, but something was off. For all her bluster, I sensed she’d already known I was a hockey player.
That prompted me to ask, “Do you follow hockey pretty closely, Maisie?”
“No, not at all.” She shook her head. “I do know some of the NHL team names, but not where they’re from. Do you play for one of those?”
“I do,” I replied. “I’m with the Las Vegas Wolves.”
She smacked her head. “That’s right. You just said that you lived in Las Vegas. I should’ve put two and two together.”
Again, it was like she had known and was just playing it off.
No, I was being paranoid. It’d been so long since I’d chatted up a beautiful woman that I was losing my touch.
Yeah, man, get it together.
Since her wineglass was empty, I asked her if she’d like another.
“Sure, thanks. That’d be great,” she replied.
When the bartender came around, shooting daggers at me the whole time, I ordered us another round.
As he was walking away, I leaned into Maisie and said, “I think he likes you.”
“Nah,” she murmured softly.
She was definitely underestimating her attractiveness. And that made me like her even more.
Yeah, I liked Maisie. I liked her a lot.
So I took a chance and decided to ask her out.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Since we’re both in town for who knows how long, would you like to do something sometime?”
Glancing up at me through her long dark lashes—kill me now—she coyly replied, “Are you asking me out on a date, Noel from Nevada?”
I arched a brow. “If I were, Maisie from Arizona, would you say yes?”
“Hmm,” she said, smiling, “I think I might.”
Ah, I liked this woman.
She was charming and fun.
“Then yes,” I stated, puffing out my chest. “I’m asking you out on a date.”
Laughing, she accepted, and we made arrangements to go to dinner the very next night.
Charmed
My date with Noel was swiftly approaching, and I still had no idea what to wear.
I knew dinner was on the menu, no pun intended, but he’d mentioned when we texted that he had “something special” planned for afterward.
With no idea what that could mean, I didn’t know how to dress.
Standing in the middle of my hotel bedroom, with nothing on but a silky black bra and matching panties, I declared, “Fuck it. I’m going all out.”
Marching over to the big walk-in closet, I grabbed a silver sequin minidress off a hanger.
“So long as we’re not going ice skating or anything crazy like that, I should be good,” I stated.
After I slipped the dress over my head, I stepped into a pair of sleek black pumps.
Ah, I was ready.
Cool. It’s close to seven. Noel should be here any minute.
I figured there was no harm in giving him my room number. He was bound to end up here anyway, especially if things progressed. Plus, it was kind of sweet that he wanted to officially pick me up for our date.
I sighed.
There was something about Noel that made him stand out as an amazing guy, something more than his tall stature, his achingly handsome face, and his mega-muscular body.
I actually liked him, or at least I liked the person he seemed to be. He was easy to talk with. And he was nice.
Nice was good. I’d had enough jerks in my past.
Two Palms, unfortunately, seemed to have a dearth of gentlemen.
But what was I?
I was kind of being a jerk to Noel by misleading him.
“Damn it,” I bit out.
I thought about just coming clean and filling Noel in on the truth—that I was stuck here in Sweden and needed help.
The only problem was I had no idea how he might react.
Sure, he seemed like a nice guy.
But I didn’t really know.
Noel might turn out to be cool and lend me the money I needed for a plane ticket home, not that I cou
ld ever hope to repay him in any kind of timely manner. But there was also the possibility he could tell me to get lost.
No, I couldn’t take that chance. I had to continue to pretend I was a carefree girl staying in Stockholm, playing it by ear.
Back to cultivating that exact illusion, I stepped out of the closet and back into the bedroom, debating on whether to wear my long hair up or down.
Just as I peered into the mirror above the dresser and decided on down, someone knocked.
I stared at my reflection. “Shit, he’s here.”
Fluffing out my raven locks to maximum sexy volume, I hurried back out to the main room of the suite and flung open the door.
Wow!
Noel was smokin’.
We just kind of nodded to each other, both of us dazzled. I knew I sure was.
“Hey,” I said at last.
“Hi.”
We stood there, taking each other in a minute longer. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but I freaking loved the way he looked tonight. The black dress pants, shiny black shoes, and crisp white button-down he had on made him look like he’d just stepped from the pages of GQ.
I swallowed hard.
Hockey players have the best bodies, I swear.
It was abundantly clear from the way Noel’s clothes fit him that he was in phenomenal shape. That made me wonder just how good he looked out of those clothes.
I’d have to find out.
“Mmm, yes,” I murmured, licking my lips.
Noel caught that and let out a light chuckle.
You are so busted.
“Uh…” I leaned to my right, fumbling for my clutch on the table by the door, and hoping to also find my dignity there.
I don’t know if I found that, but I did locate the clutch.
“I’m ready,” I said, straightening.
“Okay, cool.”
Suddenly nervous, I began to ramble.
“Are you ready? Of course you’re ready. You’re at my door, right?”
Someone stop me!
Noel didn’t seem to mind my blathering. In fact, I think he liked it.
Oh, what the hell.
I decided to own up to having just been caught ogling him.
“Quit smiling so smugly,” I chastised as I stepped out into the hall to join him, the door closing behind me with a click. “You know you look good.”
Appearing both pleased and surprised at the same time, he said, “Why thank you, Maisie. But let’s be honest, I can’t hold a candle to you. You, m’lady, are one truly stunning woman.”
He was serious, but I felt compelled to dial it down a notch. We shouldn’t lay all our cards on the table just yet, right?
Fluttering my lashes, I teased, “My, aren’t you the little charmer, Noel from Nevada?”
He leaned in close, and God, he smelled amazing.
While I was busy breathing him in, hopefully in a way he wouldn’t notice, he murmured seductively, “Just wait till you see our transportation for the night. Hopefully you’ll continue to feel charmed.”
So much for dialing it back a notch. We were clearly too damn attracted to one another to play nonchalant.
I decided to just roll with it, let the flirtation flow.
Bumping his hip with mine, I said just as seductively, “So show me, Noel. I can’t wait to see everything you have planned for me tonight.”
He raised a brow. “Is that so?”
“You bet your ass it is.”
“Good.” Chuckling, he gallantly offered his arm. “Shall we head down to the lobby, then?”
What a gentleman.
“Yes.”
I slid my arm in his and we headed over to the elevator, where Noel pressed the Down button.
Once we were in the lobby, I saw right away that there was a sleek black limo parked outside the hotel entrance. I knew that was the “transportation” he’d alluded to.
Leaning in to Noel as we walked toward the revolving glass entryway, I murmured, “And so the charming continues, I see.”
“Ahh, you’re so onto my devious plan.”
I swallowed hard. Little did he know I was the one with the devious plan.
But there was no time for guilt.
Clearing my throat, I said, “Pulling out all the stops for our first date. I like it.”
“Good, you deserve nothing but the best, Maisie from Arizona.”
Oh, if only that were true.
Once we were outside the hotel, the driver jumped from the limo to open my door.
Noel beat him to it, though.
As I slid into the long back seat, he and I smiled at each other. I could’ve gazed into his beautiful blues forever, but we needed to get going.
Noel closed the door, went to the other side, and slipped in next to me.
I couldn’t help but murmur, “Alone at last.”
He nodded up to the driver. “Well, almost.”
“Mmm, yes.”
I crossed my legs strategically, and just as I planned, my dress rode up, exposing quite a bit of bare thigh.
Yes, it was my turn to throw a little of my own charm Noel’s way.
It worked too
His gaze dropped to my legs, where he unapologetically lingered.
When I asked him a random question about how far away the restaurant was, he couldn’t even answer.
“Huh, what?” he said.
Score one for me.
“Ahem.” I cleared my throat, trying like hell not to laugh at this turn of events. “I’m up here, Mr. Sandlund.”
He glanced up, but his expression held no remorse for having just been caught ogling me.
In fact, he flat-out stated, “You are beyond beautiful, Maisie.”
That took me aback. “Uh, um, thanks?”
My heart skipped a beat, and I didn’t know what else to say. Noel’s words had hit me hard because he’d uttered them with such raw honesty and conviction.
I’d very much gotten to him.
I should’ve been thrilled.
But I genuinely liked him. And that made the victory bittersweet.
Noel would eventually find out I was an illusion, and he’d hate me forever.
I Could Give Her Stockholm
I wanted so badly to sweep Maisie off her feet. For some reason it was important to me. I needed this night, our first date, to be special.
There were so many good things about her. Like, as attractive as she was, she didn’t give off any conceited or entitled vibes. I liked that. And Maisie was really open and honest. It was great how she’d had no qualms about letting me know she found me attractive. Her ogling me at the hotel had taken me aback, but in a totally good way.
And now that we were on our way to the restaurant, I couldn’t keep my damn eyes off her.
Of course it didn’t help that she was wearing such a short and sexy dress. It seemed no matter which way she turned, I was afforded another delicious view of her shapely, toned legs.
That led to me imagining just how those legs would look wrapped around me.
Better yet, how would they feel wrapped around me?
“Damn.” I swiped at my brow.
“What’s wrong, Noel?” Maisie asked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Just, does it feel hot in here to you? I’m freaking burning up.”
Looking rather smug—clever girl—she told me the limo felt just fine to her.
She was probably right.
Still, I pressed the button to lower the tinted window a crack.
As some much-needed cool night air rushed in, I murmured, “Ah, that’s much better.”
It wasn’t better for long, though. With the window down, Maisie caught sight of where we were headed and leaned her lithe body across my lap to garner a better view.
“Oooh, did we just drive into Old Town?” she asked excitedly as she lowered the window some more. “I see it from my room all the time, but I’ve never walked over.”
Huh, that was curious.<
br />
“Why haven’t you gone over?” I asked.
Maisie twisted toward me, and I had to press my back into the leather seat so her boobs weren’t smashed up against my chest. Not that I would’ve minded, but I was trying to remain a gentleman.
Still, a man can only take so much.
I let out a pent-up breath, and Maisie realized just how close we were.
Quietly sliding back to her own side, she murmured, “Sorry.”
But it was like she was anything but.
I muttered back a raspy, “Hey, I’m not complaining.”
Quickly, she returned to talk of Old Town, probably because it felt safer for her.
Definitely a safer subject for me, seeing as I couldn’t stop thinking about what it’d be like to kiss Maisie, and have her body pressed close to mine once more.
Cool it, Noel.
You’re going to show your hand too soon and scare her off.
I calmed down a bit, catching up to Maisie just as she was saying, “Yeah, I’ve really wanted to come over to Old Town. I just didn’t want to do it alone.”
I smiled over at her. “Well, you’re here now. And you’re not alone.”
Her pretty eyes, which I noticed were the most unique shade of blue-violet, met mine.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she said softly. “I’m not alone. Thanks for that, Noel.”
I took a chance and reached for her hand.
She didn’t resist, and we ended up holding hands till we reached the restaurant.
The place I’d chosen was in the heart of Old Town, located on a cobblestone side alley, tucked between a gift shop and a florist.
This particular restaurant was one of the oldest in Stockholm. And Maisie and I were about to have a private dinner by candlelight down in the cozy stone cellar.
We walked in, and the hostess came up to us. She took my name, and led us over to a set of narrow, roughly hewn steps going down to the cellar.
Cautiously, we made our way down behind her. I kept my hand at the small of Maisie’s back to steady her, seeing as she had on high heels.
Once we reached the base of the stairs, the hostess ushered us into a small stone alcove adjoined to the cellar.
It was a tight space, and I had to lower my head to make it through the entryway.