by Keeland, Vi
“Monday?”
“Nope. For the next two weeks. You have take two weeks off on your list. Why not start there?”
“Hmmm… I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Max.”
“Why not?”
“Well, my new operations director has only been here a few months, and we have a lot going on, and—”
I interrupted her. “Has there been any time since you started the company that you didn’t have a lot going on?”
“No, but—”
“We’ll stay here in the city while you’re off. If anything goes wrong, you’ll be able to shoot back to the office in no time.”
“I don’t know, Max…”
“I’ll make all the plans. I promise you’ll have a good time.”
She sighed. “Alright. Though you can’t get mad if I need to come back to the office.”
“You got it.”
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. But I suppose I better get going since I’ll have to be at the office until midnight the next few days to be ready to take off for two whole weeks.”
“I’ll leave you alone to do what you gotta do. But my last game is Saturday afternoon. It’s home. Will you come?”
“Yeah, I’d love to.”
“I’ll messenger the tickets over to your office.”
“Thanks, Max.”
After we hung up, I sat thinking about what I could plan for the next two weeks. I wasn’t sure of the specifics, but I knew one thing: a staycation needed a hotel.
• • •
Monday seemed to take forever to get here. On Saturday, Georgia had come to my game as promised. But she didn’t stick around after since she had to go to her office and wrap up some things before she started her time off today. I had a feeling she was probably stressing right about now, but I’d made some plans to help alleviate that as much as possible.
I arrived at her building at noon and went up to help her with her bag.
“Hey.” Her forehead was creased with worry lines. “I’m not done packing. I have no idea what to bring, since you won’t tell me any of our plans or where we’re staying.”
“Just bring comfortable clothes. Maybe something nice to go out at night once in a while.”
“You can’t just say ‘something nice to go out at night’ to a woman. We need more than that. Are we going to a fancy place? Casual? Will there be walking involved? We have heels that are for being dropped off at the door, and heels for walking a few blocks. But if it’s going to be more than that, I might need flats.” She shook her head. “Shoot. I didn’t pack flats. Only sneakers. Which reminds me—will there be exercising? Because I brought leggings and casual things, but they’re not the leggings I’d wear to the gym. I like moisture wicking for that. Oh, should I bring towels? What about rain gear? Did you bring an umbrella? Shoot. I didn’t bring ponytail holders—”
She was on the verge of losing it. So I spoke over her. “Georgia…”
Her eyes flashed to mine.
I set my hands on her shoulders. “Whatever you’re missing, we’ll buy it. We’re staying in the city, not going to the wilderness where we’re fucked if you forget the bear spray. Or if you don’t want to go shopping, we can come back here and pick up something if you need it. Take a deep breath.”
She did, but then stalked away two seconds later.
I followed her into her bedroom. When I saw the piles of shit on her bed, I got a little concerned. There had to be a few hundred hangers of crap. “You’re not planning on bringing all that, are you?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t find a green sweater I wanted to bring. So I took half the stuff out of my closet.”
Jesus, that’s only half? “Did you find the sweater?”
“I think I might’ve loaned it to Maggie.”
“Do you want to stop over there and get it?”
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”
My brows shot up. “Because you don’t have your sweater?”
Georgia avoided making eye contact and rummaged through the piles on her bed. After moving things around for a while, she let out a big sigh and looked up at me. “I’m nervous.”
I couldn’t have stopped my smile if I’d tried. “Really? I never would’ve been able to tell.”
She picked up a sweatshirt from the top of a pile and threw it at me.
I caught it and set it back down. Then I moved another pile to the floor and sat on the bed, holding my hand out to her. “Come here.”
She hesitated, but eventually she took my hand, and I used it to pull her onto my lap. “Talk to me.” Georgia looked down, and I pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “What are you nervous about?”
“Everything.”
I nodded. “Okay. Let’s take them one at a time. Tell me all the things that are freaking you out.”
“Not being in the office.”
“You’re bringing your laptop and cell, right?”
“Yes.”
I shrugged. “So if there’s a problem, they know how to reach you. And we’ll be right here in the city, so you can get back if something important comes up. You go out of the office for meetings sometimes, right?”
“Yes, but that’s different.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It just is. This is two weeks, not an afternoon.”
“Okay. So the amount of time is what’s bothering you. Why don’t we cut our trip from two weeks to two days? You can decide after two days if you need to go back or want to keep going with our staycation.”
“But…you said you made plans.”
“I’ll change them, if need be.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Not a problem. But you should know, you’re not the only one who’s competitive. I’m going to do everything I can to make you have such a good time that you won’t want to go back.”
For the first time, a smile peeked through the stress on her face. “Okay.”
“Anything else?”
She looked down and twisted her fingers. “I’m nervous about…us.”
I lifted her chin so our eyes met. “I booked us two rooms. They’re adjoining. There’s no pressure there.”
“You did?”
I nodded. “I did.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she let out a rush of air. “Okay.”
I smiled. “We’re doing great. What else you got?”
“Those are really the two biggest things.”
“That wasn’t so bad.”
“For you…” She laughed.
“You know what will make you feel even better?”
“What?”
I slid my hand up from her back to her neck and pulled her close. “Kissing me hello.”
Georgia sank into me. I could feel the sigh roll through her body, taking the tension with it as she opened and let my tongue in. By the time we separated, I’d almost forgotten my name. So if it was half as good for her, I’d done my job, and she’d be okay today.
I cupped her cheek. “Feel better?”
She nodded. “I should’ve called you last night to come do that. Maybe I would’ve had a better night’s sleep.”
“Well, I’ll be right next door tonight if you start to stress.” I looked around the room. “Think you feel up to finishing packing?”
“Yeah. Just give me a few minutes. I’m going to change, too. Why don’t you go have some coffee while I get done?”
Twenty minutes later, Georgia emerged from the bedroom wheeling a suitcase. She had on a pair of tight jeans and a Wolverines T-shirt.
“What do you think?” She pushed her hair behind her shoulders so I could see the full logo and held her hands out.
“Very nice tits,” I managed to say with a straight face.
She laughed and pointed. “I’m showing you the Wolverines T-shirt. I bought it on my way out of the game on Saturday.”
“I’m teasing. I love it.”
She turned and showed me her back, lifting her
long hair. Now that I hadn’t been expecting. I didn’t even know they made T-shirts with a logo on the front and my name and number on the back. But I fucking loved it on her.
“Nice.” My brain quickly conjured an image of what she might look like wearing it with nothing else—just the T-shirt with my name across the back and her long, sexy, bare legs sticking out the bottom.
Georgia turned back around. She took one look at my face and squinted. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I smirked and walked over to her. “You don’t want to know. We just got you calm.” I took the suitcase from her hand. “Do you have more bags?”
“I jammed everything in the one. I might be back in a few days anyway, right?”
“Sure.” Though, not if I have anything to say about it.
CHAPTER 12
* * *
Georgia
Max surprised me with an entire day planned.
When we finally left my apartment, a car was waiting at the curb. It whisked us off to the Four Seasons Hotel downtown, where we handed our bags to the concierge and told him we’d be back to check in later. Then we headed to Battery Park to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. We stayed outside on the deck, taking in the gorgeous spring day from the railing as we crossed the Hudson River.
“Have you ever been to Liberty or Ellis Island?” I asked.
“Yep, with my brother Austin when we were in college. I was in my first year and had an exhibition game here in the city. He came with me, and we stuck around for an extra few days. Austin was really into buildings and history, so he wanted to come see it.” Max looked out at the water reflectively and smiled. “I got smacked while we were waiting to get in to the statue.”
“By Austin?”
Max shook his head. “No, by a woman a couple of people ahead of us in line. I was an idiot back then—basically checked out anything with legs. I motioned to a woman I thought had a nice ass, wanting Austin to check her out, too. When he did, he didn’t agree with me, so we debated the subject a little. I thought I’d kept my voice low, but apparently Austin was louder than he intended as he explained how her ass wasn’t symmetrical.”
I covered my mouth. “Oh my God.”
He nodded. “Yeah. She overheard and figured out we were talking about her, but she didn’t let on until we’d made it up to the pedestal. Then she walked over and asked which one of us was the pig. I raised my hand, and she reared back and slapped me. A security guard came over, and the woman told him we’d been harassing her, and he asked us to leave. So we didn’t get to climb up to the torch.”
I chuckled. “Well, hopefully you can keep your eyes where they belong, and we won’t get kicked out today. Cross your fingers you can make it up to the top.”
Max wrapped his arms around my waist. “My eyes have no interest in wandering anywhere.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.” I smiled.
Max’s face turned serious. “You know I’m not seeing anyone else, right?”
I hadn’t given that subject any thought. I guess between me working so much and his hockey schedule, it never occurred to me that either of us would have time to go out with anyone else. But Max was off for the summer now. And technically I was still in a relationship, so that didn’t seem fair.
“You could, if you want…”
Max frowned. “I don’t want.”
“But I’m in a relationship still.”
“I get that. Though he’s not here. And you aren’t seeing him until at least after the summer is over, so it’s easy to put it out of my mind.” His brows pulled together. “Are you planning on dating other people this summer?”
“God, no. I didn’t even date more than one person at a time before Gabriel, when I was single. I’ve always looked at dating like trying on shoes. You try on different ones to see what feels right and is comfortable, but if you try on two different shoes, you never really know if either of them is any good.”
Max smiled. “So it’s settled. Our summer will be just that—our summer.”
“Are you sure?”
He held my eyes. “Very sure.”
“Okay.”
The boat pulled into the dock at Liberty Island. After we disembarked, the line to go into the statue was long, so Max and I wandered around for a bit, walking along the paved path. Max held my hand, and the simple gesture meant a lot to me. For all of the self-deprecating stories he’d shared—commenting on a woman’s ass, telling his friends about getting to second base at the movies—he seemed like he would make a good boyfriend. He was attentive and thoughtful. The fact that we were here at all proved that. A man who looked like him and had his celebrity didn’t have to work this hard to get laid. So when we came up to a big tree, I tugged his arm and led us behind it, then wrapped my hands around his neck, pushed up on my toes, and pressed my lips to his.
Max smiled when our kiss broke. “What was that for?”
I shrugged. “Just for being you. For making me take this time off, for not wanting to be with other women this summer, and…” I grinned. “You’re also kind of hot, and I just wanted to kiss you.”
Max’s dimples deepened. “Keep going. My ego’s taken a beating lately. A certain brunette had to be coaxed into even going out with me.”
I laughed. “Come on. We better go. I think our tickets are only good between certain times.”
The rest of the afternoon was so much fun. We climbed three-hundred-and-fifty-four crammed steps to reach the crown—a reminder of how much I needed to get back into exercising. But the view at the top made it all worth it. After that, we went to Ellis Island, and I was able to find my great-great grandfather’s name on a passenger manifest from a hundred years ago. By the time we took the ferry back and an Uber to the hotel, it was already six o’clock.
Not surprisingly, the young girl at the reception desk recognized Max and batted her eyelashes at him. Then she only took his credit card when I’d held mine out to her, too.
“You really need to let me pay for this,” I told him. “I’m sure it was a fortune.”
“Does it offend you when I insist?”
“Offend me? No. But it’s not your job to pay for things.”
“It doesn’t feel like a job. It makes me happy to do it. So can you just let me?”
I hesitated. “You know I can afford it, right? I might not have a big, fancy apartment like you, but I do well for myself.”
Max smiled. “I think it’s sexy as shit that you make a lot of money. But I still want to do it. Okay?”
How could I say no when he put it like that? “Fine.”
Once we’d checked in, a bellman showed us to our rooms, which were on the top floor. He unlocked the door between the suites and told us complimentary champagne and fruit would be sent up momentarily. Both rooms had terraces looking out over the city, and Max and I walked out on his to take in the view.
Someone knocked at the door to my suite.
“I’ll get it,” Max said. “It’s probably the champagne. It was part of a package that came with the room.”
“Okay.”
I stayed on the balcony, enjoying the last of the sunny day, while room service wheeled in a cart. When I heard the cork pop, I went back inside.
“That sound is like Pavlov and his bell for me.”
Max poured two glasses and handed me one before extending his in a toast. “To wearing matching shoes.”
It took a few seconds for me to remember our conversation earlier. I smiled as I did, and happily clinked to that. “I’m a lucky girl. Mine are really cute shoes, too.”
Max winked. “So are you ready for your big evening plans?”
“Big plans? I hope you’re referring to soaking in that ginormous tub I saw in the bathroom.”
“Nope. Better.”
“I’m not sure much could be better than that after a long day of walking around.”
Max looked at his watch. “Well, you’re going to find out in about fif
teen minutes. So drink up.”
“Fifteen minutes? I need to take a shower before we go anywhere.”
“Not for this you don’t.”
“What are we doing?”
He kissed my forehead. “You’ll find out soon enough. I’m going to put on ESPN for a few minutes before we go—see what they’re saying about all the trades going on.”
“Okay.” He walked through our adjoining door, and I yelled after him. “Wait! What should I wear?”
“Just leave on what you’re wearing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He wiggled his brows. “You won’t be needing your clothes for very long for what I have planned next, anyway.”
• • •
I hadn’t paid attention to the button Max had pushed, but when we stopped on the third floor and he put his hand at the small of my back to guide me, I shook my head. “This isn’t the lobby, Max.”
“I know.” He gave me a little nudge to keep walking. “We aren’t going to the lobby.”
“Where are we going?”
That answer became clear as we turned the corner from the elevator. The Four Seasons Spa.
“Oh my God, did you book us massages?”
“I did. And a little something extra for you.”
“What?”
He opened the door. “You’ll see.”
Inside, the pretty woman at the front desk did a double take and immediately turned pink when she got a load of the man next to me. She put her hand over her heart. “Mr. Yearwood, I’m sorry. We’re not supposed to make a big deal when celebrities come in. But I’m a huge hockey fan. I grew up in Minnesota.”
“Oh yeah? I went to high school in St. Paul, at Mounds Park Academy.”
“I know!” She squealed. “I’m from Bloomington. It’s only about twenty minutes away.”
I had to work at not rolling my eyes. I was pretty sure she hadn’t even noticed me standing here.
“We have two massage appointments.” Max motioned to me. “I wasn’t sure what kind she would want. Would you happen to have a list of the different types you offer so she can take a look?”
“Of course.” The woman pulled out an oversized menu and held it in my direction, still batting her eyelashes at Max.