He reached down to scratch Hobbes’s ears. “You have an idea?” he prompted.
“Would you like to meet her?” Lily ventured.
Gage looked as though he’d just been shaken out of a dozy nap. “Meet her who?”
Lily waved her hand grandly in the air. “This Kathryn person. I mean, you’re certainly … uh …” Her brain locked on to the words “hotness personified” for some unfathomable reason, and she gave herself an inner shake and recovered. “What I meant to say was that lots of hockey players date A-list celebrities. Look at Mike Fisher and Carrie Underwood.”
One dark eyebrow dipped. “If I’m the player picked for an interview between periods, and if Kathryn Tappen’s the one with the mic, then I’d be happy to meet her.”
“Would you ask her out?”
Wide blue eyes and the rest of his expression broadcast that he thought she was nuts. “Would I what?”
She crammed on her social media consultant hat. “Hear me out. What if I set something up through Twitter for you? Like when Anthony Beauvillier tweeted Anna Kendrick? That flirtation went viral! Did you see how many other NHL players jumped on the bandwagon to get those two together? And they only made up a fraction of the likes.”
Shock—no, horror—overtook his features. “What? Why would I do that?”
“So you can meet her. Kathryn, not Anna.”
His head began shaking before Lily had finished the sentence. “No way. Absolutely not.”
Oddly buoyed by his reactions, she let genuine curiosity spur her on. “You don’t want to meet her?”
“First of all, I prefer to keep my private life private.” He gave her a pointed look. “If I’m going to embarrass myself, I’m not doing it in public. Second of all, how and why did we get on this subject, and can we just move on?”
“I don’t get it. You just want to, what, admire her from afar?”
He shot upright from the edge of the desk. “I don’t want anything! She’s just someone I admire. I admire Mario Lemieux and Mother Teresa, but it doesn’t mean I want to date them.”
“Well, Mother Teresa is dead.”
His mouth curled into a smirk. “You’re being a total pain in the ass, you know that?”
Yeah, she knew it, but she was having too much fun trying to push buttons and see if she could get a rise out of him. Undaunted, she raced on. “What if I could get an interview set up with Kathryn?”
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. A look of—was that disappointment?—flashed across his face and morphed into a frown. “While I have no doubt you could pull off anything you set your mind to, I don’t want you playing my social director. Let’s just stick to the script we agreed to—social media—when you first twisted my arm into hiring you.”
A laugh squeezed from her lungs. “I didn’t twist your arm.”
“Yeah, you did.” He gave her a sly wink. “You should never underestimate your power of persuasion, Goldilocks. I sure don’t.” His chiseled cheekbones flushed fuchsia.
Where they still talking about the same thing? Or had they segued to last summer’s intimate encounter? Her cheeks flared with heat.
“Um, okay. So no setups, Professor?”
A chuckle rumbled from his chest. “No setups.”
In that moment, it struck Lily that Kathryn—any woman—would be lucky to have Gage Nelson pursue her. She tried to shake off her mind’s meanderings with a sharp inhale. Fortunately for her, her phone vibrated in her back pocket and gave her something else to do besides standing there looking into Gage’s uneven—and thoroughly amused—blue eyes.
Seeing Derek’s face on her screen sent her heart into worry overdrive.
“Hey, Der. Is everything okay?” She glanced at Gage, whose playful expression had shifted, reflecting the uneasiness she felt.
“Everything’s fine, Lil. Just wanted you to know we got to your place a little early. What time were you planning on being home?”
Her shoulders dropped with relief. Still holding Gage’s gaze, she said, “I can leave now and be there in fifteen.”
“That’s fine. Don’t rush. I’m good to hang out for a little bit.”
“Okay, thanks. If you’re hungry, there’s some roast beef in the fridge. Feel free to make yourself a sandwich.”
He laughed. “I like the way you make them better.”
She suppressed an eye-roll but smiled in spite of herself. “Is this your way of telling me you want me to make you one when I get home?”
“Bingo! That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“All right. I’ll be there soon.” She ended the call.
Gage’s eyes bored into hers. She glimpsed … hurt? Disappointment? “So Daisy’s okay?” he said.
“She’s fine. Derek was just giving me a heads-up that they got home early.”
“To your place. I guess he has a key?”
“Well, yes.” Something in his demeanor made her rush to explain. “I have a key to his place too. It makes it easier with the kids.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Ah. Is it just Derek, then?”
Gage’s question teetered her off balance. “Who has a key, you mean?” Why was he asking?
“No, I meant does Derek have other family? Siblings? Parents?”
“No. Their parents died in a helicopter crash years ago, which left the two brothers. Now it’s just Derek.” The finality brought a rush of tears, building pressure behind her eyes and clawing her throat. With a hard swallow and a series of rapid blinks, she squeezed them off.
Gage nodded. “You make him dinner often?” His expression was neutral, bland even, giving away none of the thoughts streaming behind those blue eyes.
“No. And I only said I’d make him a sandwich when I got home. It’s just a snack. Which is the least I can do, considering how much he helps me out. Not just with Daisy, but he does little things around the house for me all the time. He takes good care of us.” Because Jack can’t. She dropped her voice, fighting a telltale quaver. “Where are you going with this?”
He shrugged. “Just curious. Wondering if there’s a chance you and he might …”
Now she folded her arms across her chest and cocked a brow.
