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“Can I help you?” She frowns at me and glances around, probably looking for the poor woman who she thinks I dragged in here behind me.

I smile at her and shove my hands in my pockets. “Hey… My girlfriend Alexandra Miller is being seen. I made it as soon as I could.”

She glances down at the clipboard in front of her and flips through the pages. “I can’t give out patient information… But I can tell you that no one by that name had an appointment today. Maybe you typed in the wrong address.” She turns around and answers the phone at the desk and I step back.

I try calling her again and just decide to head up to her vacation home. Maybe her phone’s dead, maybe something came up and she had to cancel the appointment? Or she changed it to another location. I groan. It would also be typical of me to mix up the address or doctor’s name, though.

I blast some music on the way up to her house to find her car in the driveway. It’s a brand-new yellow Corvette that I hope she parks in the garage and uses some sort of SUV or truck when it starts to snow. I hop out and knock on the door, stepping back as I wait.

The house is almost as large as mine, but a hell of a lot more modern. All steel and glass, with the views of the city, forest, and even the lake. It’s gorgeous up here, I can see why her family bought a vacation home here.

I fidget with my phone and send out texts to Marie, Alyssa, and Caroline, hoping that at least one of them doesn’t hate me today. I miss them. I feel like I’m turning into a damn woman lately.

Alex opens up the door with a frown. She’s wearing a robe and her wet hair is piled up on her head. “Hey?” She murmurs and steps back, allowing me inside.

“Hey. I went to your appointment but they said you didn’t have one booked today?”

She laughs and shakes her head after she shuts the front door.

I follow her through the halls to her bedroom and sit on her soft, unmade bed.

It smells like her in here, her expensive perfume.

Nothing fruity or calming like what Marie and the girls wear.

“I already went this morning. I saw Dr. Carmichael. Had a pap, some blood work done, and got a new birth control implant.”

I cock a brow at her and lean back on my hands, my fingers sliding against the soft, silk sheets.

“Carmichael?” I frown. I could have sworn she told me a different name.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have tried to make it.

” I try to remember the name of the doctor from the office I walked into this morning, I’m pretty sure the name Carmichael rings a bell.

She waves me off and sits down beside me. “Don’t worry about it. As soon as the results are in we’re clear.” She winks at me and her green eyes darken with the hunger I’m definitely feeling. “I miss you.” She slides a soft hand over my face and leans in to kiss me.

I oblige, wrapping my arms around her perfect body, pulling her closer to me. Breathing in her scent.

She pulls back and winks at me. “I might have to head to LA to sit in meetings with my mother in the next few days. She’s going to call me in a bit to let me know. What are your plans this weekend?”

I shrug and bite my bottom lip as I look her over. She’s stunning without makeup on. She looks a lot younger than me, but when she’s dressed up, dolled up… she looks like a model. “Nothing. The girls are staying at Marie’s.”

Alex’s face darkens and she blinks, looking away from me. “Were you two… ever together?”

I shake my head and pull her closer to my chest. “No. Never. We’ve just been friends for a long time.

She’s helped me raise my sisters, we were there for each other through everything.

Our parents, college, me getting into the NHL, her becoming a PA.

” Not that I’ll ever tell her that I’ve had a thing for Marie since I was twelve.

She’s never liked or loved me in any romantic way anyway.

Alex sighs and nods, softly smiling at me. “Good. Well, maybe it’s a good thing that they’re out of our hair. We can focus on building our own family.”

I snort and shake my head. “Not going to happen. No kids for me. I thought we talked about this months ago? You were on the same page. You hated how you were raised, surrounded by nannies, a driver, chefs. You don’t even like children.”

She giggles and slides her hands up my chest. “Maybe after we’re married we can talk about it again... We have time.”

I roll my eyes and move to stand, sliding her down my body. I watch as the robe begins to part over her plump breasts and have to hold myself back from not tossing her onto the bed to attack her. That’s one way to stop the mind-numbing conversation.

“Nah. I’ve always known I don’t want kids. Ever. After the girls head off to college I’m planning on downsizing anyway. I don’t need to stay in a massive house.”

She frowns at me, stepping back. She crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head as she closes her robe back up and tightens the strings.

“But a big house is better. The parties, all of the guests… What if an accident happens and I get pregnant? You’re also on a hockey team, James.

Where will you host anyone in a tiny house”

I chuckle and shove my hands in my pockets, leaning back on my heels. “Not going to happen. We’ll use non-latex condoms. I’m serious, Alex. I’ll never want children. I don’t want to be a dad.”

I lean down to kiss her cheek and move to leave. Maybe she needs to think this over. Maybe I need to do research on latex-free condoms regardless, not that I don’t trust her. She said she had an implant put in this morning. But, still… You can never be too safe.