Page 33 of Daring the Hockey Player

"Where's the wine?" I ask while my sister grabs the wine glasses hanging in the kitchen.

"In the cellar. Do you want to take Jasper down there and help pick out a decent dessert wine?"

Jasper leads me out of the kitchen, and he seems to know his way around the house as he takes me down the stairs. The basement contains a workout room, and in the back, there's a door leading to the wine cellar.

The room is dimly lit, and he pulls on the overhead chain to cast a warm light over the chilled room. "Fancy," I say. The cellar looks old compared to the rest of the house, which is quite modern.

"I swear this is the only staple that's still original from the house," Jasper says. He glances at me and at the hundreds of bottles of wine around the room. "Do you know which one is a dessert wine?"

"You're asking me?" I laugh.

"Right. I forgot you're twenty," he jests, and I playfully snarl at him. "You can't tell my sister about the bar or the drinks or—"

"Or the fake ID," he adds. "I promise I won't. We all keep secrets from our siblings."

"What secrets do you keep from Kyler?" I ask and glance from him to the bottles of wine, reading the labels. Nothing screams dessert wine, but what am I supposed to look for?

I grab my phone from my back pocket.

"What are you doing?"

"Googling a dessert wine," I say and show him my phone.

"You could just text your sister," Jasper says. "She'll tell you what wine to grab while we're down here."

"You assume she knows, and do you really want her telling Kyler that you're incompetent in your knowledge of dessert wines?"

Jasper laughs, tossing his head back, his eyes watering. "Do you think I care?"

"Oh, well, in that case, I'll just text him."

"Wait," Jasper says, his hand coming to rest on mine, stilling my fingers from typing. I glance up from our hands to his face. He towers above me, staring down, and my stomach flutters while my insides tremble.

He makes me incredibly nervous. I wish I knew why. Is it because I have the biggest crush on him? Maybe it's because he's a famous NHL player, and I know he's out of my league. He's also handsome and available, which doesn't help my anxiety. Although, I'm not sure what he thinks of me, other than I'm Emerson's little sister.

And now he knows I'm twenty. Which means showing up at the bar might be a bit problematic next time unless he really can keep a secret.

He stares at me, the moment seeming to stretch on, and I exhale a soft breath. "Do I have something on my face?" I ask and wipe at my cheek.

His thumb strokes down on my skin, rubbing gently beneath my eye. On his thumb is an eyelash. "Make a wish," he whispers.

I wish that Jasper Greyson kisses me.

I purse my lips and softly blow on his finger, letting the eyelash fly away.

Jasper pulls back, ruining any chance of my wish coming true.

Damn.

It was silly thinking that making a wish on an eyelash might come true.

"So, what'd you wish for?" Jasper asks with a wide grin.

"That you'd pick a dessert wine already."

There's no way I'd tell him my wish. Nope. Zero chance.

Jasper grins and reaches for a bottle of Peach Moscato. "I think this one will pair well with peach pie."