Page 27

You are beautiful

Remy

Sophie was upset by that encounter with Otts.

At least he hadn’t seemed too pissed that I was with her, but with everything else going on it might just not be his first priority.

Sophie hadn’t told me why Otts with Maria was a problem, but I was putting some things together.

Maybe I wasn’t adding up to the right total but I thought I was close.

By the time we’d talked to some of the guys on the team, she looked like she was in control again. Until an older man who seemed vaguely familiar spoke to her. She called him Dad but tensed up, so I didn’t think this was going to be a happy meeting, not after what I’d heard about her relatives.

“Why are you here?” he demanded.

What kind of way was that to greet his daughter?

“I came with Remy. You remember how you offered up the apartment at Cash’s when the Aces needed a place for the guy with a dog? Daniel Rempel, this is Ryder Williams, my dad. And Joanna, his wife.”

Hanny’s eyes widened, so he knew who the man was. Lappy was buzzed and confused. The way Sophie’s dad paused, he expected to be recognized. And with how he spoke to Sophie, I didn’t want to give him that.

“Thank you for arranging that, sir. I appreciate it. I’ve enjoyed seeing Sophie working in the shop below. She fixed Hanny’s guitar and he’s very impressed.”

A look at Hanny, and he followed along. “She did wonderful work. I’ve asked her to do some inlay for me.”

Ryder blinked for a moment before moving into his performance. “Yes, we’re a musical family. Different talents.”

“I hope I get to meet her brother sometime. I’ve heard of his band, but I guess now he works with a lot of important artists and that must be fascinating.” I never talked this much. But Sophie was no longer wilting beside me.

“Well, with Cash the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Hanny almost spoke but bit his lip.

Lappy broke in. “Apple tree? You are de tree? Le Papa est l’arbre?” He shook his head. “English is hard.” Then he wandered off.

Ryder’s brow lowered, his ego not liking the reaction he was getting.

Probably best to move on. “It was nice to meet you, but we should be mingling.” First time I’d ever wanted to do more mingling. “Sophie’s been helping me promote the charity auction.”

His nose twitched. “In that dress, I’m sure you’re getting lots of attention. But perhaps not the right kind.”

I looked from Sophie to the woman with Ryder.

Her dress was blue, but while Sophie’s dress was tight, it showed less cleavage than the other woman.

“I think it’s beautiful, and she’s beautiful in it.

Very much like your…wife.” His gaze narrowed at me, and I wasn’t going to be able to keep up this conversation. “We should go check on Lappy.”

I tugged on Sophie’s arm and she followed me.

Once we were a safe distance away, she let out a shuddering breath. “Maybe you should go find your teammate. I can get myself home.”

I stepped in front of her so she couldn’t avoid me. “It was just an excuse. Hanny can take care of Lappy—they both came on their own. Is there anything else we have to do?”

Sophie finished her champagne glass and took another from a passing waiter. “We should stay for the bidding.”

I studied her face, the way she wouldn’t look at me.

She was an adult, perfectly capable of wearing a sexy dress if she wanted.

And to decide when she’d had enough of this party, or of the champagne.

But if she drank more, I wasn’t sure what she’d say or do.

And I didn’t want her to have any more regrets than she already did.

Her dad and her ex had done a number on her self-confidence.

I hated that Otts and Ryder had upset her.

She was stunning in that dress. With her hair done up and makeup, her strong features were striking.

In my opinion, much more interesting than the generically pretty women there, including Otts’s date or her stepmother.

She looked incredible, and I was proud to have her with me.

“I’ve done enough. Cian can represent us for the bidding. Let’s go.”

She looked around the room, then sighed and nodded.

I messaged Hanny that we were leaving and called for the limo while we lined up to get her coat.

The car was waiting when we left the arena.

I held the door open and followed her inside.

The limo slid away from the curb. Sophie still had that tight look on her face.

“You want to go home, or somewhere else?”

She blinked at me, obviously lost in her own thoughts. “I’m sorry. Did you want to stay, make a night of it? I told you I was happy to go home on my own.”

She didn’t look happy.

“I’m not good at those polite chitchat things and I was more than ready to leave. But did you want to stop somewhere and, I don’t know, have something to drink? Or get food, now that your ex isn’t around?” Or her dad, but I didn’t want to bring up more problems.

Her lips pinched when I mentioned Otts. “I’d just like to go home.”

“Sure.” I told the driver to continue on and settled back in my seat. Sophie was still abstracted, mouth frowning while she stared out the window.

This was none of my business. I didn’t get involved in drama and instead did my best to fly under the radar. But her dad was a self-absorbed dick. If Otts had done what I thought he’d done, he was an asshole. And since I’d exposed Sophie to be embarrassed, I was an asshole too.

“For the record, Otts is a jackass.” The words slipped out before I could reconsider.

Sophie turned to me with wide eyes, but the driver had arrived at the gates so she didn’t say anything till we had gone through and driven up to the house. I got out to help her and waved the limo off. I could walk back to the carriage house.

She watched the car go then turned to me. “How do you— What do you think Ollie did?”

I scratched at my chin. “I don’t want to make you feel bad.”

She slashed with her arm. “Just tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know anything. I watched and listened. I don’t think anyone else noticed, except maybe Maria, but I’m guessing that part of the reason you and Otts broke up was about kids. And now he’s moved on to someone who has them, and didn’t give you a heads-up.”

She stared at me. “That’s what you concluded?”

I shrugged. I’d seen the way she reacted when Russo asked about Maria’s kids. And Otts had looked as guilty as possible.

She crossed her arms. “I can get pregnant, just so you know. I’m not pissed off because I’m barren.”

“Okay. Sorry.” I’d messed up, again, and probably made things worse. I should have kept quiet.

“It wasn’t me?—”

She cut off, but my eyes rounded as I got what she was saying. “You mean Otts…”

“You can’t say anything to anyone.” She bit her lip, looking worried, and damn, I couldn’t do anything right tonight.

“No, not my business. But then why—” Sophie had been upset that Otts was with a woman with a couple of young kids. If Sophie could have had children, did Otts not want them? But she said—almost said—he couldn’t have kids himself.

She sighed, looking so sad I wanted to wrap her in my arms and tell her everything would be okay. “You’re right. It’s what finally broke us up. It was for the best, but… Come on in. I don’t want to talk about this sober.”

I followed her into the house. She stepped out of her shoes and led me down the hall to the big kitchen. She headed straight for the fridge and took out a bottle of wine. I wasn’t a wine drinker, but I’d keep her company if she wanted.

She set the bottle on the counter and reached into a cupboard for a glass. She almost grabbed a second, but instead opened the fridge again and pulled out a can of beer, passing it to me.

“Thanks.”

She poured a full glass for herself and then corked and placed the bottle back in the fridge.

“Since you already know most of the story, here’s what happened.

When we married, we expected we’d have kids.

We both wanted them. Ollie had already planned out their futures—he’s a big planner, manifester, stuff like that.

But the kids didn’t come. So we went for tests and found out he wasn’t going to father a child. It hit him hard.”

I took a sip of my beer and let her talk.

“I wanted kids too, but I would have been happy to adopt. Do IVF, whatever. Ollie and his father, though…that wouldn’t fly.

His dad is big on legacy. Ollie’s grandfather would have been a pro ballplayer except for an early injury.

His dad was a big baseball star—World Series titles, all-star, Hall of Fame, the whole thing.

Ollie wanted to follow his own path, but any time he picked up a baseball, someone compared him to his dad.

So he chose a different sport. But he was also really gifted and he’d probably have had that dream career, Hall of Fame, a couple more Cups if he hadn’t been injured. ”

He would have. He’d been really good.

“So, adopting kids? Having one without his super athlete DNA? His dad would have wanted to know why, and Ollie couldn’t face it.” She lifted her glass. “Stupid pride.” She took a large swallow.

We all had pride. And when we lost it in front of others, dealing wasn’t easy. “So you split? How would that help anything with his father?”

“His dad wouldn’t approve of kids outside of wedlock, so Ollie thought he’d get less pressure if he wasn’t married. And honestly, by then we were better as friends than spouses.”

Sophie talked like it wasn’t a big deal, but when your partner decided to end your marriage—that couldn’t be as painless as she was pretending. “From what I saw, your dad wouldn’t have been much help.”