Page 116 of Pucking the Team

“You,ma choue,ask too may questions.”

“Because I’m slightly suspicious of what you have planned, Eduardo.”

He chuckled and pulled up in front of huge hotel with a thatched carport. “You will enjoy it, I promise.” He turned off the engine.

A valet opened my door, and I stepped out. “I haven’t brought an overnight bag if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I have thought of everything.” He tossed his keys to the valet and winked at me. “Do not worry about a thing.”

“Mmm.”

We walked into the vast lobby. It smelled of incense and petals and was deliciously cool.

“Mom. Mom. It’s Eduardo Dubois, from The Vipers!”

Eduardo lifted his hand in greeting to a young boy and steered me toward check-in.

“I’m not sure how much peace you’ll get here,” I said.

“Once we get to our room, we’re not coming out.” He kissed my temple then smiled at the receptionist.

He quickly checked in and took the key. “Oh,” he said, holding up one finger. “Can you please send a bottle of chilled champagne and a bowl of strawberries to the room?”

“Of course, sir.” She nodded.

“Please can you sign this, Mr. Eduardo?”

The small boy, along with what appeared to be two brothers in matchingLion Kingt-shirts, stood at our side.

“Sure thing, kid. What’s your name?” Eduardo squatted and took the offered pen.

“Malcolm, and these are my brothers, we’re triplets.”

“Wow, that’s cool. You all like hockey?”

“Yeah, we play every Saturday and Sunday and Wednesday evenings.”

“No way.” Eduardo signed the notepad. “That’s a lot of practice when you have school.”

“Practice is better than school,” one of the other boys said.

“Well, I can’t blame you for thinking that, but you’ve got to get your studies done, too.” Eduardo turned the page of the notepad and scribbled a number. “If you want to come and watch a Vipers’ training session, give this number a call, the secretary will sort you out some passes. Would you like that?”

All three boys nodded vigorously.

“Yes, we would love that, Mr. Eduardo.” Malcolm beamed. “Thank you.”

“No problem, I’ll watch out for you. Now you all have a great time in Animal Kingdom, right?”

“Is that your girlfriend?” One of the boys pointed at me.

“Oui, and isn’t she beautiful?” Eduardo slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me close.

I was aware of eyes on us; lots of attention was now coming our way. “We should get going,” I whispered.

“She’s smart, too,” Eduardo said to the boys. “Much smarter than me, so when she says we have to go, we have to go.”

“Bye, Mr. Eduardo.”