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I can’t believe I agreed to spend one of my only two nights off with my new goddamn business partner. Fucking hell. I push open the restaurant door and feel the warm air blast against my face. “I’m meeting Zane Costa,” I tell the hostess. Since the team had a game in Seattle last night, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and arranged to meet my new business partner while I’m in town. Hopefully, we can iron out the last-minute details so I can get my mind back on hockey.

“Follow me, please.” She gives me a professional smile and heads through the darkened restaurant as I follow behind her. When she stops at a table in the back, I blink several times, staring down at the most stunning fucking woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Her dark blonde hair hangs in curls around her delicate, heart-shaped face, tempting me to wrap my hands in the thick curls and hold on tight while I pound into her from behind. My cock turns to stone as I consider blowing off my business meeting for a night with her instead.

“You’ve made a mistake.” But I’ll happily have dinner with this goddess instead of the boring ass lawyer any day.

Before the hostess is able to respond, the goddess tells me, “There’s no mistake, Mr. Sparks. My brother couldn’t make it tonight, and he didn’t want to cancel last minute since you’re only in town for a couple nights.” Then she stands and holds out her hand to me. “So, I’m here in his place. I’m Lana Costa, Zane’s law partner.”

As our palms meet, my heart jumps in my chest while my cock nearly tears a hole through the front of my dress pants. As I stare down into her violet eyes, I notice specks of gold running around her irises and wonder if she’s real. Maybe I’ve taken a few too many hits on the ice and my mind is conjuring up my perfect woman.

She stares at me with a raised eyebrow, and I give my head a shake before reaching for her hand. “Nice to meet you.” The manners my mother drilled into my brain over the years kick in as I bring her hand to my lips. The air around us heats, and I fight to resist the urge to throw her over my shoulder and get the fuck out of this stuffy ass restaurant. I’m not sure where these insane feelings are coming from, but I can’t seem to control the fuckers.

In an attempt to get my fucking body under control, I sit down and take a healthy swig of the ice-cold water on the table in front of me. When the waiter appears, I order a strong drink. I don’t usually drink alcohol during the hockey season, but I figure finding the love of my life is a good enough reason to make an exception.

Once the waiter leaves, my goddess turns to me. “Zane tells me you own several apartment buildings in Silver Spoon Falls.” Her fake professional smile causes my back teeth to snap together as I picture all the ways I could wipe the smile from her face. I’d start with fucking her sweet pussy until we’re both too tired to do anything. My cock loves my idea and urges me on.

I ignore the fucker and pull my head out of my ass. “Yes,” I answer, telling myself I’ll let my goddess have her small talk until I figure out how to handle this crazy situation. I’ve never had the urge to knock up a business acquaintance before. “My hockey career won’t last forever.” Boy, is that an understatement. It feels like every game takes an even bigger toll on my thirty-six-year-old body, and I’ve found something that I want way the fuck more than playing hockey.

I see desire flash through her violet eyes a second before she masks it. “That’s a very smart attitude to have.” The professional wall she’s attempting to throw up between us is intolerable to me, so I reach across the table and cover her hand with mine.

“Thank you.” I smile and bring her soft hand to my lips. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself.” I want to fucking know everything there is to know about my future wife.

“There isn’t much to tell, and this meeting isn’t about me.” She pulls her hand away. “I’m here to see if you have any questions before Zane has the final papers drawn up.”

“My lawyer and Zane have taken care of all of that.” It’s why I had no idea why Zane insisted on this dinner.

“Oh.” That seemed to take a little air out of her sails. “Then I’m sorry to waste your time with this unnecessary dinner meeting.”

“Spending the evening with you isn’t a waste of my time.” I plan to spend every available second with my goddess once I convince her to give me the time of day. From the stubborn set to her shoulders, I figure she isn’t going to make it easy on me.

I grit my back teeth when she gives me the fake professional smile again. “Sure.”

“I’d like to get to know you.” I’m determined to crack the ice-queen shell my little goddess has wrapped tight around her luscious body.

She stares at me silently for a few seconds before sighing. “I’ve been a lawyer for six years. I specialize in corporate law.” She reels off her experience like we’re in a fucking job interview, and that just won’t work for me.

“What do you do for fun?” Her eyes widen at my question.

“Fun?” Her mouth opens and closes silently for a few moments. “I don’t have much time for fun.”

That’s not going to work for me. I plan to change that real fucking soon. “Me neither,” I admit. “Between my hockey schedule and keeping up with my rental properties, I find myself going nonstop.” But I can see that’s going to change soon. For the first time, I finally realize what it feels like to meet the one person who will change everything in my entire world.

I spend the rest of the evening dragging every tiny bit of information from her that I possibly can. When the waiter brings the check, I realize my time is running short. Before she’s able to pay, I hand him my credit card and turn to her. “Would you have dinner with me tomorrow night? One of my teammates told me about a great little Italian place not too far from here.”

“Oh.” She frowns, and I’m tempted to kiss the tiny lines that appear between her gorgeous eyes. “Do you have more questions?”

“No.” I smile at her. “Tonight was a business dinner. Tomorrow night will be a date.” I spell it out for my goddess.

“I don’t date clients.”

“I’m your brother’s business partner, not a client,” I remind her. “And I want to take you out and get to know you.”

“Look.” Lana takes a deep breath. “I don’t really have time to date anyone right now.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me.” Not tonight at least. I’ll wait at least until our second date before I propose. I can see she’s about to refuse so I pull out the big guns. “Please,” I beg. “What could one date hurt?”

She blinks several times, and I furiously think of how to convince her. “Okay.” Shock fills her violet eyes as the word slips past her lips. “I have meetings until six, so the earliest I can be ready is seven. Where should we meet?”

“I’ll see you at Mario’s on Twelfth Street at seven tomorrow,” I quickly agree. I’d rather pick her up, but I don’t want to give my little goddess more ammunition to refuse to see me.