Page 36 of The Prince and the Puck

Declan grinned, looking slightly surprised. “Yeah?”

“Yes. That sounds fun.”

“Look at you, ready to have fun,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll go, but what will the team think this time about us showing up together?”

Declan’s smile faded just a little. “Lizzy, I’d like to take you as my date. My real date.”

I swallowed hard. Was dating Declan what was best for us? I could argue that getting close to him romantically would serve my mission.

But that wouldn’t be my real reason.

CHAPTER 21

DECK

MATCHING DOGS

“Okay,”Lizzy said with a smile, and something inside me released.

She’d said yes!

“You’re sure?” The second the words were out I wanted to smack myself. I did not want her to change her mind.

“If you are,” she said, her smile turning shy.

“I’m sure,” I told her. “I’ll handle the guys.”

She nodded, and together, we went out to my truck. Lizzy tried to argue that she was going to drive, but I reminded her that this was a date. I was driving.

We headed to the gated community where Arndt lived and pulled up to his insane house. It was three or four stories if you counted the basement, which he’d turned into a hockey rink. The party would certainly be out back, where he’d had a heated pool, a hot tub, and a massive patio and outdoor bar and kitchen installed. We used to hang out at Mizzoni’s, but once he moved out to Los Angeles, it seemed like Klaus Arndt was more than happy to fill the void. As I helped Lizzy out of the truck, I could hear the music blasting.

“We just go in?” she asked as I reached for the front door handle.

“No one will answer if we ring the bell,” I explained, letting myself into the house as I’d done hundreds of times before.

“He might want to think a bit more about security,” she said as I pulled the door open. “Holy…”

Lizzy looked around the house. Arndt was very into white, so all the furniture was white, and the light gray hardwood was scattered with white rugs. He had two enormous white Afghan hounds, who greeted us as we stepped into the sunken living room.

“The dogs match.”

“They do,” I agreed. “This is Ryan and Blake.”

Lizzy frowned at me. “He named his dogs after…”

“His favorite celebrity couple, yes.”

“Weird.”

The dogs followed us to the patio doors and we headed outside to where most of the team lounged around the pool or hung out at the bar. When they spotted me with Lizzy, it was as if the music stopped and everyone froze. Of course, that isn’t what happened, but I could feel the questions.

“Let’s get a drink,” I suggested, guiding her to the bar. We took two stools next to Derek Reed, one of our centers, who grinned as if he’d just thought of the funniest thing in the world.

Julius Ramon sat at the end of the bar, chatting with Chris Houstein, and he lifted a hand and sent a smile as we got settled.

Derek was staring. “You’re the PR chick,” he told Lizzy as she scooted in next to him.