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‘What? Surprised I come from such good stock?’

‘Not at all,’ Aiden was quick to say.

‘You make it sound like we’re talking about horses,’ Blake said over him.

‘We have those too,’ she said. ‘But now you’re making me digress.’

His eyes danced. ‘My apologies, my lady, do continue.’

She pursed her lips on her laughter. So, Blake was capable of being playful. Who knew!

‘My grandparents hoped my mother would follow in their footsteps and be another darling of society, someone to show off to their friends, to be proud of… Instead, they found themselves with a high school dropout, pregnant at eighteen, a father unwilling to come forward, and they made no bones about expressing their disappointment.’

‘Parents can be assholes,’ Blake muttered around his bottle.

‘They’re actually not that bad beneath all the airs and graces.’

‘Spoken like a woman with a very forgiving nature.’

She laughed off Blake’s remark. He wouldn’t be saying that if he knew the path that had brought her to this point. Forgiveness couldn’t be further from the truth. As for her grandparents, life had moved on… as had their high expectations.

‘I actually adore them. They came to terms with the fact they couldn’t change Mum a long time ago.

As for me, I hardly fit their idealistic view of what a woman should be…

’ Careful Astrid, a lady is right up Aiden’s street .

‘I chose the wrong profession and don’t spend enough time in the UK,’ she quickly added.

‘But it hasn’t stopped them loving me. Loving us both.

Thankfully my uncle is the perfect heir to the title and more than willing to dance to society’s tune and give them what they need to show off to their friends. ’

The brothers laughed.

‘Heir to the title,’ Blake mimicked. ‘God, the English are weird.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ Aiden said.

‘Hey!’ She jabbed Aiden’s calf with her toe but it was the shove to Blake’s thigh that shot sparks through her body. Daft move, Astrid!

She glanced at Blake, praying he couldn’t tell, though she got the impression the man missed nothing where she was concerned. And right now, he was loving every inch of her, the hint of bra through her blouse, her nipples like projectile missiles… Bugger, wrong brother!

Though he was very much the right one according to her body.

She averted her gaze. ‘You can’t help tradition when it’s been around far longer than we have. It deserves some respect.’

‘There’s respect,’ Aiden said, ‘and then there’s being governed by the constraints and expectations set down by a society that has no relevance in today’s world.’

‘And now you sound like my mother.’

‘We love her already,’ Blake said.

A phone started to ring and Aiden shifted, pulling the chiming device out of his pocket. ‘One sec… Hey Harry,’ he said into the phone. ‘What’s up? …Now?’ Aiden glanced at Blake, eyes narrowing. ‘You’re sure it can’t wait? …Okay, I’m on my way.’

He hung up, eyed the phone for a second before looking at his brother. ‘I’m needed back at the rink.’

‘You best go then.’

He didn’t budge.

‘It’s okay, bro,’ Blake said. ‘I can take care of Astrid, make sure she gets home safe.’

‘I’m quite capable of getting myself home safe, thank you very much.’

A, she wasn’t a woman in need of a man to protect her.

And b, with her body in its heightened state, she needed free of Blake pronto.

She’d call him out on his whole ‘I’m onto you’ when she wasn’t so into him!

‘Of course you are,’ he replied. ‘I’m just assuring my overly concerned brother that you’re safe being left in my hands.’

‘Why wouldn’t I be safe?’

Oh, heaven help her… as if she didn’t already know.

The brothers sized each other up, some silent message passing between them.

‘Yes, why wouldn’t she be safe?’ Blake pushed and Aiden shook his head, got to his feet and shrugged on his jacket.

‘It’s been lovely to meet you, Astrid.’

‘It was lovely to meet you too.’ She gave him her trusty dazzles, swallowing the rising flutters and the nerves. ‘I’ll see you at the rink Tuesday, if not before.’

‘Tuesday?’ Blake said.

‘That’s the plan. I’m hoping to catch your training session and then Cheryl has our one-to-ones scheduled in, back to back.’

Cheryl was their publicist, the woman who should have had the situation all in hand long ago. Not that she was about to discredit the woman openly; she could totally see what a challenge Blake would be. And how butting heads over this could have led to her losing her job, too.

Far safer for an outsider, aka Astrid, to come in and threaten the status quo.

‘So soon?’ Blake said.

‘The sooner the better,’ she replied, keeping her focus on Aiden. On the plan and the job and not the distracting man beside her. ‘It will give me a better understanding of you both and from that, I’ll be able to work out where to head next. I promise not to make it too gruelling.’

Blake cursed and Aiden smiled, all charm and cooperation. ‘Makes sense to me.’

‘I guess it does,’ his brother conceded.

‘You know it does. I’ll see you at home later, bro.’

‘Sure.’

They watched him leave, her eyes drifting back to Blake and then she saw it, the mischievous spark in his eye.

‘What did you do?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

She dared to lean closer. ‘You have that look in your eye.’

‘You say that like you know my full array of “looks” and I assure you, you don’t…’ He leaned closer too. ‘Though I’m more than happy to run you through a couple more.’

How did he turn everything into a come on?

Perhaps because you want it to be a come on?

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

‘It’s the same look you had in your eye when you were verbally sparring with your brother earlier.’

‘Ah… that look.’

‘So?’

‘So?’

‘What did you do?’

‘I may have coaxed one of our rookies into sending out an SOS that only my brother as the captain of the team can respond to.’

She lost her breath. ‘And why would you do that?’

‘Because I get me a firecracker all to myself.’

‘You… you orchestrated our alone time?’ She struggled to pull air into her lungs as Blake’s glittering gaze held hers. She could feel his heat and his interest and good God , she wanted to shift on over and put the connection to the test. But she couldn’t, she wouldn’t, which meant…

‘It’s probably time I got home too.’

He straightened up. ‘You still have your drink to finish.’

‘Not any more.’ She threw the last of it back and got to her feet, pulling on her suit jacket and picking up her coat. ‘Thanks for the drink.’

‘Wait up, let me sort us a cab.’

‘There’s no need, I only live a few blocks away.’

‘Even better, we can walk and talk.’

‘You know for a guy that wouldn’t talk,’ she said, shrugging on her coat, ‘you really are turning into quite the chatter box.’

‘When the company is worthy of it’ – he got to his feet, his eyes locked on hers and setting off butterflies – ‘I can be very engaging.’

She pressed her lips together, trying to trap the rising heat inside as she grabbed her bag. ‘So long as you keep that in mind for Tuesday.’

‘Sure thing, Twinkle Toes.’

And why oh why did her age-old, utterly humiliating pet name make her sizzle when he said it?

She started to flee…

‘Hey, are you forgetting something?’

‘Huh?’

He plucked her glasses off the table and handed them to her. ‘Can’t have you leaving these behind, can we?’

Bugger . She’d taken them off the second they’d steamed up indoors and forgotten all about them. She gave a tight smile. ‘Thank you.’

‘After you…’ he urged.

She walked ahead of him, trying to think up a reason for him not to walk her home and coming up blank.

Every reason just sounded petty, or worse, ungrateful.

It wasn’t that she didn’t feel safe with him, she just…

she wasn’t safe from herself. She couldn’t trust herself not to do something completely unwise and karma-ending.

They stepped out into the night and the icy wind slapped her in the face. Hello wake-up call!

‘I really need to get a job in the sun,’ she grumbled.

‘And yet you chose an ice hockey team to get up close and personal with.’

‘I know, what was I thinking?’ She was only marginally teasing.

‘Don’t look at me, I’ve no idea. And this morning, I would’ve told you to go to hell.’

‘You pretty much did tell me to go to hell.’

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and bowed his head to the cold. ‘Yeah, I’m sorry for that.’

‘You are ?’

‘You’re just doing your job, and I really want to keep doing mine, so…’

‘Is this you calling a truce?’

He sent her a look. Open and vulnerable and hell, if Blake dark and brooding was sexy as fuck, seeing him vulnerable and bowing down was something else. Especially with the way his cheeks had pinked up with the chill, his eyes ever bright.

‘It’s me saying I’m sorry I was a jackass, and yes, I’m agreeing to give you what you need for your article. I can’t promise it’ll come easily but I’ll try.’

‘That’s…’ She wet her lips. Crushing my resolve. Making me like you more. Making me want to explore this connection more. ‘That’s great to hear.’

Ugh , that sounded so hollow.

‘The more you give me up front, the sooner I can be done and out of your hair.’

His eyes burned into her. ‘You say that like it’s a good thing…’

‘Well, isn’t it?’

Their breaths curled through the frosty air. She’d said it for his benefit; he was the one so anti this whole thing…

‘I guess,’ he said eventually, turning away and walking on.

It took her another second to move, her body delayed by her brain that wanted to pick apart the moment. Understand him. Understand this .

Then she saw the electronic billboard up ahead roll around and Aiden filled the screen, his grin lighting up the pavement with his bottled tan of choice in hand…

‘I know we agreed to keep tonight light and about me,’ she said, head shifting into work gear, where it should be, ‘but can I ask you something?’

His mouth twisted. ‘Depends on what it is.’

‘How come your brother is everywhere, and you’re not? I assume the sponsorship deals come your way too…’