Page 50 of Scores Of The Heart

If our kiss on Saturday was anything to go by, I’m sure she knows I want to get to know her and be more than friends.

My phone buzzes in my pocket while I wait.

One is from Cindy telling me she’s just walking out of work now. The other is from Luke wanting to catch up. And I know I have to take him up on the offer, between training and everything else, I’ve been a bad friend lately. I’ll make it up to him soon.

When Cindy walks in a few minutes later, I half stand and give her a wave as she spots me. She looks cute in her skirt suit, but then, she always looks cute. I love her curves. She has a perfect hourglass figure.

“Hi.” She smiles as I pull out a chair for her.

“Hey.” I smile back.

“Sorry I’m a little late. I got held up trying to leave. My boss waited until the end of the day to run through a few things.”

“It’s okay.” I shrug. “I just got here myself.”

She puts her purse on the seat beside her as I sit back down.

She seems slightly nervous as she takes a menu and quickly scans it over. “Are we a little crazy meeting for coffee two blocks from the stadium?” She says, looking over at me, her eyebrows raised.

I chuckle behind my hand. “I don’t see why.”

“My dad might not see it that way.”

“Two friends having coffee,” I say, oh-so-casually. “We gotta drink, right? And eat, for that matter.”

She laughs and puts the menu down.

“Did you decide yet?” I ask. It’s a place where you go up to order and pay at the counter, then they bring it to your table.

“Yep. I think I’ll just have a latte.”

I smile. I took her for a latte kinda girl.

“I’ll order. Would you like anything to eat?”

“No, thanks.” She shakes her head. “Just the coffee is good.”

I nod, making my way up to the counter to order and get back to my seat opposite her. It feels good being in this close proximity sitting together. It doesn’t feel too awkward, even though we’re both being a little tentative.

“Well, you wouldn’t believe my day if I told you,” I say with a sigh as I try to make light of things to break the ice.

“Let me guess, my dad had you guys doing a million drills?”

I laugh, a deep rumble. She smiles, biting her lip. “Not that I want to bitch about the coach, and not just because he’s your dad, but yes. That’s what he had us doing. He wants us all prepped up for the next game.”

“How do you find the travel part?” She asks, leaning on her elbows. “It must get grueling?”

“Yeah, it does,” I confess. “But I’m used to it by now.”

“I guess you’ve been at this ice hockey thing for a while now.”

“I got drafted right out of high school,” I say.

“I thought I heard my dad saying something like that.”

My eyes flick up at her. “I played for Pittsburgh early in my career. My parents were thrilled three years ago when I was transferred to the Hawks because I’m born and bred in Seattle.”

“Ah, so they live close by?”

---