Page 68 of Sin Bin

Heat trickled along her veins. She unconsciously pressed her thighs together.

“So, um, how many games do you have left in the season?”

“Five.” He sounded amused. He knew the effect he had on her.

“I can’t wait to tell Aunt Rosalie’s son that I’m friends with you.” She put emphasis on the word friends. “Cameron loves hockey and is a huge Denver Rebels fan. You happen to be his favorite player. He idolizes you.”

“Smart boy. Can’t wait to meet him.”

She laughed, shaking her head as she heard the hiss of a beer bottle being opened. She imagined him wrapping his lips around the top of the bottle, tilting it back and filling his mouth with the cold brew. A shiver curled through her.

“So,” she said, trying to sound casual, “have you talked to Inez?”

“Who?”

“Inez Gutierrez. Ana’s sister. Have you slid into her DMs to ask her out?”

“Nah,” he drawled. “I told you I’m not interested in dating anyone.”

Meadow felt inexplicably relieved. Which made her feel foolish and confused.

“Tell me about your volunteer work at the adoption center,” Logan said invitingly.

While he ate his dinner, she talked about the agency’s important work and the special people she’d gotten to know as a volunteer. Logan listened intently, only interrupting to ask questions or to laugh warmly at her anecdotes.

Before she knew it, she was pulling into the driveway of a two-story stucco house with a Spanish tile roof. Both her father and Wendi were back from work.

She picked up her phone and took Logan off speaker. “I’m home now.”

“Already?” He sounded disappointed.

That made her smile. “Thanks for keeping me company.”

“No problem. I can keep you company on your drive back to Denver.”

His offer had her melting into a mushy puddle. “I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll be driving through the night, remember? If you stay up talking to me, you’ll be no good at practice in the morning. Plus you’ll be coming off back-to-back games—”

“Let me worry about that.”

“No way, Logan,” she said adamantly. “You’re an athlete. You need your rest. We can talk for a few hours, but that’s it.”

“We’ll see.” There was a smile in his voice.

She turned off her engine and sighed. “Well, let me go inside. Good luck against the Islanders tomorrow night. I’ll be watching.”

“Awesome.” His voice lowered to an intimate rumble. “Can’t wait to see you again.”

She closed her eyes, her heart banging wildly in her chest. “I’ll be there soon.”

Just before she ended the call, she thought she heard him whisper, “Not soon enough.”

“Meadow, darling,” wendi called across the backyard the next evening, “come say hello to Auntie Trish.”

Meadow had been talking to some neighbors when she received Wendi’s summons. She politely excused herself from the group and made her way across the landscaped lawn, stopping often to accept congratulations on her new job. Wendi had thrown her a going-away party that evening, but most of the invited guests were her friends, not Meadow’s.

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