Page 12 of Hat Trick Heart

5

SASSY

What the heck is going on? Everywhere I turn, I see Emile LaCourt’s big body shadowing me, standing off to the side.

I went to the grocery store after work yesterday and there he was, tapping on a melon and staring at me. Turned the corner in the dried pasta aisle and he’s there pushing a cart and shoveling boxes of pasta into it.

Then I went home and this morning I went to a coffee shop to get a latte and a donut before work and there he was again… at an ungodly hour of the morning, three people behind me in line.

I whip around and stare in front of me and order my coffee, breathless, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. The more I see him, the more I seem to want to see him and it’s got my insides in a mess. I can’t seem to stop thinking about him and when I do manage to stop, there he is, pushing himself to the front of my mind again.

I move over and wait impatiently for my coffee, chatting with the barista, who I see every time I stop in. She’s nice and loves books so she asks about the newest true crime books that have come in and we have a great time talking about our favorites until she hands me my coffee.

“See you tomorrow,” she nods and I hold up my coffee, smiling, even as I feel his green gaze burning into me. I turn and he’s standing there, his eyes focused on me so hard that I lean back stopping, my body frozen.

“Hello, Sassy. Nice to see you this morning.” The whole time he’s talking, his eyes are running over me like he’s mapping my body. My chest constricts and my belly flips, my nipples tightening into stiff little points.

“Emile. You’re up early.” I nod at him like my whole body isn’t firing up just from being feet from him.

He grins and reaches over me to grab his coffee. He nods his head and takes a sip, making me cringe. I have to wait because it’s so dang hot but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He sucks it down without even wincing.

“I am. Hockey players tend to be early risers because we’ve spent our whole lives getting up early to play before school or whatever.”

I nod my head and go to step around him. “It was good seeing you.”

He grabs my arm with his free hand, and I flinch, feeling the strange burn that goes through my skin every time he touches any part of me. He drops his hand and waves me forward towards the door, following me out. I whip around outside and he’s standing there grinning at me. I lift a brow and say, “How come all of a sudden I keep seeing you everywhere I go?”

He shrugs and takes another sip and I can’t stop staring at his mouth. I’ve just never seen another man so gorgeous. He swallows and I follow the way his throat moves. It’s so dang strong.

“I don’t know. Just lucky I guess.”

I snort. “Pfft! I doubt that very much. I feel like you’re following me, Emile LaCourt. Why would that be?”

He grins. “Sounds like you’re a little paranoid, sweetheart. But let’s say that I am following you. For the sake of argument. Maybe I like you. Maybe I like seeing you.”

“Pfft,” I snort again. “What a load of bull!”

“How about you let me worry about it. And maybe you’d do me the favor of joining me tonight.”

I eye him, my brow crinkling. “For what?”

He chuckles. “I know it’s been a while but I’m trying to ask you out. I didn’t think I was this terrible at it.”

I jerk back, surprised. “You want to go on a date with me? Why?”

He steps closer and I can smell him now. That sweet and spicy scent that shouldn’t smell like a man but it does to me. It’s him though. There is nothing about this man that is less than masculine no matter what he does or wears.

He lifts his free hand and touches my cheek and my eyes widen, stunned. “Why would you find that confusing? You’re a beautiful woman. More beautiful than I thought when I first saw you. The more I see you, the more stunning things I find about you and I want to know more.”

“You want to date me?”

His dark head cocks and he smirks at me. “I really need more practice at this. I’m apparently not explaining it very well at all. Yes, I want to go out with you. I want to go on a date with you. I want to eat dinner. Maybe go dancing and then I want to walk you home and…”. His deep voice trails off and I shiver at the heat in his darkened green gaze.

“What?” I ask breathlessly, not sure if I really want to know or not.

“I don’t intend to sleep with you tonight if that’s what you think. I just want to spend time with you. I know that you think I’m some kind of playboy because I’m sure that’s what most people think about famous people but the thing is… I’m not. I don’t really date that much. I’m usually too busy. There’s just something about you and I want to know what it is.”

I smile at him. “So one date?”

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