Page 4 of Dream Girl Drama

“Only to people who watch hockey, I suppose. To everyone else, I’m just crashing the country club.”

“Youwerecrashing it, too.” She clucked her tongue in mock reproof. “Hamish hasneverbeen spoken to in such a manner.”

“He’ll live.”

A smile spread across her gorgeous mouth to reveal a perfect row of pearly whites. “You’re going to be fun to get drunk with, I think, Mister...”

“Gauthier. Sig Gauthier.”

She reared back slightly, nose crinkling. “Oh. That namedoessound weirdly familiar. I must have heard it while flipping pastSportsCenter.”

“Past it, huh? Not a sports fan?”

“Does tennis count?”

“Nah.”

She laughed, and he smiled enough to notice his facial muscles shifting. Stretching. Damn. Damn. Beautifulandfunandquick. He suddenly couldn’t care less if he made it to dinner tonight. He’d let his phone charge well past 100 percent, too. Just sitting there talking to this girl. Looking at her. There was something big and scary happening inside of his chest that he couldn’t name or explain. Only that he wanted, needed, to let it happen.

Somehow, he knew that she wasn’t a choice.

“We’ll sit here, since it’s the closest to an outlet.” Chloe indicated that he should take a seat on a leather couch the color of whiskey when it’s held up to the light. She rummaged in her purse a moment and took out a white phone charger, kneeling down to plug it into the wall and holding out her hand for his phone, giving him a riveting view of Chloe from behind. “You’ll be back up and running in no time.”

His gaze traveled up the backs of her thighs. “I don’t seem to be in a rush anymore.”

“Hmm. I bet.” She leaned sideways and lifted her chin to look over his shoulder. “I need to wait for the bartender to turn his back so I can steal our drinks.”

“Why don’t I just buy us some drinks?”

“Money doesn’t exchange hands here. That’s considered garish,” she explained matter-of-factly. “It’s all included in the membership fee.”

“Out of pure curiosity, about how much is that fee?”

“Oh. Huh.” She blinked. Frowned. “I have no idea.”

Okay, so she wasthatkind of rich. The kind where she didn’t even feel the probable six-figure deduction from her bank account on a yearly basis. Sig had money, but his star had significantly risen since he’d signed his initial contract with theBearcats—and he’d definitely been undervalued on his wayintothe league. Hopefully soon, chances were that he could belong to this stuffy-ass club, if he so chose. But would he ever? Fuck no.

Right?

Sig had grown up dirt-poor, thanks to his father, but even now that he was financially comfortable, he still shunned the finer things. Didn’t want them anddefinitelydidn’t need them. An hour ago, Sig wouldn’t have believed there was a woman alive who could convince him that a membership card to this place was worth the cash. But hell if he wasn’t considering the opposite now. Along with the bare legs that flashed as she sat down on the couch beside him, the hem skimming high, so blessedly high, before she tugged down the white pleats closer to her knees. Crossed her shiny thighs.

Sig swallowed a fist-sized knot. “All right, if drinks are included with a membership, why don’t you just go ask for a bottle of champagne?”

“It tastes better when it’s an ill-gotten gain.”

“You fit right in with the bankers who probably belong to this place.”

She flashed him a grin. “It’s not that I enjoy ripping anyone off. It’s just that...” She looked around the lounge and he could tell she’d seen it thousands of times before. “I just try and take some excitement wherever I can. My days are scheduled very meticulously. Early morning practice, followed by lunch with some acquaintance or another. More practice. Followed by tennis lessons—”

“You keep saying practice. Practice for what?”

“I play the harp. I’m a harpist.” She fluttered her fingers for emphasis, then proceeded to look at them as if they were foreign objects. “Let me ask you something. What is the point of being labeled a prodigy if I have to practice all the time? Doesn’t prodigy mean I just get to show up and be amazing?”

“Do you want me to call one of my harp prodigy friends and ask them for you?”

A laugh burst out of her, satisfying something very deep in his chest. “Are you a hockey prodigy?”

“God no, I had to work my ass off.NowI get to show up and be amazing.”

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