Page 64 of Breaking the Ice

“Right, so…” Bec bugged her eyes. “Youlikeher?”

Yes. Helikedher. He wanted her fiercely and she fascinated him endlessly. But he wasn’t obtuse. “It’s complicated. We’re two people going in completely different directions and I can see why she wants to keep a boundary between us. She’s on a mission and I’m not in her demographic.”

“Nick.” Bec sighed. “I love my sister. Dearly. But this whole demographic, cheeping eggs thing is the dumbest plan she’s ever come up with. You need to save her from it.”

“She’s pretty determined.”

“So am I.”

It was Nick’s turn to sigh. “She’s right, Bec… in a couple of months I’ll be back in Canada trying to resurrect my career and she’ll be back on the corporate ladder. Sure, there are sparks but ultimately we’re just a weird missed connection.”

Being forced to explain it to Bec helped Nickreallyunderstand Samantha’s point of view – probably for the first time. He did want her in a way that was almost irrational, but he reallylikedher too and sex and friendship could get very messy. He’d be gone soon but Tetworth was his bolt-hole away from the weirdness of his celebrity and he’d like to keep coming back without having to move apartments.

“You two.” Bec shook her head. “What the hell am I going to do with you two?”

Nick chuckled at what he figured was Bec’s exasperated mom look but then Samantha arrived back at the table and the conversation was abandoned.

They stayed for another ten minutes with Nick just observing the sisters and their ease with each other. They were so different, physically. Bec was tall and thin, very straight up and down. Samantha was shorter and curvier. But they were alike in every other way and they clearly adored each other. It gave him a funny glow in his chest knowing that Bec was Samantha’s person and that she would always have her sister’s back.

“Well” – Bec checked her watch – “I’d better be heading off to the airport.”

“Oh but…” Samantha shook her head. “You have time to join us for cake.”

“I hate cutting it fine at airports. I’d rather get there early and not be stressed.”

Nick didn’t think he’d ever seen a less stressed person in his life than Samantha’s sister so he was pretty sure they were being played.

“You’ll do the birthday cake honors for my little sister won’t you, Nick?”

Okay, definitely being played. “Sure,” he said, suppressing a smile. “I even have candles.”

“And you’ll sing her ‘Happy Birthday’, right?”

Nick placed a hand on his chest. “Cross my heart.” He threw his napkin on the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll use the bathroom before we leave.”

Samantha watched Nick as he strode across the restaurant, her heart giving a mad little flutter before she turned on her sister who was looking at her like butter wouldn’t melt. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “Stop with the bossy mom thing.”

Ignoring her altogether, Bec just smiled and said, “When I call tomorrow, I want details.”

“Bec!I can’t do this. We’re friends and he’ll be gone in a couple of months.”

“All the more reason to go for it, I say.”

“I don’t want him to feel any kind of responsibility toward me.”

“So, make it clear it’s a one-off. No strings. Not about your eggs. Or a baby. Just for you.”

Samantha swallowed.Right.“I don’t know how to ask for that.”

“Just… open your mouth. You’re a modern urban woman for goodness’ sake. Just say – Nick, how would you feel about no strings’ birthday sex with me?”

“And what if he says no?”

“He won’t. Trust me. And don’t forget – I need all the details!”

Samantha wandered around Nick’s living room nervously while he clattered in the kitchen. Birdie had told her he’d bought thisapartment here in the same building as his grandparents his rookie year but she’d always wondered why he’d buy something in the crumbling part of Tetworth when he could have bought something posh and glitzy in the city. The evidence, though, was all around her in the scattered framed photos.

Nick and his brothers laughing at the camera, all dressed in seventies psychedelic shirts and flairs, with long, shaggy wigs like they were on their way to a fancy-dress party. Nick with Burt and Birdie as a teenager. Nick with his parents at what looked like his high school graduation. Nick dressed in full hockey garb clutching the Stanley Cup in one hand, the other slung around Birdie who was looking fit to burst.

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