Page 37 of Power Play

He wraps his hands around my wrists, letting them slide down so our fingers interlock, and the shirt falls from my hands. He lowers his head and presses it to mine, sliding his arms around my bare waist and pulling me into his chest. I rest my cheek against him, and we just stand for a minute.

“Can I have more of you?” he whispers, and I slowly tilt my head back to look up at him.You can have whatever you damn well please when it comes to me,I want to tell him. I know this is probably a really bad idea. A really,reallybad idea. He might be the hometown hero, but he’s also a professional athlete. There are people around the world who recognize his face, his name. And if he starts this new gig on the sports show—of which the name escapes me right now—there will be evenmore. He has so much on his plate, and he’s about to have more. And me… God. My free time is scarce enough as it is. And he has no idea what it means to have a child. To have the responsibility of it. That no one—not even a hockey god—will ever come before Harper.

But when that little boyish smile tugs on his lips, I can’t help but smile in return.

Be careful,my head warns.Danger. Take it slow.

But my heart and my lips betray me, and slowly, I nod.

“Yes,” I tell him, pressing up onto my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his shoulders and kiss him softly. He tightens his grip around me, lifting me off the ground, then slowly sets me back down. “But…what does…what does this mean?” I ask him nervously. Before he can answer, I bend down to grab my shirt, pulling it on over my head. This feels like too serious of a moment for me to have my girls moving around freely.

He runs a hand through my hair and gently strokes my jawline with his thumb.

“This can mean whatever you are comfortable with it meaning, Lo,” he says. “I want as much as you’ll give me, but I’m not pressuring you. I’ll take all your free time now, or I’ll wait until you decide to be all the way mine.”

I stare back at him.

Whoa.

I’ve barely had guys stick around long enough for a second or third date. It’s hard to lock down a twenty-something-year-old when you come as a package deal with someone who can’t go to bed without a nightlight.

But Levi…he knows about all that. He knows my history. He knows my insane but phenomenal family. In some ways, he knows more than anyone. And he still wants to give this—to giveme—a try.

“Okay,” I say, biting my lip, and he smiles. He takes my face in his hands and kisses my forehead.

“Okay,” he says, “but there’s one thing we have to do.”

“What?” I ask.

“We have to tell your brother.”

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

levi

We finish pickingup the pieces of strewn clothes, throwing them in our bags, and I grab them and throw them over my shoulder. We walk out the door and to the elevator, and the whole time, she’s silent. When we get in and the doors close, I close the space between us and take her hand with my free one. Hers is clammy and tight, but I wriggle my way into it. I lace our fingers together and bend down to kiss the top of her head.

“You okay?” I ask.

She’s chewing on the tip of her thumbnail, staring blankly at the door. She doesn’t answer, so I nudge her gently.

“Hey,” I say again. She jumps.

“Hmm?”

“You okay?” I ask her. “Look, if you’re not comfortable with it, we don’t have to say anything yet. I was just thinking that if I’m planning on, you know,courtingyou,” I say, tickling her side and making her smile, “your brother—my best friend—deserves to know. I guess I just thought the earlier we tell him, the less likely it is that he will try to murder me.”

She smiles and shakes her head, then leans it back against the wall of the elevator.

“I think you’re right,” she says. “If we don’t say anything now, and something…happens…between us…”

I lean down and leave a soft kiss on her lips.

“Something’s happening, baby,” I tell her. “You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”

The door dings as the car slows, and I look back at her.

“Now? Or never?” I ask.

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