Page 36 of Three Pucks and a Baby

“Good girl.”

My words sent a shudder through her. But she quickly focused her attention back on putting one foot in front of the other. Considering her current snail’s pace, it was going to take five minutes to make it to the ice.

“Say something to get my mind off things,” Vivian said.

Frowning, I asked, “What would you like me to say?”

“Tell me about your family,” she implored.

“That’s so basic,” I grunted.

“I don’t care. Do it.”

Cocking a brow at her, I said, “Are you trying to command me again?”

“No. I just want to hear about your family.”

“Don’t forget who is in charge,” I reminded her.

Vivian stared wide-eyed at me. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Fine. It’s just me and my parents.”

“An only child. I can see that.”

“What does that mean?”

She gave me a sly grin. “I think it’s the confidence and the bossiness that does it for me.”

I laughed. “I would agree with you on those two. Of course, I’m just glad you didn’t say I was spoiled.”

In a teasing tone, Vivian replied, “I think the jury is still out on that one, Mr. Range Rover.”

I huffed an indignant breath. “A vehicle doesn’t make me spoiled.”

“It does when you couple it with expensive clothes and exotic vacations.” At my questioning look, she winked. “You’re not the only one who can stalk socials.”

“I see,” I grunted.

“Do you still deny being at least a teeny bit spoiled?”

“Maybe.”

“It’s not a terrible thing, Theo. My parents spoiled me and my siblings.” With a knowing grin, she replied, “I mean, they weren’t taking us to Bora Bora, but we had all the cool gadgets that the other kids did.”

I snorted. “Did you just use the word gadget?”

“Uh, maybe?” A sheepish look came over her face. “It’s the hazard of being the daughter of a structural engineer.”

“That makes sense.” Tilting my head at her, I asked, “Speaking of your dad, you didn’t want to follow in his footsteps and do engineering?”

Vivian wrinkled her nose. “No. I had no interest in any of that. All that DNA went to my brother, Walker.”

“I assume he’s an engineer as well?”

She nodded. “Yep. My dad even got him a job at the company he works for.” With a cheeky little smile, she added, “You could say he’s a little spoiled.”

“I see where you’re going with that. And I would say despite what you assume, I can assure you that I’m not spoiled in the traditional sense. My father instilled a hard-as-hell work ethic in me.”

---