Page 14 of Rebel Bride
“Is this your place?”
“My family’s. Well, Aurora, my great-grandmother, but she signed it over to me and my siblings. We own it jointly.”
“And I can stay the night here?”
He frowned. “It sounded like you needed to get away from everything. No one will know you’re here unless you want them to.”
What a relief. I handed his jacket back to him. “Trying to cover up the evidence?”
“You were shivering. I didn’t even have the AC on.”
I tended to get cold easily. Dash hated that I was forced to bundle up, even in summer. He wanted to see my skin because it was an expectation of being a hockey player’s girlfriend, I supposed.
“Thank you.”
“Sure.” He stepped out of the car with his jacket. He didn’t put it back on, and I got a glimpse of his strong back muscles straining against the crisp white shirt. The one he wore because he was part of my fiancé’s wedding party.
What had I done?
Shelby Mae, for once, was silent.
I slipped on my shoes and exited the car. Hatch was already at the front door, opening it with a key he found under a stone frog. Such a cliché, but then everything about the Kershaw family was cozily cliché, from their perfect family dynamics to their media-friendly story. They weren’t as wealthy as Dash’s family, but they were rich in vibes.
Hatch looked over his shoulder to see me hesitating on the threshold, a vampire, waiting to be invited inside. That’s what I had been doing my entire life, and each new situation hurtled me back to that worldview. I had to reset, recalibrate, reinvent myself at every turn.
Here I was again, starting over. No job, no fiancé, no clue about what came next. Just trashy little Shelby Mae looking for a toehold on the rock face.
Hatch stared, his gaze dipping over my body. Probably wondering why he’d made this damn fool decision.
“You coming in?”
I nodded. “Lead the way.”
The inside was as blessed in appearance as the outside. A large, but not too large, great room with cozy furniture in a combination of navies and creams. An inviting stone fireplace, the mantel covered in family photos. This was a well-loved and lived in home, and I was instantly charmed.
Tiredness hit me like a Zamboni crashing into the plexi. I wanted to sit in one of the gingham-checked armchairs or lie flat on the velvet-tufted sectional, but I was still in my wedding dress, still wearing my clown make-up, still trussed up like a bridal turkey.
“You want to freshen up?”
Every time I thought of an obstacle, Hatch anticipated my need. It was one of his great strengths on the ice, how he knew what the opposition was about to do. It was almost eerie how often a player would move one way and find Hatch already bearing down, ready to steal the puck off his blade.
Now he was doing it again. Good thing I had nothing worth stealing, not even my pride.
“If you don’t mind.”
“There’s a bathroom on this floor but maybe you want to shower and change in the bigger one upstairs?”
At my nod, he led the way. I followed, feeling weary, but not so much I didn’t notice how good his ass looked in those tuxedo suit pants. The guys always rocked Euro supermodel in their game day suits but my eyes had never strayed to any ass other than my future husband’s.
One jilted groom later, and you’re already lookin’? I guess blood will out.
Oh, she’s back!
“This is Aurora’s room and en suite.” He gestured to what looked like a master bedroom. “There should be towels and everything you need in there.”
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”
He looked like he wanted to say something but bit back the words.
