Page 151 of Lucky Shot
“You’re a hard woman to get to,” he says.
We’re still in the middle of a packed room and people are looking at him with curiosity and interest. Even if they don’t follow hockey, he looks the part of a professional athlete in his black athletic pants and fitted T-shirt.
“I feel like I’m dreaming. What are you doing here?”
He frames my face with both hands, then gazes at me like he’s refamiliarizing himself with it. “I’m so proud of you. All the people carrying your books around, dying to meet you. I took an elevator with your face on it.”
A laugh slips from my lips as he brings his mouth down on mine. His beard is back, and the feel is scratchy against my face.
All the panels are letting out now and the hallways are filled with people moving to the next event. Which means I don’t have a lot of time.
“How did you get in here?” I ask him.
“I bought a ticket.”
“They sold out months ago.”
“Fine.” His lips curve up. “I bribed a nice woman in the lobby to borrow her badge. He flips the tag attached to his neck lanyard around. It says Debbie. “I had to give her my ID in exchange so she knew I wouldn’t take off with it. And I thought hockey fans were intense.”
“Speaking of hockey, shouldn’t you be at camp?”
“We have today off, but I have to get back tonight for a meeting.”
“You came all this way for the day?” My heart squeezes.
“Hello!” Molly chirps as she pops up next to us. “You must be Nick Galaxy.”
“Yes, ma’am. And you must be the wonder agent.”
“That’s right.” Molly grins at him, then switches to business mode. “We need to get you to the signing room.”
“Yeah. Okay.” I glance at Nick.
“Go. I don’t want to get in the way.”
“Can he come with me?” I ask Molly, then to Nick I say, “I guess I should have asked you first. Do you want to come?”
“Definitely,” he says quickly.
Molly thinks for a second. “Yeah. I can probably swing that. Give me five minutes to clear it and get him a badge. In the meantime, you two get to the signing room.”
I take Debbie’s badge from Nick. “Can you also return this? She’s in the lobby.”
With a nod, she reaches for the badge and then turns on her heel and power walks away.
Nick’s smile slowly builds as he looks at me. “She’s something.”
“Right? I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
His hand finds mine and intertwines our fingers. All around us, people are moving and talking, but I focus on Nick. I still can’t believe he’s here. It’s odd seeing him outside of Moonshot. We were in such a bubble this summer and it crossed my mind once or twice since then that maybe our fling was a product of proximity and nothing else. I can easily cross that theory off now.
“I don’t want to get in the way or interrupt. I just had to see you. I couldn’t wait to see you again.”
“Me too. I was seriously considering flying out to see you tomorrow.”
“Really?” His grin is back and though I can’t see them, I know his dimples are buried under that beard.
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure if you’d think it was charming or clingy.”
