Page 2 of Here Be Dragons
Shane groaned. "Don't I know it."
Ava looked at him over the rim of her glass. "So I'm assuming that's why you have to wear cheap track pants at a resort in the Hamptons," she said before taking a sip.
Shane looked down sheepishly at his lap. "Should I have dressed up to drink a beer?"
"It is the Hamptons," she replied. "Although I think they look fine."
"Well, thanks, I guess," he said sarcastically. "Would it be better or worse if I told you that I actually got them for free from work?"
He gave her a lopsided smile, his head tilting just a bit to let a loose curl of his dark brown hair fall over his forehead. It made Ava think thoughts she probably shouldn't think about the team captain of her brother's biggest rival.
But while she was loyal to Jack and loyal to the Detroit Pirates -- she was a fan after all -- did she really have to bethatloyal? Couldn't she have a little fun? So what if Shane Taylor was the captain of the Cleveland Dragons? He was also a damn good looking man.
Ava definitely appreciated having good-looking men in her bed -- there was nothing wrong with that. And she wasn't one to shy away from the occasional one-night stand -- there was nothing wrong with that either. It really did annoy her that women were thought of as sluts for having fun on their own terms while men were thought of as masculine and strong for doing the same damn thing.
But again, Ava didn't mind bucking the stereotypes of what a "proper woman" should be. She didn't become a successful lawyer charging a ridiculous hourly rate by doing nothing. She could be whatever she wanted to be in the boardroom and the bedroom. Right now, what she wanted to be was a woman who could have a cocktail and a good time before she had to buckle down and beat some lawyers into submission tomorrow.
Ava took another drink and looked back at Shane with flirtatious eyes. "So what kind of work do you do that they give you free clothes?"
"I play hockey." Shane took a drink of his beer, his eyes casually wandering up her body again. "What about you? Here for work?"
"Yep."
She was purposely going to stay vague. No use explaining more than she needed to, no need to show her cards just yet. There was definitely no reason to tell him that she knew exactly who he was and she had always wondered what it would be like to screw a hockey player.
"What kind of work do you do?" Shane asked casually.
"Oh, I'm here to help out my brother's business."
She looked out over the water, letting the quietness linger between them. It was a good way to make him uncomfortable so she could change the subject before he started asking more questions. Another trick she learned at law school.
"So this place seems kind of stuffy for a hockey player," she finally said.
"I didn't choose it," he told her. "It's just a stupid work thing I have to do."
"They never choose a fun place for work things, do they?" she asked. "Like snorkeling or hiking or something."
"Or roller coasters."
Ava choked on her drink. That was not an answer she was expecting from a masculine hockey player.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Roller coasters." He smiled and stood up, grabbing his half-empty beer glass and walking over to her table. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the empty seat next to her.
She gave him a flirtatious smile and nodded, her eyes pausing for just a moment on the Dragons logo on his pants moving against his muscular hockey thighs as he sat and put his beer down next to her glass.
"I play hockey in Cleveland and there's this amusement park in northern Ohio called Cedar Point," he explained. "It's amazing and has these ridiculous roller coasters and I know I'm over 30 and shouldn't be acting like some dumb teenage kid running around an amusement park, but they're exhilarating."
"So why exactly do you like them?"
"No nonsense, no boring meandering," he said. "You go up that first hill and then it's straight to the point."
Shane gave her a determined smile, his eyes smoldering as they stared at her before he finally grabbed his beer and took another drink. Even if Ava didn't know that this was THE Shane Taylor, world-famous captain of the Dragons, she would find him sexy right now. Sure, that hockey ass and those thick thighs definitely helped, but he was also a man who, without saying it, could convey exactly what he wanted. And right now, he seemed to want the same thing she did -- at least that's what she hoped.
That didn't mean she wasn't going to make him work for it a little.
She asked what he had been doing in the Hamptons so far. He only told her he was there for "meetings." She had to give him some credit for being as vague as she was. He talked to her about what it was like to live in Cleveland.
