Page 55 of Dreaming About Forever

People had done things for her before. She’d been helped into hundreds of dresses and costumes between parties and concerts, but Jordan Taylor helping her lace up ice skates hit differently. She wasn’t getting ready to put on a show. He was going to walk her through something new, and his patience had a wave of gratefulness welling in her chest.

“You want to lace the skates tight, so your ankles are supported,” he said as he carefully wove the laces. When her skates were on, he put his on and stood, offering her a hand.

Alicia slowly got to her feet, using his hand for support way more than she’d expected. They carefully walked along the path to the rink.

“Just hold onto me when you need to. You’re going to angle the blades like this,” he said, showing her the stance.

“Like this,” she said, putting her skates where he said.

“Just like that. Now, you’re going to push out, shifting your weight from this side to that side.”

Alicia made the move, shaking and keeping her death grip on Jordan’s hands as he faced her, skating backward.

“You make it look easy,” she said as a kid who looked to be about ten years old skated past them.

“I played hockey growing up.”

Alicia jerked her attention from her skates to him. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty common around here. I was a major Colorado Ice Hawks fan.”

Alicia looked back at the skates. The image of a little Jordan dreaming of playing hockey with the pros brought a smile to her face. “You’re not anymore?”

Jordan chuckled. “I don’t have much time to watch sports anymore. Too busy studying maps and putting together security plans.”

They skated along, and moving came easier with every minute. “Do you miss it?”

“Sports? Not really. I love what I do.”

“Taking care of entitled celebrities?” she asked.

Jordan slowed their pace and squeezed her hands. “You know I don’t think that. Plus, it’s not always celebrities. I’ve worked for politicians, political families, CEOs. I worked for a murderer once.”

“A murderer!”

“Shh, keep your voice down. Yeah, he was up for trial, and because of the circumstances of his case, anyone who knew about it wanted him dead.”

“Wow. What was that like?”

It was getting easier to push through the steps, and Jordan swung around to her side, keeping his hold on one hand. “I love justice just as much as the next guy, but I still don’t want to see someone killed in the street before a fair trial.”

Alicia watched her skates and focused on balancing. “I’ve never seen a hockey game.”

“You’ve never been to a hockey game?”

“No, I’ve never watched one on TV either. I don’t watch a lot of TV. Everything is on the internet.”

Jordan was silent, and she looked up to meet his gaze. “You want to go to one?” he asked.

“That sounds like fun.”

The air halted in Alicia’s throat. Was he asking her to go with him? She wouldn’t want to go by herself. If she went within the next month, he’d go with her as her security agent, but that wasn’t the same as going as her date.

19

ALICIA

It was full dark before they pulled back up at the ranch. Alicia stretched her neck and groaned. “I think I worked out muscles that hadn’t been used in ages today.”

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