Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Z ac Parotti might be known for his lightning quick reflexes on the ice but nothing had prepared him for this moment that seemed straight out of a movie.
Time seemed to slow into the thud of heartbeats and stalled breath as he realized what was about to happen to the woman in the overly-long feathery dress who was wobbling dangerously. He’d noticed her earlier. Noticed the way the crowds called for her. The way she air-kissed and hugged and was the center of attention. And while part of him had despised himself for being so weak as to notice the woman who clearly was here wanting to be photographed, another part had been pleasantly surprised to overhear her say something intelligent about tonight’s cause earlier, before other reporters had stolen his awareness.
All this passed through his brain in a matter of mere milliseconds, then he rushed forward and caught the falling princess-wannabe before she hit the deck, capturing her safely in his arms. “I’ve got you.”
Her long dark lashes fluttered as she blinked up at him, the look of terror from before melting into relief. “Oh my goodness—you’re my hero. Thank you.”
Her lips curved into a deep smile, one that squeezed his chest and threatened to steal air from his lungs. His clasp around her waist tightened, his hand reaching to touch her dark hair, strands of which had come loose from the intricate arrangement he’d noticed before. Soft, so soft. Just like the silky feathers of her dress. Just like the smooth skin he couldn’t help but notice as he cradled her shoulders.
He couldn’t have looked away even if he wanted. Her dark blue eyes held him captive, her red lips parted over white teeth, the perfection of her features searing his heart and mind. He’d met many pretty women before, but few he would count as beautiful. This woman—Ainsley, he thought he’d heard her called—was one.
Around them, he gradually grew aware of the many photographers and reporters. And the fact he was still bent holding her in his arms. That her leg with its glass slipper was stretched out in a dancer’s pose, like he remembered from watching Luc Blanchard hold his partner in the recent season of Dance Off Canada . And that if he didn’t move soon it would definitely look like something was going on between them. So he gently lifted her upright, one hand at her back to steady her as she tucked that jeweled shoe from sight.
“I think you need better shoes,” he murmured.
She glanced at him, tugging up her dress. “If I had my way I’d be wearing Converse.”
Huh. He thought women like her enjoyed getting dressed up and attending events like these. But what would he know? He was only here because a Stanley Cup win had apparently made him a hot commodity, and his agent and teammates had said it’d be good for his profile to attend. But obviously taking fashion advice from the likes of Chris Thomas had been a mistake. Who wore no socks in November? His feet were freezing, and he was used to ice. He didn’t know how Ainsley and the other women with no jackets on were coping. The sooner they all got out of here the better.
“Ainsley! Are you hurt?” A reporter called.
“I’m fine, guys. Thanks.” She lifted a hand, waved, her smile sparkling as before.
Clearly this woman was a pro, even if perhaps she didn’t love the spotlight as much as he’d first assumed.
“Ainsley, over here!” Another reporter called. “Is there any truth to the rumor that you’re dating Jason Streetley?”
Who? Zac dropped his hand away from her.
She pivoted back, her glance catching Zac’s again for the briefest of moments. He caught a glimpse of something that looked like exasperation, before that wide smile reappeared as she waved to fans on the opposite side of the steps.
“Ainsley? Are you okay?” Some guy he half-recognized hurried over, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his movements, his glance at Zac, clearly proprietary.
Zac stepped back. Okay, so she did have a boyfriend. Good to know.
“I’m fine.” She wriggled from the man’s grasp and faced Zac, her expression holding a plea.
But Zac wasn’t into stealing other guy’s girls. And while he thought they’d shared a moment of connection in that silent conversation when staring into each other’s eyes, she obviously wasn’t the one he was supposed to be looking for.
So he nodded, and offered tweaked lips, and a muttered, “Glad you’re okay,” and hurried past them and up the stairs.
“Dude.”
Zac peeked across to where Chris Thomas stood with his wife and some other teammates near the entrance. “Hey.”
“Was that Ainsley Beckett you were just holding?” Diana Thomas asked.
“Who’s she?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? She’s only the face of As The Heart Draws .”
“What’s that?”
“Oh my gosh!” She turned to her goalie husband. “I can’t even continue this conversation.”
Chris sighed loudly. “Ainsley Beckett is one of Canada’s most popular young actresses, a Christian known for her sweet roles including the lead role in western drama As The Heart Draws and many Hallmark movies,” he said, as if quoting from an IMDb biography. He nudged his wife. “How was that, hon?”
She ignored him, her eyes fixed on Zac. “You truly didn’t recognize her?”
Zac shrugged. “I don’t watch Hallmark movies.”
“But she’s so beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you are.” Chris kissed his wife on the cheek.
She rolled her eyes. “He’s proof that love is blind.”
“Well, obviously,” Chris said. “You say you love me, so there’s your proof right there.”
Judging from the flash in Diana’s eyes, that comment hadn’t landed the way Chris probably intended. Chris wasn’t exactly the first pick of calendars, his jovial, at times forthright personality more his trademark than his looks. But while Zac had never been married, he guessed no wife wanted her husband joking that she was beautiful because he was blind.
“You look amazing,” Zac told Diana sincerely. It was good to see her relaxed, after getting the chance to escape the pressures of her household for a time.
Her expression softened. “Thanks. I’ll never look like Ainsley though.”
“You don’t need to, hon,” Chris assured. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”
Her lips tweaked wryly. “A lot more perfect than my usual attire, anyway.”
Which, from his many visits to the Thomas household in recent months, usually consisted of jeans and a plaid shirt and Uggs. There was a reason he’d felt instantly comfortable there. “I think the best thing to wear is a genuine smile,” Zac told her. “And to be honest, it’s hard to know just how many smiles here are real.” Including some of the ones he’d seen Ainsley give.
“Yeah,” Logan Johansen finally joined the conversation. “Looking around, it’s hard to know just how much we see is real and how much is plastic, if you know what I mean.” He winked.
“Don’t be crass, man,” Chris shoved him none-too-gently before guiding Diana away.
“I bet you can tell us if Ainsley Beckett is all real, huh, Parotti?” Logan smirked at Zac.
“Excuse me?”
“You looked like you were copping a feel, eh, buddy?”
Zac’s cheeks heated. He sure hoped it hadn’t looked like that, especially with all the photographers around here. “I didn’t, and I wouldn’t, because I would never disrespect a woman like that. And if I ever hear you say anything like that again, I’ll be reporting you to team management.” And they’d be much more inclined to believe the team’s MVP than the man that many in the NHL questioned why he deserved a Stanley Cup ring.
“Whoa!” Beer fumes wafted from Logan. “Someone needs to calm down.”
“Someone else”—Zac pointed at Logan—“needs to learn to treat women with respect. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
“Speak for yourself,” Logan muttered, slinking inside the function room.
“Pretty sure he’s only here for the food, and to see if anyone’s dumb enough to go home with him,” Drew Stanley, the poor dude who’d often been Logan’s roommate on trips, said. “He’s just sore because it was you who caught Ainsley and he’s always been a huge fan of hers.”
“Really?”
Drew chuckled. “Yeah. I’ve caught him watching a Hallmark movie or two over the years. Not that he’d appreciate me telling you.”
Zac fist-bumped him as they went inside. “Thanks.”
“Any time.” Drew winked and moved to the table where Chris and Diana were already seated.
Which meant Zac should join them too. But first…
He glanced around the room, filled with celebrities and politicians schmoozing and boozing, although he never drank. Since their recent win there’d been a few parties like this, and while he could put on a front that pleased the bosses, he preferred watching video tape of games to this fake scene. All the hugs and air kisses, the heavy makeup that hid who people really were. Although from that moment with Ainsley, she hadn’t seemed overly made-up, with her features so close to perfection that he wondered what she’d look like without makeup on. Not that he should still be thinking about her, or looking for her in this crowded room, especially as she had a boyfriend. She likely wouldn’t even remember him, anyway. He was just a minion, while she was somewhere in the angelic tier.
That was why he appreciated Diana—she was real. She reminded him in some ways of his sister, or his mom, not that she’d probably like to be compared to a woman twice her age. But there was a maternal side to her, which probably came about as she was the mother of three kids. But even with the glow-up she’d had for tonight, Diana held an authenticity he valued. He’d met too many women in the past who were nothing like how they’d first appeared. And since becoming a Christian last month, he’d come to appreciate that he’d be better off keeping the whole relationship thing at a distance, at least until he’d figured out what a Christian relationship was supposed to look like.
“Excuse me.”
He turned, and his mouth dried. It was her. He swallowed, hoping for moisture as words failed to appear. This really shouldn’t be so hard. Come on, man, think . “Um, hi.”
Ainsley smiled, and his heart squeezed again. “I just wanted to thank you again for saving me from tumbling onto the gossip pages.”
“Uh…” Use real words . “Any time.”
“I’m Ainsley, by the way.”
“Zac.” He held out his hand.
She grasped it, seemingly oblivious to the sharp shock that accelerated up his arm. So this was what touching an angel felt like.
A flash of a camera dropped her hand, and most of her smile. “I should go. But it was nice to meet you, Zac.”
“You too.”
He felt a moment’s loss as she moved away, and couldn’t help but keep watching her as she moved to a table near the front of the room, smiling at everyone, before slipping into a seat next to her boyfriend.
Zac’s chest physically pained as the man leaned over and spoke into her ear, intimately it seemed. He exhaled slowly and turned away. No good would come of looking at that. Or thinking about her. This was probably some of that stuff the guys in the Bible study group were going on about, taking thoughts captive, not stirring up emotions, being wise with relationships and stuff. Stuff that he, as a baby Christian, as he’d heard one of them describe him, needed to learn.
“Zac Parotti!”
He turned and greeted the mayor whom he’d met back in June when the city had been buzzing with winning spirit. “Hello, sir.”
“Good to see my favorite player out on a night like this.”
He small-talked with the mayor, who thanked him—once again—for what he’d contributed to the city. “It’s always a team effort, sir.”
“Well, let me know if there’s ever anything I can do.”
He nodded then found his spot at the team’s table, between Drew and Diana, and glanced across the room to realize when he looked at the stage that Ainsley was directly in his line of sight. Awesome. So much for not thinking about her. Hey God, I know I’m new at this, but I could do with some help here.
“So, are you having fun?” Diana asked, as her husband talked to the guy beside him.
“Yeah.”
Drew nudged him. “I noticed you and Ainsley before.”
Zac shrugged. “She thanked me again. That’s all.”
“Yeah, Logan didn’t think that was all. He’s gone over to ask her out.”
“What?” Heat flared. But then he realized what his indignation looked like. He didn’t have the right to tell a man to stay away. He pasted on indifference. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s jealous of you.”
“Why? She’s got a boyfriend.”
Diana leaned forward. “She does?”
“The guy she’s with.”
“He’s her new co-star,” Diana said.
He was?
“Yeah, and no actress has ever gone out with a co-star, have they?” Drew rolled his eyes.
“Hmm.” Diana frowned. “I’ve read that she has gone out with a few actors before, so maybe you’re right.”
His heart squeezed.
“Queen of Romance still looking for the one,” Drew joked. “Which, judging from that look, isn’t Logan.”
Zac’s gaze lasered back to Ainsley again, the way she shrank away from Logan, like she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Yep, the man had obviously preloaded before coming tonight.
“Like he ever had a shot with her.” Diana scoffed. “She’s in a league way beyond him.”
Understatement of the year.
“Look.” Drew chuckled.
Zac bit back a smile as Ainsley’s co-star boyfriend stood up, glaring at Logan until their teammate threw up his hands and said loudly, “Can’t blame a man for trying.”
“Oh, we can,” Diana murmured.
“The dude has no clue,” Drew said.
“If you’re talking about Johansen then he needs Jesus,” Chris said, finally joining their conversation. “Just like you do, Drew.”
“Hey.”
“Come on. You know you once believed. God’s on your case, my friend. Just like he was on Zac’s.”
“Whoa.” Drew turned to him. “You’re a God-botherer now, too?”
“I prefer the term Christian,” he mumbled, shooting raised eyebrows at Chris, who seemed oblivious to what he’d just spilled.
Sure, he was learning he was supposed to be admitting his newfound faith, but he had thought he’d have more time to figure out how to admit to it, rather than being shoved into the deep end like this. Thanks, Chris.
“Wow. Why?” Drew asked. “I thought you had it all.”
Obviously he didn’t. “Something was still missing,” he admitted.
Chris and Diana had explained about a lot of stuff in recent months, ever since he’d first started asking questions when his Stanley Cup ring and MVP trophy at the NHL awards hadn’t filled the hollow space within. He’d been sure they would, but… no. He still felt as empty as before. Which was scary for a hockey player who’d seen his name mentioned alongside some of the greats, like Gretzky, Crosby, and Karlsson. What was wrong with him that the epitome of success in hockey no longer satisfied?
For as long as he’d been playing in Vancouver he’d always noticed how Chris Thomas had a kind of peace about him. Sure, the man was rough as broken bricks sometimes, and his kids seemed like they’d come from a different planet, but despite the pressures in his life he still seemed to own an inner calm Zac had envied. So he’d angled an invitation or two to get to know him, which had led to conversations that had quickly plunged much deeper than he’d ever experienced before. Which then led to an introduction to the other guys in the online Bible study, which was how he’d gotten to know Calgary’s Mike and Franklin, Winnipeg’s Luc, Edmonton’s Ryan Guillemette and San Jose’s Jai Mullins. They’d welcomed him, answered his questions, seemed honest and forthright, and celebrated when he finally gave his heart to the Lord, as Diana Thomas put it, last month. Since then his life had been a wild ride. The rush of a spiritual high. Then grappling with practical truths. Like, a growing certainty that God didn’t want him looking at women like he had before, and cleaning up his mouth, and learning to be more generous with the many blessings of his life.
Which was part of why he’d agreed to come tonight. He’d grown up next door to a man who had killed his wife, and he’d never forgotten the raw looks on the kids’ faces when they’d been escorted away by police. When he’d gotten his first NHL contract, he’d tracked them down to where they were staying with grandparents and sent anonymous gifts, but that always felt like too little too late.
Tonight’s fundraiser, supporting research into why domestic violence occurred and fundraising for services to stop it happening further, felt like a good thing, even a God thing, which was what he’d tried to explain. Until Chris had looked at him with a tilted head and said he felt like maybe God had more for him at this event than merely raising money. That maybe Zac should trust God with some of the bigger questions he had, like how to find a woman who wasn’t into him for his fame or money or the perks of being associated with one of the NHL’s supposed superstars. That Zac should pray and ask God to bring along that kind of woman and then—how had Chris put it? That’s right—step out in faith and trust that God would bring her along at the right time. Just as God had for Mike, Jai, Franklin, Ryan and now Luc, with his dancer girlfriend, who Chris had teased would probably become his fiancée by the new year.
And sure, Zac was a new believer, but this stepping out in faith thing seemed a step too far. He liked statistics, measurable goals, knowing where he was going, what he could see. Which made trusting in Someone he couldn’t see a little hard to swallow sometimes. Until the alternative—that his life was ultimately meaningless unless there was a God who was bigger than himself—had shown just how much he longed to have this world make sense, even when there was a lot still to learn. Like how to share his newfound faith.
Logan returned, his disappointment plain.
“Someone struck out, huh?” Drew teased.
He sighed. “Man. She’s even more gorgeous up close, but her boyfriend told me to”—expletive—“off.”
Wow. Ainsley was going out with a man like that?
“Dude, watch your mouth,” Chris warned. “There are ladies present.”
“Ladies like Parotti,” Logan mumbled.
A sharp inhale went around the table. Zac could either ignore it, or make a stand.
He put his glass down and slowly faced Logan. Over the years he’d learned a few things about dealing with those with bullying or gaslighting tendencies. Few liked to repeat themselves—especially in company—as it tended to take much of the initial heat out of their rage. “Could you repeat that?”
“Look, you don’t drink, you don’t fight, you don’t go to strip joints—”
“Is that what makes a real man, is it?” Chris sneered. “Guess that means I’m not one either.”
“I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to him.” Logan stabbed a finger at Zac.
“Dude, you’re drunk. You need to go home,” Drew said.
“I’m not drunk.”
“You’re embarrassing yourself. You can’t say that stuff about Zac. He’s tough as nails, and we’ve all seen him with plenty of girls over the years.”
Zac’s neck heated. Something that he wasn’t proud of. Not now. Not now he was trying to live God’s way.
“Yeah? I haven’t seen him with a single chick this year.”
“Well, as you said before, he probably doesn’t hang out the same places as you seem to prefer,” Chris said.
This support was nice, but Zac did own a mouth. “I’ve been a little too busy this past year to go on many dates. You know, busy being focused on winning the Stanley Cup.”
Chris reached past Diana and fist-bumped him. “And all of Vancouver thanks you for that, brother.”
Just then the emcee announced they were about to begin, and Zac settled back in his chair, determined to ignore the man sitting sullenly two seats away. His determination to ignore the woman seated two tables away was less easy, as her every smile and movement seemed to draw his attention.
But what was the point? She had a boyfriend, and his name wasn’t Zac. And for all of Chris’s encouragement for Zac to trust God with his love life, it seemed weird when the first woman to pique his interest in years was already in a relationship. So clearly these feelings were wrong, and weren’t from God. Lord, You better take these feelings away if they’re not from You.
Chris might be right about a lot of things, but trusting that God might just have a woman for Zac at the White Night event tonight?
Clearly the man didn’t have a clue.