Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
A insley smoothed her hands down her brand-new Vancouver Parotti jersey. It had been delivered to her apartment, along with two tickets. She hadn’t expected the second ticket, but knew of all the people in her world there was really only one she should ask. So she’d asked Benson, and he’d nearly yelped in excitement. Which was why he was now driving them while she wondered how she’d do small talk with his teammates and not lie.
“Almost there, Ains.”
“It looks busy.” Cars were everywhere. There was a reason public transport was encouraged at these events. But she couldn’t do public transport, or walking, thanks to the likelihood of recognition, so car it was. Zac had given her instructions on where to go, who to meet, and assured her that Chris Thomas would have his wife meet Ainsley there.
She appreciated Zac’s thoughtfulness. Likely he’d had to do that for other girls, so he knew what had to be done, but she was grateful he thought of her.
Because for all she might be good at putting on a public face and acting with more confidence than she felt, anxiety still roamed through her stomach at tonight’s pretense. She might be acting like one of his girlfriends from the past, kitted out in a new jersey and sitting with the WAGs in the family section, but she wasn’t really his girlfriend. Not really. This was all pretense. So she needed to make sure she didn’t put a foot wrong.
Benson parked, and they were soon joining the long lines. In addition to her jersey she had a baseball cap pulled low over her face, and a thick scarf covering half her face. She wore a thick black overcoat too, jeans and her Converse. She hoped she didn’t look much like the Ainsley Beckett people came to expect of her, and Benson was certainly not the kind of person people would expect to see her with. She clutched his arm. He was good to hold onto, there were so many people about.
“Don’t worry, Ains, your disguise is set.”
She smiled, smiled at how Zac had started calling her that name, too. It was like he already fit in with her family, despite not meeting any of them. Although that would change tonight.
Zac’s instructions meant they were taken to a different door. After she’d gone through security, and was recognized, and had to pose for photos, she and Benson were escorted to the suite level. Once there she had to meet more people, smile, do her best to recall names. But the noise was starting to overwhelm her.
“Ainsley?”
She turned, met a brunette woman in her early thirties whom some might call plain.
“I’m Diana Thomas. Chris’s wife. Zac asked me to meet you.”
Ainsley’s smile slipped into genuine. “Thank you. It’s all a little overwhelming.”
“Says the woman who crushes red carpets all the time.”
“Not all the time.” She introduced Benson, then Diana introduced her to several other wives and girlfriends of the players.
“I don’t come as much as some do,” Diana admitted. “Chris and I have three children who keep us on our toes. Well, they keep me on my toes as he’s away so much.”
Poor thing. “How old are they?”
“Tanner is seven, Jack is six, and Faith is four.”
“I hope I can meet them one day.”
Diana nodded. “Well, help yourself to what you would like to eat and drink. We have seats down this way.”
Ainsley eyed the food and beverage offerings, took a small chicken salad and mineral water, then followed Diana to the seats. This view was impressive, and she could see the warm-ups were already happening, the men skating as they shot pucks and stretched as lights danced and music blared. Oh, this was exciting!
She glanced across at where Benson beamed. He looked like a kid at a candy store.
“He’s excited that you’re here,” Diana said.
“Benson? Oh, he’s come to games before, but has never sat up in a suite like this.”
“No, I meant Zac.”
“Oh!” How sweet to think someone who others considered such a great player was excited to have her here. “It’s great to finally come.”
“And be seen by the fans, huh?”
She glanced at Diana. How much did she know?
Diana wore a troubled look. “I know about you and him.”
“Oh.” That’s right. Zac had mentioned that before.
“He’s a good guy, Ainsley.”
“I know.”
“You need to be careful with his heart.”
“He knows what this is,” she murmured.
“Hmm.”
Ainsley glanced at her quickly. That didn’t sound like she agreed. “He’s told me he wanted me to come.”
Diana’s lips pressed together and she faced the ice. “Look, they’re coming off again.”
Ainsley sat back in her seat. Did Diana not like her or something? She knew she couldn’t win over everybody, but it’d be good to think that one of Zac’s good friends, whom he’d mentioned several times before, liked her a little bit at least.
Diana excused herself to go talk to some others, and Ainsley talked with her dad. Then realized a few people were looking at her, which meant she needed to prep for potential photos.
She removed her cap and unwrapped the big scarf, and placed them on the tiny table between her seat and Diana’s. Then refreshed her lipstick and smoothed her hair. She had to look like Zac’s supportive girlfriend, cheering him on, ready to help convince people their fake relationship was real.
But it felt awfully real, especially when the game began, and she stood to her feet and whooped and hollered, and cheered him on. He was so exciting to watch, dynamic, weaving in and out of the opposition. They were playing San Jose, who seemed to already be recognizing that Vancouver had come to play fierce tonight.
Diana glanced at her during one of the stoppages of play. “You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”
“Hockey is such a fun game to watch.”
“I’ve always thought that.”
“How did you and Chris meet?”
Diana smiled, her face thawing some more. “I’ve always thought it would make a good story for one of your movies.”
She’d heard that a million times before, but okay.
“We knew each other in high school. I helped him with his math, so we were friends. His parents attended my church, but we didn’t really connect too much until one day when I was at a hockey game and he accidentally hit me with a puck.” Diana touched her forehead. “I still have a faint scar.”
“What happened?”
“He skated over, was so apologetic, and I told him I’d make him pay. So I married him, and I’ve made him pay ever since.”
Ainsley laughed. “That story is gold.”
Diana sipped her drink. “If you use it, let me know.”
That was exactly the kind of story the network was always looking for. Small town. Family. Misadventure. But with depth and heart. Maybe she didn’t have to veer so dramatically sideways in her acting, and could still be involved in telling real stories that would connect, yet still had heart.
“I was joking,” Diana said.
“No, you just got me thinking.”
“You could call it ‘Struck By Love’.”
Ainsley snickered. “You’ve even thought of a title?”
“I’ve had nearly two decades to think about it. It’s nice to remember the time when it was all warm fuzzies, before the real loving had to begin.”
Ainsley drew in a sharp breath, but the moment to ask what she meant was lost as Zac scored a goal.
She noticed people turn to look at her, a camera turn her way, and Benson nudged her. “Look who’s on-screen.”
She glanced at the jumbotron, saw her face there, and smiled and waved. Then resumed her seat.
And resumed her thinking on Diana’s comment before. Did she truly think that what Ainsley’s movies portrayed was only romantic warm fuzzies? To be fair, that’s what she kind of thought too, sometimes. But nobody, apart from Mack, had said that to her in a very long time.
She glanced at Diana. “Zac mentioned you and Chris go to church somewhere.”
She nodded. “Well, he goes in the offseason. It’s harder when they’re playing, of course.”
“What church?”
Diana mentioned one in the burbs. “How about you?”
“I do more online church than a real one.”
“It must be hard when you’re famous to feel like you can go somewhere and just be.”
“So hard.”
Diana nodded. “I think Zac finds the same.”
Another thing they had in common. She wondered what it would be like to attend church with him. To have kids to take to Sunday school, to see them grow up in a youth group like she had, before drama classes and theater performances had stolen her weekends. Those years with youth group had been good years. And what she wanted for her kids one day. If she ever was to have children.
The first period ended, and she settled back and small-talked with Benson and some others, posed for some photos, then visited the bathroom.
While in the stall, she heard a couple of women come in, continuing their conversation. “… so full of herself. Did you see her on the jumbotron before?”
She winced. She had some idea who the “her” might be.
“I know, right? She’s not even that pretty.”
“I don’t know what he sees in her.”
“Right? I’m not buying it.”
She wasn’t?
“I bet she’ll just dump him like she has all the others. Then he’ll play bad and we’ll be losing again.”
She flushed, and opened the stall door and washed her hands, catching their looks of shock in the mirror. She half-smiled, but said nothing. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion, and she knew she didn’t look like she did when she was glammed up for a glitzy event. But still, it stung to realize that some people obviously did not want her here.
She blinked back emotion—the women weren’t the first who’d made nasty comments—and returned to her seat, and picked up her phone. Notifications were already popping up about where she’d been seen. Her excitement when he’d scored. The fact he’d looked up at her and smiled. She hadn’t seen that, but already there was a video online showing his smile.
Oh, he was selling this so much better than she was. How could those women have not believed them? Was her reputation truly so bad that they just thought she’d chew him up and spit him out? This was why she needed to have a relationship that worked. This was why she had to work harder to convince people that they were an item. Maybe it was time to change some rules, to hug a little, maybe even… kiss.
She shivered, and Benson encouraged her to put on her jacket. “It’s cold in here.”
Sure was. Between those women and Diana she was feeling frozen out.
“Excuse me.” Diana passed by her then took her seat.
Ainsley blinked hard, pasted a smile on her face.
Diana touched her arm. She turned. “I heard what they said.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Kirsten and Meg. They didn’t mean anything by it.”
“You were in the bathroom, too?”
Diana nodded. “You left, and you should’ve heard them continue. They couldn’t believe you didn’t say anything, and I think they were both embarrassed. As they should be. This isn’t high school. And Zac is not a toy.”
Ainsley pressed her lips together. That sounded like a warning. “He’s a good guy,” she murmured.
“He is. And he’s trying to be a good Christian guy. And I’m sorry, but I’m just not very comfortable with the fact that you guys are both trying to sell a lie.”
Ainsley exhaled. “It’s supposed to help him out.”
“By keeping the girls away?”
She nodded. “That’s what he said.” He’d meant it, right? “And yes, it’s supposed to help me with my reputation as well, but I’m not going to hurt him. He knows what this is about.”
“I hope so.” Diana smiled. “Because you surprised me. I like you—”
Wait—she did?
“—and you’re a lot more down to earth than I thought, so I think you’d be good for him. And not just in a fake relationship.”
She winced. But that was the problem. She’d worked hard to convince him this could never be real. And now this was starting to feel like a tangled mess that she didn’t know what to do with.
* * *
Zac glanced up to where the WAGs sat, spotting Ainsley. Even though she wore similar colors to everyone else, she still seemed to hold a radiance about her, like someone in the rafters had shone a soft spotlight on her, like the angel dust he’d thought she possessed when they first met.
He returned his attention to the game, chewing his mouthguard, as the top penalty kill unit worked to eradicate Logan’s latest misdemeanor. Drew passed to Jonas, who passed it back to Chris, who sent it around the back to the defenseman. Ten seconds later and Zac joined the second unit. He didn’t play on it all the time, but sometimes did to help give them an edge. The whistle blew, the penalty box opened, and Logan rejoined the play.
Jai Mullins was still one of San Jose’s speediest skaters, although his skills were occasionally eclipsed by their latest acquisition, Doug Lehtonen. Lehtonen had been Brent Karlsson’s right-hand man for years, so his recent defection to the west coast had shocked the NHL last trading season. But he’d settled in well—a bit too well, it seemed, as they scored.
Zac rejoined the bench, refocused on the game. They couldn’t lose, not on Ainsley’s first visit to a game. When it was time to return to the ice he took the face-off, won the draw, and within fifteen seconds, Logan had passed to him and he flicked it five-hole and scored.
Yes. He fist-pumped, and glanced up to where Ainsley was jumping, and pointed to her. She grinned, placing a hand over her heart. Man, he loved having her out there, knowing she was there cheering for him.
“Awesome skills, man,” Drew pounded him on the back. “She’s good luck. Better make sure she’s here in playoffs.”
He skated down the line fist-bumping his teammates, as Drew’s words lingered in his head. Playoffs started in April, way past the February 14 timeline that she’d set.
Would they still be together then? Or would he have finally tipped this fakeness into something real? Whatever it was, he couldn’t wait to speak to her and perhaps gauge if she felt the same.
“You were fantastic!” Ainsley smiled up at him.
He opened his arms, and she stepped in. Yes, they weren’t supposed to be hugging, but it would look weird if they didn’t. It would likely look weird enough that they didn’t kiss. Kissing Ainsley… He shivered.
“So, what happens now?” she asked, looking up at him.
“Well, you introduce me to your dad, for starters.”
“Oh! I can’t believe I didn’t do that.” She drew her father closer. “Dad, this is Zac. Zac, this is Benson, my stepfather.”
Stepfather? Okay. “Sir.” He held out a hand.
Benson beamed. “I know I must look like a little kid, but this is honestly one of the most exciting moments of my life.”
Zac laughed. “Well, it may surprise you, but I’m pretty excited to have you and Ainsley here tonight, too.” He glanced at the woman tucked into his side. “I’ve been asking for you to come for a while now, haven’t I, babe?”
She rolled her eyes, and murmured, “He knows.”
Oh. That’s right. She’d told him that before. But it didn’t change the fact that it was still true. He listened to Benson for a bit, but soon introduced him to a coach and found a way to angle Ainsley away, and sneak an arm around her. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot.”
“It really was so exciting.”
Her shining eyes said it was. “So you’ve had fun?”
The luster dimmed a little, then she nodded.
“What? What happened?”
“Nothing. Nothing that matters right now.”
He saw how she glanced to the side as two of the WAGs walked past. He couldn’t remember who they were, if they were a player’s sisters or whatever. But he didn’t like the way they looked at Ainsley, and he wondered if her concern had something to do with them.
So he drew her closer, wrapped her in a hug much like during their bike ride, except this time felt a little more than just a show.
He wanted to protect this woman, wanted to prove the naysayers wrong. She was special, and didn’t deserve the condescension of others.
“Zac,” she whispered.
“Just follow my lead,” he murmured back. This was his turf, his arena, and those here needed to see that he wanted her here. So he cupped her head, and pressed his lips to her cheek, closed his eyes and breathed her in.
She froze for a second, then relaxed. Then he wondered what she would do if he went with his first inclination and kissed her. Probably push him back and give the game away. But hopefully there’d be time for a kiss, down the track, soon.
He cradled her for a moment, until Chris cleared his throat. “You gonna give the girl a chance to breathe?”
“Right, sorry.” He pulled back, caught her smile, her pink cheeks. And he wondered if she was such a good actress that she meant to look as starry-eyed as that, or whether she might just mean it after all.
She lifted her hand to his cheek, and he was sorely tempted to press a kiss to her palm. But again, perhaps that was too much, too soon. She wanted to convince people this was real, and that might be pushing things a little far.
“So, you two.” Drew pulled alongside. Held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Drew.”
She grasped it. “Ainsley. Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” He held onto her hand. “You can thank me, you know.”
“For?”
Zac sighed. “He’s the one who used my phone to send you a message.”
“You’re him?”
Huh. He hadn’t expected her to brighten up like that.
“Then I do thank you. Thank you.”
Drew blinked. “Uh, you’re welcome.”
“You can let go of her hand now,” Zac drawled.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Ainsley glanced at Zac, then back at Drew. “Isn’t it good how God can use all sorts of things and people for his purposes?”
“Um, yeah?” Drew’s forehead had creased. “But that was nothing to do with God. That was just me playing a prank.”
“Was it though?” Her head tilted as she smiled at him more. “Or did God spark that idea that gave you a nudge to do what He wanted?”
Zac bit back a smile at Drew’s look. He wasn’t used to Zac’s girlfriends talking about God to him.
“I, um, guess?”
“God’s got your number, man,” Chris said.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ainsley called.
“Nice to meet you ,” Chris said, giving Ainsley a fist bump.
She laughed. “Sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”
“God?” Zac suggested.
She smiled. “Maybe? Drew seems nice anyway. Even if what he did was a completely wrong thing to do, I’m glad he did it.”
“Me too.”
“So, Zac thought you weren’t gonna be able to make a game for a while,” Chris said.
“My schedule got changed. Now that the big storm front has passed it means we go away tomorrow.”
Disappointment crowded his chest. “Tomorrow?” He’d hoped to have more time with her.
She nodded. “But I’ll be back in a week or so.”
“Then we’ll go on another date?” He didn’t care if it made him sound needy. He was needy. He needed her.
“Sure.”
“We have a Christmas party coming up soon,” Chris said. “You’ll have to get him to bring you to that.”
“Already sorted,” Zac said, slinging an arm around her again. Man, he liked having her here. They fit together perfectly.
Chris nodded, glanced at Diana who’d joined them now. “And maybe we’ll have to have you join us at ours for a meal one day soon.”
“I’d like that,” Ainsley said.
“I would, too,” Diana said. Then she eyed him. “Because I think the both of you have to work out what happens next.”
He nodded. Like how real they could make this.