Chapter 7
Belle
The hour spent at the VIP experience was the longest hour of my life. Dramatic? I think not. I dare anyone to be in the same room as Holden Prescott and not look at him in all his handsome hockey player glory.
Once Maggie and I had left his table, I hadn’t looked at him one time.
How I’d managed this feat was still a miracle to me.
I had wanted to—had almost done it about a million times—but from some inner strength I didn’t even know I possessed, my eyes behaved.
Barely. I had practically run out of the event room after meeting the last athlete.
The number of times I’d said the word boyfriend in my head during that hour was enough to have me hating the word.
Not that I hated Alex, but I definitely hated how he was working when he’d told me this trip would be about reconnecting.
So much for that. Now I was wondering if I should have listened to my siblings and not only said no to this trip but gone through with my breakup speech.
I had no desire to spend a week hanging out with his mother while he worked, as nice of a lady as she was.
Although, I could get some amazing photos here, so that would be something.
Walking back into my hotel room, I stopped short at the sight of Alex repacking one of his bags.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You’re never going to believe it,” he said, barely sparing me a glance as he shoved in his toiletry bag. “You know that Sterling deal I’ve been telling you about?”
How could I forget? It was all he talked about lately.
“Well, they want to meet tomorrow,” he said without waiting for a response. “This is huge. Might be one of the biggest deals of my career.”
“So, wait, we’re leaving?” I asked, not sure I understood what exactly the plan was now.
“No, just me.” He still hadn’t stopped packing. “I’m flying out tonight and then meeting with them in the morning. I’ll be on a flight back here tomorrow night. You’ll hardly know I was gone.”
I stood there, not knowing what to say. Was he really going to leave? We hadn’t even spent any time together or done any of the fun activities he’d said we would do.
“But I thought you said you weren’t going to work this week—that we were going to spend quality time together to rebuild our relationship.
” I hated how my words sounded desperate.
I wasn’t sure if I was desperate to save our relationship or desperate to prove that coming on this trip wasn’t the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
He zipped up his bag and came to stand in front of me, taking both my hands in his.
“This is really important to me,” he said, like he was explaining something to a child.
“Yes, I’ll be gone for a day, but we’ll still have the rest of the week to do all the Christmas things together. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I pulled my hands out of his. “Okay.” Because what else did you say when your boyfriend cared more about a meeting than you, and now he was stranding you seventeen hundred miles from home?
I guessed one day without him wouldn’t kill me.
There was plenty to do at this resort to fill my time.
Their weeklong itinerary was full of every Christmas activity imaginable, and I wasn’t opposed to doing any of them alone.
Mostly. I preferred to be with someone and had never been great at being by myself. But maybe that was what I needed.
“I knew you would understand,” he said, placing a light kiss on my cheek. “Walk me out?”
I forced a small smile and nodded.
He talked more about the Sterling deal as we made our way down to the lobby, where a car would be waiting to take him to the airport, and I tried to pay attention, but I couldn’t find it in me to care, as rude as that sounded.
I couldn’t remember the last time we talked about anything meaningful, anything that didn’t have to do with his work or mine.
“Prescott,” Alex called out across the lobby, finally grabbing my attention.
I watched Alex wave Holden over to us. His expression looked confused as to why Alex would be summoning him, but he finished talking to who I assumed was a fan before coming our way.
Alex gave him what I referred to as his business smile. “Cousin—perfect timing.” He clapped Holden on the shoulder, leaving his hand there.
Holden looked from Alex’s hand resting on his shoulder and then back at Alex, who quickly dropped his hand.
“Uh…” Alex floundered before finding that same smile again. “I need your help.”
Holden remained silent.
Alex hurried to continue. “I have a career-changing meeting in New York that I need to attend tomorrow. I’m flying out tonight.
And this special lady,” he said, turning to me with a smile that I assumed he was hoping was chivalrous but looked more pompous than anything, “is sad to see me go.” He gave an exaggerated pout.
“I’ll only be gone a day, but I need you to keep her company.
Do all those cutesy Christmas things with her to keep her mind off how much she misses me. ”
He was laying this on pretty thick. It took a lot of effort not to roll my eyes. I didn’t feel sad at all that he was leaving. Instead, I felt stupid that I’d come here with him in the first place.
“I think Isabelle is perfectly capable of spending a day on her own without falling into a deep depression,” Holden said gruffly.
Hearing him say my full name felt wrong, like a line drawn between us that didn’t use to be there.
Alex’s eyes narrowed on Holden. “I don’t even know why I asked you. I figured the least you could do was help me out with one simple thing, considering you wouldn’t have any of this”—he gestured around the lobby, then to Holden, clearly referencing his hockey lifestyle—“without my family’s help.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Holden mocked. “I forgot that I have you to thank for all of your mom’s efforts and all of my hard work.”
“Can you help or not?” Alex threw back, ignoring Holden’s comment.
“That’s up to Isabelle.” Holden turned to look at me, his eyes softening as he waited for my response to Alex’s suggestion.
Wait. Could this mean Holden was not only okay with hanging out with me, but possibly wanted to? Or was that just wishful thinking on my part?
There was definitely a part of me that wanted to jump at the chance to spend time with Holden again, especially with my boyfriend’s approval.
But there was another part of me that was nervous to spend any amount of time with him—because I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to not develop feelings for him.
We’d only spent a few hours together in New York, and he’d made such an impression on me that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since.
But it was one day. Alex would be back soon, and it wasn’t like I was going to throw myself at Holden because we were hanging out for a little while. And I wouldn’t mind a repeat of our time in New York. Minus the kiss, of course.
“It would be nice to have someone to hang out with while I’m here,” I eventually said, sneaking a glance at Holden, but I couldn’t read his expression. He only gave a simple nod, like it was settled.
“Great. It’s a win-win.” Alex smiled like he’d single-handedly made everything fall perfectly into place.
“I get to go to my meeting, and you get to do whatever Christmas activity you want to do.” He checked his watch.
“I gotta run.” He started walking backward, pointing at me as he went.
“I’ll see you in twenty-four hours.” Then he turned and strode out the front doors.
Silence descended, and I hurried to fill it. “Please don’t feel like you have to hang out with me. I know you’re here for a charity event—you’re busy.”
“The only event I’m scheduled for tomorrow is the Holiday Hockey Shootout,” he said. “Which could be one of the activities we do.”
My dumb heart leapt at how he said one of the activities we could do. Followed by my stomach doing a flip at the thought of seeing him on the ice.
I raised a brow, feigning nonchalance. “Am I going to be impressed with your slap shot skills?”
He gave a small, almost secretive smile. “You might be impressed. But that’s not really what I’m aiming for.”
I tilted my head. “Then what are you aiming for?”
He looked at me for a long beat. “Guess you’ll have to find out.”
A slow smile curved my lips. “Is that your way of convincing me to show up?”
His gaze dropped briefly to my mouth before meeting my eyes again. “Would it work if it was?”
The air between us shifted, charged with something unspoken but impossible to ignore. I didn’t look away.
“It might,” I said softly. “Although it would take a lot to impress me when it comes to hockey,” I said playfully.
“Is that so?” His lips tipped up on one side, and his lopsided smile sent butterflies flying around in my stomach.
I shrugged, pretending like he didn’t affect me. “Since I know nothing about hockey, how will I know if you’re even any good?”
“Trust me,” he said, his voice turning low and rumbly as his gaze zeroed in on me with an intensity that made my pulse spike. “When you see me on the ice, there will be no mistaking just how skilled I am.”
Were we still talking about hockey? And could somebody fan me, because I was instantly feeling hot.
He took a small step back, a half smile still tugging at his lips, at what could only be a slightly dazed expression on my face. “Tomorrow, then?”
“Uh-huh.” Those were the only words I could muster as I tried to wrangle my emotions. Feeling embarrassed by my reaction, I tossed my hair over my shoulder, hoping for an air of indifference. “Try not to trip over your ego on the ice.”
He chuckled, backing toward the stairs. “I’ve never struggled with it before, so I’m sure I’ll be all right.”
He turned, and I watched as he took the stairs two at a time. I was grateful there was no one around I knew to see the wide grin that slowly spread across my lips.
Suddenly I was really looking forward to tomorrow.