Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Jayne
I pace nervously, hoping Broderick isn’t buried in the crowds watching me. I feel like an idiot and there’s a big part of me that thinks he isn’t going to show up. There’s an even bigger part of me afraid that he’s going to be some bald, overweight fifty-year-old who catfished me.
But I’m not alone.
Kelly is here.
We’re in a big public place.
Kelly and I rode together and if he’s creepy we already have a plan to drive around in case he tries to follow us.
I look at my phone.
11:01.
This is it. Either he’ll be here any second and the mystery will be over or this whole thing was a big waste of time.
I can see Kelly in the next aisle over, talking to someone selling fresh corn.
But she’s assured me she’s not going anywhere unless and until I give her the signal that everything is okay.
I just—a familiar face is coming toward me and I blink in confusion.
Oh, no.
What’s Bodi doing here? This is going to be awkward.
He’s going to think—
“Jayne?” He approaches me with a frown. “What, uh, what are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I counter, staring at his face for a second before dropping my eyes to the…Arizona Cardinals logo on his very white T-shirt.
He’s staring at my chest too, but I have a weird feeling it’s not my boobs he’s interested in.
“You’re wearing a Nirvana T-shirt,” he says, his voice almost accusatory.
“You’re wearing a Cardinals shirt!” I retort.
“Oh fuck.” His eyes snap back to mine. “Jeannie?”
“Broderick?”
There’s a moment of uncomfortable silence, and then he starts to laugh. “Oh, my fucking God, what the hell is fate trying to tell me?”
“It’s really you?” I demand incredulously. “Broderick is…”
“Broderick is my legal name,” he says quietly, “but I’ve been Bodi since my sister Billie was little. When she was starting to talk, she couldn’t sound out Broderick, so it came out Bodi. And it stuck.”
“Jeannie was my mother’s middle name,” I admit sheepishly. “Same initial as Jayne, kind of close but with an added layer of anonymity.”
“Oh, hell, honey.” He comes closer and looks down at me. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Me either.” I swallow but then look around for Kelly. She’s watching with a frown and I wave her over.
“You brought a wing man too?” he asks, chuckling.
“Yup. Who did you—” I’m cut off as West approaches us, with Vik trailing behind him.
“Oh, no,” I whisper. “Guys talk! If they say something to my dad—”
“No. Give me a minute.” Bodi whirls and goes over to them, whispering heatedly.
Kelly puts a hand on my arm. “I’m confused,” she says.
“Broderick is Bodi,” I whisper. “It’s…this is a crazy coincidence.”
She smiles. “There’s no such thing as coincidence—this is fate telling you the two of you have unfinished business.”
I look over to where the guys are talking, and Vik smiles and waves.
Great. Somebody better explain the situation to him before he makes trouble for all of us.
“Jayne!” He ambles over with a friendly smile, like we’re old friends. “You are good?”
“I’m great,” I say. “But did Bodi explain…?”
He frowns. “I am not sure of conversation. Is bad?”
To my surprise, Kelly starts talking to him in a low, calm voice—in Russian.
She seems to speak it fluently, and I stare in fascination as Vik’s face immediately changes from lighthearted amusement to concern.
Then he looks back at Bodi and West and—oh shit.
Two more guys from the team have joined them.
He brought the whole fucking team as backup?
What the hell did he think was going to happen?
“Is okay, Jayne.” Viktor lightly touches my arm. Then he takes two fingers and slides them across his lips, hopefully indicating that they’re sealed. “I say nothing. I see nothing. I am stupid Russian goalie. No words.” He winks and ambles off.
“I’m going to go chat with Viktor,” Kelly says. “I don’t get to practice my Russian often. Text me when you’re ready to go.” She goes after Viktor while Bodi, West and the other two guys—whose names I can’t remember—come over to me.
“We’re good,” West says immediately. “The last thing any of us need is trouble with your dad, so we didn’t see a thing.
Don’t worry about us, Jayne. Besides, Bodi doesn’t need the aggravation either.
We’re going to take off and pretend this never happened.
Take care.” The three of them smile politely and move off.
Leaving Bodi and me to stare at each other.
“I’m sorry,” I say, though I’m not sure what I’m apologizing for.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything.
This is so random. And I’m being a thousand percent honest when I say that I’ve never done anything like this before.
I signed up for Blind Love on a whim, figuring I was in a new city, new team, new everything, a chance to connect with someone who doesn’t know who I am.
I’ve never used any type of dating site before. ”
“Me either,” I admit. “I figured that was the only way I was ever going to meet a guy but I have to be careful too. Then, after what happened at the party, I was so upset and frustrated, I worked up the nerve to proposition Broderick. You.” I give him a wry smile.
“And here we are.” I pause. “What now? I hate the idea that we can’t be friends. ”
“I hate the idea that my coach has a say in anything regarding my personal life.” He has his hands on his hips, looking away.
“What do you want to do? I don’t want to get you into trouble.”
“I don’t want to get into trouble either, but I also feel like there’s something between us and this is fate or God or something otherworldly telling us we shouldn’t give up.”
I feel exactly the same way but didn’t expect him to articulate my thoughts.
“Maybe a few dates and it’ll fizzle out,” I whisper.
“Maybe.” He reaches out and gently lifts my chin, so I’m gazing into his gorgeous blue eyes. “But I doubt it. That kiss in the library didn’t feel like something that’s going to just fizzle out and I didn’t have a chance to kiss you at dinner.”
“It was barely a kiss,” I say, unable to look away from his gorgeous blue eyes.
“Yeah, but it could have been more. A lot more.”
“Maybe we should try again,” I say. “Just to be sure.”
Without hesitation, Bodi leans in and presses his lips to mine.
Soft and chaste, just like last time, but the sizzle is there.
The chemistry crackles between us as every nerve ending in my body comes to life.
My stomach does a little flip, and I move against him.
He slides one arm around my waist, pulling me closer, and the tip of his tongue slides between the seam of my lips.
Just for a single heartbeat before he pulls away.
“This thing with us isn’t just going to fizzle out,” he repeats, staring down at me like he knows all my secrets and everything else about me.
“You have a lot more to lose than I do,” I whisper. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“What your dad doesn’t know won’t hurt either of us. We just have to be careful for a while, get to know each other. Spend time together until we figure out where it’s going.”
“And if we like each other?”
“We already like each other.”
“If we start to like-like each other?”
“Then I’ll talk to your dad, man to man.”
I blink. No one’s ever offered to stand up to my dad before. I have no idea what that outcome might look like but I adore the idea. “O-okay.”
“I say we blow this popsicle stand. This market is right in the town where we all live. I feel like we need to go somewhere else today. Somewhere we can talk and feel like we have a modicum of privacy.”
“Agreed.” I look around and spot Kelly laughing with Viktor and the other guys. She’s old enough to be their mother but seems completely at ease—I might have to ask her how she does it. But not now. “All right. Just let me tell Kelly the plan.”
He pulls out his phone while I pull out mine.
Five minutes later we’re in his SUV heading north.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“There’s a place called Avalon, with shops and restaurants. I figure we could walk around there, get some lunch. And talk.”
“Sounds like a good plan. I’ve been there. Good restaurants, nice shops.”
“Okay.” He reaches across the center console for my hand. “So, what do you think?”
“About which part?”
“All of it? How we met. The coincidence. Your dad.”
“That’s a lot of info to process,” I say, chuckling, though my fingers curl with his.
“Your dad told West and me about your ex. Someone he coached?”
I grimace. “Jesus. Why would he tell you about that?”
“He felt it necessary to explain that hockey players are shit human beings and how his little girl is too good for all of us.”
“That’s terrible!” I say. “I mean, my ex, Cal, was certainly a jerk, but that doesn’t mean all hockey players are.”
“I was a little offended, to be honest, but I chalked it up to him making a point about staying away from his daughter. I mean, he’s my head coach. I have to get along with him no matter what I think of him as a person.”
“That’s my concern. Once hockey season starts, I’ll barely see him. And he won’t pay attention to me at all. It’s different for you.”
“I guess we just have one big question then.”
“Which is?”
“Whether or not us dating is worth the risk.”