On the Fly by Catherine Gayle

clean up or anything like that. You can
just relax.”
    I didn’t think it would be possible
for me to relax with my kids surrounded by so many strangers. “But
it’s a school night.”
    “ We won’t be out late. If
Maddie and Tuck have homework, they can bring it with
them.”
    It was becoming abundantly clear that
he’d already spent some time thinking through what my objections
would be and formulating rebuttals for them. “I don’t know if I
want to spend so much time with you,” I finally said, once again
being far more honest with him than I’d intended to be.
    He stopped beside his SUV and clicked
the button on his remote to unlock the doors. When he opened the
passenger door and set me down on the seat, his hand lingered
against my hip like it had yesterday morning before we left for
breakfast. His hands were big and as strong as the rest of him,
making me feel inconsequential in comparison.
    His eyes met mine, as intense as ever,
like when he was glaring at me. But this wasn’t a glare. This was a
look that made me question whether any of those glares I thought he
had given me before had truly been glares, or if they were more
like this sexy, needy, studious sort of look.
    “ I do know that I want to spend more
time with you. Come to dinner.”
    It might have been because the
flutters running through my veins had intensified. Or maybe it was
because I couldn’t seem to catch a solid breath. Whatever the
reason, I whispered, “Okay.”
    He leaned down, his lips meeting mine
for just the briefest of moments that brought my heartbeat to a
standstill. They were soft, unlike everything else about him, and
they brushed over mine in an excruciating tease of more. All too
soon, he pulled away and shut the door.
    I melted into my seat.
     
     
     
    Relatively little
time passed before I was sitting at Eric
Zellinger’s dining room table with two knockout brunettes—Laura
Weber and Sara Thomas—and a leggy blonde—Brenden’s sister, Dana
Campbell. I felt as out of place as possible.
    How had I let Brenden talk me into
coming here with him? I didn’t belong with these women. I had no
business spending time with the guys on the hockey team. I ought to
be at home with my kids, making sure they ate their vegetables and
brushed their teeth and went to bed on time.
    Instead, they were playing with Jamie
and David and Laura Weber’s much-older kids, and I was left to feel
unbearably uncomfortable about the entire situation. All the while,
I could feel Brenden’s eyes on me, too. Constant. Heated. Like he
wanted to kiss me again.
    The scary thing was… I wanted him to
kiss me again, too. But I couldn’t afford to think like that. All
of this would be a heck of a lot easier if he’d just back off and
leave me and my kids to our solitude.
    Laura reached for the bottle of red
wine in the middle of the table and refilled her glass. She held
the bottle up with a questioning expression, and Dana instantly
covered her glass with her hand in a protective manner. All three
of them laughed, and Sara held her glass out for more. Laura poured
and then looked to me.
    I shook my head.
    Laura narrowed her eyes, studying me,
but she set the bottle down again. “So…we have Dana fairly well
settled with Zee now, even if he hasn’t officially asked her to
marry him yet. It looks like Soupy’s made his choice.”
    She waggled her eyebrows at me. Oh
God. Once I put two and two together, I realized she meant that he
and I were a couple.
    “ No, we’re not—”
    “ Now we just need to find a
man for Sara,” she said over me before I could fully contradict
her. “Any of the new guys on the team this season catch your
eye?”
    “ Oh, no, you don’t.” Sara
took a drink from her glass, laughing as she did. “Not
again.”
    “ Why not? Jensen’s hot.”
Laura didn’t even attempt to hide her wily smile. “Maybe a little
on the young side for you, but age isn’t everything. Or there’s
Vladimir Burkov and his sexy