Page 20 of Leo and His Love Bunny
“Public relations. I don’t know what the backlash is from today, but I assume that you could make cute cupcakes. Cupcakes that look like teddy bears or unicorns or trees or lollipops.” I paused delicately. “Not breasts.”
I do not cringe at saying the word, although, in the privacy of her apartment, with just her and me staring into each other’s eyes, it is a word I really don’t want to throw out there.
Hopefully she doesn’t see the tips of my ears getting pink. After all, I’m a professional hockey player. I’m tough. I’m strong. I have big biceps. I do not blush. Even when I say the word “breast” in a gorgeous woman’s apartment when we’re alone and staring at each other.
I keep myself from grinning as her cheeks turn pink again and she stares at the paper airplane underneath her fingers. She swallows, loud in the quiet of the room, and nods. “You’re right. I could do with some PR.”
“I kinda thought so,” I say easily, my own eyes going back down to my airplane, as I will my ears to stop feeling hot. There’s something about Nora that brings out the best in me. I hadn’t thought about it until just now, but being with her feels easy. I don’t have to impress her, but I want to. I want her to look atme and see more than biceps. I want her to look at me and see character and integrity and a man who does more than he needs to. Who helps and cares and serves.
I want to be the very best version of myself. For her.
She deserves a man like that.
I’m not sure where that came from. It certainly isn’t my normal. I don’t go around looking at women thinking about what they deserve. I’m usually pretty focused on doing what I feel God has called me to do with my life.
Maybe I need to be careful with Nora. Maybe she’ll derail everything.
I haven’t allowed myself to get sidetracked so far, and I don’t intend to. I want to transition, as seamlessly as possible, from a wildly successful hockey career to an even more wildly successful and lifetime speaking career.
“What’s in it for you?” Nora asks, tilting her head and drilling me with those gorgeous eyes. She takes me aback by her question. People don’t typically care about others, not the way Nora does. I’ve felt seen the entire time I’ve been here, which is weird, since she admitted, on public radio, that the only thing that she ever noticed about me were my “delicious” biceps.
How can she make me feel like she cares about me, me as a man, a human, when her public statement is all about my physical attributes? No. Singular. Attribute. My biceps.
Such a contradiction, and I want to think about it, but instead, I focus on her question.
I can’t tell her that the biggest thing I want out of it is to get Nora to notice me, see that I am more than bulging biceps.
“It’ll be good PR for me too. After all, I’ve got the hometown girl, Whisker Hollow’s own bakery, to cater each and every event I have. It’s part of my message. And totally on point with what I stand for. Giving back to your hometown. Not looking at the bigger or brighter horizon. But supporting the small businessesthat are right around your area. Being a part of your local community. All that. I believe in it, and I want to live it.”
That is all true. It isn’t just trash I am feeding her to get her to do what I want her to do.
“And also, it will make what I said today true. I don’t ever want to be known as a liar. I... I spoke without thinking today, and I wanted to admit that it wasn’t true at the time I said it, but I wanted it to be true. Does that make sense?” I ask. It made sense in my head when I was thinking about it. I told a lie, and I hate liars, but if I make the lie true, then it doesn’t have to be a lie anymore. Although, I would never try to convince people that it was the truth when I said it. I have to admit that it wasn’t, but for some reason, it seems like less of a crime to tell a lie that turns into truth than it does to tell a lie that turns into more lies.
And that’s what lies often did. Proliferate like rabbits.
I like the look that Nora has. It’s a smile, and she looks impressed. I can’t remember the last time I impressed a girl with my honesty. Most of the time, they’re put off by it. Annoyed by me having values and standards and morals and not bending my personal rules for anything.
“I guess I’ve never thought about that before, but I suppose you’re absolutely right. It’s better to make a lie true than to tell more lies to cover the lie you told to begin with. Although, probably the best thing is just to admit it’s a lie.”
“I can do that. I don’t really want to, but I can.”
I don’t tell her that the reason that I don’t want to is because suddenly having her say yes to my proposition is more important than anything. I want to work with her. I want her to be at my speaking engagements. I want to see her smile. And spend more time with her. To have her brown eyes, soft and swirling like rich hardwood flooring, gazing into mine.
“All right. I’ll get you some prices worked out,” she says, and my heart jumps and fist-bumps my ribs in celebration.
Nora is in.
Chapter 10
Nora
I can’t believe Leo has just offered to make sure that I get paid for catering all of his speaking engagements.
This idea holds multiple benefits for me. First of all, Leo is hockey’s golden boy and the pride of Whisker Hollow. Everyone loves him. Everyone. Bulging biceps aside.
Being connected with him... Not only will that repair my reputation in town, but he’s also a nationally acclaimed hockey player in the United States and Canada. This has the potential to blow my cupcake business out of Whisker Hollow and put it on the map in a huge way.
In a way that I’m not even sure I’m equipped to handle.
