“Please have a seat,” she offers and gestures at a chair across from her desk. I take the offered seat, manspreading to get comfortable before leaning forward with my elbows on my thighs.
“Before we begin, I’d like to propose a reset. We can just leave the past in the past—forget that night ever happened, as far as I’m concerned.”
“And how exactly would you like me to do that? Find a hypnotist to erase the memories of you moaning my name and begging for me to fill your mouth with my cum?”
Her eyes widen in shock. “Th-at is not at all what I was requesting, Mr. Wilson.”
“Mr. Wilson. Miss Carlisle. Can we skip the bullshit formalities? I think we know each other too . . .intimatelyfor that, yeah?”
“Why?” she asks, shaking her head in exasperation.
“Why what?”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were that night? Or the next morning?”
“You’re a damn good actress, Scarlett, you know that?” I tell her as I stare at her pointedly. “Even sitting here across from you and knowing the truth, you’ve almost played me the fool.”
She huffs then lets out a low chuckle. “And what truth is it you think I know? Because I can assure you that up until ten minutes ago when my grandfather told me who you were, I had no clue that you were on the roster of my family’s professional hockey team.”
“How is that even possible?”
Sitting back in her chair, she crosses her arms and shoots me with a look I can’t quite read. “Be honest, did you know who I was the night we met? Or the night of the wedding?”
“You can’t be serious.” I scoff. “No, of course, I didn’t know.”
She raises a skeptical brow. “And why is that?”
“Your father wasn’t exactly the sharing type. He didn’t parade you around team events or at games, so I had no clue that he had an older daughter.”
“Exactly.”
Exactly what? Instead of stating that, I crook a brow at her bullshit.
“My point exactly. You didn’t know he even had an oldest daughter because I was so far removed from anything to do with the team. I won’t pretend to be a huge fan of the game. I won’t sit here and lie to your face by telling you I’m an avid spectator of Wolverines games. This was never the plan for me,” she admits.
“And what plan is that?” I ask warily because I think I know where this is headed.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure I’m at liberty to discuss that with you, Mr. Wilson.”
When I narrow my eyes at her, she sighs in defeat. “Bennett.”
“Why do I get the impression that you’re keeping something from me? I don’t like secrets, Scar.” I grit my teeth when I realize her nickname slipped past my lips. I take a deep breath and continue. “When it comes to my team, I know everything. So whether you tell me now or not, I’ll be clued in. Might as well save yourself the trouble. I hear keeping things bottled up doesn’t do anyone any good.”
“Yeah, as tempted as I am to spill all my deepest secrets to a complete stranger, I’ll pass.” Scarlett shuffles some papers around on her desk before finding the one she was looking for. It is a calendar with a schedule of events and ice times on it. “Now, let’s get back to the matter at hand. We’ve discussed changing the preseason practice schedule to be able to incorporate a couple of team events. One is an old tradition that we’d like to bring back—the team friends and family preseason skate. The first few seasons as an organization, the Wolverines players and staff would bring their friends and families to the arena for a fun evening ofskating and socializing as a way to get to know everyone. We’d like to bring this back.”
“And why is it that you need to get to know the players? Your grandfather had mentioned you needed to get a feel for interacting with the players. Are you joining the organization?” I press.
She sighs in defeat before bracing her hands on her desk. “Yes, I will be working alongside my grandfather this season.”
I sit back in my seat and bring my ankle up to rest on my opposite thigh, hoping I look calm and collected, when really I’m freaking the fuck out. The realization sinks in that I’ll be seeing Scarlett on a regular basis.
My chest does that pathetic clenching thing again and I curse it for being so weak.
Even if she didn’t realize who I was all those years ago, the feelings I had for her after only two encounters are worrisome. She’s a distraction I can’t afford. Joseph said it himself, this will be my eighth season as a captain of this team, and I’ll be damned if it’s not the season I finally hoist the cup in the air.
3
September
