Apparently knowing Aubrey loved him didn’t prevent him from being nervous about a real first date. By the time Aubrey knocked on his door at 7:29, Nate had changed three times. He’d just put on a custom pair of midnight blue jeans and a lavender sweater and was debating swapping the shirt for a blue linen thing that clung to his shoulders, but the sweater would have to do.
He opened the door.
Nate had always known Aubrey was attractive. Hell, Nate’s first impression of him was how handsome he was. But tonight he looked like he’d stepped off the pages ofGQ.
“Hey,” Nate said belatedly, which was better thanWow, which was his other thought.
Aubrey smiled, and the supermodel effect only increased. “Hey. Ready to go?”
Nate grabbed his coat from the hook and slid his wallet into his pocket. “Let’s go.”
Surprisingly, Aubrey didn’t push the button for the ground floor when they got into the elevator. Instead he selected a parking deck.
“We’re driving tonight?” Nate asked.
“What, you don’t think I can drive?”
“Honestly, I didn’t even know you had a car.” Aubrey glanced at him out of the corners of his eyes. Nate knew that look. He sighed. “How many cars do you have?”
“Here, or total?”
Nate groaned. “How many cars do you need? You can only drive one at a time.”
“You’re telling me that you, Mr. Hotshot NHL Star, only have one car?”
“What would I do with two cars?” Nate said innocently.
The doors opened on the parking level, but Aubrey didn’t get out yet, giving Nate the gimlet eye.
Nate relented. “Fine. I have an SUV and a sports car. The Corvette’s in storage until the last snowfall of the season.”
“Ha! Beat you.” Aubrey raised his car keys, and an engine started about halfway down the lot. “I have three, but only one’s in Chicago.”
Nate was going to regret asking this, but—“Where do you keep the other ones?”
“Vancouver. But it’s not what you think.” Aubrey’s car was a sleek black Audi S8, which was not at all what Nate expected. “My parents bought me a car to get to the rink when I turned sixteen. I still have it.”
Nate envisioned a car similar to this one, only older. “And the other one?”
“Uh, well, it’s in a box.”
“A box.” Nate reached for the door handle. This was anicecar. Nate had had nice cars since he’d made the NHL, but this was another level of luxury.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I got drunk when I was nineteen and ordered a kit car on the internet. Delusions of grandeur.”
Nate grinned. “So three cars, but only two you can drive. Here I thought you trust-fund types were supposed to be either frugal or splashy spenders. What’s this moderation about?”
Aubrey slid behind the wheel and shot him an uncharacteristically shy look. “What can I say? I have layers.”
Nate wasn’t exactly a car guy, but the purr of the S8’s engine wassexy. “I guess you do.”
The traffic was about as light as traffic got at this time in Chicago, and Aubrey pulled into a parking lot fifteen minutes later.
Inside the restaurant, Nate inhaled and immediately said, “Oh my God, I’m starving.”
“Gotta say, the reviews were not kidding about the smell in here.”
The host greeted them with a pleasant smile. “Mr. Chase! Your table is ready. Please follow me.”
