“Cara, sweetheart.” I tilted her chin up and cupped her face in my hands, leaning into her. She focussed on me, and I smiled encouragingly. “Deep breath in.”
She sucked in oxygen, and her shoulders slumped, a tear tracking down her cheek. It broke my heart.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’ve just gone and dumped all that on you.”
“Hey, I’m glad you did.”
She raised her brow in question, and I forced a grin, trying to lighten the mood. I slid one hand down her arm and interlaced our fingers. Then I rested my other on her waist. I followed the dips and curves of her soft rolls with my fingers and pulled her close.
I nuzzled my nose against hers and said, “If we’re talking fucked-up families, mine still wins hands down.”
Cara giggled but slapped her hand over her mouth, stopping her laugh in its tracks. There was no doubt that my family was fucked-up. Our history was literally being made into a podcast and a direct-to-Amazon movie.
But Cara was too sweet, and I knew she’d feel bad for laughing about it, especially if she thought it might offend me. But that was something she need not worry about—Zali and I were tight. Her men and I were mates. Those were the only things that mattered to me nowadays.
But I did appreciate her confiding in me after having just met me. We’d only been speaking for a few minutes now, and yet here she was, in my arms, telling me important information. I needed to show her how much I appreciated it. “I’m grateful you told me.” I paused and after a moment added, “But I have questions.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Where are the seals and why are you sponsoring them? Is it some kind of environmental thing? Is that what the tour is? Are you going to see their habitat?”
Cara furrowed her brows and cocked her head before her expression lifted and she giggled. “No, Seals with a capital ‘S’. As in the NHL team, the San Diego Seals? They’re doing a tour of the East Coast and Adelaide—”
“With the LA Kings,” I breathed. I’d tried to get tickets to the games—I was happy to go to any of the three cities they wereplaying in—but tickets were sold out within minutes, and I’d missed out. And Cara was travelling with the team as a sponsor? But that meant—
Cara saw the moment that understanding dawned, and she explained, “Dad’s the CEO of Delaware’s Warehouse. Mum heads up the acquisitions team.”
“Wow,” I started and shook my head. “Wow.”
“I love ice hockey. I watch every game I can. The sponsorship opportunity was one that I couldn’t let Dad pass up.” She barely paused for a breath before continuing full speed ahead. “It’s a chance to get us Aussies to think of Delaware’s when they think of hockey. NHL is huge in the States and Canada, and the first pre-season games hosted in Melbourne went so well that they wanted to bring it back here. Dad’s sponsorship offer was accepted, and he and I were supposed to tour with the team, getting hands-on experience with them. Now he’s saying he wants me to do it.” She croaked out on the last word as if she’d run out of breath, but then Cara just barrelled on, adding, “What if I screw up? What if I can’t help them the way they need, or if I say no to something and they’re upset, or worse, if I say yes, and it’s a horrible idea to say yes? My decisions might spell disaster for the whole thing. I persuaded Dad to sponsor this deal. It cost him millions, and now it might not work.”
“Hey,” I cooed. “Surely your dad wouldn’t have signed off on the deal without having checked everything first. I’m sure that it stacked up, and that’s why he’s invested his money in it.”
“Yes, but he did it to please me.” She turned thoughtful at that, furrowing her brow and biting down on her lip. “Dad doesn’t do anything because I want him to. He’s determined I’ll stand on my own two feet. He didn’t even give me an allowance when I was at uni. I had to get a job to pay for my rent and textbooks.”
“See?” I reassured her, bringing her hand to my lips. I brushed a soft kiss over her delicate fingers and added, “Evenif you suggested it to him, he wouldn’t have thrown money at it without at least satisfying himself that it was worthwhile, especially not millions of dollars. Don’t take on that guilt. It’s not yours to carry.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “But that’s not all. I need help when we’re touring. My contact at the Seals has sent me a list of things the team has asked for, but they might have a newer list as long as my arm by the time they get here. If I can’t do it all myself, it’s going to be an unmitigated disaster, and Dad’s just left it all to me. I’m so stressed, and I don’t have anyone to ask to come with me.”
“Ask me,” I dared to say. “I have holiday time I can take, and it’s starting to get quieter at the marina as the weather cools. They’ll be happy to have fewer bodies on board.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Cara replied, a flush staining her cheeks a pretty pink. “I can’t drag you away from work for two weeks.”
“I’m offering. I love watching sport, any sport—ask Ezra. We watch hundreds of hours of AFL, rugby league, tennis, cricket, anything, every year. I tried to get tickets to the hockey games, but they were all sold out. This would be a dream come true for me.”
Her face fell but she quickly hid it with a forced smile—the one that didn’t reach her eyes—and I knew I’d said the wrong thing. Or maybe not the wrong thing, just not everything that she needed to hear.
“And more importantly, I’d love to spend more time with you,” I added as sincerely as I could. She wasn’t a consolation prize for me. The hockey was a bonus, but two weeks getting to know Cara? That was the real drawcard, one my dick very much approved of.
She looked down, and her flush spread to her ears and down her throat to the neckline of her dress. I wondered how much lower it would go.
“I’d love you to.”
I couldn’t help the smile that split my lips. This was better than my team winning the grand final with a miracle try. This was ticker-tape-parade worthy. My insides were dancing, and I was vibrating with excitement. I hadn’t felt so alive in a decade.
And it was all because I had a chance to spend more time with the gorgeous woman in my arms.
six
