He excused himself to say hello to Travis and Lincoln, leaving me with Sarah. I had no idea what to say, but Jacques came to my rescue, resting his hand low on my back and leaning in to brush a kiss on my temple.
“Can I get you a drink? Cocktail, wine?” he asked.
I groaned and shot my hand straight to my stomach as it protested, clenching hard and its contents threatening to come up. Shaking my head, I shuddered. “Nothing alcoholic. A soft drink would be good, though.”
He looked momentarily stumped, and then he laughed. “Been a long time since I’ve heard that. Pepsi Max?” he asked.
I nodded and gestured to the corridor leading to the bedrooms. “I’m just going to get changed.”
Before I could duck away, the doorbell rang again, and more people entered, each of them holding trays of food and coolers of drinks. Wilson and his wife, Kreutzmann, Rossi, Rune, and his girlfriend all came inside. I was hugged more times than I could count, but the conversation was quickly over, the ladies heading straight to the kitchen to place all the food on the counters and in the oven. The guys exited the house quickly, milling with Travis and Lincoln outside.
Jacques stayed close, but he had his eyes on Lincoln as the patio filled. Lincoln looked tense.
“Is he okay?” I asked in a whisper.
Jacques drew me into his arms and leaned close so no one could hear. “He didn’t have a chance to mentally prepare himself for so many people. He’s struggling.”
“Find an excuse for him to have some alone time.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” he said, looking torn.
I patted him on the chest and tilted my chin toward Lincoln. “His comfort is more important. I need to get changed anyway.”
He brushed a kiss on my cheek, and I smiled, then ducked into the bedroom I was staying in. I’d only unpacked my toiletries. I had no idea whether I had any clothes that weren’t creased. Shirts, pants, and dresses went everywhere as I pulled them out and discarded them.
I didn’t have a thing that would work.
I swallowed down the panic, or maybe that was the queasiness of the thought of more liquor.
This was supposed to be a nice gesture. Itwasa nice gesture.
I exhaled and saw my mid-length blue dress tucked into a corner of my bag. It hugged my curves, didn’t crease, and I could pair it with a cute brown belt and sandals. Perfect.
I frantically brushed my hair, applied some makeup, slashed lip gloss over my lips, and was out the door just as the doorbell chimed again. I looked around. Travis was busy talking to a few more people who’d arrived, and Jacques and Lincoln were nowhere to be seen.
I plastered on a smile and opened the door.
“G’day,” I greeted, then immediately wanted to slap myself upside the head. Could I sound any more Aussie? I hadn’t said “g’day” in decades.
“You must be Jacques’s new wife,” a lady said with a heavy accent and shamelessly looked me up and down. She was beautiful—catwalk model gorgeous—and stood next to a bruiser of a man. “I’m Sasha Mironov. This is Ivan.”
I learned that the other people who’d arrived with Sasha were Anatoly Lebedev, the assistant coach, the team’s PR person, Keeley, and the team medic, Trisha.
“Come in. Jacques is just tied up for a moment, but everyone is either in the kitchen or outside.”
I looked around and saw the guys joking and laughing on the patio, beers in hand. Alec stood with one of them and grinned when I met his gaze. I smiled back, and my shoulders unknotted. I’d only met him once, but we’d spoken a few times via video chat when I was at Cara’s or she was visiting me.
One of the men was firing up the barbecue, and another was searching through cupboards in the outdoor kitchen. The ladies were deep in conversation in the kitchen. Sarah was pulling paper plates out of a box, and another woman was pairing up cutlery with serviettes. Curious eyes were on me, staring shamelessly.
I smoothed down my dress and plastered on a smile. “Sorry, we were unprepared for a party. It’s so unexpected. Who should I say thank you to for organizing all of this?”
“It was Carter’s idea,” Sarah Hewitt clarified with a warm smile. She stood a little apart from the other ladies as if physically distancing herself from them in the cavernous kitchen. “He contacted the team and told everyone the details.”
“It was very sweet of him—and all of you for coming and cooking all this food.” I gestured to the mountain of food that was piling up on the countertop.
“We were thrilled to hear the news,” a lady I hadn’t met said. “I’m Nadia.”
I smiled and gave her a half wave from my spot on the other side of the countertop.
