He could see the fire in her eyes from across the table. “Maybe.”
He pushed his chair back and came over to her, taking her hand in his. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, selected a song, then pressed Play.
Carolina looked up at him, a question in her eyes. “I can’t believe you even have ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers in your playlist.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It’s . . . romantic, in an old-school kind of way. A classic love song.”
He pulled her into his arms and began to dance with her. “What? And I’m not romantic?”
“You just strike me as a hard-driving-beat kind of guy. It goes with the hockey mystique.”
“There’s a hockey mystique?”
“Yes. Fast skating, hard partying, fights breaking out. Soft and romantic music doesn’t fit.”
He pulled her closer, turning her in rhythm to the song. “Then maybe you need to learn a little more about me, Lina.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. He read the confusion on her face.
“You constantly surprise me.”
“Just because I play hockey doesn’t mean I listen to anger rock and go to the local bars looking for a fight. That’s PR and I leave the fighting to the ice. If you really get to know me, you might find I’m a really nice guy, that one night in college notwithstanding.”
“Okay, point taken. I might have had preconceived notions about you because of our past. And hockey does play up the bad-boy image.”
“They do. And we play on that for our fans. But I’m not an asshole. Or maybe I was one in the past. But I’d never hurt you. Not intentionally.”
He twirled her around, loving the feel of her in his arms. “Besides, I like this song. It’s sweet.”
She shook her head. “I would just never think of you as . . . sweet.”
“When have I not been sweet to you?” At her look, he added, “Besides that giant mistake I made when we were in college that for some reason hangs like a black cloud over my head.”
She didn’t answer right away. “You’re right. You’ve been very nice to me since we’ve rekindled our . . . whatever it is we’re having.”
He laughed and twirled her around. “I don’t think we need to define it, do you?”
She laid her head on his chest. He liked having it there.
“I don’t think we do, either. I like things the way they are, Drew. Right here, right now. Let’s not mess with a good thing.”
He didn’t know what to make of that. Was she afraid of having a relationship, or just having a relationship with him? He knew he’d hurt her before. And he didn’t know where he wanted things to go with them in the future.
Living for today always seemed like a good idea.
And that would have to do for now. For both of them.
The song ended, and Drew grabbed his phone to check the time.
“It’s getting close to midnight,” he said. “We should open up some champagne.”
“I have a better idea.” Carolina began to unbutton the front of her dress. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so the visual had his cock twitching.
“I like where this is going.”