Roman (Cold Fury Hockey 7)

"Really?" I ask as I bring my hands to her shoulders.

"Yes," she says with a nod. "Now would be a good time."

And I couldn't agree with her more. It's time. It's way past time, as a matter of fact.

I bend my head down as Georgia raises to her tiptoes, and I brush my lips lightly against hers. Her arms go around my neck, her fingers into my hair, and she presses her mouth insistently against mine. The minute her tongue touches the tip of mine, my head actually swims from the overload of feelings rushing through me. Lust, wonder, fear.

Yes, fear, because it's been awhile since I've done this.

I haven't been a celibate man all these years since my wife died, but I haven't exactly been active the last few years, preferring to immerse myself in work.

But this, right here? It's amazing and thrilling and I suddenly want more. I want to experience everything with Georgia, and if the tightening in my pants is any indication, there's quite a bit of Georgia I want.

My hands drop from her shoulders, slip around her waist, and I pull her in tight to me. Georgia lets out a tiny moan when her belly presses against my erection, and for a brief moment, I'm embarrassed.

But the embarrassment passes, because Georgia makes a moaning sound of need, then presses in tighter against me and suddenly, now all I can think about is getting our clothes off and taking her to bed.

"Well, this is an awkward scene to walk into," I hear from behind Georgia, and I immediately recognize my daughter's voice.

I immediately release Georgia, thankful that the kitchen island stands between Gray and me and she can't see the embarrassing problem in my pants at this moment.

Georgia turns as she carefully runs a hand around the edges of her lips, perhaps in a subconscious move to check for smeared lipstick, but it hasn't smeared in the slightest.

And there Gray stands in my kitchen, twirling her keys on one of her fingers with a mischievous look on her face. "Guess I should have knocked, huh?"

I give her an admonishing look, because Gray never has to knock on my door. Besides that, she has a key.

"Gray," I say as my hand goes to Georgia's lower back. "This is Georgia Mack. My date for the night."

"Date? Is that what they call making out in the kitchen?" Gray asks smugly, her eyebrow cocked at me before turning her attention to Georgia. She nods her head and beams a smile. "It's lovely to meet you, Georgia. I've heard a lot about you from Dad and Lexi."

"It's great to meet you too," Georgia says sweetly.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, curious about why she's dropped by. Gray's so busy these days she hardly ever comes over.

Reaching into her purse, she pulls out an envelope and steps up to the island to hand it across to me. "You left early today and I went into your office to leave you a note for tomorrow, since I'm going to be gone, and I saw your mail there. This was lying on top and I figured you'd want it."

I take the envelope from her and my eyes immediately focus on the logo on the return address. "The DNA results," I murmur.

"Open it, Dad," Gray says softly. "Let's make this reality."

"You know," Georgia pipes in, sounding extremely nervous. "This is a private moment. I actually should go, give you two time to process whatever's in that envelope."

"Nonsense," I say without looking at Georgia, my fingers automatically tearing it open. "You're Lexi's closest friend and like a mother to her. I know she'd want you here, and so do I."

The minute those words are out, I realize they're true. Whatever has been going on between Georgia and me, when you move past all of the teasing, baiting, and downright flirty innuendo that goes on, I've developed some deep feelings for her.

"Okay," she says with a smile. "I'll stay then."

I don't look back at her as my heart is beating so hard I'm afraid I might stroke out. I pull out the letter and realize my hands are shaking as I open it.

I'm immediately assaulted by columns and numbers on the page, some circled in different colors. Words jump out at me like child and alleged father and allele. My eyes scan furiously down the page until I get to the word that matters the most.

Probability.

And next to it: 99.9 percent.

"She's mine," I whisper, my throat almost completely clogged by emotion. I mean...I knew it deep in my gut she was my daughter, but seeing it proven this way is like finding the joy of it--the absolute miracle--all over again. Looking back up at Gray, I see her eyes are moist and I cough before saying, "She's ours."

Then Gray is around the counter and in my arms, with her face buried into my shoulder as we hug and laugh, and fuck it, I go ahead and cry too. I feel Georgia's hand press into my lower back, and I risk a glance at her. I'm touched to see tears streaming down her face as well.

Finally, Gray pulls away and wipes at the tears. She laughs as she looks at me with a watery smile and says, almost in wonder, "I have a sister."

"And I have another daughter," I say, beyond thrilled, and happy and fulfilled. But then to lighten the mood I add, "I'm too old for this shit."

"You are not too old for this shit," Gray chastises as she punches me lightly on my shoulder.

"I feel it," I grumble, tapping my fist against my chest. "I almost had a heart attack reading that."

Gray snorts. "You're the youngest sixty-year-old I know."

"I'm sixty-one," I point out.

"Bruce Willis is almost sixty-one and he's out filming action movies and dating hot young women, Brian," Georgia offers. "I think he should be the standard. There are many, many hot, vibrant men out there in their sixties."

"Oh, how about Pierce Brosnan?" Gray suggests as she looks from me to Georgia.

"And Denzel Washington," Georgia adds.

"Kevin Costner," Gray says with a girly sigh.

"Liam Neeson," Georgia sighs dreamily.

They both look at each other, and almost simultaneously say in dramatic fashion, "Richard Gere."

"Okay, enough," I say with a laugh as I turn away from both of these women who are enjoying themselves a little too much. I grab a bottle of red wine I'd pulled from the cellar earlier and hold it up. "Want to stay for dinner, Gray?"

She shakes her head. "No, thanks. I'm not about to impede on your 'date,' " she says, holding up sarcastic air quotes. "But maybe we can all go out and celebrate. There's a game tomorrow night, so night after next?"

"Sounds good to me," I agree as I start to open the wine. "I'll call Lexi tonight and tell her the results, but first, we celebrate with a glass of wine."

"I'll pass," Gray says, then turns to Georgia. She puts a hand out. "It was really nice meeting you."

Georgia bats Gray's hand away and wraps her up in a hug, which she immediately succumbs to with a twinkling smile at me over Georgia's shoulders. Gray even gives a thumbs-up sign to me surreptitiously and I grin back at my daughter.

One of my two daughters.

Hot damn, this is turning into a great night, and by the way Georgia and I were kissing before Gray's arrival, I'm betting it will continue to get better.

Chapter 20

Lexi

"Thank you for taking the night off," Roman says as he holds his glass of wine out toward me.

I pick mine up, tap it against his, and smile with a tilt of my head. "It's definitely not a hardship to take a night off to spend with you."

We both take a slow sip as we stare at each other across the empty plates and low-flickering candles. Roman got back from his West Coast trip last night and asked if he could spend tonight with me. It meant giving up my regular shift--not a big deal--as well as the tips from my singing--I'd make it up with an extra shift over the weekend, but that's all okay. While this is still very new between us, I was surprised how much I missed him when he was gone. We talked as much as our schedules allowed, and texted when we had stolen moments, but it wasn't the same as being with him.

So he asked me to take tonight off, and after some mad scrambling to find someone to cover me

, I was on my way to Roman's house. I stopped and picked up Italian, and he had the candles going and the wine opened when I arrived.

I was very impressed, and told him so.

He told me he was just trying to impress me so he could get in my pants.

Then he pulled me into his arms and gave me a long, warm hug with his arms holding me tight.

Then he kissed me, and that was even better.

"What do you want to do tonight?" he asks as he puts his glass down and leans back in his chair, studying me over the flickering candlelight.

I shrug. "Want to go out dancing?"

"No."

"Roller skating?"

"No."

"Yahtzee?"

"Definitely no."

Laughing, I lower my voice and practically purr at him. "Spend the rest of the evening in bed?"

"Now you're speaking my language." He grins at me, then leans forward to place his elbows on the table. Roman steeples his hands in front of his face and gives me a serious look. "But...if you want to go out and do something, let's do it. I suppose I need to take you out on a proper date, you know, if we're dating and all. I do have a tarnished reputation to overcome, or so it's been said about me."