Her face fell into a belligerent expression that reminded him a little too much of Lily when she didn’t get her way and humor bubbled in Tate’s chest.
“Fine. Let’s just get it over with so you can get on with this scintillating night you have planned. Quinn is terrified that word of our night together is going to spread through the team and reflect badly on the family.” Olivia gestured absently to the rink, indicating Quinn was overreacting. “She’s afraid that potential jobs Essex could get from the team or connections to the team could be ruined because of this.”
She gestured between herself and Tate in a way that seemed to make what had happened between them a throwaway event, which annoyed him.
He shook his head, repeated the gesture, even more flippant, almost disgusted it would even be suggested. “There is no this.”
Olivia’s face brightened, her hands came out, palms up, and she offered and over-exaggerated, “Right?”
That one gesture diffused all the tension and made laughter tickle his gut again. But dammit, he didn’t want to laugh. He didn’t like her coming in here, acting like his embarrassment and his feelings were things she could push aside with a little charm, a little flirtation and walk away getting what she wanted. Especially when Tate wasn’t especially in the mood to give her what she wanted.
“That’s what I told her,” Olivia went on. “But she insisted—I swear, that girl is so melodramatic sometimes—that I’d hurt you, and that your hurt feelings were going to ruin everything. No joke, you’d have thought the world was ending.”
She was teasing, trying to lighten a potentially touchy topic. Tate could appreciate that. But that didn’t change the underlying situation between them. And it didn’t help Tate feel any better about being one of her puck bunnies.
But he was ready to let this Quinn thing go, so he matched her flippant tone with, “Some people.”
“Some people,” she repeated with a smile in her eyes. She braced her hands on the ledge at her hips and looked at the ice shaking her head and swinging her crossed feet. “She’s a bleeding heart, that one. Means well, but… Anyway, can I tell her that you promised not to say anything bad about me to anyone involved with the team so it will settle her nerves about losing business for the company?”
“You can tell her I’ll think about it.”
She lowered her chin. “You’ll think about it?”
“You’re in my rink, interrupting my practice, wanting your way. And it’s not even for you, it’s for Quinn. So I’m not particularly eager to make concessions. I’ll think about it.”
Her expression fell along with her shoulders. The sight pinched Tate’s chest, but with Beckett’s “Stop being a pussy and take some control of your life” ringing in his head he resisted the urge to backpedal.
“You should probably know,” she said, “that Mom and Quinn won’t have time to vet a caterer with the ability to handle your banquet, so I’ll be doing it. If that’s a problem for you, let me know now. I can reach out, make some calls. See if I can find someone qualified to fill in.”
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s over two weeks from now. You’re not supposed to be here that long.”
“Nope, I’m not.”
“Is that going to screw with school?”
“I’m not going to let it.”
“Why’d you say yes? Why didn’t you tell your family you had to go back?”
She looked down at the ice and didn’t answer for a couple of long moments. “I’ve been asking myself the same question to tell you the truth. If it was just my mom and Quinn I might have said no, told them to figure it out. But I have my doubts about your ability to get another caterer at the caliber you need to pull off a celebrity dinner for thousands of dollars a plate on such short notice.”
That chipped away at the barriers around his heart. “Why would you have said no to just Quinn and your mom?”
She thought again, her expression serious. “Because the same old bullshit that always happens between us is already happening again. I can see it. I can feel it. And I’m just done with it all. I have one of the most important things in my life happening in a very short time and they haven’t given me any reason to want to stay.” She looked up with a furrow between her brows. “Sorry, that was probably way too much information.”
Tate hesitated. It was too much information. He didn’t want to get into any family drama. Still he couldn’t keep himself from asking, “What’s that about?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Never mind.” Her eyes were so clear, so open, all her emotions right there on the surface. “I’ve done a lot of charity work overseas, and I don’t want to see the kids you help suffer just because I’ve got issues with my family.”
Beckett was right. She had a good heart. A really good heart. She just hid it well. As someone who’d done the same since Lisa had trampled all over his, Tate recognized the signs. Which made her willingness to help him even sweeter.
“Thank you,” he said, sincerely grateful. “That means a lot to me.”
Her mouth flickered into smile, and she nodded. A second of silence lingered between them. Her gaze slid over him and when her eyes returned to his, a familiar little gleam hinted there. “I must have been too young to appreciate how hot hockey players are when I was in high school, because watching you fight for that puck was a serious turn on.”
Just like that, fire spilled through his lower body. His automatic response for any other woman would have been some dry brush off, a response that made it seem like he hadn’t even picked up on her interest. But with Olivia, his lips formed the words, “Oh yeah?”
“Oh yeah.” Her smiled heated, her voice grew heavy and languid, and her lids lowered as her gaze slid down his body again. “Reminds me of our night. Of the way you—” She cut off the last word and Tate found himself hanging on the edge, waiting to hear the word fuck drop from her lips. Instead, she teased him with, “The way you are in bed.” Her gaze roamed back to his. “Passionate, driven, intense. Relentless.”