Wild Zone (Rough Riders Hockey 4)

Olivia made a negligent gesture toward the bar. “Go ahead and pour. I don’t need all that pretentious bull.”

The young bartender tried to stifle a grin.

Olivia snuck a look at Tate. “Sorry if that offends you. But seriously, if a bottle of wine costs eight hundred dollars, you shouldn’t have to do a sniff and taste test to make sure it’s good.”

The bartender choked on a laugh.

Olivia lifted her hands. “Am I right?”

Tate chuckled and shook his head. She was so fresh. Down-to-earth. Unpretentious. Too many women who gravitated toward professional sports players did it for the money, the status, the fame. Lisa had. A lot of the players’ exes or current dates had. And they couldn’t get enough of that bullshit.

“I don’t know anything about wine,” Tate admitted. “So to me, it sounds right.”

“You do so. You just ordered the Château Rayas with total confidence.”

“We have friends here tonight who love this wine, so I knew there would be a couple of bottles tucked away especially for them. I just lucked out that you like French.”

She laughed. And man, she was…mesmerizing. She was the kind of person who lit up from the inside when s

he laughed. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed. Tate couldn’t look away. She had an intangible quality to her that intrigued him to distraction. A spirit that was open and free and light. She lifted Tate. Let him see above those dark borders he’d been living inside.

“No worries,” she murmured, lifting her free hand to his chest and hooking her index finger into the space between the buttons on his shirt, stroking button to button. “I love everything French.”

Tate wanted to French every inch of her. “So you just came in from Paris?”

She nodded.

“Were you there on vacation?”

“No, I live there.”

His brows shot up. “Really.” Just his fucking luck. The first woman who’d interested him since his bitch of an ex-wife screwed him over, and she lived overseas. His excitement dimmed. “How long have you lived there?”

“Um…” Her eyes rolled upward. “Sort of off and on for years. I move around a lot.”

“Why?”

“I just love traveling, experiencing different cultures, meeting different people. Life is short, you know? Gotta live all your adventures while you can.”

There was a story there. One he’d like to know, but not one he wanted to get into now. Or here. “What are you doing in town?”

“I came to visit my mom and sister for a couple of weeks.”

Couple of weeks. Tate’s heart sank.

“So, what is this?” she asked, glancing around the space. “It’s pretty fancy for a bunch of hockey players.”

He followed her gaze, pleased to find his teammates too busy chatting with others to be watching him. He didn’t need to catch any more shit about his love life than he already had. “Engagement party for one of the guys.”

“Cool. Are you one of those guys?”

“I am.”

She smiled. “Like your job?”

“Love it.”

She nodded. “That’s good. I believe in loving everything you do. Otherwise, it’s not worth doing.”