Wicked Games (Denver Rebels) (55 page)

Ana stared after her with a puzzled look. “Was it something I said?”

Nadia laughed. “No worries. It wasn’t—” She broke off, her heart leaping for joy when she saw Reid walking through the door with his mother. Arlene’s eyes appeared red, as if she’d been crying. But her smile was serene, not troubled.

Ana followed Nadia’s gaze across the room and grinned. “You must be on cloud nine right now.”

Nadia smiled, her eyes meeting Reid’s through the crowd. “I am.”

“I don’t blame you.” Ana’s tone was tinged with just a touch of envy. “I love Luke dearly. But he could learn a thing or two from Reid about being more spontaneous and romantic.”

Nadia chuckled, handing her empty glasses to an attentive waiter. “Luke’s always been more analytical and cerebral. He’s an engineer—”

“And Reid is a super macho hockey player, but that doesn’t stop
him
from showing his romantic side. That proposal…” Ana sighed and lifted her glass to her lips, looking across the room with a sudden calculating gleam in her eyes. “I bet Viggo is roman—”

“Ana,” Nadia warned.

“Just kidding!” She laughed and sipped innocently at her champagne.

Nadia put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a sisterly hug. “Listen, chica, Luke’s crazy about you. I still remember how excited he was when he first told us about you. He loves you, Ana. And that’s all that matters.”

“I know. I’ve never doubted that.” Ana’s expression softened. “But thank you for the reminder.”

Nadia winked. “One good turn deserves another.”

Ana smiled, remembering the pep talk she’d given Nadia that day at her parents’ house. It seemed a lifetime ago.

“I know Reid just proposed,” Ana said casually, “but have you given any thought to your wedding date?”

“I have.” Nadia smiled as she watched Reid come toward her, stopping every two steps to receive congratulations from well wishers. “I’m thinking the end of June is a good time. Reid’s so busy with hockey, I don’t want to add a wedding to his already full plate. By the end of June, whether the Rebels win the Cup or not, the season will be over. So we can just relax and enjoy our wedding and get away for a nice, long, stress-free honeymoon. Also,” she added, shifting her gaze to Ana, “I don’t want to upstage your wedding in April. Having ours in June gives you and Luke time to enjoy the spotlight.”

Ana gave her a warm, grateful smile and hugged her around the waist. “Thank you for being such a beautiful person. Inside and out.”

Nadia smiled, hugging her back. “Ditto.”

Reid finally reached them, his eyes on Nadia’s face. “Hey.”

She smiled softly. “Hey, yourself.”

Ana grinned. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

When she was gone, Reid reached out and palmed Nadia’s cheek. “Sorry I took so long.”

“That’s okay.” She smiled. “I assumed you and your mom had some important things to say to each other.”

“We did.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “She told me she talked to you and apologized.”

“She did,” Nadia confirmed. “We’re good now. What about you? Did you make peace with her?”

“Something like that. She knows where I stand when it comes to you.” He paused. “I’ll leave it at that for now.”

Nadia nodded slowly while sliding her palms up and down his chest, savoring his heat through the fine wool of his suit jacket.

“You keep rubbing me like that,” he warned, the husky rumble of his voice spreading goose bumps over her skin, “and we’re not gonna make it through this party. In fact, I’m thinking we should just skip dinner and—”

Nadia laughed. “I don’t think so!”

An older couple walked by and smiled at them. “Congratulations, Reid and Nadia.”

“Thank you,” they responded warmly.

Reid turned back to Nadia and grinned. “Logan and Hunter want to know if you can introduce them to your cousins.”

She laughed.

“Seriously. They told me to ask you after they saw that group picture on your Instagram page.”

Nadia grinned. “Well, as you already know, all of those cousins live in Virginia, so the fellas will have to wait to meet them at our wedding.” She paused. “Fair warning: They only date black men. So your boys might have their work cut out for them.”

Reid chuckled. “I’ve never known them to back down from a challenge, so it’s all good.” He leaned down, nipping her earlobe between his teeth as he murmured, “Speaking of our wedding, how soon can we make it happen?”

“Hmm.” His tongue on her ear felt hot and wet, sending shivers through her body. “No sooner than June.”

“
What?
” He pulled back and stared down at her in disbelief. “Why so far away?”

She laughed. “That’s not far away. This is December. June is only six months away.”

“Well, yeah, but I was hoping we could get married sooner.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So what do you propose? That we squeeze in a wedding and honeymoon between your games?”

He scowled and grumbled, but she could tell he understood where she was coming from.

Smiling, she stroked his whisker-rough jaw, cherishing the feel of him. “Just remember what I said. Good things come to those who wait.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But he was smiling.

She glanced past him, then touched his arm and pointed across the room. “Look.”

He followed the direction she indicated to see their parents laughing and chatting like old friends.

A broad smile spread over his face. “Beautiful.”

Nadia beamed. “It sure is.”

They watched their folks for a few moments. Then Reid glanced around the room and remarked, “I see Viggo’s here.”

Nadia followed his gaze to where Viggo stood with Hunter, Logan, Colt, Avery, Aria, Jess and some skinny blonde. They were drinking champagne, laughing and joking around. Jess and Avery flanked Viggo on either side, breathlessly hanging on his every word. Jess was in full flirt mode—batting her eyelashes, tossing her hair and touching his arm every time she laughed. She was all but serving herself to him on a silver platter. But Viggo appeared more amused than enticed by her advances. And his eyes kept straying across the room to where Scarlett stood in a circle with Lennox, Nelson, Bianca, Luke and Ana.

He was watching Scarlett. And she was watching him.

Nadia smiled, tucking her arm through Reid’s. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“I am.” He sounded amused. “Didn’t you introduce them to each other?”

“I did.”

“What happened?”

Nadia sighed. “It didn’t go very well. Scarlett kinda blew it.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Scarlett suddenly excused herself from her group and made her way across the room toward Viggo. He watched her approach, his face inscrutable. When she reached him, he gave her a small nod, the barest hint of a smile curving his lips.

Nadia couldn’t make out Scarlett’s words, but she assumed she was offering some sort of mea culpa for her earlier rudeness.

Viggo nodded again, acknowledging her apology.

Then Scarlett hesitated, as if she were waiting for him to say something. When he didn’t, she looked deflated. And rebuffed.

But as she turned to walk away, Viggo reached out and caught her wrist, stopping her. When she turned around to face him, he gave her a panty-dropping smile that had her looking dazed and sprung.

Nadia tried to read Viggo’s lips, but she was too far away. Whatever he said to Scarlett made her smile like a shy virgin. Then they walked off together, all but holding hands as they stared at each other.

In the wake of their departure, Avery looked somewhat perplexed, as if she were wondering what had just happened.

Jess looked peeved.

As Viggo and Scarlett walked slowly across the room, lost in their own world, Uncle Lavell and Aunt Sherise glanced up from chatting with two other couples. When they caught sight of their daughter with Viggo, they did a double take and traded shocked glances, then looked across the room at Nadia.

Uncle Lavell’s expression was suspicious and accusing. Aunt Sherise’s was unabashedly intrigued.

Nadia laughed and shrugged her shoulders, feigning ignorance. Then she turned away to exchange pleased grins with Reid.

A white-gloved waiter approached them with a tiered dessert tray filled with beautifully decorated petit fours.

Nadia exclaimed in delight, cooing over the elaborate designs until Reid chuckled and drawled, “Just pick one, babe.”

Grinning, she selected a glazed petit four decorated like a wedding present. Reid chose an elegant Christmas ornament topped with tiny silver sugar pearls.

As they fed each other the delicate mini cakes, cheers and applause erupted from their guests. They laughed, licking sweet glaze from each other’s fingers.

“Kiss her under the mistletoe!” a man called out jovially.

A wave of laughter swept through the crowd. Reid and Nadia grinned and glanced upward, expecting to see a sprig of mistletoe.

“Um, we’re not standing under any,” Nadia pointed out the obvious.

Reid’s eyes glinted roguishly. “Since when do I need mistletoe to kiss you?”

She grinned. “Good point.”

Hooking an arm around her waist, he gallantly dipped her backward, leaned over her and kissed her long and hard, eliciting another chorus of cheers and whistles from their guests.

By the time he let her up, she was breathless and intoxicated, giddy with sheer joy.

When she looked around and saw her mother’s face in the crowd, her throat tightened. Eden had tears in her eyes and was smiling radiantly. Meeting Nadia’s gaze, she blew her a kiss and mouthed,
You deserve all this and more.

Nadia smiled warmly and mouthed back,
Thank you for everything, Ma.

A few moments later when “In Your Eyes” began playing, Nadia’s heart melted and tears sprang to her eyes. As she stared at Reid, he smiled tenderly and held out his hand to her.

“Can I have this dance?”

“Absolutely.” She gave him her hand, and he led her out to the middle of the dance floor.

Everyone looked on with big smiles as he took her in his arms, holding her possessively close. She twined her arms around his neck, relishing the hard strength of his body against hers, the strong beat of his heart, the intense love radiating from his eyes.

As they began swaying together, everything in the background faded away. It was just the two of them. Just this moment. It was so magical, it felt like they were gliding through a dream.

“I don’t want to wake up,” Nadia whispered.

Reid smiled. “When you do, I’ll still be here.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart.” He bent his head and feathered a kiss along her jawline, making her shiver and smile.

“You didn’t actually cross your heart.”

He chuckled. “That would require the use of one hand. And I’m not about to let you go, baby, not even for a second.”

Her smile widened. “Fair enough.”

He lifted his head to grin down at her. “When we get back to Denver, we can have another engagement party and invite more people—”

“More than this?”

He chuckled at her incredulous tone. “So you can celebrate with your friends and coworkers and other family members,” he elaborated.

“I’d like that very much.” She grinned. “We should also invite your teammates’ wives and girlfriends. You heard Sergei,” she teased, referring to the Rebels’ Russian goalie. “He said Jenna feels cheated because she couldn’t be here tonight. She’s gonna give you an earful when we go to their house for dinner.”

Reid smiled. “I’ll take my chances,” he said, his arms tightening around her waist and pulling her closer. “I couldn’t wait any longer to propose to you, Nadia. As amazing as it felt to score that goal, putting a ring on your finger is what made this night absolutely perfect.”

“Oh, baby.” With a dreamy sigh of pleasure, Nadia slid her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. His breath quickened as she gave him a deep, lingering kiss, retreating just as she felt him increase the pressure.

“Easy there, Rocket,” she whispered teasingly. “Our guests are watching.”

The blue of his eyes seared her with molten heat. “We’re leaving right after dinner,” he growled low.

An electric sizzle shot to her core. “You’ll get no argument from me,” she breathed.

“Yeah?” A crooked grin curved his mouth. “Then you’re
definitely
gonna make the perfect wife.”

She laughed.

His expression went soft. Framing her face between his hands, he gazed down at her and murmured, “Thank you for saying yes.”

Nadia smiled into his eyes, falling even harder. “Thank you for asking….”

Overtime