Back Check Part 12

"You said it yourself...it was good."

His heart banged against his sternum and he shot her a quick, questioning glance.

"I remember too," she continued, her voice breathy. "How you taste. How you kiss."

Sweet Jesus, now he was getting a b.o.n.e.r.

"I can't look at you without remembering that," she said. "So it's better if we just don't."

"Don't what? Look at each other?"

"Yes."

"Well, I can sit here beside you and not look at you all night if that's what you want. But it won't stop me from wanting to do this." And he laid his big hand on her knee, under the table, where no one else could see.

For a long, throbbing moment, neither of them moved. Or spoke. Or breathed.

Her skin was warm. Soft. He curved his fingers around her and moved his hand in the barest of caresses. Heat and desire pulsed between them.

"That's what I mean," she whispered. "Dangerous."

His mind was kind of shorting out with l.u.s.t and he struggled for what to say next. Yeah, he got that there was risk in this. Things hadn't worked for them before. It would be crazy to go there again. Love only led to being hurt. For him anyway.

He looked around the table at his teammates-Duper and Lovey about to tie the knot; Amber and Army all crazy about each other; Rupper and Sidney equally in love and now with a baby in their lives. His buddy Richie was married and having a baby too. He was happy for all of them. But that kind of love was never going to be for him.

"Tanner."

"What?"

"We can't do this."

He gave her knee a gentle squeeze and went to remove his hand, but she shocked him by covering it with her own. Her fingers curled around it and gave him a squeeze back.

"I'm getting mixed messages here, Katie. Just so you know." With a slight turn of his head, he met her eyes, and his lips quirked.

"That's because I'm conflicted," she admitted.

"Ah. Well, if I can help you work things out, let me know."

Her mouth curved into a smile. "Thank you. That's very generous of you."

The air still hummed around them, but humor had taken it from dangerous to excitingly risky. He wanted her, and apparently she wanted him too.

They let go of each other's hands as servers came around to take their dinner orders. They'd barely looked at their menus, so they picked them up to study them.

Ordering a steak at Jack's was a given. Tanner requested the filet and lobster tail, added crispy onion strings and steamed asparagus. Katelyn ordered the same steak and lobster, medium rare like him, and he remembered the Valentine's dinner they'd had at the country club that year they'd been together, how they'd splurged on a fancy night out, how impressed he'd been when she'd ordered medium rare beef and whiskey.

Platters of appetizers appeared-calamari, ceviche, tuna tartare, oysters Rockefeller. Everyone pa.s.sed them around family style while waiters refilled the champagne gla.s.ses.

"What else are you working on right now?" Tanner asked Katelyn as they sampled the amazing food. "Besides this wedding."

"I just did a corporate event, and next week I have a birthday party and an anniversary party. I have a wedding that's been put on hold a few times, so last week I spent a bunch of time canceling things and getting refunds on deposits I made."

He frowned. "Does that cost you money?"

"Possibly, but I also have a non-refundable deposit that my clients pay me, which helps protect against things like that. I'm not sure if this wedding is ever going to happen, honestly. And it's not the bride who's the bridezilla, it's the groom's mom."

"It must be challenging dealing with all different people when you're organizing a big event. Family dynamics..."

"Yes. Families can definitely be challenging. But sometimes corporate events can be a challenge too, with bureaucracy and budgets. Any job where you deal with people and provide service to them is going to have that, though. I love making people happy, but it's hard to please everyone."

"True. What's the weirdest event you've ever organized?"

She tipped her head to one side as she lifted a ring of calamari. "Well, I recently did a wedding with a Walking Dead theme. Here, I can show you." She popped the calamari into her mouth, rubbed her fingers over her napkin, and reached down to her purse.

She brought her phone up and scrolled through some photos, then held it out to him. He looked down at a picture of a couple in full zombie makeup-the bride's eyes and mouth blackened and dripping blood beneath her white bridal veil, the groom with freaky eyes and st.i.tches.

"Jesus Christ."

"I know, right?" She swiped and brought up another photo.

"Who did the makeup? You?"

"No, I hired a makeup artist to do that. Someone who works in movies and theater."

"It's good. Really good. But f.u.c.king weird."

She laughed. "Another one that was unusual was when I worked for Constance Beck. The bride and groom wanted a Shrek theme. They both had their faces and bodies painted green like Shrek and Fiona, and the venue was decorated to look like a castle."

Tanner stared at her. "You've got to be fist-f.u.c.king me." After the words left his mouth, he snapped it shut. "Uh..." That was how he talked in the dressing room with the guys, not with women. And yet, Katelyn had never been offended by crude talk. For a delicate, feminine girl who liked pretty things, she'd hung out with the hockey team in all their foulmouthed splendor and laughed at their dirty jokes. In fact, she'd had quite a filthy mouth herself at times, another thing he'd loved about her.

Now she was laughing. Like, laughing hard. "Oh my G.o.d, Tanner."

He grinned. "Sorry."

He f.u.c.king loved making her laugh.

"Anyway, yeah, not kidding. Shrek. Sometimes my job tests my creativity. And my ability to be tactful."

"Is there anything you've actually refused to do?"

"Yes."

"Oh-ho. Like what?"

"I actually declined to do the naked wedding one couple requested."

"Aw...seriously? That would've been a lot more fun than getting painted green."

"It was a little outside my comfort level. Also, I once turned down organizing a bachelor party where they wanted actual hookers. I can find a girl to jump out of a cake. I can even find exotic dancers. But I'm not a pimp."

He laughed. "Good for you, Katie."

This warm exchange reminded him of some of the reasons he'd fallen in love with her. And did absolutely nothing to ease the semi he'd developed in his dress pants.

He wanted her.

There was no denying it anymore. He wanted her again...or he wanted her still...who knew, and what the h.e.l.l did it matter. He just wanted her.

Chapter 10.

Since the object of the evening was to meet the wedding party, Katelyn made a point of engaging in conversation with the people she didn't know as well-Lovey's cousin Kendra, who was some high-powered businesswoman in New York; her friend Jillian, who Katelyn learned worked for Moens Brewing as a marketing rep; and she got to know Lovey's matron of honor and her husband a bit better.

It was tempting to spend the entire evening talking to Tanner, because dammit, she still enjoyed talking to him. He was older and more mature, but he still had that wicked sense of humor. There'd always been a strong physical attraction between them-and still was, she reluctantly admitted-but they'd also enjoyed just hanging out together, or with friends.

She liked watching him interact with the other guests too. He and his teammates all had an easy camaraderie with good-natured trash-talking. They didn't talk much about hockey. Clearly they were all close friends off the ice as well as teammates on the ice, and their loyalty to one another and the team was obvious beneath the jokes and insults.

"Are you kidding?" she heard Tanner say to Marc. "Hughie thinks he's good in the sack? You know how he made his last girlfriend scream during s.e.x?" After a beat, he said, "He called her and told her about it."

The guys laughed and Katelyn covered her mouth. It was inappropriate, but it was funny.

The food and wine were delicious, the service was attentive, and Lovey and Marc were gracious hosts. The evening pa.s.sed in a fun blur of food and drink, talk and laughter. Sidney left early, taking a taxi home alone while Jared stayed awhile longer, but he was the next to leave. The table had been cleared and everyone had picked up their winegla.s.ses and moved around. Katelyn was now sitting across from Tanner, trying not to look at him while she listened to Lovey and the bridesmaids plan their dress shopping trip tomorrow.

Then others started leaving as well, and she picked up her purse and moved to thank Lovey and Marc for the evening.

"Thank you for coming!" Lovey hugged her. "It was so fun."

"Thank you for including me. It was lovely."

Katelyn used the ladies' room down the hall, then found where their coats were. With hers on, she took a seat on a chair to change from shoes to boots.

Tanner appeared, his gaze dropping to her bare legs as she bent over and lifted one foot to slip off her high-heeled shoe. She dropped the nude patent-leather stiletto into the fabric bag she pulled from her purse. "Can't walk in the snow in these," she murmured.

"You're walking?"

"Yes."

"Where do you live?" He pulled his jacket from the closet and slipped it on.

"East Delaware Place. The John Hanc.o.c.k building."

His eyebrows rose but he nodded, looping a scarf around his neck. "I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to do that." She reached for her boots, tall black leather ones with a flat heel.

"I don't have to," he agreed. "But I will."

They descended the stairs and crossed the busy lounge, then exited onto the street. The sky glowed with a pale light, the cloud cover reflecting back city lights, and soft snowflakes drifted down. The area was still busy with all the bars and restaurants, and the ten or so blocks up Michigan Avenue would be full of activity also, so Katelyn felt safe walking home alone.

Tanner pulled on a black knit cap and held out his arm and, after a brief hesitation, she took it and they walked toward Michigan.

"Where do you live?" she asked curiously.

He gestured. "Over on North Water Street. Near the river."

"Nice."

"Yeah, it's a decent place. We're practically neighbors."

She smiled. It really wasn't far between their places, although that area was pretty densely populated. On Michigan, traffic swished past them in a blur of lights, the skysc.r.a.pers glittering above them, bare tree branches sparkling with little white lights.

"I love Chicago," she murmured, gazing around as they walked along the broad sidewalk.

"Yeah. I like it too."

"Was it hard when you moved here from New York?"

"Getting traded is always hard. I liked New York. I felt really loyal to the team who drafted me and signed me. But the Aces are a great team and it didn't take long to get used to living here. And I'm closer to home."

"You don't go home very often, though, do you? Summers, you said."

"Yeah, that's about it. I haven't even gone home for Christmas the last few years."

"Why not?"

"Christmas is for families. I don't have that kind of family. My mom's always traveling, looking for her next husband. My dad's busy."

Her heart squeezed. "What do you do at Christmas, then?"

"It's only a three-day break in the schedule, so I don't do much. Sometimes the other guys take pity on me and invite me for Christmas dinner, if they're around. Or I order Chinese food and watch a lot of Lucky Dog shows."

"What? Lucky Dog?"

"It's a show about these rescued dogs they find homes for."

"Somehow I'd figure you'd be more likely to watch p.o.r.n."

He burst out laughing. "Not gonna lie, I may have watched some on occasion."

"You couldn't lie to me about that. Remember? I found that movie on your laptop..."