Caged (Gold Hockey Book 11) by Elise Faber (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

She froze.

Fuck.

Too strong. Too fast. Too much.

He’d just gotten her used to him sitting next to her on the bus and plane, had finally secured a date. He wasn’t supposed to skip over the rest of the first-date-getting-to-know-you stuff and dive straight into role play and fantasies.

“I—”

Her thumb brushed over his bottom lip. “Would I wear my glasses?”

His cock twitched, a groan tumbling out of his mouth.

She smiled, no sign of shy. Only a confident, smart, sexy as fuck woman standing plastered against him. “I’m reading that as a yes.”

He bent his head, desperate for just one more brief taste of that spicy and sweet.

“Yes,” he said, when he managed to pull back. “You’d wear the fucking glasses, sweetheart.”

Her eyes were glazed, but her smile was fucking gorgeous. “Okay, then.”

“Okay,” he murmured, his hand shifting to cup the side of her neck, the other clenched on the sumptuous curve of her hip. He stared into her eyes, at her face, tracing every millimeter, committing the faint scar crisscrossing her left brow to memory, making a mental note to ask her at some later point where she’d gotten it. Ethan wanted to know everything about her. Her eyelashes were so long, nearly touching the skin of her cheekbones, her top lip plump, fading from almost maroon to a lighter mauve as it dipped inward. Her earlobes were attached and pierced, though he’d never seen her wear earrings and made another mental note to find out if, like her glasses, she just didn’t wear them to work, or if she didn’t wear them at all.

“Ethan?” she asked what could have easily been centuries later.

He couldn’t be counted on to keep track of meaningless things like time when he held this woman.

“Yeah?”

“Weren’t you going to take me somewhere?”

He blinked, mentally shook himself.

And then he found the control to release her, to lace their fingers together. “Yeah, I am.”

“Is this a kidnapping?” Dani asked as he tucked her into the car he’d managed to borrow from a buddy. Ethan had planned ahead, had his friend leave the small SUV at the arena, and would be doing Tim “a favor” by returning it to the amphitheater so Tim would have it when he got off his shift that ended—

Ethan’s eyes flicked to the dash.

Twenty minutes ago.

Meh, Tim was a good guy. They’d played in college together, and Tim had gone on to managing bands, and eventually when he’d had a family, managing venues, including this one outside of Denver.

So now, Ethan’s friend had a municipal job (the city technically maintained the amphitheater) with good benefits and a pension, a wife and three kids, and a soft spot for a man (Ethan) trying to win the heart of an incredible woman. Oh, along with the clearance to let visitors into the park after hours for a romantic date.

Keys. Romance. Check. Check.

And in return, Ethan had scored Tim and his family tickets to the Red Wings versus Avs game. Good seats, too. Club level, just two rows behind the glass.

He could have gotten better for a Gold game, but—gasp—Tim’s favorite team was not the one that Ethan was currently playing on.

So much for friendship, huh?

Fingers on his cheek startled him, and he realized he’d been quiet as he navigated his way to the freeway. Starting the date off right by ignoring the woman he was supposed to be wooing. Way to go.

“I like when you smile,” Dani whispered. “It’s like a surprise hidden in your beard, only revealed if someone looks close enough.”

He captured her wrist, pressed a kiss to her palm. “The first time you smiled at me, I almost ran into a pole.”

“What?”

“I’d been trying to get you to notice me for months, to really look at me.” He laughed. “But it seemed like you were completely indifferent, even though I was burning up for you. You’re quiet, but I always felt like there was so much more going on in your head than the rest of the world could see—”

A snort. “Yeah. Like crippling social anxiety.”

“I like you, just the way you are.” Another kiss to her palm before he placed her hand down on his thigh. “Anyway, back to my pining. Max was teasing you like he teases everyone, and then suddenly you came back with some quip about his game and how your character ‘had significantly more melee than his pathetic excuse for a paladin,’ and Max froze, his face warring between shock and horror. I laughed, because I’m a cruel asshole, and then you glanced up, gave me a full look at those gorgeous eyes for the first time, and I . . .”

“What?”

Fell for her. Right then and there.

Vowed that he’d win her over, would own her heart.

Because she owned his.

But that was too much too soon. So, he needed to temper it back, return to first date vibes.

“I knew that I had to get to know the woman who decimated Max’s video game prowess.”

She chuckled. “Do you want to know something?”

He wanted to know everything.

But first date, and all that. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Which was why he just nodded instead.

“The truth is that I didn’t even play that game. I was just really freaking tired of hearing him blabber on about it.” A shrug. “Luckily, I knew enough about it that I was able to fool him.”

Amusement was a coiled spring, one that unloaded, laughter bursting out of him as he took the exit that would take them off the highway and up toward the twisting road leading to the amphitheater. “You’re devious.”

“I couldn’t believe he fell for it.” Ethan saw one shoulder lift and fall out of the corner of his eye. “I actually felt guilty about it and wanted to tell him the truth.”

Her palm on his leg squeezed. “Why didn’t you?”

She was quiet for long enough that he expected her not to answer him. “Because of the way you looked at me.”

He’d just turned into the driveway, saw Tim standing by the gate, and