“Would you like to sit in on this one, Ally?” Dr. Kaufmann asked her. His glasses perched on his pointy nose, threatening to fall down at any moment.
“I’m afraid not, Doctor. A…,” she struggled to find the right word, “…friend of mine stopped by and we’re going to go get a cup of coffee, if that’s okay.”
Dr. Kaufmann shrugged. “Very well then. Be sure to let Lynn know.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Ally had butterflies, which felt more like boulders, return and knock back and forth in her stomach. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gone out with a man. Especially not a tall, handsome, star hockey player. This was just coffee, but it could have been a proposal for all she cared. A living, breathing man had asked her out.
He came here to see me and little old me and nobody else! And I’m wearing cats having a tea party.
She snuck into the restroom and slipped the ridiculous scrubs top over her head, folded them and put them into the cupboard. Underneath she wore a plain black tee shirt, but it was better than what she started out with. She applied some lip balm from her pocket and smoothed her hair. Her look wasn’t going to sashay off the pages of Vogue anytime soon, but it was good enough for last minute. She smiled at herself in the mirror.
Here we go.
As soon as Ally came out of the bathroom, Lynn came around the corner.
“Hey, Ally. How about the Mastiff in with Doctor? He’s beautiful.”
“Yeah.” So was his owner.
“Lynn, is it okay if I step out for a little bit?” She knew Lynn wouldn’t mind and either way Ally planned on going no matter what her boss’s answer. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“Sure. Is everything all right?” Lynn asked with a concerned tone. She hoped nothing bad had happened to the poor girl’s grandmother.
“Oh, yeah. Everything’s great. There is this…guy…who I met the other day and,” Ally lowered her voice, “he’s really cute and he’s here and he wants to go have coffee.”
“Good for you, hun,” Lynn said with relief. “Take all the time you need. Take the rest of the day if you want. We don‘t have any more appointments today anyway.” Lynn couldn’t be happier. It was about time Ally started acting her age.
“Thanks Lynn.”
“I almost forgot.” Lynn threw up her hands. “Before you go, Izzy’s on the phone for you. Line one. Have fun,” she added before scurrying off to assist Doctor.
Ally quickly picked up the extension from the phone in the back room. She was afraid that if she kept Ben waiting for too long, he would give up on her and simply disappear.
“Izzy, I can’t talk now,” Ally hissed into the phone.
“Wait,” Izzy protested, “I want to tell you about my date with Dom.”
“I have to go,” Ally cut in and hung up the phone before Izzy could begin blabbering about her latest one night stand. She could talk to Izzy any old time. Ben was waiting for her.
By the time Ally came back out to the reception area, she looked and felt a little more put together. Though, given the chance, she would have been grateful for a team of people to make her over from head to toe.
It’s just coffee.
Right. And he was just an ordinary guy.
The ordinary guy smiled at her when she came into the room. “Hey, what happened to the cats you were wearing?” Ben asked.
“Oh. I changed. I didn’t want to embarrass you out in public.”
Little did she know, she wouldn’t have embarrassed Ben if she were wearing a burlap sack.
“So, what do you think about the diner across the street?” He handed her back the clipboard and she set it next to her computer.
“That would be perfect. And they have good food. Lynn and I have lunch there every once in a while.”
Ally began to doubt herself during the short walk to the café. She didn’t even know what they could possibly have to talk about. How would they have anything in common? She hadn’t thought about it before, she just knew she felt something for him.
When it was clear to cross the street, Ben pressed his hand to the small of her back to guide her. Ally was taken off guard at his touch and her body reacted as an electric spark ran from her toes to her neck, circling around her thighs along the way. His hand was big and warm and she was sad when he took it away. She liked the comfortable way it felt.
Once inside the diner, a middle-aged waitress with a nametag that said Dolly led them to a booth by the window. On the way, Ben received a few looks from the women customers in the diner. Probably not because they recognized him but because of his movie star good looks.
Good looks aside, everything about him felt natural to Ally. The way he was polite and smiled at the waitress. The way he slid into the booth across from Ally. And the way he casually looked over the menu. Ally admired the way he had self confidence without exhibiting any signs of being cocky or arrogant. How could someone act like the boy next door and look so damn sexy at the same time? She didn’t know if she wanted to jump his bones or play catch with him in the back yard. Oh yeah, wait, she did know which she wanted to do with him. That decision was a piece of cake.
When he smiled over at her, Ally thought she was going to melt into the green vinyl booth. She thought back to the video highlights she found of him online. Those powerful legs moving him around the ice. Glorious, powerful legs. Thighs. Hips.
The waitress asked for her drink order and Ally replied, “Yes, I’ll have an iced tea.” With extra ice so that I can dump it down my shirt. Forget coffee.
Ben ordered a Pepsi, then added, “How about the Sampler Platter?” He looked across at Ally. “Does that sound okay? I‘m kind of hungry.”
“Sure.” Ally nodded and handed the menu back to Dolly.
Appetizers to nibble on would be a good distraction from wanting to nibble on him.
“I hope it’s okay that I came into your work like that. I didn’t want to get your number from Izzy and just call you up out of the blue.” He had imagined an awkward conversation that would have gotten him nowhere with her. Hi. I’m the guy who you talked to for two seconds after practice the other day. Wanna go out sometime?
“So you spied on me first instead?” she asked with a grin.
“Hey! I had to at least find out if you had a boyfriend and make sure you weren’t married or something.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“Me too.”
Dolly, the waitress, brought their drinks and appetizer.
Ally took a sip of her iced tea. “So, why hasn’t some hockey honey snatched you up yet?” She surprised herself with her own forwardness. But then again, it was a valid question. Someone like him should already be married with a couple of kids running around the house.
He laughed at her question before answering. “The lifestyle is really tough with all the traveling and moving around. It seems like the women I meet can’t be trusted to be faithful when I’m out of town. Or they want to go out and party every night, which I’m not into. I like staying home most of the time when I’m in town.”
“Me too. I mean about the part about staying home. I don’t get out much, obviously. Between work and taking care of my Gram. I live with her.” Ally wanted to put everything on the table so that if he wanted to, he could take off in the other direction. She secretly hoped he wouldn’t.
“That’s cool. What are you going to school for?”
“Right now I’m getting my General Education classes out of the way, but eventually I want to go into Veterinary Medicine.”
That explained the stacks of medical books on her desk. “That’s wonderful. It’s always a good feeling to set up goals for yourself.”
“Yeah, look at you Mr. Hockey Star. You have obviously achieved yours.”
“Have you made it to a game yet?” he asked after devouring a mozzarella stick.
“Actually, I’m proud to say I have. Izzy took me to the game against the Warriors. It turned out to be pretty exciting. Our s
eats were right behind the glass.”
“I’m glad you got to see the team in action. Practice doesn’t do the game justice. So, what did you really think of the game?” He was curious to know what she thought of his profession.
“It’s practically football on ice,” she answered honestly.
“Ah, that hurts,” he said, grabbing his chest in mock pain.
“You don’t call that tackling?” Ally picked up a chicken finger and took a bite.
“No. When players intentionally collide, it’s called ‘checking’. And it’s all a part of the game.”
“Well, whatever you call it, it seems very dangerous,” she said skeptically.
They polished off the sampler platter and Ben leaned back against the booth. He noticed himself staring at her plump lips and forced himself to look up at her eyes. They were blue. Sapphire. The color of the sky at the lake. He tried to focus on her hair instead. It was honey blonde with golden highlights around her pretty face. A strand of her silky hair fell into her eyes and she quickly tucked it behind her ear. Her beautiful ear, with it’s rounded fleshy lobe. So soft. And inviting.
Wow, this was going to be harder than he thought.
Everywhere he looked he was met with a delicate body part more beautiful and intriguing than the next. He thought she looked like a goddess who belonged swathed in fine silks and adorned with diamonds, the sun shining behind her outlining her curves with its rays. Great, speaking of hard, he shifted in his seat.
“Would you have dinner with me?” His own words snapped him out of his fantasy trance.
“Yes.” She barely let him finish the question.
“I’m usually not this forward,” he admitted.
“I’d love to have dinner with you.” And maybe breakfast…
Ben and Ally sat at the diner for over an hour. To Ally’s delight, they had plenty to talk about and didn’t have to suffer through any awkward silences. Lynn didn’t mind Ally being gone for so long from the office because she had a soft spot for Ally. The poor girl worked so hard, never took a day off and the only friend she had was that dreadful Iggy or Ozzy or whatever her name was. The heavily made-up girl with the short skirts and filthy mouth. What a pair those two made!
By the time Ben had walked Ally back to the office and loaded Moose into his black Chevy Silverado, they had exchanged phone numbers and Ally had a dinner date.
“I’ll call you after I make the dinner reservations.”
“Okay. Thanks for lunch,” she added. When Ally went to go back inside, she stopped mid-turn because Ben wasn’t making an attempt to leave. She wasn’t going to be the first to look away.
He rested his hand on the truck’s door handle. “Try not to work too hard.” He was stalling and a smile curved to her lips.
“I won’t,” she reassured him.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay,” she said again. “Bye.”
“Bye,” he said softly.
Ally watched him drive away in his truck and floated back into the office. Once inside, she sunk into her chair and let the past hour sink into her brain. He was going to make reservations. Izzy was never going to believe this.
* * *
Izzy loved everything about her job. The interesting clients. The swanky uptown location of her office. And Marcus.
Technically, Frederick Thomas was the owner, broker and Head Honcho of Red Valley Real Estate Group, but Marcus Johnson kept the place running. Frederick was known for his flashy cars and ostentatious attitude. Along with his putrid cologne and chronic halitosis, Izzy had no idea how his clients could stand him long enough to purchase million dollar homes, but somehow he was the top grossing agent in Red Valley. In all probability, it was primarily because of Marcus.
Luckily, Frederick traveled a lot and was hardly ever in the office. Usually, he left most of his work to Marcus his right-hand man. Marcus was flamboyant, openly gay and basically the male version of Izzy with black hair and a fake and bake tan. Naturally, they became fast friends.
Marcus strolled into Izzy’s office and leaned a hip against her desk. He was wearing a black suit with his signature pink tie. “Here are the Country Club Parkway photos.” He handed Izzy an envelope of pictures depicting the stunning property she had recently listed. “Let me know which ones you want published in the newspaper and online.”
“Thank you, Marcus, my sweetness.”
Izzy thought back to when she first met Marcus and found out his real first name.
“Your parents named you Elton Marcus Johnson? Elton Johnson? On purpose?”
“Yes. Can you believe it? And then my mom had the nerve to be surprised when I came out to her in high school. Elton Johnson out of the closet. Go figure,” he had said with a snap of his fingers.
Marcus heard someone come in through the front door and peeked out of Izzy’s office to see who it was. The receptionist was greeting Ally and waving her toward Izzy’s office signaling she was available.
When Marcus saw that it was Ally, he let out a troubled sigh and turned back to Izzy.
“What’s wrong?” Izzy asked him.
“Your little friend is here.” Marcus folded his arms in front of him and looked Ally up and down as she walked down the hall in his direction. “Goodness, someone should take her shopping somewhere besides the Salvation Army.” Those two girls were like night and day.
“Hey, don’t talk about by BFF like that!” Izzy scolded him through her teeth.
“Sorry,” Marcus pouted.
“I once found a Chanel coat at the Salvation Army for thirty bucks.”
“No way, girlfriend!”
“Yes way. The rich can donate their designer hand-me-downs to me any time.”
Just then, Ally stuck her head into Izzy’s office. She couldn’t bare the thought of discussing her very first ‘pre-date’ over the phone. “Hey guys. Am I interrupting anything?” Ally asked.
“No,” Marcus snarled. “I was just leaving.” He turned on his heel and sauntered out of the office.
“Hey, woman.” Izzy waved Ally in, a little too enthusiastically. “Come in, sit down.”
“You look nice,” Ally commented. As always, Izzy was impeccably dressed in a Donna Karan organza dress and patent-leather pumps. “What’s with Marcus? Today his nose was turned up even more so than usual.”
“Oh, don’t mind him,” Izzy answered with a wave of her hand. “He just found out skinny jeans are going out of style.”
Ally shrugged. “Are you busy?” she asked and plunked down in the chair opposite Izzy’s desk.
“Nope. You wanna go check out a new listing with me? It’s a Tuscany style villa located on Country Club Parkway. Great layout, by the looks of the pictures.” Izzy flipped through the stack of property photos.
“Nah, that sounds depressing,” Ally wrinkled up her nose.
“Only you could find something depressing about a four million dollar property.”
Ally took the property photos from Izzy and looked through them. They showcased a gorgeous villa that was the size of Tuscany.
“So, how was your date with Dom?” Ally tried to steer the subject in the right direction.
“Well, I tried to tell you on the phone earlier, but you totally snubbed me.” Izzy tried to look hurt, but it wasn’t convincing.
“Well, I was at work. I can’t always drop everything to talk to you,” Ally said. “How was your date?” she tried again.
“I don’t know if you could exactly call it a date, per se.” Izzy leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her cleavage. “I think you would actually have to leave the bedroom for it to qualify as a date.”
“Izzy!” Ally threw the photos back at her friend in disgust.
“What?” she asked feigning innocence.
“Jeez, at least make the guy buy you dinner or something once in a while.”
“I’d skip dinner every night for sex that good.”
Ally rolled her eyes up into her h
ead but Izzy continued anyways.
“It was hot and sweaty and mmmm…He has a giant tattoo that spans his entire back. It’s this phoenix with these huge wings. Really hot.” She licked her lips, remembering the night before. Dom’s tattoo reflected in the mirror over his bed and had been the most incredible sight Izzy had ever seen while having sex. “We’re hooking up again tonight. Oh, and did I mention his stamina…” Izzy fanned herself with the house photos.
“Well, he is an athlete,” Ally smirked.
“True. Hey, Dom and I are going out again tonight and I want you to come.”
Ally made a face. “I am not going on your sex date with you, Izzy.”
“It’s not a date. Really. We’re hanging out. I’m meeting him at Club 21. A bunch of his friends will be there, too.”
“Ah, Izzy, you know the club thing isn’t my scene.” Ally slumped down in her seat.
“You are coming. And that is final. Oooh, speaking of hockey players and their friends…” Izzy raised her eyebrows at Ally then propped her elbows on the desk and pursed her lips.
“I can’t believe you set me up with a hockey player.” Ally’s whine didn’t come out very convincingly. She always had been a terrible liar and Izzy could see right through her every time.
And right now, Izzy was giving her a you‘ve got to be kidding look.
“I didn’t set you up. I didn’t have to, remember? Nu-uh. He asked about you.” Izzy leaned forward and straightened the paperwork on her desk. Her most expensive listing was going into escrow and she was in the middle of making sure nothing was overlooked. She wanted the paperwork to be perfect and she prided herself on being well organized as well as well dressed. “I can’t even take credit for it. He is smitten, that one. What did you say to him after the practice that day, anyway?”
Ally looked up from the real estate magazine she was absently flipping through, trying to look nonchalant. “We didn’t get a chance to say much at all. You drug me out of there like a bat out of hell, remember?”
“You should be kissing my feet for giving you the opportunity to meet one of the most eligible bachelors in professional hockey.” Ally puckered her lips and leaned forward before Izzy swatted her away. “You didn’t even want to go with me in the first place.”
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