“You did?” I ask in surprise.

“I did,” she says with a laugh. “Turns out that little TV in the break room that Chris has includes the NHL package. I kept the door open and watched when I could. You were awesome tonight.”

Her voice is soft, definitely tired, but there’s such pride in it, it sort of humbles me. That she would even have the resources available within herself to show me that pride and excitement when I know she’s probably beyond exhausted.

It makes me goddamn ache with the need to just touch her. Kiss her again.

Definitely I want to fuck her but that will come with time.

But we’ll have to make the time.

“I want to take you out,” I tell her in a low voice. “Just you and me. No kids.”

“What did you have in mind?” she asks, and I definitely hear a sexy purr inside that question. She’d probably shoot me if she knew some of the things I’d been fantasizing about.

But I don’t go there. Not yet. “Maybe just out to dinner or something. I’ll handle the cost of a babysitter.”

“Okay then,” she says, and I can’t see her face but I can hear the smile in her voice. “It’s a date.”

“It will be,” I say with a laugh. “Now, when is your last day at the convenience store?”

“Not next Friday but the one after,” she says. “He asked me to stay until the end of the month and that was only a few more days so I said okay.”

I grit my teeth. I’d like her out of there yesterday, but I know Jules has to do things the way it makes her feel the best about her choices.

“Then we’ll go out that Saturday,” I tell her firmly.

“Awesome,” she says, and then immediately follows up with, “Oh, shit . . . no wait. I can’t. It’s Halloween and I’m going to take the kids trick or treating.”

“Well, count me in for that,” I tell her, and I try to disregard her snort.

“You seriously want to come trick or treating with me and the kids?” she asks skeptically.

“Is there candy involved?” I ask sarcastically, and before she can answer I add, “Because yeah . . . I’m totally in on that.”

And fuck . . . her sweet laugh of delight causes my skin to tingle. It’s the best fucking sound I’ve heard all day. Even better than when the buzzer went off at the end of the third period and I’d put a shutout in my win column.

“But Jules,” I say in a low voice, and her laugh cuts off midstream. “After trick or treating, I’m getting a babysitter for the kids and then I get you to myself, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispers in a husky voice, and I know she’s imagining some of the things I am. It sends a bolt of lust straight down to my balls.

The next two weeks are going to be torture, waiting for my first real date with Jules.

Chapter 10

Jules

The woman shrieks, “Oh my God . . . Carl . . . get out here. Zack Grantham and Max Fournier are on our front porch.”

Kate snickers beside me and I watch with fascinated interest as the homeowners proceed to have a meltdown that two of the Carolina Cold Fury are at their house. Kate then snorts as we watch the poor kids holding their little plastic pumpkin buckets out for candy, but they’re being thoroughly ignored while the homeowners ask for pictures.

“Is it always like this?” I ask in a hushed voice as we stand at the end of the driveway while I witness yet again the oddness of celebrity.

“Not always,” she says with an amused voice. “But often.”

We’re currently at the end of our jaunt through Zack and Kate’s neighborhood. Max suggested taking the kids to trick or treat here with Ben, and then Kate had volunteered to host a slumber party for all of the kids after and thus Max and I would have our date.

The thought makes my palms sweat, but in a good way.

Kate and Zack Grantham are an amazing couple. Max filled me in on a little of their background before we came over, I think because he wanted me to feel comfortable with the kids staying the night there. Kate had started out as Ben’s nanny after Ben’s mom had died in a tragic car accident. The simple story is they fell in love and got married just last month, and best of all . . . Kate adopted Ben, the finalization coming through just the week after they said their vows.

That was the basic story, but Kate filled me in more each time the guys would take the kids up to a house for treats. Kate told me with a fond smile that Zack was a real asshole to her at first, but she said that’s because he was all stuck inside his head after Ben’s mom died. She said he eventually came around after he lost her—although I didn’t press her for those details—and she’s been living the fairy tale ever since.

That made me take pause, because that’s sort of how I’ve been feeling. That Max is like the knight in shining armor that has come to rescue me. Although I’m not letting him fully rescue me, I have totally accepted his help and I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I feel guilty almost as if I’m using him because I still can’t understand what he’s getting out of all this. But on the other hand, there’s something about Max and all he brings to my table that just seems right. It’s almost a feeling of fate or destiny . . . that I was given a terrible uphill battle with Melody dying and me taking on the kids, but that Max was put in my path for some higher purpose.

There’s a part of me I believe that will always feel a little guilty for all he’s done for me so far, because I don’t know how I could ever truly repay him. I mean, I’ll totally repay the loan he’s given me, but how do you truly let someone know that what they’ve done for you is a life changer?

On top of the guilt, I’m also suffering under a bit of fear that all of this with Max may be too good to be true. Here’s a man that has the potential to be all I ever would need in this life, and I’m honestly afraid to believe in something that could actually be fleeting.

With pictures out of the way, the homeowners finally hand out candy and they go a little overboard in their enthusiasm, giving each kid a handful of full-size candy bars that barely fit inside their already stuffed buckets. Each of the kids grins, says “Thank you,” and the whole group comes trotting down the porch steps toward us.

And what a group they make. Ben, who’s only about six months older than Annabelle, is dressed as a little vampire. He’s got his hair all slicked back, pale makeup, and dark shading under his eyes. Those little plastic vampire teeth are way too cute. Annabelle wanted to go as Tinker Bell and I was able to find her the cutest green dress with a sparkly tulle skirt that came with little fairy wings that went across her back. Levy and Rocco weren’t so easily settled on their costumes, but after a lot of debate, hemming and hawing, Levy settled on wanting to be a ninja and Rocco on a fireman, and I had absolutely no qualms about spending the money on those costumes from the check that Max gave me a few weeks ago when his friend bought my paintings. My only slight regret was the plastic ninja sword that Levy swings a little too wildly, in my humble opinion.