down, and I’ve worked my entire life to get to that point. The company is part of my family and heritage. The people who work there are like family to me.”
That was as far as I got before the waiter brought us our drinks—Chardonnay for me, beer for Eli. I smiled my gratitude at him for momentary stalling my gripping tale of why I needed that photo and the reason my friends had been eager to win the date for me.
The waiter left, and Eli nodded for me to continue.
I licked my bottom lip, self-conscious about what I was going to tell him. “Anyway, one of my goals, well, more like passions, is making beautiful dresses for girls with various disabilities. Due to the unique qualities associated with the different disabilities, store-bought dresses don’t always fit the girls’ needs. They’re difficult to put on or feel uncomfortable.”
Eli nodded as if he understood what I meant, although I doubted that he did. He was being polite.
“All girls should feel like a princess if that’s what their hearts desire. I want to create a line of dresses that fits that need. Until now, I’ve been sewing them on my own time, but demand is greater than my ability to keep up with the requests. I approached my grandmother about introducing the line as part of the fashion house. It doesn’t exactly fit in with the company’s vision, and I was aware of that going in.
“Long story short, my grandmother said she would let me create the line but on one condition.” I paused to take a sip of my wine.
“What condition is that?”
I set the glass on the table and fought the urge to fiddle with my fork. “I have to complete every item on the bucket list I wrote in college. And thanks to you, I’m one step closer to reaching that goal.”
Reaching the goal if we skipped over the part about finding a husband.
But I doubted he could help me with that.
Right?
8
Eli
What did I think of Nala so far?
I mean beyond the obvious that she was gorgeous. There was something refreshingly sweet about her. Initially, I’d been thrown that she wanted the photo of us, but I quickly warmed up to her after that.
Okay, that wasn’t entirely true.
My body had been fucking hot for her from the moment she’d bumped into me at the hospital. But when she asked for the photo of us together, I’d experienced an unwanted flashback to the images that went viral after the puck bunny posted the half-naked photos of me. The difference was—beyond I wasn’t half-naked in the one the man took of us—Nala had sought my permission first.
Was I curious why her grandmother wanted the photo?
Damn straight.
“So your friends bid on me so you could cross ‘a date with a hockey player’ off the list?”
“Actually, it was a date with a hot hockey player.” If her grin could have blushed, it would have. “But yes, that’s about right. I didn’t even know that had been their plan until after the winner was announced. I’d been watching the women at the other tables entering their own bids and didn’t notice my friends were doing the same. They must have used my phone when I wasn’t paying attention to them.”
I laughed—partly because I found it funny that her friends had been that sneaky.
But mostly, I laughed because I was relieved she hadn’t been trying to win a date with me in hopes it would lead to more. “What other items are on your bucket list?”
“You promise you won’t laugh?”
My lips twisted to one side in a This-is-bound-to-be-good grin. “I can’t promise that when a date with a hot hockey player made the list.”
She picked up her fork and fiddled with it. “Remember, my friends and I came up with our lists after we’d had a few drinks.”
I leaned forward in my chair. “Then I’m really curious what drunk-Nala came up with.”
“I wasn’t exactly drunk…more like tipsy. All right, you ready?”
I nodded, entertained by her stalling tactics. “Ready.”
“Number two is ‘go on a hayride.’”
The corners of my mouth twitched. “You know how to live dangerously, don’t you?”
“What can I say? I’ve always wanted to go on one, but the opportunity has never arisen. Fortunately, I wrote hayride on my list and not sleigh ride—because I have less than nine and a half weeks to complete the list, and I can’t imagine it snowing in that time.”
My laugh was a low rumble in my chest. “Since when