grin still on his face.
“Spot, back,” Eli tried again.
Spot looked at his owner, whimpered, and somehow squeezed between the two seats to sit in the rear.
“Sorry about that,” Eli said. “Now the seat’s covered in dog hair.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive. Isn’t that right, Spot?”
Spot woofed again.
I climbed in and fastened my seat belt.
Eli turned over the engine, and it purred to life. “I never asked you on Sunday if you had a dog or any pets.”
“I’ve always wanted a dog, but my mom didn’t, so that was the end of that. I live in a condo that doesn’t allow pets like dogs and cats. I do have a pet hedgehog, though. He’s staying with Amelia and Sarina while I’m away.”
“A pet hedgehog? Somehow I don’t see you as a hedgehog kind of person.”
Was he the first person to have said that?
Not at all. It was a common response when I told people about Thistle.
“Hedgehogs are awesome pets. Plus, he sleeps all day while I’m at work and is happy to socialize with me when I get home late. He’s the perfect pet for my schedule. What about you? Aren’t NHL players on the road a lot? Who looks after Spot while you’re away?”
“A neighbor. She has two dogs, so she takes Spot with her when she walks them.” He began reversing from the parking spot.
“She? How come you didn’t ask her to be your fake girlfriend for the wedding?”
He glanced at me long enough for me to catch the smirk on his face. “My family might have something to say if I showed up claiming my sixty-year-old neighbor is my girlfriend.”
I snorted a rather unladylike sound. “That’s because society has double standards. Look at how many men in their seventies are dating or married to women in their twenties or thirties.”
“So you’re saying you would date or marry a man in his sixties or seventies?”
“Are you kidding? I’m not a gold digger, nor do I have daddy issues.” And being a trophy wife didn’t appeal to me either. “I prefer men my age.”
“When you actually date,” he said with a knowing chuckle.
“That sounds about right. What about you? Would you date a much older woman? Or how about when you’re in your sixties or seventies, would you date a woman who was the same age as your granddaughter…if you had a granddaughter?”
“Definitely not. It’s okay if other men want to do that. It’s not my place to judge. But like you, I’d rather be with someone closer to my age. But since I don’t date…”
“It’s a moot point.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
We spent the day driving, stopping only long enough to take short breaks to stretch our legs, and so Spot could do his doggy business. Because we didn’t want to waste too much time stopping for lunch, we grabbed sandwiches at a deli on the way and had a quiet lunch break at a roadside stop.
The rest of the time was spent getting to know each other since we had plenty of time to do that.
And to get our cover story straight.
“So how did we meet?” I asked. “How about we make it something really sappy, like a Hallmark movie? I had never been on skates before, and I was at an ice rink with my friends, clinging to the railing for dear life. You came over, thinking I was someone else. Someone who had stolen your lucky hat you had gotten with a hat trick—”
“We don’t actually keep those hats.”
I tore my gaze from the wide-open, grassy Nevada plains, with the mountain range on the horizon and a large bird gliding freely in the sky, to glance at him. “You don’t? What happens to them?”
“The Rock organization sends them to a local charity to donate to the homeless. It’s pretty much the same for all the NHL teams.”
“Okay, so how about you thought I had stolen your lucky hat that you had worn the same day you got a hat trick? You’ve had hat tricks, right?”
“I’ve had a couple in the NHL and while playing for the AHL.”
“What’s the AHL?”
“The American Hockey League.”
“Right. Anyway, that’s when I finally lost my balance, but if it hadn’t been for your heroic efforts, I would’ve landed on my butt. You caught me before that happened, and I was eternally grateful. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
He laughed. “And what did you do to show me how grateful you were for me saving your ass?”
“I kissed you, of course. And that’s when