replied, and we clinked our wineglasses together.
Amelia took a quick sip of wine and returned her glass to the table. “Does anyone remember what traits were on the list? Because that will help us reduce the number of possible candidates.”
“He was supposed to be tall,” Dani said. “But I guess when you’re only five foot six, most guys are tall.”
I stuck my tongue out at her. “Easy for you to say when you’re the Jolly Green Giant’s kinfolk.”
Dani laughed in that easy way of hers. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I prefer my men taller than me, which really limits the options.”
I could see that being a problem. Pretty much all men were taller than me, so that left me with more possibilities.
“He needs to have a career that he’s passionate about,” Rachel happily added, reciting another item from the list of traits.
“The bloke can’t be loud and obnoxious.”
“I believe what Nala actually wrote was that her husband wouldn’t be the type who needed to be the center of attention.”
“Extroverts need not apply for the position.” Rachel’s comment caused the other two to laugh.
“He needs to be bloody rich,” Dani added.
Amelia snorted. “I believe that quality was on your list.”
I earned a nice income, plus I owned shares in Ayanna, so a man’s income wasn’t a concern—as long as he wasn’t sponging off me.
“He needs to be generous when it comes to other people,” I reminded them since they were determined to mention all the traits on my list. “He’s sweet and caring. And he loves kids.”
“And he has a dog,” Rachel said, listing the final item.
“That was a bonus point,” I reminded them. “It wasn’t necessary, though.”
“Perfect.” Dani rubbed her hands together as though she were about to conjure the ideal husband for me. “Now that we’ve narrowed down what you’re looking for, we just have to find your dream man. You’ll fall in love with him and get married. And you’ll do all of this within the next three months.” A snicker might’ve accompanied the last part.
If only it were that simple.
“And what about the other items on the list?” I asked. “I don’t exactly know any hockey players I can go out on a date with.” In truth, I didn’t know any hockey players, period. “And I don’t exactly have any Paris trips planned during the next three months.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.” Amelia always was the optimist.
4
Eli
It was that magical time of the year.
No, not the holiday season. The other magical time. The final series of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And this year, the Rock were in it.
We had gone from fighting for a wild-card spot in March to now, the first week of June, playing the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team had a home game tomorrow night, so I was at the grocery store, picking up food for the next few days.
I reached for several more apricots to put in the paper bag.
“Hi.” The woman next to me leaned close enough that her tits pressed against my arm as she grabbed a peach from the box on the other side of me. Her long reddish-blonde hair brushed my bare skin, creating the sensation of ants crawling along it.
The removal of the peach caused several to roll like a mini landslide. I caught them before the peaches could land on the floor, and I turned to the woman.
She was pretty, with bright-blue eyes, and had on shorts and a tank top that revealed her cleavage. She also resembled the woman who had posted a photo of me on social media. I’d been asleep and half-naked at the time. She’d been wrapped in the sheet.
But I couldn’t afford to be fussy about that—especially when so much was at stake.
I wasn’t referring to a repeat of the social-media incident that had cast a shadow on the volunteer work I did with kids and teens with intellectual disabilities. That was the reason I no longer bothered with one-night stands, even though my teammates thought I did.
No, time was ticking until my cousin’s wedding next month.
And thanks to my blurting to Mom that I had a girlfriend, I now needed a fake one to take to Copper Creek to make the women in my family happy.
The blonde didn’t look the type to be easily intimidated by my family interrogating her to make sure she was the right woman for me.
“Aren’t you Elias Lawson? I saw you play the other day.” Her gaze traveled suggestively down my body in