Melting Ice (22 page)

“Where’s he taking you?”

“I don’t know, but he told me to dress nicely.”

“Oh. That sounds fun.” Emma almost swooned. Ever the romantic of the sisters, she was still waiting for Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. Avery hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed when she couldn’t find a man to meet her high expectations.

“It will be,” Avery answered with a slow smile.

Especially after dinner.

Chapter 16—First Date

Isaac hadn’t asked a woman on a date since Jenny. Actually, come to think of it, he couldn’t recall ever going on a real date with Jenny. Everything they did revolved around partying, getting wasted, and drama—lots and lots of drama.

Avery wasn’t into drama. One of the many things he adored about her.
Yeah, admit it, guy, you adore a lot of things about her.

Despite his efforts and positive thinking, he couldn’t shake that nagging feeling that he didn’t deserve someone like her, yet that type of self-deprecation never got him anywhere. Maybe he didn’t deserve her based on his past, but he could become worthy based on his present and his future.

Worthiness started by doing all the right things to win Avery over, along with her two self-proclaimed protectors. He might be a novice when it came to wooing a woman, but he sure as hell wasn’t an idiot. First things, first.

Flowers.

Isaac drove into town only to find it was too late for florist shops to be open. Avoiding the roses, he settled on a brightly colored bouquet of mixed flowers from the grocery store. Roses said too much too soon. He wasn’t going there. Not yet.

He drove back home with an hour to get ready, took a shower, shaved, brushed his teeth, and slapped on some cologne. He slid into his black dress pants, along with a light blue button-down shirt.

“Got a hot date or what?” Blake asked as he leaned on the doorjamb of the bathroom.

Isaac’s face grew hot, and he smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good for you, Ice. Avery?” Blake cocked a brow at him.

Isaac nodded.

“About time.” His roommate crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. “You’re turning into a decent human being, Ice.”

Isaac snorted. “Yeah, I am. Thanks to you and some swift kicks in the ass by my teammates, coaches, and Avery.”

“Even Hal is starting to like you.” They both looked at Hal, curled up in his dog bed with Blake’s cat wrapped around his head. Hal opened one eye and growled.

“He tolerates me.”

“Regardless, when is the last time he bit you?”

“It’s been a while.” Isaac studied the boxer, who had closed his eyes and was now snoring loudly.

Blake slapped him on the shoulder. “Well, have a great date. I’m keeping the boys company tonight, making sure they don’t get thrown in jail.”

“You have a great time, too.” Isaac laughed. “And don’t wait up for me.”

Blake winked at him and left. Isaac took one last look in the mirror, grabbed the flowers, and headed for his first real date at the ripe old age of twenty-six.

* * * *

Avery riffled through her closet and pulled out her three dresses. The one she used for party crashing and was way over the top for a nice dinner out. One was too out of style. The last was a summer sun dress. Not appropriate at all. As she fidgeted in front of the closet, Emma walked into the room and threw a dress at her. It was a soft pink sweater dress, so very Emma, and so very not Avery. For starters, Avery wasn’t a pink person.

Reading the reluctance on her twin’s face, Emma gave her a little shove. “Try it on. It’ll look great on you. It’s not too sexy but not too puritan either.”

“I think it’s plenty puritan.” Avery eyed it.

“Try it. Humor me,” Emma insisted, and there’d be no peace for Avery until she complied.

Avery sighed. She wanted something subtly sexy. She’d look like a fuzzy pink kitten in this dress.

Impatient with her own indecision, she yanked on the dress and turned to regard herself in the mirror.

Wow. Double wow. Hands on hips, she turned here and there, viewing the dress from all angles. It was exactly what she’d been looking for and hugged every curve in an understated, yet alluring, way.

“Was I right or what?” Emma asked, smirking with self-satisfaction.

“Yeah, you were right. Thanks so much.” Why argue? Emma had been right.

“I had to do something. You were making me crazy with your pacing and fretting.” Emma sank onto the bed and crossed her legs in a yoga pose. “You really are crazy about this guy.”

Avery checked her makeup again in the mirror. “Yeah, I am. He’s special.”

“I can tell, and I’m happy for you.”

“You’re not going to warn me about him and remind me of his reputation like everyone else does?” Avery turned around and looked over her shoulder to evaluate her backside in the mirror.

“No. Remember, I’m the one who’s gone to dinner with you guys every week for over a month. I like him. He’s a nice guy.”

“Even after what Tanner says about him?”

Emma looked away, but not before Avery caught Emma’s blush. “Those two have their histories. Isaac is trying to change, and I think he’s sincere about it.”

“He is.” Avery added a little more lipstick in a candy pink rather than a siren red to match the dress.

She froze at the knock on the door.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Emma asked, jerking her chin in that direction.

Avery briefly closed her eyes and attempted to calm the wild beating of her heart. This was Isaac, her friend, her neighbor, the guy she talked to every night. No need to be nervous. Yeah, tell that to her heart and the rest of her body. She walked slowly and deliberately out of the bedroom, down the short hall to the entry.

Avery flung open the door a little too hard, and it banged against the opposite wall. Isaac, looking better than he had a right to look, raised one eyebrow.

In one shaking hand, he held a bouquet of spring flowers. He smiled tentatively at her. She’d never fallen harder for a man than she did for this man. Fallen? Hell, she’d crashed. Hard.

Her big, strong hockey player was nervous, too, and it was so sweet and endearing, she just wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss the hell out of him.

“These are for me?” she gushed like a teenager going on her first date.

His face turned several shades of red, and he nodded. “Yes.” He held them out to her.

“No one’s ever given me flowers before.” She took them and held them up to her nose, inhaling their sweet scent. “They’re beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you.” He looked her up and down, appreciatively, as his bad boy side momentarily took over. “That dress is hot.”

She smiled and did her own perusal. He looked as handsome as ever in a shirt that matched the color of his eyes and his dark hair still slightly wet from his shower. She so wanted to run her palm across his freshly shaved face.

“Let me find something to put them in.” Avery fumbled with the flower stems gripped in her fist.

Emma rushed forward to rescue the hapless bouquet. “I’ll take care of them. You two kids rush along.” She winked at Avery and gave Isaac the thumbs up.

Isaac wiped his hands on his pants and held out his arm for Avery. “Your chariot awaits, m’lady.”

Avery giggled, actually giggled, and took his arm. She glanced over her shoulder at Emma and winked back. Emma blew her a kiss.

Seconds later Avery sat in the passenger seat as Isaac drove towards the city. She twisted her hands in her lap and wet her lips.

“I’m nervous,” he admitted.

“I can tell. It’s cute.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell any of my teammates. I’ll never live it down.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” she giggled. Her? Giggling. This man was turning her into a girl, the kind who fawned over her man, wore pink, and giggled. Heaven help her if she took up cooking.

He glanced at her, his expression soft, instead of the usual hardness. “All my secrets are safe with you?”

“All of them,” she almost whispered.

“You really look beautiful tonight.” He swallowed, staring straight ahead at the road. “All I want to do is pull this car off the road and screw your brains out.”

“You are such a romantic devil and have such a way with words,” Avery teased him, loving his crooked smile and how his blue eyes lit up with pure joy.

“It’s that Wolfe silver tongue. Tanner has nothing over on me. I taught him everything he knows.”

She threw back her head and laughed. Tanner never said a sincere word in his life. He was too busy schmoozing and saying the right thing. She much preferred Isaac’s brand of blunt honesty.

“Well, mister, you owe me a dinner, and I’ve been starving myself all day in anticipation.”

“I’ve been starving for a lot longer than today.” He continued to stare straight ahead, but she saw a muscle jerk in his jaw.

Avery studied his profile, strong, rugged, handsome, everything she’d always dreamed of in a man, and given up on long ago. Unlike Emma, Avery never bought that bullshit that everyone had someone, a forever love. The One was all bunk perpetuated in little girls by that Happily Ever After garbage written about in fairy tales and romance novels. The only Happily Ever After Avery had ever dreamed about was on the back of a horse.

Until now.

Until Isaac.

Isaac had turned her life upside down. Every time she convinced herself he wasn’t anything special, he’d do something like befriend a damaged horse or a damaged teenager and work miracles with both of them. Or he’d show his vulnerability and bare his soul to her. Each time, one more piece of her heart fell at his feet.

Isaac pulled up to a waterfront steak and seafood house. Avery had heard of the place but never been able to afford eating there.

“I hope you like seafood and steak,” he said as he helped her out and handed his keys to the valet.

“I love red meat and seafood.” She took his arm and together they walked inside. They were seated immediately at an intimate table by the window overlooking Puget Sound. It was a beautiful clear night with an almost full moon.

It was perfect. He was perfect. And Avery wouldn’t have asked for anything more than what she had right now.

* * * *

Avery looked so hot Isaac didn’t know how he’d survive sitting across from her for the next two hours without jumping across the table and taking her right there in this fancy restaurant with its wealthy clientele. His blue-collar roots didn’t lend to being comfortable hanging out with people who looked down their noses at him, but Isaac, despite his lack of interest in all things social, hadn’t been raised by wolves, even if it was his last name.

His sweet, submissive mother had been born wealthy, but her dating and subsequent marriage to his father ended any family support. Isaac had only met her family once at his mother’s funeral when he was fourteen. Even so, she’d trained all her boys on the finer points of polite society, even though they chose to ignore any semblance of politeness, except for baby brother Zeke, who went out of his way to be nice, polite, and avoided all conflict unless it was on the baseball field.

He pulled Avery’s chair out and helped push it in, then took the chair across the small table from her. She looked around the place, her eyes open wide in wonder. Isaac glanced around, imagining what the restaurant looked like in her eyes. Natural wood booths and tables were arranged for the utmost privacy for each set of diners, one of the reasons he chose this place. Candles flickered on each table, providing a romantic backdrop to the dimly lit room. While it was upscale, it was rustic rather than stark white, and located in an old historic Seattle house.

“Have you eaten here before?” Avery asked. Her pleasure was so evident, he wanted to figure out how to make her this happy again.

“No, but Ethan told me about it. He said it would be perfect.”

“You told Ethan about our date?”

“Not exactly. But I asked him what would be the nicest place to take a special lady to dinner, which was comfortable, casual yet exclusive, and had a great view.”

“I can see Ethan and Lauren enjoying this place.” She picked up the menu and looked it over. Isaac did the same. Finally she met his eyes over the tops of their menus. “Would you be embarrassed if I made a pig out of myself?”

“Never. You could never embarrass me.” Truer words were never spoken. Avery was his goddess, and goddesses were perfect. At least, she was perfect for him, even with all her imperfections. She’d reeled him in and set the hook. There was no getting away now, not that he wanted to get away.

He ordered a glass of wine for her and a lemonade for him.

She lifted the glass to her lips and paused, setting it back down. “Are you sure it doesn’t bother you that I’m drinking in front of you?”

“Positive. I’ve been around a teammate or two pushing my buttons and still never had a drink. Your glass of wine isn’t going to tempt me to drink, but looking at you is tempting me to do other things.”

She batted her eyes with exaggerated innocence. “Tempting you? How could I tempt you?”

He glanced down at her pink sweater dress and reminded himself to keep his tongue from hanging out. “That dress for one. Your lips for another. And your eyes. Your smile. Your ass. Honey, if it’s part of your body, it tempts me. I bet your toes are sexy.”

She tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder and laughed, sending bolts of desire racing along his nerve endings right to the tip of his dick.

“I love your hair like that.” He reached out and wound a silky strand around his index finger. “Promise me you’ll never cut it.”

Her pink lips formed a perfect O, as she struggled with a response. “I’ll trim it, but I like it like this.”

“So do I.” He was doing it again—smiling like an idiot, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe he was an idiot when it came to Avery and maybe he was an idiot to think he could have a normal relationship with a woman, and maybe he was an even bigger idiot to expect that relationship to last past infancy considering his track record.

Regardless, he’d take the risk as long as Avery was all in. Judging by the way she gazed at him as if he’d just moved mountains or parted the ocean, she was all in.