Offside (11 page)

But she had some other things she’d
been working on too. Since nobody seemed to care if she was at her
desk or not, she’d headed out to a few meetings with some contacts
she’d made with some of her parents’ friends. What the hell…she
needed to use every advantage she had.

So she’d lined up some sponsorship
money that nobody knew about yet. They’d been happy to help out, if
a little amused at her earnest presentation, and overall interested
in participating in the event she was beginning to plan. She’d also
talked some people into donating awesome prizes for the silent
auction at the upcoming ball that would have people’s jaws
dropping, and had convinced a couple of minor celebrities to attend
the event.

Of course, she had no authorization at
all from Trent or Aaron to do this, but if she had money and big
names and things all planned out, there was no way they could say
no. Right? Right.

She’d also identified some tasks that
were going to need to be done, which Dulcie probably was trying to
do before she left, and took care of them without saying anything,
hoping she wasn’t screwing up.

And now she had another date with Matt
Heller. Well, not another date. You couldn’t really call last
weekend’s meeting at the pier a date. As he’d said, they were just
having some fun.

Her heart picked up its pace and
breathing accelerated when she started thinking about seeing him
again. It was bad, bad, bad, but she felt drawn to him, just the
way she had when they’d met way back when she was a rebellious
teenager out to do anything she could to piss off her parents, and
he’d been one of the only people who’d ever given her the kind of
attention she’d always craved.

Friday was Dulcie’s last day before
her mat leave, and everyone in the office took her out for lunch.
They’d even actually invited Honey to go along, her first “social”
event with her new coworkers. Everyone had contributed toward a
baby gift which they gave Dulcie after lunch, back at the
office.

“Thank you everyone,” Dulcie said.
“This stroller is the shit.”

Honey laughed with the
others.

“Guess you’ll be taking the afternoon
easy,” Celine teased. “On your last day.”

Dulcie frowned. “As if. I’ve still got
a million things to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like getting those check requisitions
done so we can get money out to all the groups.”

“I did that,” Honey said.

Dulcie, Celine and everyone else in
the office looked at her.

“I also followed up with the bank on
that trust account error.”

Dulcie blinked. “Thank you,
Honey.”

“No problem. I knew you were running
out of time.”

Dulcie lowered herself into her chair
and laid her hands on her belly. “Okay. I feel better about leaving
now.”

The others drifted away back to their
own desks but Honey remained and smiled at her. “You need to be
worried about that baby, not work. Hopefully you get some time to
yourself before she arrives.”

Dulcie had mentioned once that she and
her husband knew they were having a girl.

“I do want some time,” Dulcie agreed.
“But damn, I also want to get this over with. I’m tired of being
pregnant.”

“It’s a long time, isn’t it? My
sister-in-law is pregnant too. She’s due in about a month. I can’t
wait to have another niece or nephew.”

Dulcie eyed her. “You like
kids?”

“Yeah.” Honey smiled. “My niece and
nephews are a lot of fun. I’m glad to be back living closer to
them.”

After a short pause, Dulcie said,
“Thanks for everything you’ve done, Honey. You’ve made it a lot
easier for me to leave. I…” She hesitated again. “I didn’t really
think you were going to be much help. And I’m sorry if it hasn’t
been easy for you.”

Honey’s chest warmed. “That’s okay,”
she said with a smile. “I’m glad I could help. I’d like it if you’d
tell me what else I can do while you’re away to keep things
rolling.”

Dulcie nodded. “Yeah. There are a few
things you should know about.”

They spent the rest of Dulcie’s last
afternoon going over things, and for the first time, Honey felt
like she was being trusted and something was actually being
expected of her. And she loved it.

Near the end of the day, she hurried
back to her desk and lifted a gift bag out from the corner of her
cubicle and returned to Dulcie’s.

“Here,” she said. “I know we all
chipped in on your gift, but this is just from me.”

Dulcie’s gaze moved from the pink bag
up to Honey’s face, and back as she took it from her.

“It’s really nothing,” Honey added
quickly.

Dulcie opened it and pulled out some
pink tissue paper, and then unwrapped a square knit blanket in
variegated shades of pink, along with a tiny cardigan, hat and
booties.

“Oh my god,” she said, touching her
fingers to the wool. “So soft. And so pretty.” She looked up at
Honey. “These are beautiful. You didn’t have to do
that.”

Honey smiled. “I know, but I wanted
to.”

“Where did you get these? They’re
absolutely gorgeous.”

“I made them,” Honey explained. “It’s
a hobby of mine. I’m making some things for my brother and
sister-in-law right now too.”

Dulcie’s mouth opened. And closed. She
blinked. “You made these?”

“Yeah.” Honey grimaced. “I know
knitting is a lame hobby, but I enjoy it.”

“Knitting.”

Honey smiled and nodded. Her insides
twisted a little. God. Why had she done this?

Dulcie looked down at the tiny
garments and blanket sitting on her lap. She stared at them for a
long moment.

“All the best, Dulcie,” Honey said,
pushing away from the cubicle wall where she leaned. “I can’t wait
until you bring the baby in to visit.”

Dulcie nodded, still not looking up.
Honey returned to her desk.

Whatever. It didn’t matter. She didn’t
expect anything from anyone. She’d done it because she liked doing
it and she had learned a lot from Dulcie the last two weeks,
despite the rough start. And babies were pretty special.

Okay! It was the end of the week. And
for something different, she was looking forward to the weekend
because she had a date with a hot hockey player.

Chapter Eight

Matt arrived at her apartment a few
minutes before one on Saturday. She buzzed him in and waited for
him to come up, her insides fluttery. She somehow didn’t think they
were going to Burger King, which meant she did not know where they
were going, which therefore meant she had no idea what to wear.
She’d dressed in jeans rolled up at the ankle and a sheer flowery
top. She answered the door still in bare feet, unsure whether heels
or flip flops were more appropriate.

“Hey,” he said, stepping into her
apartment with his wide, white smile.

His broad shoulders and muscled frame
filled her small space and she could even smell him, a clean spicy
scent of shampoo or shower gel, or maybe both. She waited for him
to look around her tiny apartment and make some comment, but
instead his gaze travelled over her, from bare feet up to her face,
and his eyes showed warm approval.

“Am I dressed okay?”

“Jeans are great,” he said. “But you
might want to change to a different top. There’s a cool breeze
today and we’re going to be outside.”

“We are?”

“We’re going to rent bikes at the
beach,” he said with a grin.

She paused then shook her head. “Well,
that answers my question about footwear. I’ll be right back. Have a
seat if you like.”

That would give him lots of time to
realize what a little dump she lived in.

She was ready to defend her little
dump, though. Even though she’d only lived there a few weeks, she
was making it her own. She hurried into the bedroom and closed the
door behind her, then whipped off the blouse. She hung it in the
closet then yanked open a drawer and pulled out a Berkeley T-shirt.
She pushed her head and arms through it and tugged it down, then
reached for a black hoodie hanging on the hook on the inside of her
closet door. Once she had that on, she grabbed her Nikes on the
floor of the closet and returned to her living room.

Matt stood at the window looking down
onto the street. He turned when she entered the room. “There,” she
said. “So seriously, we’re going bike riding?”

“Sure, why not? It’s a nice day for a
ride along the beach. We can stop somewhere along the way and get
something to eat.”

Well, she’d asked for low-key. “I
haven’t ridden a bike in years.”

“I hear it’s something you never
forget,” he said solemnly.

Her lips twitched. “I’ve heard that
too. I just hope I can keep up with a professional
athlete.”

“I’ll go slow,” he promised, eyes
gleaming.

“I wouldn’t want to hold you back.”
She sat to put on her shoes and lace them up.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“You should know I haven’t even worked
out in a long time. I had no time for that when I was in school.
I’ve been meaning to get back into it.”

She didn’t have cash for expensive gym
memberships, but she had her Nikes and an iPod and she could run
along the beach. She just hadn’t actually done it yet.

“This’ll be good for you then,” he
said, approaching her, hands in the back pockets of his
jeans.

Jeans that fit him perfectly, despite
his size. Jeans that were softly worn and rode low on his hips. He
wore a black T-shirt that hugged his shoulders and biceps but hung
loosely over his flat abs.

“Do
you
have a jacket?” she
asked.

“In the car. Ready?”

“No.”

He grinned again.

“I won’t bring my purse,” she said.
“Since we’re going bike riding. But I need something. Hang on.” She
made another trip to her bedroom to retrieve the small black
messenger bag she could wear across her chest. It didn’t hold a
lot, but what did she need—a little money, a credit card,
sunglasses, her phone, a lip gloss…and she called it
good.

“Low maintenance,” he murmured,
watching her adjust the bag over her shoulder.

She set her hands on her hips. “Are
you being sarcastic?”

“No!” He held up his hands. “I’m
serious. Girls usually carry a big bag of shit around with
them.”

She laughed. “Yeah. It’s called a
purse. Why do you sound surprised I’m not?”

He gave her a look, chin
down.

“Okay, maybe I used to be high
maintenance.”

“Uh…
yeah
.”

Her eyebrows lowered.

“I just find
it…interesting.”

“Ooookay.”

“You interest me, Honey. Not gonna
deny that. Let’s go.”

She interested him. She didn’t know
what to do with that comment so she followed him out, locking the
door behind her and adding her keys to her small bag.

“Oh hell no,” she said when he paused
beside the little black Porsche. “This is your car?”

“Yeah. Sweet ride, isn’t
she?”

He opened the passenger door and she
slid down into the luxurious interior. “She? Please don’t tell me
you’ve named her.”

He laughed as he closed her door.
Moments later he was inside, and the top of the convertible was
lowering as they pulled away from the curb. “Nah. But I do think of
her as a ‘her’.”

She stroked a hand over the dash.
“Very pretty.”

“Bought this when I moved here,” he
said. “It seemed appropriate for California.”

“Do you like living here?”

“It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s a long
way from where I grew up.”

“Winnipeg.”

He glanced at her, the corners of his
mouth lifting. “You remember.”

“Sure.”

They’d talked about that way back when
they’d first met. Although Honey’d been born in the United States,
her father was Canadian, born and raised on the Canadian prairies,
and had never forgotten his roots. He’d made sure all his kids had
travelled through Canada. Winnipeg wasn’t that far from Moose Jaw,
Saskatchewan, where Grandma and Grandpa Holbrook still lived, and
where Honey’d visited many times. Mom and Dad may live in a gated
acreage in Thousand Oaks, but Grandma and Grandpa’s two-story house
in Moose Jaw was good for keeping your feet firmly planted on the
ground.

“It’s definitely different,” she
agreed. “When’s the last time you went home?”

“I try to go back every Christmas if I
can, and for sure every summer. My brothers and I all do hockey
camps there in the summer and we organize a charity golf
tournament.”

She nodded. Matt was another guy who’d
apparently kept his feet fixed to the ground. “Your dad still owns
the sporting goods store?”