Back Check Part 21

Chapter 16.

"So, how was the date?"

Katelyn held her phone in her hand, her earbuds in as she strode along West Erie Street after her meeting that afternoon, talking to Rachel. "It was...good."

"Good? That's it?"

"Okay, better than good. Honestly, I don't know how to describe it. In some ways it was like we'd never been apart. But then we'd learn something new about each other. He's changed, in some ways. I guess so have I."

"That would be pretty normal, I think."

"True."

"As long as he's changed in good ways."

"Yes. It's good." She sighed. "I had so much fun, Rach. I stayed all night at his place."

"That's...good?"

"I guess it is. I still feel a little hesitant about it, but...maybe this will be okay."

It was scary, but she had to be honest and admit that she still believed in love. She'd always believed in love. She wanted love in her life-to love someone beyond everything and to have that in return. She'd wanted it so much she'd agreed to marry three men, hoping she could have that with them. When they hadn't worked out, she'd given up thinking she could have it. She still wasn't sure if this was it...if she and Tanner could have that...but a bud of hope was blooming inside her, slowly unfurling.

"I hope so," Rachel said softly. "I don't want you to be hurt again."

"I don't want that either." It had hurt so much when he'd left, and that was the scary part, because he'd been honest with her. There are no guarantees.

Well, nothing in life was guaranteed, as she well knew. So even though she wanted to hope, wanted to believe, she was keeping her heart in check and being cautious.

"When are you seeing him again?"

Katelyn turned the corner onto Michigan and dodged a group of people obstructing the sidewalk. "Not for a while," she said glumly. "They leave today on a road trip...Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Edmonton. They get back Sunday."

"Ah."

"It's fine. I have that Valentine's wedding Sat.u.r.day, so I'm busy this week and Sat.u.r.day. Also, I have work to do on the launch party for Sidney Frayne. And it's probably best that we don't rush things."

"I agree. So no hot yoga this Sat.u.r.day, I guess?"

"Sadly, no. What about a late Friday yoga cla.s.s?"

"I can do that. Then we could do happy hour."

Katelyn laughed, stopping at a red light, waiting to cross Michigan. "That makes perfect sense to me. Talk to you later this week, then."

"You bet."

She did have work to do, and it was so good to be busy. It wasn't lost on her that a lot of her business lately had come from Lovey Armstrong...her wedding, the subsequent baby shower, now Sidney Frayne sending business her way. Sidney had also mentioned a wedding, not until the summer, and she said it would be small, a lot smaller than Lovey and Marc's...but still, it was work. And Katelyn was happy.

And she couldn't help feeling happy about Tanner.

- The Aces flew home from Edmonton right after the game on Sat.u.r.day night, arriving in Chicago in the early hours of the morning local time. Tanner headed straight home and crashed until nearly noon, since they had a day off, happy to be back and sleeping in his own bed.

The trip had been good overall, with three wins, one of them in overtime. He'd also been pranked by some of the guys when they were in Winnipeg. He still couldn't believe he'd fallen for it. He was a veteran, for Chrissake, not some wet-beneath-the-jock rookie.

One of the guys had called his cellphone and claimed to be a reporter from a local newspaper. Who the h.e.l.l knew what the newspapers were in Winnipeg? So he'd answered a bunch of questions, starting with the obvious, then becoming tiresome questions about the trade rumors and the status of his contract negotiations. Maybe that was how they got him, because everyone and their uncle were asking him those questions lately. He'd kept his patience, given his stock answers, responded to the questions, and then the guy'd asked if he could pose one more question. Tanner'd said sure. "Have you ever seen the movie The Wedding Planner?" the reporter asked.

Tanner had paused, thinking, What the f.u.c.k? And then the sound of guffaws all around him had clued him in that they were yanking his chain about Katelyn.

Funny. Very funny.

He had revenge plans, but he'd wait until they were off guard.

After he'd showered, eaten oatmeal with fruit and almonds on it, and guzzled down some coffee, he called Kevin in response to a voicemail he'd left about a conference call he'd had with Aces management on Friday, only to learn that, once again, there'd been no progress.

f.u.c.k this. It was making him crazy.

The trade deadline was just over two weeks away.

The latest rumors came from Dean Heinz at the big blog Hockey News Today, writing more about the Ducks' interest in him. "For the Ducks to absorb Bennet's cap number, even this late in the year, there would have to be guys going back to the farm. The Ducks don't have a first-round pick and that might be the coup de grce for them since they traded next year's first-round pick to the Florida Panthers as part of the Varick trade last season. They'll likely have just north of three million in cap s.p.a.ce at the deadline, but that's a little more than half of Bennet's $4.9 million cap hit."

Tanner sighed.

"But there's still a chance that Bennet won't be moved by the deadline; there are reports that Chicago is still interested in re-signing him. Keep in mind the Aces also have to re-sign top-three forward Julien Boucher, who's a UFA this summer, as well as young defenseman and pending RFA Hugh Land, who has top-pairing talent."

Same old s.h.i.t. It was getting harder and harder to ignore it and focus on hockey. And now they had a weird stretch in the schedule that gave them six days off between games.

That didn't mean he had nothing to do, mind you. His agent had lined up an endors.e.m.e.nt deal with Crossport Sporting Goods, and he had a photo shoot on Monday. Then Thursday night was a big lip-sync charity event organized by the Aces Foundation. A bunch of the guys were going to battle one another in a lip-sync compet.i.tion. He and Boosh had been secretly practicing. f.u.c.k, they'd even hired a ch.o.r.eographer to help them. Not that they were compet.i.tive much. They had a few practice sessions scheduled this week.

He rubbed his hands together an antic.i.p.ation of the win Thursday night. And it was for a good cause.

Next call...Katelyn.

They'd texted a bunch during the trip, which was kind of cool, and hence the Wedding Planner joke. He knew she'd watched the game on Wednesday night and some of Friday's game, apparently from a bar with Rachel and some other girlfriends. Last night she'd been busy working.

He remembered that morning at his place when she'd taken a call from a client, the one who was apparently giving her a hard time by continually postponing the wedding, and how well she'd dealt with it. Listening to her being so direct and yet tactful had made something in his chest go all mushy and warm. Admiration. Affection. Dammit, he could not be falling in love with her.

He didn't exactly have a good track record when it came to relationships. He needed to keep that in mind so as not to end up in the same situation they had last time, both of them broken and hurting. This time he'd keep his heart out of things.

"How'd the wedding go last night?" he asked when she picked up the call.

"Not bad. There's always something unexpected."

"No! Not for you. Don't you plan for everything?"

"I try." She sighed. "I told this couple they should arrange for a snack later in the evening. Lots of people are doing really creative things for a late night snack. I knew they liked burgers and I said maybe a slider bar."

"That's a cool idea."

"Yeah, well, they didn't think it was necessary. So what happens? Everyone is hungry and I'm ordering a hundred and fifty cheeseburgers from M Burger and driving to pick them up."

"Jesus, seriously?"

She laughed. "No lie."

"I hope you charged extra for that."

"Oh yeah."

"People must love you for going above and beyond like that, though."

"I guess. Not everyone appreciates it. Last night, they did."

"So what are you doing today?"

"Resting."

"Hey, me too! Wanna rest together?"

"Ha-ha."

He grinned, leaning back on his couch. "How tired are you? Maybe we could take a walk? It looks like a nice day."

"Hmmm. I could be up for that."

"I'll come by your place and we can start from there, go along the lake."

"Sure."

"Be there in an hour."

When he arrived at her place, she was dressed in jeans and a chunky ivory sweater. She gave him a shy smile that made his heart stutter, and he reached for her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed the breath out of her.

Okay, they were both out of breath when he was done. "Miss me?" he asked with a wink.

She swatted his chest. "I was too busy to miss you."

"You lie. You did too miss me."

"Maybe a little."

They bundled up against the wind coming off the lake and set out at a brisk clip. It was a bright day, the kind when you could feel the sun was getting stronger and spring was getting closer. The blue of the sky and the lake were almost blinding in their intensity.

He skipped over the lack of progress in his contract negotiation and told her about the photo shoot and the lip-sync battle. "You should come," he said. "Some of the wives and girlfriends are going to perform-I know Lovey is, and Jenna. And Kim...I think you met her at the baby shower."

She nibbled her bottom lip. "It sounds like fun."

"It's going to be hilarious."

"I can see if Rachel wants to come with me. There are still tickets available?"

"I think it's sold out, but we all got tickets and I still have mine."

"Oh. Okay."

"When's the launch party at Belmondo?"

"Not next week, but the week after. Wednesday night."

"That's going okay?"

"Yes, great. It's been relatively simple to plan. I got another corporate job this week too, planning a conference for Mayberry Foods. It's not until next year, but they've already booked me."

"That's great."

"It is. Business has really picked up lately. I guess the more your name gets out there, the more business that attracts."

"Plus, you're good at what you do."

"You keep saying that, and yet you can't really know it."

"I know it."

She smiled and shook her head.

They stopped at a little cupcake bakery for cake and coffee, then walked back to Katelyn's place, where they later ordered in Thai food, which they ate on Katelyn's bed while watching TV. And then they shook the sheets, as Hughie would say.

- Katelyn and Rachel arrived at the Onyx Opera Hall for the Aces Lip Sync War.

"I really have no idea what to expect," Katelyn told Rachel as they found their seats in the theater, holding the gla.s.ses of wine they'd purchased at the bar in the lobby area.

"Haven't you watched that show, Lip Sync Battle?"

"Nope."

"How about Jimmy Fallon? He sometimes has guests that he battles with."

"Okay, yeah, I think I've seen that a couple of times."

"Who are the judges?" Rachel perused the small program they'd been handed as they entered. "OmiG.o.d, their coach. And the manager of the team."

"And Gray Marsdon," Katelyn added excitedly, naming an up-and-coming pop star. "I love his music!"