If You Want Me: EPILOGUE

Itemper my steps as I approach Aurora’s office and smile with pride when I see the nameplate that reads AURORA HAMMERSTEIN, Assistant Director of PR fixed to the door. She’s been in the role for the past four weeks and is quickly proving this is where she belongs.

I pause when I reach the threshold. Today, she’s wearing black dress pants and a pale blue blouse. Her hair brushes her jawline and shows off the elegant curve of her neck. She’s so fucking beautiful it makes my heart hurt sometimes. And she’s mine. I thank the powers that be and the creators of superhero pleasure devices for opening that door and giving her the guts to be the first to walk through it. She’s a force, and an inspiration, and I’m lucky to have been worth the risk for her.

When I rap on the doorframe, she looks up from her computer. She wears blue-light glasses, and I love them on her. But then, I love everything about her.

“Hey.” Her gaze moves over me in a slow, appreciative sweep. “You look delicious.”

I glance over my shoulder, checking to make sure there’s no one in the hall before I turn back to her, lips tugging up in a smirk. “You interested in taking a bite?”

“Always, but I’m at work.” She motions to her surroundings as she rolls her chair back.

I saunter over and grab the arms of her chair, caging her in so I can steal a quick kiss. I bite the edge of her jaw. “Lots of empty offices, and you’re probably due for a lunch break. You should leave the glasses on.”

“We have to be at the shoot in less than twenty minutes.”

“That’s plenty of time to take care of all your needs, Princess.” I finger the heart pendant that rests against the hollow of her delectable throat.

“You can’t go to an endorsement shoot smelling like vagina, Hollis.” She’s breathless, though, and she doesn’t sound entirely convinced.

“You think it would be better for me to show up to the calendar campaign with a raging hard-on?”

“You’re such a bad influence.” She laughs and pushes on my chest.

“Is that you saying yes?”

A throat clears behind me. “Hollis, stop pestering my assistant.”

I adjust the problem in my pants as I straighten, grateful I’m wearing a suit. “I was just saying hi.”

Hemi snorts from the doorway. “Never play poker, Hollis, unless you want to lose your shirt.” She holds up a hand. “And please don’t use that as an invitation to take it off. You will get to do that soon enough.” Her phone chimes with the death march, and she rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “Lord, give me strength.” She checks the message and shakes her head. “How the hell can Dallas be late? Didn’t he drive in with the rest of you?”

“Tristan said he was driving himself,” I offer.

“Do you want me to check on him?” Aurora asks.

“No. He’s my problem. I’ll deal with him.” She points a finger at me. “Be a good hockey player and do not try to lure my assistant into an empty room. You basically live together at this point, so sneaking around like horny teenagers is completely unnecessary.” She spins around, but quickly does an about face. “But I do approve of how hot you are for each other, and how often that’s captured on social media by literally everyone.” Her heels clip on the floor as she crosses the hall and steps into her office, bringing her phone to her ear. “Do you really want to dress up as a clown again, Dallas? Because that’s what’s in store for you if you keep this bullshit up.” Her door closes firmly.

Aurora turns off her computer and leaves her glasses on her desk.

I pick them up and slide them into the breast pocket of my suit.

“I have a spare pair at home. In the office.”

I grin at her use of home in reference to my place. The only time she uses her own apartment is when she and the girls get together for one of their peen-free nights. I don’t call her on it, though. It’s all part of my master plan—make her comfortable and happy, move her clothes into the closet and her dresser one outfit at a time, and when November rolls around and her sublet is up, all she’ll have are a few boxes of things to move into the penthouse.

I return the glasses to her desk. “Are they the same?”

“They’re yellow instead of blue.”

I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her against me as I whisper, “I have some plans for you and those glasses when we get home.”

“Ooh.” She grips the lapels of my suit jacket and presses her hips into mine. “Should I be a naughty button-pusher this afternoon?”

That’s a green light to put her over my lap. “Fuck yes, you should.”

“Is nowhere sacred anymore?” Roman’s voice cuts through the haze of lust and hormones.

I step back, and Aurora smothers a grin even as her cheeks turn pink. “We were hugging, Dad.”

Roman stands in the doorway with his arms crossed. “That’s a load of bullshit, based on the color of both of your faces. I always knock now! Always! I even try to remember to message first. I should not have to worry about seeing things I should never see at our place of employment.”

“I saw your penis twice when I was living with you last year,” Aurora points out.

I give her a look.

She rolls her eyes at me.

Roman’s hands go to his hips. “Well, I saw your personal superhero device, and that was not my fault!”

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but we’re supposed to be in makeup in like, five minutes,” Tally says from the doorway. She’s interning with Hemi for the summer.

Roman’s face turns the same color as Aurora’s. “I’m so sorry.” He slowly turns around. “If you could pretend—it’s your birthday?”

“It’s not until tomorrow.” Tally narrows her eyes at Aurora, who taps the top of her head.

Tally closes her eyes and wrinkles her nose, lifting her hand to touch the tiara. “I forgot I was wearing this.”

“It looks good on you,” Roman says.

I smile and give her two thumbs-up, but side-eye Aurora.

“Hemi and I got it for her,” she mutters. “Mine is at home.”

That’s a fucking relief since Aurora routinely wears her princess tiara around the house. And only her tiara.

“You should leave it on.” Aurora shoulders her purse. “This is your birthday week, and we are taking full advantage of that.”

Tally sighs. “Eighteen is a stupid age. I’m legal to vote, but I can’t do any of the fun stuff for another year unless we drive to Quebec.”

“But you are officially an adult, and we can always go to a Montreal game in the fall.” Aurora links her arm with Tally’s and waves for us to follow. “Come along, my two favorite men. It’s time to make calendar history.”

“I don’t think you should be planning to take the coach’s daughter to Montreal so she can drink,” Roman grumbles as he falls into step beside me.

“Says the man who knocked up his seventeen-year-old girlfriend,” Aurora calls over her shoulder.

“We were almost eighteen,” he gripes.

“At least she’ll be with the team, and we can keep her safe,” I say.

“Of course you’re going to side with my daughter.” He rolls his eyes but grins.

We run into Rix and Shilpa on the way down to the arena. Today, Aurora has set up a team photo shoot for a calendar for next year. We’re donating a portion of proceeds to a number of causes, including Food for Life, a program designed to help families in need, and the Hockey Academy, as well as a local hockey program designed for kids with special needs—Tristan helps his brother with that, and Flip has been involved too.

When we arrive, Aurora excuses herself from the group, taking Tally with her.

Flip, Tristan, and Ash join us as team members filter in.

Tristan adjusts his tie and tucks his hands in his pockets. “Hammer’s a freaking boss. I can’t believe she organized this whole thing.”

“She’s amazing,” Roman says proudly.

“She sure is,” I agree.

Hemi enters the room like a queen, a sweaty, slightly disheveled Dallas following in her wake.

He stops to fill his water bottle before he joins us.

“You all right, man?” Tristan asks.

“Just ate a bad burrito or something. All good.” He swipes at his forehead with the back of his arm and proceeds to guzzle the contents of his water bottle.

Hemi whistles shrilly to get everyone’s attention, but it’s Aurora who steps up to organize us for the group shot. I can’t take my eyes off her as she and Hemi take control of a team of hockey hotheads. We change into our uniforms for another team shot, and then we’re photographed individually and in pairs, including me and Roman, Flip and Tristan, Dallas and Ashish, and a few other teammates. Then the twelve lucky players who opted to be part of the Special Edition calendar strip down to our boxers, skates, and shoulder pads and grab our sticks.

Aurora gives me a long, heated once-over.

Roman steps up beside me and points a finger at his daughter. “That’s unprofessional conduct. Stop looking at my best friend like he’s a piece of meat.”

“Sorry, Dado. He’s my boyfriend. I’m allowed to look at him like that.” She snaps a picture on her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Keeping Rainbow’s dream alive.”

“She knows you’re dating Hollis.”

That was a particularly entertaining breakfast when Rainbow found out for certain that Roman and I weren’t Aurora’s dads, and that I had turned into her boyfriend.

“She still ships you.” Aurora tucks her phone in her pocket.

The photographer calls Roman over, leaving me with Aurora.

She eyes me from the side.

“Wishing you’d taken me up on the empty-office offer?”

She whimpers, and it’s not unlike the sound she makes when we’re in bed.

“You’re a real problem, aren’t you?”

“I know.” She rests her cheek against my biceps. “But I’m your favorite problem.”

“You absolutely are.” I press a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you, Princess.”

“I love you, Hollis.”

“I can’t wait to get you home and show you how much.”

Her face brightens with my favorite impish grin. “I can’t wait for that either.”

The pull is impossible to deny, so I don’t. I brush my lips over hers.

“Thank you for choosing me,” she whispers.

“Always.”