3. Katie

CHAPTER 3

Katie

I need a drink. Like right now.

I was nervous to come here tonight as it was, but I was not prepared to be overwhelmed by the opulence.

Growing up, my family had enough money to be comfortable but not enough to splurge. Even now, I only make enough to not need to stress too much about my bills. Being in this room, surrounded by a wealth I’ll never achieve is… a lot.

“Would you like a drink?” Nolan places his hand on mine, which is still hooked in his elbow. As much as I know I need to keep my distance from him, his presence is grounding me more than I’d ever admit out loud.

I glance up into his ocean-blue eyes, with flecks of green sparkling in the bright light of the chandeliers. “Yes, please. An old-fashioned if possible. If not, whatever white wine they have.”

“You got it.” He winks, making my belly swoosh with desire. No. Nope. Not happening. He is not making my vajeen cry with need.

Liar.

With a squeeze of my hand, he moves toward the bar. I try very hard not to check out his ass, but I lose the battle of wills I’m having with my libido. Goddammit, the man is delicious. Why? Why does he have to be the epitome of my perfect man?

He looks over his shoulder and catches me staring. I squeak and turn back to my circle of friends. Thank God no one is paying attention to me. Adam and Ellie are talking with Adam’s parents. Cindy is in a gorgeous silver, sparkly dress, and Steve has on a black suit with a matching silver tie. The two of them are adorable together.

I’m grateful they’ve adopted me into their family. My own parents passed away when I was pregnant with Cody, and I don’t have any other family still alive. To be honest, even when they were alive, they were nothing like Cindy and Steve. They loved me, but they weren’t overly involved. Having people in my life who give unconditional love the way Cindy and Steve do has healed a part of me I didn’t realize needed to be healed. What’s even more astonishing about the way they treat me is that I don’t attend all the family gatherings. I stick mainly to the holidays because I want Cody to experience having a big family during important events, but I don’t want to overstay our welcome.

“Katie, my dear, you look downright gorgeous tonight,” Cindy says. She brings me in for a tight hug that I return full-heartedly.

“Thank you. I was just thinking the same about you. This dress looks beautiful on you.”

“I agree with you entirely, darling girl.” Steve gives me a side hug.

Cindy blushes and playfully smacks his chest. “Sweet talker.”

I grin, ignoring the pinch of longing in my gut. What would it be like to be with a man who worships the ground you walk on? Even after being together for as many years as they have .

Nolan comes up next to me, holding out a glass tumbler filled with my delicious-looking cocktail. “For you.”

I take a grateful sip. “Mmmm. It’s perfect. Thank you.”

Nolan nods and then leans in to kiss his mother’s cheek. “Hi, Mom. You look wonderful.”

“Thank you.” She smiles at him.

“When is this shindig supposed to start?” Nolan asks.

“It has started,” Adam says with a frown, as if he doesn’t understand why Nolan wouldn’t already know that.

Nolan makes a face as he looks around the rapidly filling room. “Huh.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adam asks.

“Oh, nothing. I guess I expected… something else. I don’t know.” He shrugs. “With the way you were talking about tonight, I thought it would be more exciting than a bunch of rich people talking to each other.”

I snort, and Adam rolls his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you, brother.” He looks around as he grumbles, “This is why I hate these kinds of events.”

Ellie rubs her hand up and down Adam’s back. She looks over at me, her face pinched as she holds back a laugh. Adam’s grumpy behavior hasn’t changed much since they got together. He’s only slightly more laid-back now than he used to be, but it’s these moments that remind me how Ellie couldn’t be more perfect for a guy like Adam. Her happy-go-lucky attitude diffuses Adam’s penchant for being uptight no matter what they’re doing.

Ellie points to a man across the room. “Oh, there’s Leon. Let’s go say hello.” Adam takes the lead, walking Ellie over to talk to whoever that guy is. Likely someone they work with if Ellie knows him.

I scan the room, taking in all the people who have arrived in the hour we’ve been here. I know very few of the guests here tonight. It’s making me wish I had brought a date just to give me someone to talk to. I have no idea who I’d have asked. Dating isn’t my thing, and I would have been worried about the message I was sending all night instead of enjoying myself.

Nolan elbows me. “You want to go talk to Tilly’s brother? I think he’s the only other person I know here that isn’t family.”

I shrug. “Why not?”

He turns, placing his hand on my lower back to lead me to where Desmond is standing with some other guys. I met him at the Ellis family Christmas party and was surprised by how nice he was. I pegged him for a cocky playboy type, but he was actually pretty down-to-earth.

“Well, hot damn. You look fucking ravishing, Katie Cole.” Desmond grins. He reaches out his hand about waist-high and leans in to kiss my cheek. How he manages to make that move feel cherishing and not leering, I have no clue.

My cheeks flush at his attention. There’s no getting around the fact that Desmond Areneto is hot. His brown hair has natural highlights of red, and there is a confidence behind his brown eyes that only comes from years of being the best at something.

“What about me? I’m not ravishing tonight?” Nolan teases. Desmond grabs his hand and pulls him into a bro hug.

“Compared to this work of art?” Desmond turns back to me. “You’re not even close.”

I roll my eyes while Nolan laughs. “You’ve got me there.”

“Guys, this is Katie Cole, a good friend of Tilly’s and Ellie’s, and this is Nolan Ellis, Adam’s youngest brother.” Desmond introduces us to the two guys standing next to him.

The first guy steps forward. “Carrick Shepherd.” He holds his hand out to me and then does the same with Nolan. His dark hair is wavy in a way that I don’t think is intentional, and with a sharp jawline and blue eyes, I’m pretty sure he could be the model on the cover of every one of my romance novels .

“I’m Brooks Manfield,” the second guy says, shaking our hands, as well. He’s a little smaller than Desmond and Carrick, but his presence makes up for it. The three of them together are overwhelming.

“Brooks is our goalie, and Carrick is my left winger.”

I grimace. “I’m sorry to say I don’t know a thing about hockey. Ellie is the only reason I’ve even seen a few games on TV.”

Carrick grins. “We love Ellie. She’s a spitfire.”

“We need to bring you up for a game sometime, then. It’s a lot more fun in person,” Desmond says.

“That’s what Ellie has told me, too. I’d love to come to a game.”

Desmond’s eyes light up with interest. “Then I’ll make it happen.”

“Katie, do you want another drink?” Nolan asks. I’m surprised to find my glass is empty when I look down. I have no clue when that happened.

“Sure, that would be great.”

“I can get it. I need another one, too,” Desmond offers.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Would I normally trust a man I barely know to get me a drink? Probably not. But Tilly would crush him into a million pieces if he did anything to hurt me.

Desmond and his teammates head to the bar, leaving me with a grumbling Nolan. “Fucking hockey players and their smooth talking. Hate that guy.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Did you just say you hated Desmond?”

“What? Psh, no. He’s a nice guy. Why would I hate him?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”

Nolan starts nodding his head and then rocks back on his heels. “Soooo, are you going to go to one of Des’s hockey games?”

“Seeing as how I’m pretty sure their season is in the middle of a school year, I highly doubt it. Why? ”

“Just… making conversation.” Nolan’s feigned nonchalance isn’t fooling me.

Oh, my God, he’s jealous. Well, that’s an interesting development.

Before I can say anything in return, Desmond comes over carrying a serving tray of—oh, boy. He has shots.

“It’s time to kick this shindig up a notch.” We follow Desmond to an empty high-top table where he sets his tray down.

I groan. “What is it?”

Carrick places a bowl of limes next to the tray. “Tequila!”

“Ba dah dun nuh nah nuh nah nuh.” Nolan shakes his shoulders to the song.

“I’ve learned it’s best to just go with it,” Brooks says from my right.

“This is so not how I imagined this night going.”

Brooks scoffs. “I don’t know how many times I’ve said that same thing. I usually wake up the next day, determined to never let them talk me into doing it again. So far, I’ve yet to accomplish it.”

“All right, grab your shot and your lime. They wouldn’t let me take their container of salt, so no sexy licking. Unless you feel like it.” Desmond winks.

Carrick holds up his glass. “Cheers to new friends and old.” We clink our glasses together, tap them on the table, and then down our shots. I wince as I bite my lime.

Ooof. I shiver. It’s been a while since I’ve had a shot of anything other than the flu.

Desmond passes out a second round that we take quickly after the first. If I stick close to these guys, I’m going to end up under the table. I’m not exactly opposed… I would just rather not make a fool of myself in front of four extremely attractive men.

I wonder if it’s a requirement to be hot to play hockey .

“Not even close. One of our defenders, Yannis, is one ugly fuck.” Desmond laughs.

Oops. Didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“I feel like that’s a typical insult for you guys, so I’m not going to take your word for it,” I joke. Damn, I feel great. My body is relaxed, swaying to the string band playing in the background.

“Smart and beautiful. Are you single? And if yes, how the fuck has someone not snapped you up?” Carrick asks.

I smirk. These guys are too much. “I already have a guy. He’s my whole world and takes up all my attention.”

“Damn, of course, you’d be taken.” Carrick slumps.

I laugh. “He’s my son.”

“Katie is an incredible mother. Cody is a seriously cool kid,” Nolan says.

My jaw drops in surprise. “Thanks, Nolan. I don’t know that I can take all the credit, though. Cody came out great.”

“Nah, that’s all you, mama.” Nolan smiles down at me, and my belly swoops at the nickname.

“How old is he?” Brooks asks.

“Eight going on thirty. I think he’s more responsible than I am sometimes.” The guys laugh.

“I can guarantee he’d blow me out of the water,” Desmond jokes.

“That wouldn’t take much, though.” Carrick elbows Des, who returns the gesture with a punch.

“You’d be a wreck without Atalie. Hell, you were a wreck before you hired her,” Brooks points out.

Desmond raises his eyebrows in acknowledgment. “Tell me about it. She’s a godsend, even if she scares the shit out of me.”

A voice comes over the speaker system, directing us to make our way to our tables for dinner.

“Our table’s up front,” Nolan says. “We’ll see you guys later. ”

“It was great to meet you.” I grin. All three men give me heart-stopping smiles, and I think my brain explodes from the attention.

“Damn, they’re lethal. Add you into the mix and I don’t stand a chance,” I say to Nolan as he leads us to our seats. The weight of his hand on my back is shiver-inducing. How did I not know I loved the feeling of a man’s hand against me like that?

Nolan busts out laughing at me, and I can’t help but laugh with him. “Are you building yourself a reverse harem in your head?”

“Hmm. Now that you mention it, I wouldn’t be opposed.” I imagine all four guys giving me their full attention, and I can’t deny it’s quite the fantasy. But if I’m honest with myself, I’m only interested in one of those guys right now. “Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I’m sure I’m a one-man-at-a-time kind of girl.”

When Nolan’s gaze crashes with mine, heat like I’ve never felt before spreads through my body. “Good to know, mama.”