Jackie

How about dinner tonight?

I texted Leo and then waited nervously. This past weekend, I’d had the kids and Leo had games both nights. Then Brent had asked if he could take Hannah and Tristan to a big family event at his parents’ place on Sunday. Freedom for a few hours, and maybe I could get my Leo-fix. He was bringing an excitement to my life that had been sorely lacking.

Finally, my cell rang.

“Hey, Jackie. How are you?”

“I’m good. Are you busy?”

“Yeah. Always.” He sounded tired. “I’ve got to work late, but I do have to break for dinner. Where do you want to go?”

“I was thinking you could come here. The kids are with their Dad until at least nine.”

“You don’t want your kids to meet me?”

“Oh no,” I apologized. “It’s just a little too soon, don’t you think?”

Having to do the “mommy’s dating” chat was ranking right up there with the explaining sex to Tristan. When I told the facts of life to Hannah, she took everything in stride. But Tristan was totally grossed out by my explanation and pleaded with me to stop talking. Sharon told me that the sooner I got the kids used to the idea of my dating, the better. But Sharon was also the one who warned me that it wasn’t a relationship until we’d discussed it. Once we were a thing, I’d tell them.

Leo laughed. “I’m teasing you, Jackie. Are you sure this wouldn’t be too much work?”

“No, I’ll whip up something easy,” I assured him.

Leo did look tired when he came over. Today he was dressed like a hot gym teacher in a black Vancouver Vice tracksuit. He pulled me into his arms for a kiss as soon as he got inside. His kiss melted my knees and panties simultaneously.

“Mmmm, you’re the best thing I’ve tasted all day,” Leo said. He kept his arm around my waist as I led him into the kitchen. I poured him a cold beer, and he grinned. “As usual, you know exactly what I need.”

Was that hint about sex? Because I was more than good with that.

“I aim to please,” I said. I tried to keep from blushing without success. Leo noticed of course. He never missed a thing.

“Who knew how lucky I was getting when you broke into my place.”

“Stop saying that,” I protested. I tried to smack him, but he caught my wrist in his hand. Which was a complete turn-on for me. Was Sharon right about bossy guys turning my crank? I kissed him, and this time it was wet and messy. I plastered myself against him, wrapped a leg around his waist, and we made out hungrily until a faint beeping sounded.

“What is that?” Leo asked between kisses.

“Damn. The timer for the oven.” I broke away and went to check on the halibut. It was ready. “I guess we should eat,” I said sadly.

Leo grinned. “I enjoy your transparency, Jackie.”

Which was a euphemism for horniness. I plated the fish, and we went to the dining room.

“How’s the house sale going?” Leo asked as he looked out onto the deck. There was a For Sale sign outside now, so we were officially on the market.

“Pretty good. We had two open houses this week.” The agent’s open was on Thursday, and the regular open was on Saturday. The place was immaculate, but my days seemed to be spent trailing the kids and either nagging them to tidy up or picking up after them myself. It was more stressful than I’d expected.

“Where will you go after?”

I shrugged. “That’s the big question. I’m not sure yet.”

We helped ourselves to side dishes. I had made a halibut with roasted pepper vinaigrette, a Mediterranean couscous salad, and a tomato phyllo tart.

“Impressive. And you just whipped this up?” Leo’s voice was teasing.

“Actually, yes. I got the halibut after I talked to you. I wouldn’t make all this for myself.”

He gave me a speculative look, like he was figuring me out. “Why not? If you like to cook and you like to eat? If I could cook like this, and so quickly too, I would do it.”

“What is it with you? You’re like my therapist or something. Because I do see the subtext here, the whole ‘I’m worth it’ philosophy.”

Leo’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “I’ll admit, I do find you a fascinating contrast of confidence and insecurity.”

“I’m just going to hear the word ‘fascinating’ out of that sentence.” Maybe it was lust that turned me completely neurotic around Leo. Although the spectacular sex we’d had made me less self-conscious and nervous.

Leo laughed loudly. “You are a fascinating woman. And a wonderful cook. This is the third meal of yours I’ve eaten, and they keep getting better every time.”

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure about dessert though. I didn’t make any, but I have ice cream or cookies. Are you a dessert man?”

He gave me that half-closed eye look again. This time it said, “You’re the dessert, baby. I’m going to rip those clothes off and eat you up.” At least that’s how I interpreted it. He could have been thinking about hockey.

Leo reached for another helping of tart. “I don’t eat a lot of desserts.”

“Is that how you stay in such good shape?” I asked. Then I began blushing. Why did everything I say to him sound like a come-on? Maybe because it was.

“I have a routine. For work, for fitness.” He sounded casual, but I already knew that he was very organized.

“You know, I was thinking that since your schedule is so busy and I’m not free a lot of nights, maybe we could meet for lunch sometime?”

“Lunch? I’m not sure about that. I usually work through lunch. I have meetings too.”

I guess the old afternoon delight didn’t appeal to him. “Okay, well, we can stick with Wednesdays. And weekends when you’re free.” Was I being too available? Leo said he preferred honesty.

“That would be nice,” he said, but he was frowning. “I have to go back to work after this.” I felt a twinge of disappointment below the waist. I had purposely timed the dinner early so that we had time to fool around before the kids got home.

“You work really hard.” I offered him more coffee, but he shook his head. “What are you doing so late at night?”

“It all sounds boring. Game preparation, mainly. Some bigger planning too. The Vice are winding down their season, but Lucky and I are gearing up to take in more games—for next season.”

Leo’s face took on a different expression when he talked about work. He was stern and closed-off, not that he was easy to read at any time.

I smiled at him. “I’ll have to come and watch a game sometime.” Was that weird? Watching Leo while he worked was a little creepy, even though his job was done in public. But I couldn’t deny I had a certain fascination with him. He was so self-contained that I didn’t understand him at all.

He shook his head. “If you want, but it’s probably the worst way to understand what I do. Besides, I’m pretty busy before and afterwards. I wouldn’t be able to spend any time with you.”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t hinting that I wanted a date or anything. As you can see—” I motioned to the remains of our meal. “I’m not afraid to ask if I want to see you.”

Leo reached across and took my hand. “We’re just getting to know each other, but I really like you, Jackie. You’re a lot of fun. And you’re very beautiful... and sexy.”

“Thank you.” I tensed. There was something about his tone of voice that made me think I was about to get dumped. Already? We weren’t even anything official yet. Waaaah, I hadn’t had enough orgasms yet. I needed to store them up like a squirrel with nuts.

“This is me. I have a plan for myself, around my coaching career. The Vice are a big challenge for me, and I like challenges. But obviously, I want to coach in the NHL someday.”

I nodded. Where was he was going with all this career talk?

“I’d like to keep seeing you, but I’ll probably get a new job offer at some point. It could take one season, two—who knows? But when that offer comes, I’ll be gone.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“I’m telling you that I’ll never be the kind of guy who can do a long-term relationship. I have my priorities: Charlotte and my job.”

“I still don’t understand. A season is almost a year, right? That’s a long time to go out.”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I think too. But for you, maybe you want someone more serious. Who can give you a future.”

I didn’t really want a future. I’d been living in the past for too long, and all I wanted was the now. I wanted Leo and more of that amazing sex. “So, what can you do? I mean, in terms of dating.”

“What we have now. We can go out and see each other when I have time.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry, that sounds arrogant, I know. But I want to be honest at the outset. We can have a good time, but it’s never going to be anything permanent. Is that what you want?”

“Does that mean you’d be seeing other women?”

He snorted. “Hardly. I work seventy hours a week, and I’m on the road half the time. It’ll get better once the season’s over, but Lucky and I have plans to see a bunch of teams during the playoffs, so we’ll be busy until June.” His mouth twisted. “You already know how hard it is to find time together.”

I felt a whoosh of relief. “I think what we have now is perfect. My kids are my priority too. After the whole emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on in the past two years, I’m definitely not looking for anything serious.”

Still he hesitated. “Jacqueline, do you mean that? Because what I am saying—I really mean it. No matter what happens, when the next offer comes, I’m gone.” He squeezed both of my hands in his. “We can date, we can be boyfriend/girlfriend—or whatever you want to call it. But if you want more, it won’t be with me, no matter how long I’m here.”

I smiled. “Hey, you’re my first guy after the divorce, and everyone knows that never works out.”

His expression remained grim though. “Maybe I’m nuts. A beautiful woman tells me that she’s okay with us going out and having sex, but I keep arguing. My first marriage broke up because I had to move. I don’t ever want to have go through that again.”

“There are women who would move with you, you know,” I suggested.

“Well, it wasn’t the only reason. My workaholic tendencies didn’t help.” His brown eyes met mine. “What you said, that’s kind of the problem. I’ve dated women who believe they can change me, but I’m the way I am. I’m good at my job because I have a belief in myself and I’m completely committed to my work. I don’t want to change.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Going out with you is like that movie, 50 First Dates. No matter how long we date, it’s not going to get deeper. But meantime...” I turned his chair towards me and then straddled his lap. “I get to have these interesting conversations with you and have sex with this amazing body. I think that’s a pretty good deal.”

Leo leaned back in his chair. He held my face in his hand and stared like he was trying to see right inside me. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

I nodded. “I’m positive.”

Finally there was a glimmer of a smile. He put his hands on my hips and let the thumbs caress the tops of my thighs. “Okay. That’s it, then. You’re good and I’m good.”

“Glad that’s settled.” I leaned forward and put one hand under the hem of his track jacket. I could feel the warm, firm flesh of his stomach. “Now, exactly how long do we have before you have to go back to work?”

He kissed my neck and nipped at my ear. “We have exactly enough time to make you make that weird noise.”

“What weird noise?”

“Don’t you know? When you come hard, you make this weird panting noise.” He made a sound that was somewhere between a dirty old man laugh and a cat barfing.

I smacked his chest. “Liar! I’ve never made such disgusting sound in my life.”

Leo smiled. “Okay, well let’s find out.” He unbuttoned my shirt.

So we did. And he was right, damn it.