Chapter 2
Jordan was looking forward to tonight's charity dinner and auction with the team's season-ticket holders, and not to find out who he was going to have dinner with this time around.
For several years now, he had put up for auction a dinner with him. The bidding had become more animated as different groups of people tried vying for the meal, and he actually had a good time every year he'd done it. Of course, the first year was the best when a group of young women talked their fathers into pooling their money together for Jordan's attention. The past few years, it's been some finance guys who love to be entertained by his stories while their wives like to flirt with him in front of their husbands. The food was always pretty good too.
Tonight was going to be different because Charlotte Stone was here. As the captain, he had to go over final details with the event's planners and figured it would be a good idea to check the guest list, making sure he could remember names from last year and seeing if the finance guys were coming. The event planner didn't need to know that he was casually checking the list for Charlotte's name.
There was a buzz that night as he entered the locker room in jeans and a t-shirt, his new tuxedo folded over his arm with his black dress shoes in his hand. For a bunch of gritty hockey players, they actually enjoyed getting dressed up and hanging out with fans. The open bar and free food didn't hurt.
"Looking sharp, captain," Logan said as the team started to collect themselves before heading into the arena with the proper attire.
"I know, right? At least I smell better than most nights here."
"You're telling me. Seriously, you need to get some new shoulder pads."
"And you need to get a new face," Jordan retorted.
A few of the guys started laughing around him before they were hushed by the team's head of public relations. "Just a reminder that even though this is a private event, you are meeting the public so don't do or say anything stupid. And drink in moderation, boys. We don't want a Declan Reed incident."
Jordan scowled. That stupid pest in Los Angeles got drunk last week at a charity poker tournament, made a fool of himself and was arrested for a DUI. Jordan was so glad the worst he ever had to deal with as captain was the occasional hockey ego that needed to be gently put back in check.
The team walked down the wide hallway past the Zamboni before it opened up to the arena floor and empty seats rising up to the rafters. The ice had been covered with boards and black carpeting, and tables were set up with black table cloths and white roses in low vases in the middle. The lights were low except for a stage set up on one side of the floor, and there was a cocktail area on the other.
Jordan recognized a few faces from previous fan events and most of the time, he would make a point to talk to the fans he had become familiar with over the years. But this time, he scanned the crowd looking for one fan in particular. Just like her first night watching the game, it was Charlotte's blonde hair that made her stick out in the crowd. It was only as he got closer and put fewer people between them that he was able to really take her in, starting with her tall black high heels that made her legs look amazing. Her dress was a classic black strapless number with one of those fluffed-out skirts that hit her knees and was giving him very naughty thoughts about having his way with a 1950s housewife. A little flirting with a woman like that would be fun. But just flirting. A relationship right now was not in the cards for him since he had a championship to win. A little flirting, however, never hurt anyone.
Jordan swaggered over, taking a place next to her at the bar. She was drinking some sort of amber liquor on the rocks, leaving a dark red lipstick print on the edge of the glass.
"Um, Charlotte, right?" he asked casually, trying to downplay the fact that he recognized her as soon as he walked in.
She turned, her brown eyes quickly taking him in before a smile began to spread across her face. "Jordan King. It's good to see you again."
"You too. Can I get you a drink?"
Charlotte lifted her half empty glass. "Still working on this one, but thanks."
He gave her a small nod and flagged down the bartender. "So what's your poison, Miss Stone?"
"Captain Morgan."
Jordan looked over and gave her a slight smile. "I'll have what she's having," he told the bartender before turning his attention back to her. "So you like captains?" he asked flirtatiously.
"I just don't like drinking cocktails with little umbrellas and lots of fruit. Keep it simple."
He took his fresh glass off the bar and tipped it in her direction. "To simple."
She raised her own and the two of them took a sip, the liquor burning its way down his throat. It wasn't the fanciest rum he had ever had, but Jordan understood the appeal to someone like Charlotte, who seemed to want to go against what was expected of her. He had been trying to do the same thing lately.
"So, Charlotte. How—"
"Charlotte!"
They pair turned to see Jack Foster heading towards them. Jordan cursed inwardly. Blocked by his own team owner. Again.
"You having a good time?" Jack asked, giving her a quick peck on the check in greeting.
"So far, so good."
"Has Jordan started hustling you for cash yet?"
Charlotte gave the captain a quizzical look. "Not yet. Should I be worried?"
Jordan could only smile innocently as Jack casually tossed his arm over Charlotte's shoulder. "Listen, I'm not one to pressure people, but we're auctioning off dinner with Jordan to raise money for the Community Garden Project. Maybe you can throw a few bucks in." He gave her a little wink. "If you pay enough, I could find a way for Jordan and his big ego to actually not show up."
Jordan pretended to be hurt by the owner's comments while Charlotte laughed. "I've still got some New York swagger left in me. I could handle him."
"Then let me know if you're around when we have to renegotiate his contract," Jack joked. "And seriously, Charlotte. I'm getting sick of hearing about the finance guys eating steak with him every year."
They said their goodbyes to the owner, giving Jordan another chance to chat up the lovely Miss Stone when a waiter announced dinner was starting. Thwarted again.
Charlotte grabbed her drink from the bar before turning to him one more time. "So just out of curiosity, how much would dinner with the captain cost me?"
"Well, you can outbid the finance guys," he said, stepping just a little closer. "Or you could just give me your phone number."
She gave him a defiant look. "Then I guess you better hope the finance guys forgot their wallets."
Charlotte tipped her drink in his direction before walking away, leaving some scent that smelled like vanilla and cookies lingering in the air behind her.
He knew it would be a smell he would never forget.
Charlotte had decided on a black dress from her closet that night that was classy and conservative, not too flashy while still being different enough that it would draw attention to her. Of course, she didn't want to draw too much attention to her. After her meeting with Jordan, she was trying to talk herself out of being interested in another hockey player and was worried what would happen if she did actually see him here.
Sure enough, she hadn't been in the arena for more than ten minutes — just enough time to order a drink — before she ran into Jordan. To be fair, it felt like he was looking for her, but she wasn't about to question it. He didn't specifically go to the bar because she was standing there, and he definitely didn't order the same drink because it was what she was drinking. Nope, none of those things happened. It was all just coincidences.
Charlotte turned to find her seat mates standing at a cocktail table nearby and headed over to join them. She had really enjoyed getting to know Adam and Rachel these past two weeks both at the games and away from them. The Ward family met her before a game at a great burger place nearby, and they went without little Aiden to a local dive bar after a particularly tough loss a week ago.
"You look stunning, Charlotte," Adam said, leaning in to give her a small hug. "Almost the most beautiful person here."
"Well, I understand your bias," she replied.
"I'm going to grab another and meet you at the table. Charlotte, need anything?"
She shook her head before Adam gave Rachel a quick peck on the cheek and went to the bar. Charlotte could tell Adam and Rachel were great together by just the little things between them. It was those little things that she really missed about being in a relationship.
The women headed over to their table with Adam following and began to happily chat as the servers brought in more and more food and took away empty plate after empty plate. Apparently, Charlotte wasn't the only one who was trying to escape New York. Tonight's meal was set up by Chef Marco who, like Cher, had no last name. He had an amazing restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and Charlotte had eaten there several times with the socialite crowd. But the chef decided he wanted to open a second restaurant somewhere in the country that wasn't so snobby. He must've seen the same potential in this city that Charlotte had, and she made a note that she would have to visit his new place soon.
Dinner was soon followed by dessert and coffee, and Charlotte started to notice a buzz beginning to fill the air that seemed to be fueled by caffeine, sweet Michigan cherry pie, and the fans' excitement.
"So are they starting the charity auction soon?"
"Anything in particular you have your eye on?" Adam asked teasingly.
"Maybe," she replied with a smile. "I promised Jack I would try."
He laughed. "If Jack asked you to bid on something, he's expecting you to really bid. Don't let him down."
"Or us!" Rachel yelled. "We're your seat mates. We share everything."
"Is that the rule?"
"It is now," she replied, raising her glass in Charlotte's direction.
The first item up was a trip for six on a chartered plane followed by a diamond bracelet from a local jeweler.
"Don't even waste your time," Rachel said. "Once you let me borrow it, you won't get it back."
The table laughed, knowing full well that there was quite a bit of truth to Rachel's statement. It was all just as well after the bracelet went to some poor suffering husband in the back. At least his wife looked happy about the bauble that he paid more than its worth for.
And so it continued. Access to a suite for four Detroit Pirates' home games. A river cruise dinner for two. A romantic weekend getaway to Canada.
"Seriously?" Adam asked. "That's a five-minute drive across the river. How is Windsor considered romantic?"
Then the auctioneer cleared his throat. "The next item up for bid is always a fan favorite here. Dinner with your captain, Jordan King!" There were some loud cheers and applause that greeted Jordan as he stepped up on the stage and took a dramatic bow. "Let's start the bidding!"
"This is going to be entertaining," Adam muttered in Charlotte's direction.
"What's so entertaining about this?"
"You see that table of young women over there?" he said, leaning over so Charlotte could hear him better. "They're puck bunnies who pool their daddies' money every year in the hopes that they'll go on a group date with Jordan and he will fall in love with one of them."
Charlotte bristled. "That sounds like it could get pretty messy."
"Good news is they only won once and that was a few years ago. Bad news is that they've lost the auction to the finance guys over there."
Charlotte turned to see a table with three older couples. The women looked bored while the men looked like giddy school children. "Jack mentioned them to me. What's their story?"
Rachel leaned closer to her husband. "They spend their wads of cash on dinner with Jordan where they act like they're his best buddies while the wives make inappropriate comments to each other about Jordan's ass," she explained. "And then sometimes they make inappropriate comments to Jordan's face about his ass. Not that I've noticed, of course."
"Oh, of course not," her husband sarcastically replied.
"But he does have an amazing hockey ass," she whispered loudly.
Charlotte laughed before turning her attention back to the bidding, surprised it wasn't up too high yet. She was starting to get antsy. She didn't want to make a big scene by jumping into the bidding, but she also did enjoy the occasional rush from charity auctions like this. In that sense, she was very similar to the socialites she didn't like. They all wanted to win.
Plus, her parents did tell her that she needed to think about making a name for herself in the rich charitable circles of Detroit. Charlotte thought the request sounded crass. After all, her parents at times cared more about the fund-raising parties and the appearance of charity than the actual charity itself. But she was in Detroit now and really did want to help out some groups in the area. Tonight would be the perfect time to start.
"Hey, would you guys like to come to dinner with me and Jordan King?"
"Seriously?" Adam asked. "That could be fun. How much do you think we should each throw in?"
Charlotte just shook her head. "Dinner is on me."
Rachel looked at her skeptically. "Are you sure? We can at least give you something in return."
"Can Aiden be my date?" she asked.
"We can do that," Adam replied, a sly smile forming on his face.
She turned back to the room, listening to the trickle of bids coming in. The bidders were such amateurs. Only a $300 increase in the offer? Charlotte decided it was time to make things a bit more interesting.
"$4,000!" yelled the puck bunny in charge of table number eight before giving a dirty glance to the rich boys club at the next table over.
"$4,000 from the ladies," the auctioneer announced. "Anyone want to go higher?"
Charlotte smiled, remembering a hockey game earlier this week when young Aiden had explained with awe just how sacred the number 61 was to Jordan. He had apparently chosen it when he played hockey in high school and hadn't changed it since then.
Charlotte raised her hand, officially signaling that she was getting in the game. "I want to bid!" she yelled, getting the attention of the auctioneer. "$6,161!"
Jordan King turned and gave her a little smirk as a buzz started to rise from the crowd.
"Is that Charlotte Stone?"
"Did she use his number in her bid?"
"What the hell?"
She distinctly heard that last comment from around the area of table eight and turned to see the puck bunnies turning their dirty looks to her. She checked on the rich boys, proud to find that she was at least able to get the two groups to see eye-to-eye on one thing: Charlotte was their new target. Leaning back in her chair, she put on her best game face as the two groups plotted their revenge against the interloper from Manhattan.
In the meantime, Charlotte's bid did what she expected it would do. More people started getting into the game now that they were going up against the Charlotte Stone, including some wives who were trying to prove how rich they were by tossing some of their husbands' extra cash around. She just sat and watched them duke it out, waiting for her perfect time to strike.
"It's OK, Charlotte," Adam said teasingly at one point. "If you want, you can still take Aiden out for ice cream or something."
She just smirked. "Don't worry. I'm not done yet."
Bidding finally slowed down as the finance guys were close to claiming victory with a bid of $13,000. The auctioneer started to look around, trying to spur on the crowd for one last shot at dinner with the captain.
"This is going to be a new record bid for dinner with Jordan, but I think we can get it a little higher for the Community Garden Project. Miss, do you want back in?" A woman in the back shook his head. "Ladies?" The puck bunnies simply looked down, knowing they had been defeated. "Miss Stone?"
All eyes turned to Charlotte, waiting for her decision before they had to swallow that bitter pill for another year. They all knew the old guys in the back would win. But while all of them watched Charlotte, she could only look at one person: Jordan King. His blue eyes seemed to shimmer mischievously, coaxing her to make a move.
"You know, I will make another bid."
She heard the murmur beginning to spread through the crowd and could only imagine the faces of the men who were about to go home empty handed. But still, she was transfixed on Jordan. Charlotte could tell he was intrigued by what she was about to do. It was only fair that she give him what he wanted.
"I bid $61,000."
There was a gasp in the crowd followed by a loud "Dammit!" that she assumed came from one of the old guys. Some nervous laughter was soon covered up by a smattering of applause that began to spread to the entire crowd, becoming more raucous. It was as if the fans were beginning to rally late in the third period to cheer their beloved Pirates to victory.
And yet still, Charlotte couldn't take her eyes off of Jordan, whose jaw had gone slack when she announced her bid. He shook his head in disbelief and then gave her a huge genuine smile, one she hadn't received from a man in years. It was one of those smiles that went right to her core and she could feel her heart skip. She wasn't nervous about bidding that much money. She had done it before at other auctions. And yet one look from Jordan King was forcing her to breathe deeply and calm herself down.
The gavel began to bang on the lectern as the auctioneer tried to regain order from the rowdy crowd. "Alright, alright!" he yelled. "We have to finish this."
The crowd began to calm down and Charlotte finally had a chance to look around the room. There were quite a few smiles in her direction — except for the rich guys' table and the puck bunnies.
"We have a bid of $61,000 from the lovely lady over here," the auctioneer said, pointing his gavel in Charlotte's direction. The crowd started clapping again with some yelling coming from the back of the room.
"$61,000 going once!" Cheering filled the room. "$61,000 going twice!" More cheers engulfed the space as Charlotte looked up to see the captain clapping along. "Dinner with Jordan King is sold for a record $61,000!"
The gavel banged to confirm her bid but if there was any noise after that, Charlotte couldn't tell. Instead, her focus was on Jordan, who had jumped down from the stage, making a beeline for her table. His eyes were fixed on her as he jogged over, his button-down shirt straining against his chest and his tuxedo jacket swaying around him as he moved his arms enthusiastically. He came over and knelt next to Charlotte's chair, taking her hand in his to give it a warm and gentle kiss.
"M'lady," he said sweetly. "I'm looking forward to our dinner."
Then he stood and winked at her before heading back to the stage while Charlotte's smile stayed plastered on her face. She was smitten with him. In that moment, she refused to remind herself that the whole reason she fell in love with hockey was because she had fallen in love with a hockey player who ended up breaking her heart. Falling for a professional player was surely not the way she wanted to start over in a new town, but right now she didn't care.
She broke out of her haze to look at the friends sitting with her. Rachel had a huge smile on her face while Adam looked completely stunned.
"So," Charlotte said, nervously clearing her throat to get their attention. "Are you guys up for dinner?"
Adam turned to her, the stunned expression frozen on his face. "This is going to be the most amazing meal I will ever eat."