Kelly Jamieson - Breakaway

“It’s going to be freezing there,” she warned him as she locked the door behind them.

“Bah. It’s April.”

“It’s fifty-seven degrees!”

“That’s balmy! Wait ‘til you come to Winnipeg in January.”

Like that was going to happen. Her heart beat a little faster. Intense curiosity to see where Jason had grown up flickered inside her.

They wandered around Navy Pier, surprisingly busy. It was a relatively mild April day. Probably lots of tourists were out. Jason bought her popcorn and they looked in the little shops at jewelry and souvenirs. Then he spotted the shop where you could build your own bear. “Hey,” he said, dragging her inside. “I want to build a bear for you.”

Okay, he was crazy. Laughing, Remi followed him into the store, full of little girls and their mothers. All eyes landed on Jason, big, tall, gorgeous and decidedly out of place. Warmth seeped through Remi and heated her cheeks, but she had to smile.

She selected a furry brown bear, then they had to record a message.

“Remi is ‘beary’ beautiful,” Jason said into the small device, looking at her. She laughed again. The recording was tucked inside. They stuffed the bear, fluffed the bear and then had to dress the bear.

“Oh, no question,” Jason said, surveying the choices. He reached for a tiny Chicago Wolves uniform. “Has to be this.”

Smiling, touched and charmed, Remi nodded. “Of course.” And her bear was dressed in the hockey uniform including a tiny stick.

She hugged the bear to her as Jason paid for it and they wandered back outside.

“I know,” Jason said. “We have to ride the Ferris wheel.”

It was late afternoon by this point.

Remi eyed the huge structure with its gazillion spokes and lights. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, Remi.” Once again he gripped her hand and tugged her along. She had to almost run to keep up with his long strides toward the Ferris wheel.

They had a gondola all to themselves. Remi gripped the side tightly, closing her eyes as they began to ascend, Navy Pier dropping away beneath them.

“Hey,” Jason said softly. “Open your eyes. The view is awesome.”

She pressed her lips together, her skin crawling, stomach jumping, but she opened her eyes.

“Are you afraid?” Jason asked, shifting closer to her.

“Um…yes. A little.”

He put his arm around her and tucked her close to him.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

She made a little choked noise. “Oh, no, not at all. We’re just…how far off the ground?”

“About a hundred and fifty feet, I think,” he said calmly, gazing around. “Look! Doesn’t the skyline look amazing?”

The sun was low in the sky and the buildings of downtown Chicago all gleamed like tall, slender, silver cubes and cylinders.

“Yes,” she said softly. “It is beautiful.” She snuggled into his warmth. The wind up here carried a crisp bite and her cheeks and nose began to sting a bit.

She looked at Jason, his handsome cheekbones reddened from the cold, eyes taking in the view, smiling. She clutched her bear in his Wolves uniform to her and suddenly her throat tightened. God, she liked this guy. So much.

He turned to look down at her, snuggled under his arm, and his smile deepened. “See? It’s fine.”

They swung over the top and began to descend and her tummy flipped over. “Mmm. Fine.”

He laughed. The yellow, red and blue canopy of the merry-go-round grew larger as they lowered, and then they were swinging back up again. She took in a deep breath.

“What’s that?” Jason pointed. She identified various landmarks to him and by the time they slowed and stopped, she’d almost forgotten she was nervous. At the very top, the gondola swaying gently, Jason tipped her chin up with one gloved hand and kissed her.

His nose was cold brushing her cheek, but his mouth was warm on hers, delicious and ardent. He drew back, rested his gloved hand on her cheek and their eyes met and held, the world spread below them, and time came to a halt. His dark eyes flashed, his lids lowered and they kissed again and she pressed closer to him. He hauled her closer, up onto his lap and the gondola swayed. Remi let out a little shriek, her stomach clutched and she dug her fingers into his jacket. Jason laughed softly and they started moving again and Remi grabbed tighter with a start, making him laugh again.

“Let’s go find some dinner,” he said after they’d disembarked from the Ferris wheel. She wanted to fall to her knees and kiss the ground, but instead held her bear tightly. “How about that Billy Goat Tavern?”

She smiled. “Touristy, but okay.”

“Come on, I’m new in town.”

They walked into the lively restaurant.

“What’s the biggest burger you have?” Jason asked the server.

“That would be the triple hamburger.”

“Okay, I’ll have that.”

Remi grinned behind her menu. He could probably eat two, the size he was. She ordered a hamburger. Jason sat her bear on the table, propping him up against the wall, making her laugh again. God, she hadn’t laughed so much in…okay, ever.

They’d just finished a dinner full of talk and laughter, teasing and flirting, when three women appeared beside their table. “Jase Heller!” one of them said with a big smile. “Can we get your autograph?”

“Uh…” Hell, he did not want to do this, but he was never rude to the fans. “Sure.” He cast an apologetic glance across the table at Remi.

“Here.” The woman dug in her purse and pulled out a pen. “I don’t have anything for you to sign, so you can do it right here.” And she pulled down her low-cut top so Jason could sign her chest, just above her left breast.

He gulped and tightened his jaw as he tried to sign without really touching her. It probably was no accident when she moved and her breast brushed against his arm.

“I saw you play against the Bruins last week,” one of the other women said, stepping up for her autograph. In the same place. “You got two goals.”

“Um, yeah.” He signed again and turned to the third woman, and when he’d finished signing her chest, she took the pen from him, took his hand, turned it palm up and wrote a phone number on it. Jesus.

“I love watching you play,” she purred, making intense eye contact, making her words sound dirty.

Jason swallowed, forced a smile and shot Remi a look. She sat there, stone-faced, mouth tight, hands clasped around her drink. She lifted one eyebrow at him.

The three women seemed in no hurry to leave and kept chatting until he finally said, “Sorry, ladies, but my girlfriend and I are just finishing dinner.”

The three women shot baleful looks at Remi, as if they hadn’t even noticed her sitting there until that moment, and finally left.

“Sorry,” he muttered, reaching across the table for her hand. “That never happens.”

“Really.”

She didn’t sound convinced.

“Well, it happens sometimes. I’m sorry, Remi.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” But she looked pissed. “And I’m not your girlfriend.”

“I had to get rid of them somehow. Let’s go,” he said, getting up from the table and holding out a hand to help her up. They emerged from the restaurant to a flash bursting in front of their eyes.

Oh, no. Not again.

“It’s okay,” Jason said, turning her from the photographers. He muttered under his breath. Jesus. What were they doing hanging around Navy Pier, for God’s sake? He never would have anticipated they’d be there, looking for someone to photograph. And Remi was already annoyed.

“I guess we’re done here,” he said. Damn. They’d been having such a great day.

“Yeah. I guess.”

He shot her a sideways glance, walking down the sidewalk, holding her hand, remembering the last time he’d tried to take her back to his place. “Will you come home with me?”

She stopped. They faced each other. She looked so pretty with that big scarf wrapped around her neck. “Will the paparazzi follow us there?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” He glanced over his shoulder. They seemed to have dispersed. “I don’t think so.”

“Will you wash that phone number off your hand?”

After a blink of his eyes, he burst out laughing. “Yes.”

She inhaled a long slow breath, then nodded and relief slid through him. “Okay.”

The elevator pinged and the doors slid silently open. They stepped in and he punched a button for his floor, then as the doors closed, he lifted her against him, effortlessly, and kissed her.

If she’d been standing, her legs likely would have given out, it was such a turn-on to be held aloft like that, against his chest, his mouth hot and hungry on hers. His strength turned her on. His mouth turned her on. His everything turned her on.

They kissed like that, wet, sliding, open-mouthed kisses until the elevator opened onto his floor and he carried her down the carpeted hall to his door. Only then did he gently lower her feet to the floor and she leaned against the wall, panting, while he unlocked the door.

He shoved the door open and they practically fell into the foyer, grabbing for each other, frantic, hot, hungry.

“It’s been so long,” he panted.

“I know.”

He unwrapped her scarf, shoved her jacket down over her shoulders and she wrestled out of it as he got rid of his jacket, tossing it into a pile on the floor. Then he picked her up again, this time straddling him, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked to the bedroom.

She caught a glimpse of his apartment—stunning and modern with a wall of windows overlooking the glittering Chicago skyline, a couple of pieces of black leather furniture and a big screen television—before it disappeared from view as he strode into the bedroom. Dark. Shadowy.