When Aria Monroe lands her dream job as the new photographer for Los Angeles's professional hockey team, the last thing she expects is to work with the cocky, arrogant center Connor Holden who rocked her world five years ago during a one-night stand...
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I couldn't have put together a better night if I tried. For the first time in five years, I enjoyed the holiday that brought me the most pain. It used to be Aaliyah's favorite. We'd stay in the kitchen cooking with my mom all morning making her famous recipe for candied yams, and Aaliyah would insist on singing along to Christmas tunes that I couldn't stand. I can still picture her spinning in circles using a wooden spatula as a microphone to get on my nerves. We'd get in the biggest fights over it. Ironically, it's now the one memory I seem to miss the most.
Levi lives in a private gated community that houses other members of California's elite and high-status profiles. Streetlights line the perfectly paved sidewalk as Connor and I walk side by side together. It's quiet. Peaceful. I can't remember the last time I used that adjective to describe my life, but here I am feeling content being in the presence of the arrogant hockey player I couldn't stand to be around two months ago.
Connor stops to shrug his coat off and drapes it over my shoulders. "It's chilly out here," he says.
The man carries enough body heat to be a fucking furnace beside me, but I don't tell him that. I accept the coat and hug the fabric tighter around me, loving that I'm now surrounded by his scent.
"Do you think Cal and Ana have killed each other yet?" He asks.
We continue walking towards a park near the community center and I let out a laugh. "It wouldn't surprise me. The two of them have strong personalities. If they were to—"
The shrill of a ringtone that isn't mine cuts through the air. Connor sends me an apologetic stare as he fishes it out of his pocket, and my heart melts when a photo of him and his niece I met at the ice skating rink—Janie if I recall correctly—stares back at me. Connor hesitates on whether or not to answer, but I quickly wave my hand, instructing him to pick it up. "It's fine," I say. "Seriously. I don't mind."
He swipes across the screen, and the little girl with pigtails squeals when she sees him. "Uncle Connie! Where are you? You're not here to make cookies with me. You always make cookies with me."
The camera pans over to a woman I haven't seen before. She's beautiful with long brown hair and caramel-colored eyes. "Sorry. I tried to tell her you were busy tonight, but she wouldn't take no for an answer." A baby boy is on her hip, his chubby arms around her neck. "It's hectic over here without you."
Connor cracks a grin. "That bad, huh?"
"Who else is going to play with the littles? Ev and Mason are trying, but they're not you."
Janie takes the phone back from her mom. "Are you coming over?"
I glance at Connor, noting the disappointed expression on his face, and my heart melts all over again. The love he has for his nieces and nephews is admirable. "I, ah, I can't tonight Janie bug. I'm sorry." He must not tell her no very often because Janie's eyes begin to well up with tears.
