“I’m their favorite. I take them out once a month. We go and have a day to ourselves. We love it.”

“Sounds awesome.” he smiled.

“Do you spend a lot of time with Amelia and Ryan?”

“When I can, but they are both really young and they make me a little nervous. I doubt Grace would let me leave with them.”

“Are you not responsible?” she said with a laugh. He smiled.

“I am very responsible. They are just so little and precious that I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to them.”

Elli gave him another big smile and turned towards him, crossing her legs as she looked up at him. Their legs were almost touching; he could feel her body heat and smell her scent. It was something fruity. Like mangos.

He loved mangos.

“I feel the same about mine.” Elli said softly.

Shea nodded, looking out over the park. “So do your parents live around here?”

Elli nodded as she said, “They live in Clarksville with the rest of my family. Except my sister. She lives downtown.”

“Do you stay downtown, too? Isn’t your studio there?”

“It’s near West End. And no, I live 45 minutes from here, in Sweetbriar.”

“Oh, I’ve never heard of that town.”

“It’s an old farm town. I found my house there and had to have it.”

“That’s cool. I live over on Harding Place, in a condo.”

“Cool. Sometimes I want to live in town, especially after a long day at work. I hate driving 45 minutes home, but I love my house, and so does my dog.”

“What kind of dog you have?”

“A 40 pound pug.”

“Jesus Christ!”

She almost fell over laughing, which made him laugh, too. She was so pretty.

“He’s a fatty, but I love him.”

“I want a dog, but I don’t ever have time for one. I’m traveling a lot.”

“Yes, the life of a hockey player...” she trailed off.

“Are you coming to the opening game?”

“Of course! I don’t miss games.”

“Awesome, I’ll look for you.”

Her cheeks turned red as she avoided his eyes. Sensing Elli’s shyness, he looked down at his hands. “So, does your husband come to the games with you?”

Elli’s head snapped up, and she looked at Shea as if he was crazy.

“I’m not married.”

“Oh, what about your boyfriend?”

“No, I’m single.”

“Good.”

She looked at him intently, and now he was the nervous one. Maybe that was a little too direct of a comment to make so soon.

“Does your wife come to the games?” Elli asked.

“There is no one in my life, just me.”

“Must be lonely,” she said sympathetically. He gave her a thoughtful look.

“It can be,” he said with a shrug, thinking that he wasn’t all that lonely. Shea could get any girl he wanted in bed, but lately, the only person he wanted was her.

“So, anyways. Your camera. Ready for a lesson?” She asked, smacking her hands together, with a nervous giggle.

“Absolutely,” he said, even though Shea had zero interest in the camera. He only wanted to be near Elli.

Shea was a fast learner; he quickly caught on to everything Elli taught him. When he did something wrong, he grinned widely at her, causing her smile and laugh. It was so easy to talk to him between his jokes, smiles, and the way his eyes just settled on her. It was effortless, as if they had known each other their entire lives.

“Hey, look at this one!” he called over to her. He was over by the flower gardens, while she finished her coffee and snacked on the pretzels she had brought. She stood up and came over to him. She leaned over his arm, looking at the viewfinder. The picture was of her, with the flower garden in front of her. It was actually a good picture of her, and she never thought pictures of her were good.

“Wow, Shea, that’s good.”

“I have a pretty amazing teacher. I’ll hook you up,” he said with a wink as he wandered off towards a duck. She watched him with a smile on her face. While it was pretty interesting to watch a grown man chase a duck, she couldn’t help wondering why it was so easy to be around Shea. She had never met a man that was so easy to talk to and get along with. He made her nervous, of course, but it was fine after a moment.

It was probably because they were meant to be friends.

Yup, that was it. So she needed to get this notion of him liking her out of her head. It would never happen. He was Shea Adler, leading defensemen of the NHL, captain of the Assassins, the most gorgeous man she had ever met. When her heart started to ache, she rolled her eyes. What was she expecting? True love?

Please, it’s Shea Adler, you are Eleanor Fisher, no man of that stature or that pedigree would want you.

“Hey, you okay?” She looked over to see that Shea was standing beside her, his camera in hand.

“Fine, are you done?”

“Yes. I got some good shoots. I’m excited to go on the road and take pictures now.”

“Awesome, my job is done then,” she said with a clap of her hands “So you’ll have to email me when you’re on the road, show me what you get.”

“Absolutely, if I ever figure out how to use my email.” She laughed as he picked up his blanket and their trash. “Maybe you could teach me,” he said as she stood straighter. He had that sexy smirk on his face, the one that made her girlie parts scream.