"Tell me everything," Annlie said walking into my office and sitting herself in the chair across from where I was sitting.

"Well, I wore the black dress with a pair of heels and you should have seen the way he looked at me Ann. I felt so, good about myself. I felt like he was looking at me and only me."

"Well obviously Renee, you looked stunning in that dress, in any of the outfits we chose honestly. I would kill to have those legs of yours."

"We talked the whole way to the restaurant, just about anything and everything. And when we got there this group of girls screamed his name as we were walking in and he stopped to take pictures with them and sign autographs, it was so adorable. He thought that I would be mad, but I honestly wasn't which is weird for me, normally I'm really impatient, but I don't know, it was just so genuine. Annlie, we stayed at the restaurant until they closed! It was midnight! I still have no idea where the time went."

"Wow girl, it sounds to me like you had a date date," she said crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

Blushing, I replied,"Yeah, it was you were right. The kiss at the end of the night, ugh I did not want it to end. I wanted to bring him to bed with me. Things were getting so heated, and I can't stop thinking about it."

"You kissed?!" she shrieked.

"Yes! It was so, hot and passionate and mmm," I said licking my lips and shutting my eyes, picturing it all over again.

"You have it bad Renee, I have never seen you this happy."

"I don't think I ever have been. I'm just, so excited and exhilarated and horny!"

"You're so bad!" she said playfully swatting my shoulder as I laughed.

We laughed and talked for a few more minutes before returning to work. I was glad I had Annlie to work with, she was a great person and I was excited to be in her wedding, especially with Kris by my side.

~Kris's Point of View~

Last night had gone so much better than I had ever expected and that kiss. That kiss was almost magical. Renee made me feel things that I had never felt before. I don't ever remember being that turned on after one kiss. Granted it had been a long time since I had had any sort of excitement or anyone as beautiful and stunning. I was impressed with her boundaries. She wasn't like most girls who gave it up on the first date, especially to professional athletes. But she wasn't at all like the others. She had boundaries that she followed and she had made it clear to me that she wasn't interested in me for my money or the fame and glory. She was interested in me for who I really am, Kristopher Letang. Your typical, ordinary, every day guy.

I longed to see her, after the kiss that left me wanting more. I couldn't wait until I got to see her again, feel her skin against mine. I couldn't wait until I was able to kiss her soft lips and taste her cherry chap stick she used religiously.

I was surprised I hadn't heard from her at all. It had been almost eighteen hours since their date and he hadn't received a single phone call or text message. This was unusual for a female, but then again, she was unique. She really could handle her own and was proving she could be independent. Grabbing my phone I sent her a message:

To:Renee
Hey, it's Kris. I had a great time last night. Want to do lunch this afternoon?Angelo's?

From:Renee
I had a great time too. Sounds good, how is 2-ish?

To:Renee
Sure. I'll see you then beautiful. :)

Gathering my equipment I headed into the arena for practice, anxious for two o;clock to get there. As I walked into the locker room and sat next to Marc he asked, "So big shot, how did it go? Did you ask her out?"

"Yeah, I did," I said stripping out of my shirt, putting my shoulder pads on over my bare torso.

"And?" he edged on.

"We went out to dinner last night," I said with a smile spreading across my face.

"Holy shit dude! That's awesome."

"Yeah, it was."

"So how was it? Did you get it in?" he said nudging me as I laced up my skates.

"Nah, it's not like that with her man. She's classy and beautiful. We talked until Cafe Du Jour closed its doors. They had to ask us to leave."

"You took a girl to Cafe Du Jour for a first date? Who are you hooked on Tanger?" Max asked overhearing our conversation, "That girl from the Tux shop?"

"Yeah, Renee. She's great guys, and she's beautiful."

"Way to go Tanger," Max said giving me a high five,"She was bangin' and definitely DTF."

"Superstar, shut the fuck up man. It's not like that," I said slugging him in the shoulder as I walked by him, heading out to the ice as he laughed. He didn't get it and he never would. Max was a true player, a different girl every night. He'd be lucky if he remembered their name in the morning. It pissed me off at how little respect he had for women, but that was Max and to know Max was to love him. After all, he was his team mate.

"Alright boys, to the blue line," Dan said blowing his whistle, signaling practice was about to start.

"Hey, ignore Talbot, I'm happy for you man," Marc said as he skated up behind me.

"Thanks Marc," I said before taking a knee.

~Renee's Point of View~

There was that word again, beautiful. It didn't matter how many times I had heard it before, every time I heard or read it from Kris, it made me feel special. Only this time, I believed it.

We were going to have lunch at Angelos around two in the afternoon. That gave me enough time to finalize the schedule for the staff at the catering business as well as finalize Jordan Staal, Tyler Kennedy and Pascal Dupuis' autograph session at Dick's Sporting Goods.

As the clock reached 1:30 I was making my last phone call to my manager Diana when I heard a knock.

"Can I come in?" a familiar voice said.

Looking up I found Kris standing in my doorway with a bouquet of lilacs, my favorite.

"How did you?" I started until I saw Annlie poke her head around the corner smiling. She must have told him.

"Do you like them?" he asked looking me straight in the eyes, "I saw them as I was walking by one of the store windows this afternoon and they made me think of you."

"I love them, lilacs are my favorite. Thank you so much," I said giving him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. I guess Annlie hadn't told him after all.

"You're welcome. I hope you don't mind me stopping by here, I just figured we'd ride together since I have to be back here tonight anyway."

"Sure, that's fine, let me just make one last phone call and then we can head out."

"Okay," he said as he looked around the room.

"Hey Diana, hey it's Renee. How's everything going?"

"Good, we're just finishing up the price sheet for Annlie and then we should be ready to go," the voice on the other line said.

"Great. Make sure they give us plenty of fondant too, it's a big cake."

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, have a good day, I'll stop by later."

"You too ma'am."

Hanging up the phone I found Kris looking at my photos.

"Is this your family?" he asked pointing to a photo of all of us on our last Christmas, it was the last picture I had of all of us together and looking at it made me sad.

"Yeah, that's them," I said tucking hair behind my ear, "Ready to go?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Sure,everything alright? You seem upset," he said placing his hand on the small of my back as we headed for the elevator.

"I'm fine. I just don't really want to discuss my family right now."

"Okay, I'm sorry." he said rubbing his hand up and down my back.

"It's fine." Damn, he was cute and sweet, but sometimes it was a little sickening. Maybe this wouldn't work out after all, I needed someone that could be a man, not feel sorry for every little thing I may or may not disagree with. While I appreciated his kind and thoughtful ways, I questioned if he was man enough for me. I supposed only time would tell and until then, I'd take each day as it came.

Kris's Point of View~

As I looked around her office I came across a picture of what looked like Renee's family. Although we had talked for hours, she hadn't mentioned a single word about her family and every time I tried to bring it up she side stepped and changed the subject. It was almost as if she was holding something back.

"Is this your family?" I asked pointing to the photo in front of me.

"Yeah, that's them," she said pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "Ready to go?"

"Sure, everything alright? You seem upset." I said placing my hand on the small of her back, she was avoiding the subject again.

"I'm fine. I just really don't want to discuss my family right now."

Sensing I had offended her by asking I apologized and rubbed her back with my hand.

"It's fine," she stated quickly. I could tell something was bothering her and I wanted to help, but I can't help if she won't let me in. All I can do is wait for her to come to me and open up to me. It hurt that it seemed as though she didn't trust me, but at the same time, why would she. She doesn't know me from atom, this was all new to her and myself. I just needed to stop over analyzing things and go with the flow, that had always been my problem.

~Renee's Point of view~

On our way to Angelo's it was quiet. I felt bad for how I had reacted in my office, he had only asked a question, but no one knew about my family. I didn't like my personal life being out on display. My best friend didn't even know about my family. Granted, all we ever really discussed was her wedding, but still. Kris was only trying to get to know me, maybe I should let him in. After all, if this thing we had going were to get serious, he would have to know eventually.

Arriving at Angelo's he parked the vehicle and opened my door for me. As we sat down at a table in the corner, I spoke.

"I'm sorry," I said looking into his eyes.

"For what?"

"The way I acted back in the office. I snapped at you and I shouldn't have."

"It's alright Renee, you don't have to apologize."

"No, I do. It's just, I've spent my entire life building these walls up and blocking everyone out of my life and then you waltz in and make the walls crumble and I'm scared and excited and confused," I said looking down at my lap.

"Renee, I'm just as scared as you are. I've never been in a serious relationship or even thought about one, but when I saw you, something clicked. Something made me realize what I've been missing out on in life." he said stroking his thumb across the top of my hand. "We're going to face some obstacles and that's alright, it's natural, it's how we fight to get through them that is going to make the difference."

"I know, I'm just scared. No one really knows the things that I have been through. I'm scared to see what people will think if they know the real me."

"Renee, nothing you tell me will ever change the way I look at you. You are beautiful, stunning, smart,confident."

"That's what you see, inside I'm scared, intense, confused. I fake a smile half the time just to get through the day. Kris, I promise that I will explain everything to you. Just please, give me some time."

"I will. I promise, I'm not going to force you to tell me anything that you don't feel comfortable sharing. Just know that I'm here for you." he said placing his hand on top of mine.

"I know. Thank you."

We ate dinner and discussed how he thought tonight's game would go. He felt pretty confident that they would be able to pull out a win tonight, and wanted me to be there to cheer him on. I told him I had to think about it, considering there were still things I had to finalize for Annlie's wedding.

Arriving back at the arena Kris had just enough time to say good bye before he had to head back to the locker room to get ready.

"So, I'll see you in the stands?" he asked smiling as he wrapped his arms around my waist, pushing me up against my car.

"I told you I'll think about it," I flirted back at him smiling.

"Alright," he said kissing me on the mouth.

"I'll talk to you later either way?" I asked knowing that I would hear from him.

"Definitely."

"Alright, go have fun. Good luck." I said kissing him one last time before he rushed off to the locker room.

Getting into my car I thought to myself. I didn't really have a lot to do for Ann's wedding, nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow. I could stay and cheer him on tonight, it would be a nice surprise, then we could go back to my apartment and talk some more. He had made me feel so comfortable at lunch and he was so easy to talk to. He had easily earned my respect and I ached to know more. Digging out my cell phone I sent a text:

To: Annlie
Hey, are you going to the game tonight?

I sat in my driver's seat and waited for a reply. de-da-dee my phone rang.

From: Annlie
Yeah I am, on my way now why?

To :Annlie
Just wondering. Mind if I sit with you?

From: Annlie
Sure! Where are you? Are you there?

To: Annlie
Yeah, I'm here. I'll meet you in the lobby.

From: Annlie
K.

Taking a deep breath I looked at myself in the mirror, touched up my make up and ran a brush through my hair. This would be the first time I had watched a game since dad had passed away. Tonight, I had a feeling, was going to be an emotional night.