Room for Rent

Using the pass that Gaye had given her, she pulled into the staff and player’s lot at the American Airlines Center. She grabbed her purse and Lindy’s lunch and headed to the back entrance. The security guard stopped her and she showed him her pass. He let her in with a knowing smile. Thomas had worked at the AAC for nearly 15 years and he knew when a pretty girl showed up with a guest pass, then one of the boys was in for a treat.
Lauren wandered around the maze of hallways trying to find a sign that would point her in the way of Lindy’s office. Naturally, she was lost and was standing still trying to orient herself when she heard him. His distinct laugh could be heard from far away.
“Lauren?”
“Tyler! I never thought I would be this happy to see you.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I was looking for Lindy and I got lost. Do you know where I could find him?
“Well practice finished a little while ago so he’s probably in his office. If you follow this hallway to the end and then turn left, it’ll be there. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks Ty.”
They hugged briefly and then she took off. Tyler sniggered while Spezza shook his head in disbelief.
“Dude, you know that’s not the way to Lindy’s office. Lindy is to the right and the showers are to the left.”
“I know. I know. But, seeing as how we are all out here and Chubbs is the only one left in the showers…well let’s just say he’s in for a surprise.”
Spezza rolled his eyes as the rest of the guys laughed and headed out to their cars.
Lauren followed Tyler’s directions and sure enough there was a door at the end of the hallway. She started towards it and just as she reached to open it, it opened from the other side and she fell right into a shirtless, freshly showered, Jamie Benn.
“Jesus! What the hell?!”
“Ohmygod. I’m so sorry!”
Jamie looked down to see that he was holding a very embarrassed Lauren flush against his wet torso. Of course his body started to naturally react to holding her so close. He had certainly been thinking of her during practice and during his shower and now he was holding her in his arms. There was no way his body wouldn’t react. To avoid any more awkwardness he moved her to the wall next to him so they were facing each other with some distance in between.
Lauren tried to look everywhere but at him. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She was so embarrassed. Here was the guy she had been hoping to see and he had been holding her in his arms against him with nothing but a towel separating them.
“Lauren. What are you doing here?”
Of course now that he was speaking to her she had to snap out of it and pay attention. She tried hard not to look anywhere but his face.
“Well, I was looking for Lindy and I got lost. So I asked Tyler for directions and he pointed me here. Which now thinking back on it, it was probably stupid to ask him for directions wasn’t it? Oh god. Jamie, I am so sorry this is so embarrassing,” Lauren rambled off.
Her eyes then betrayed her as she meant to look towards the ground but couldn’t help herself and snuck a sneak peek at the captain’s physique. Damn. He was better looking that she could have ever thought. His tattoos swirled around his arm in a delicate but intimidating way. Those arms; the ones that were holding her just moments ago. And the v-lines that were peeking out of the top of his towel. God help her. The blush started to creep up her neck again and she could feel herself getting warmer.
Jamie looked down at the startled girl and couldn’t help but feel bad. Of course, Tyler had been involved. He had been chirping him nonstop since they helped Lauren move in. Looking at Lauren, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked. Her hair had was down and had a nice bounce to it. Her tank top and shorts showed her long, lean, and tan limbs.
“Down boy. Don’t get ahead of yourself. She’s not even into…wait! Was she just looking at me? She totally was! She’s checking me out,” thought Jamie.
Jamie cleared his throat and snapped Lauren out of her daydreams.
“Uh well Lindy’s office is directly behind you. The far door on the right side of the hallway, not the left.”
“Thanks,” Lauren squeaked before promptly turning and hurrying towards the correct door.
Jamie got dressed and headed out to the parking garage. He noticed that his car, Lauren’s car, along with some of the staff were the only ones left. He knew that she had been checking him out and that certainly made him swell with pride. It was with that renewed confidence that he decided he was going to wait for her.
After dealing with a rather petulant Lindy and nearly having to wrestle the fast food away from him, Lauren started to walk towards the parking garage. She hoped that Jamie wouldn’t still be here because she wasn’t sure she could face him again. She pushed the door open in front of her and nearly jumped out of her skin when Jamie called her name.
“Lauren! Lauren! Wait up.”
She tried to walk faster and get to her car pretending she couldn’t hear him but his long legs got to her before she could get to the car.
“Hey. Slow down. I just want to talk.”
“Look Jamie. I am really sorry for what happened today. Trust me I am absolutely mortified,” she began to ramble looking for any excuse to end their conversation.
“CanIhaveyournumber,” he spit out just trying to shut her up so he could talk to her.
Lauren stopped mid syllable. She looked up at Jamie, whose eyes stared back at her with a deep intensity that she could feel to her core.
“What?”
“Can I…have your…phone number?” he enunciated this time to make sure she heard him clearly. He continued without much pause for breath, “I just…after what happened early I thought about it and to be honest I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left after moving you in. And I thought it would ease some of the tension and awkwardness if I had your number.”
It was now Jamie’s eyes that dropped to the ground and felt the blush fill his face.
Lauren looked at the man in front of her. He wanted her number! She could practically jump up and down she was so excited. Of course, on the outside she tried to play it off as cool and unfazed.
“Phone?”
He fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She quickly created a new contact and put her number in. She handed it back to him. He mumbled a thanks and started to walk away. Her natural curiosity got the best of her before she could get into her car and drive away.
“So I’ll be hearing from you?”
“Most definitely.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“Bye Jamie.”
“Bye Lauren.”
She pulled out of the garage with a huge smile on her face. Little did she know, he did the exact same thing.

Notes

Chapter 7!!! Two chapters posted just minutes apart after a near month long hiatus! I told you I would make it up to you. Chapter 8 is in the works. I'm thinking it involves some Facetiming while Jamie is on the road. What do you think? Anything you want to see? Let me know :)