Intimate Strangers (The Lisa Millar Series Book 1)

by Lasairiona McMaster

  The girls were now laughing so hard they could barely catch a breath.

  They’ve planned this.

  “So funny!” she snapped at them both, “reeeeeeal mature.” The laughing continued as she dried her hair.

  “Straight or curly?” she asked them.

  “Curly,” they chimed in unison.

  “Up or down?” she followed up.

  “Down.”

  When she’d finished doing the bare minimum with her naturally curly hair, she got dressed, stuck on some lip-gloss and was ready to go. 5.35pm? She mentally patted herself on the back as she eyed the clock, not bad. Stealing one last glance at herself in the mirror as they headed out the door, she took a deep breath. There was no turning back now.

  They were seated just in time for face-off. Lisa didn’t have to hide too much; she knew there was little chance he’d see her from the ice. Though she did keep the shouting to a minimum as there was, however, a chance that he would hear her. It would be pretty easy to pick out her accent in the throng of American and Canadian voices. It has to stay a surprise, she reminded herself as the urge to shout hit hard when the referee made some crappy call on Jeremy, captain of the home-team, the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) Chargers, and AJ’s best friend.

  The game was close, the Chargers won by three goals to two. AJ had a good game, with the exception of some stupid high-sticking penalty. It wasn’t even a high stick! Lisa grumbled to herself. The high-stick call was followed closely by a second penalty, this time for hooking – which, in her opinion, was also a dodgy call. Although, to be completely fair, she was a tad biased!

  So much for the nickname ‘Pim’ becoming retired, she thought wryly, making a mental note to poke fun at him later.

  Pim, short for “penalty infraction minutes” or “penalty minutes” as it had become known over the years, was a nickname Ana had taken to calling him when they were younger. It wasn’t one of those ironic nicknames where you call a giant guy “Smalls”. Instead, considering how often he graced the bench in the box, it was factually accurate and had stuck around, mostly for Ana, but occasionally for Jeremy and increasingly for Lisa, too, though she found it funny that her AJ and the on-ice AJ were often seemingly so different.

  When the final buzzer went, the kangaroos in her tummy did a crazy Mexican-wave and her heart leapt into her throat. She tried to swallow, but her throat was dry. Ana had told him to come out the front door. She said he’d had a string of objections, but he’d still agreed to it. He hadn’t been very suspicious, and probably just figured she’d have someone with her to fend off the sixteen-year-old puck bunny invasion that awaited the players after every game.

  As soon as he stepped out of the locker room AJ looked around for his sister. Watching him from her hidden position, Lisa was mildly amused at the obvious irritation the bunnies were causing him – he had barely stepped two feet before he was nabbed by a giddy bunch of girls, wearing what could not possibly be considered clothing.

  They can’t be more than fourteen! she thought, her mouth agape. He tried to hide that it bothered him and just be polite, but despite never having met him face to face, she could still tell that he was getting steadily more annoyed. He looked good. Damn, he looks really good. That suit! Oh, I just love game night, she thought as she eyed up her boyfriend.

  My boyfriend.

  Are we there yet? Can I call him my boyfriend?

  You kinda just did.

  I don’t think we’re there yet.

  The kangaroos waved again.

  We definitely aren’t there yet, Lisa.

  He was clearly itching to get out of the suit; he tugged at his collar and loosened his tie…maybe I could help you with that, Pim, she thought coyly as her cheeks flushed pink and her heart beat a little faster. He turned behind him to sign an autograph for a little boy, no older than five years old. His smile was genuine and reached all the way to his eyes. So cute! He was great with kids, he took a bunch of them for practice regularly, and clearly had a way with them.

  I wonder how many kids we’ll have together? We could maybe have a family hockey team.

  Lisa!

  But look how cute he is with that little one, my ovaries just may explode.

  Focus!

  Chapter 3

  Taking a deep breath, Lisa stepped out from behind the pillar. She counted silently to three, closed her eyes,

  “Hey, hockey boy!” she called confidently and loudly enough to be heard. She prayed her voice wasn’t as shaky as she thought it was.

  Shit, she thought, now everyone’s looking at me!

  AJ froze. Realization struck. She could see the side of his face and his jaw was hard-set. It flinched.

  “Holy shit,” she heard to her left. Glancing without turning her head, she saw that it was Jeremy. Having only spoken to him in chat-windows, she recognized him from the team pictures she’d seen. She smiled at him slightly as he stood with the same dumb-founded look that AJ was turning to reveal.

  Don’t fall to pieces.

  Don’t fall over, period.

  He’s staring. Speak, woman!

  “Any chance of an autograph?” she asked full of faux nonchalance, still smiling, moving slowly toward him. His cheeks were flushing slightly and the people standing around looked somewhat confused. Chelsea and Ana were standing nearby with grins on their faces as he stood in shock for a moment, seemingly deciding what the hell to do. Their eyes met and she held his gaze. What felt like only a second later, she was wrapped in his arms.

  Finally! she thought, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. The moment seemed to last forever and, as they pulled apart slightly, he brushed her cheek with his lips, and smiled. She could tell he was still confused. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice sounded hoarse and a little shaky,

  “What – How? I – uh—” She put her finger to his lips and shushed him. They weren’t alone. His team, his sister, Chelsea, fans and bunnies? This wasn’t a conversation either of them wanted to have in front of an audience, so she said lightly,

  “Good game, mister – shoulda dropped your gloves once or twice and shown that number twenty-eight who’s boss, but not altogether a complete disaster.” She smiled at him.

  “You watched the game?” he asked, suddenly self-conscious that people were staring. She nodded twice, once answering his question and once toward the people staring.

  “It’s the accent – they’re not used to it!”

  Returning her smile, he turned to Chelsea.

  “Chelsea, right?”

  “Yessir, that would be me,” she replied, taking his outstretched hand and shaking it.

  He threw his sister a look that said, “I’m going to kick your ass,” and asked,

  “Have you guys eaten? The guys were gonna grab some food and a beer-” his sentence stopped short as he saw her try, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn, “unless you’re too tired?” he asked her, smiling as she slipped her arm through his.

  “Actually, I’m famished!”

  They headed for the car park, and Ana and Chelsea headed for Ana’s car.

  “Lisa, you can keep Pim company,” Chelsea called in that knowing, sarcastic sweet-way only best friends can.

  This was the moment she’d been dreading. Not in a dread dread kinda way. But her tummy was in knots, her cheeks were still pink and both her heart and mind raced. She had to spend time with him, alone. What if he’s angry I didn’t tell him I was coming? She hesitated for a nanosecond and then realized she was being insane and over-thinking things as usual.

  You’re worrying way too much, Lis.

  “Sure,” she replied, matching her friend’s tone and flashing a wide smile as she climbed into the car.

  Oh my gosh.

  Lisa heard Chelsea giggling and AJ was offering her the keys, “Were you planning on driving?” he asked.

  Climbing out of the car, her face hot, “Stupid American cars,” she grumbled as she walked around to the correct side.

/>   “See you there!” he said, grinning to the others and getting into the car. She avoided his glance as the car hummed to life.

  “How was your flight?” he asked.

  “Ugh. Don’t ask,” she replied, “If you’d seen me a few hours ago, you’d not have voluntarily put yourself in the position of being alone with me. I was spitting fire! Your sister must think I’m a real nutter for all the ranting I did.”

  “I doubt it,” he replied laughing, “she is related to me remember?”

  “Good point!”

  “Hey, that hurts! And as I recall, I didn’t actually voluntarily put myself in the position of being alone with you,” he answered with a winning grin.

  Now it was her turn to pretend to be wounded.

  That smile.

  The ice was broken – Wait a minute, she thought to herself, there was no ice, no awkwardness, no banging of heads as they hugged.

  No kissing.

  Yet, Lis. No kissing, yet. There will be kissing.

  With any luck there will be more than kissing.

  She glanced at him again.

  Definitely more than kissing.

  I like that things are so comfortable with him.

  She felt totally at ease with him, way too at ease, as though she-

  Oh, shit, she thought as she recognized the feeling. Chelsea is gonna kill me! It was literally the first thing she’d said when she made introductions. She’d done her best-friend due diligence and warned her of the age-old stereotype. Never fall for a hockey boy. They’re bad news. And Lisa promptly went and did just that.

  ***

  Uh oh! Too many people! she thought as they stepped inside. Her face must have betrayed her nerves because he leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, “Don’t worry, babe. If things get too much, just say you’re jetlagged and I’ll take you back to your hotel.”

  She smiled appreciatively as she felt his fingers brush hers. Babe. Their eyes met again. Look away! she told herself. When he looked at her, she felt him peer into her soul, she felt her cheeks heat up as she forced herself to look away.

  Seems my cheeks are going to remain various shades of pink on this trip.

  A voice disturbed her thoughts,

  “OHMIGOSH it’s LISA!”

  Turning to face her, she smiled; it was Stephanie.

  “Hey you!” she said warmly, “it’s been too long.” They hugged. “Have you seen Chelsea?”

  Stephanie went to UAH like the boys, but she was originally from Iowa, where she and Chelsea had grown up together. Lisa had met her on her previous trip to visit her bestie. In truth, Stephanie was a bit annoying and over-protective of her friendship with Chelsea. One of those, ‘She’s my best friend and she can only have one best friend,’ types. She spent most of her time trying too hard to fit in with the “in crowd,” and trying to find herself a boyfriend, as though her self-worth would improve with the validation of a man by her side. It seemed that none of the “sisters are doing it for themselves” feminista-intervention chats from Chelsea had hit home. Lisa hoped that one day Stephanie would realize she was a goddess who didn’t need a man to complete her, but for now Lisa suspected that she was so caught up in her new boyfriend that she was neglecting to find herself first.

  “Yeah, she’s over there,” she gestured. “I’ll join you in a few, I’ve just gotta talk to somebody first.” She blushed through her smile. Stephanie and Brian were still trying to get past the “just dating” phase and hit the relationship phase. But she seemed happy.

  Stealing a glance at AJ -sigh- she led the way to the table; drinks were already waiting. She had told Chelsea no alcohol – tonight at least. And, taking a sip from her diet coke, she checked the time. It was only 9.45pm, the night was technically still young, for someone who wasn’t jetlagged, at any rate.

  He sat across the table from her and try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him. She felt like a teenager – trying to stare without getting caught, it wasn’t working so well.

  He’s so friggin’ fine.

  She was enjoying herself, the rest of the team seemed friendly and they only mocked her accent occasionally – as opposed to AJ and Jeremy who mocked her at least once every time she opened her mouth to speak. It was also great to see Chelsea again; she had missed her best friend a lot.

  And him?

  Well.

  No! She chastised herself. You can’t be in love with a hockey boy – it’s the LAW. She rolled her eyes. She’d heard the spiel countless times. “Rule number one in hockey,” Chelsea had told her before making any introductions, “never fall for the boys – they’re trouble!”

  Glancing at Chelsea, she realized she was in for another ear-bending, albeit a semi-light-hearted and only partially-serious ear-bending, but an ear-bending nonetheless. Chelsea had been burned in a relationship with a hockey player a couple of years prior, and, as a result, she was hellbent on reciting the warning frequently to Lisa. Lisa wasn’t sure her best friend would ever fully recover from the hockey boy who broke her heart, but she acknowledged that she was doing her best to keep her nose out of her relationship with AJ. She also knew Chelsea, thankfully, wasn’t the ‘I told you so,’ kind of friend, in case there came a point where she was, in fact, proved right about hockey players.

  She was sure they both already knew she was done for. Lisa had, after all, flown halfway around the world to meet this guy. She’d already caught feelings. It was just a question of how deep they ran for both of them and seeing if they could figure something out.

  Could long-distance even work for us?

  She had no idea.

  It already wasn’t easy, and they’d only known each other for a matter of months. How long would they need to do long distance? They were both in college and neither had plans to move country any time soon. But how long could they realistically manage to stand doing long distance? Something would have to give eventually.

  Everyone says long-distance relationships are doomed from the start. She’d heard those warnings from her friends, her family, from the lady who cut her hair. They all thought she was crazy getting involved with a boy living thousands of miles away.

  But, she thought staring at AJ again, he’s – his voice broke her thoughts,

  “You ok?” he asked, his voice filled with concern.

  “Hmm? Oh. Uh. Yeah, I guess I’m just tired,” she answered, avoiding his anxious stare.

  “Wanna call it a night?” he asked. She nodded and started to stand, checking the time – it was after midnight.

  “You’re not leaving already, are you?” Jeremy asked.

  “Yeah,” she replied, smothering a yawn.

  “But, it’s early!” he protested.

  “For you it’s early,” she said picking up her bag, “for me, however, it’s six a.m. and I need some sleep!”

  “Ok,” he answered, realizing he wasn’t getting his way.

  That’s mature. Are you sad I’m leaving? Or that I’m taking your bestie away?

  “Nice to finally meet you all,” she chirped as brightly as she could manage as she hugged Chelsea and Ana goodbye.

  “See you in the morning,” she told her friends. They didn’t offer to leave with her, they trusted AJ to get her home safely. As did she.

  “We’ll let you sleep in, don’t worry!”

  “G’night!” she called to them as she headed for the door. She felt a hand at the base of her back, guiding her through the crowd, she felt the warmth through her jersey and couldn’t help but smile.

  Instinctive protectiveness, I kinda like it.

  When they got outside, his hand didn’t move.

  “You cold?” he asked.

  She shook her head in reply, yawned again. As he opened the car door, he asked again, “Are you really ok?”

  Nodding, she smiled softly,

  “Yeah, I’m ok, I’m just a bit-” she searched for the word, “overwhelmed,” she finished.

  Smiling, he closed the doo
r with a soft thud, and they sat in silence as he drove to the hotel. A comfortable silence. She knew he understood and didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet with unnecessary conversation.

  He walked her to her room, his hand had again found its way to her back. He’s probably afraid I’ll collapse from tiredness, she thought to herself.

  Or maybe he just wants to be close to you?

  I certainly want to be close to him.

  She chewed her lip. Real close.

  She empathized with his desire for closeness. Living with an ocean between them was painful. Right now, though, he was simultaneously keeping his hand on her back and managing to open every door – just as he said he would. When they first started talking, he’d warned her that he was pretty old-fashioned when it came to dating.

  I really kinda like the chivalry though.

  She yawned loudly, too tired to try and race him to open the doors herself – her natural inclination when she wasn’t exhausted.

  When they arrived at her door, she took his hand and led him inside. He whistled softly as he admired the room. “This is niiiiiice,” he exclaimed.

  “Yeah, Chelsea is great at picking hotel rooms. Tea?”

  “No thanks”

  “Water?”

  Shaking his head, no, he sat on the sofa as she put the kettle on for herself.

  “I know it’s not particularly sexy, but I’m completely knackered. Would you mind if I went and stuck some pjs on?” she asked.

  “Sure,” he replied, kicking his shoes off and swinging his legs up onto the sofa. When she emerged, she was wearing his oversized Alabama t-shirt that he’d sent her in a care package along with a birthday present earlier that year. She wore it with her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pj shorts and some thick slipper socks to warm up her toes.

  “My favorite cartoon! And you said it wasn’t sexy,” he said as she spun around for him to take in the ensemble. “There’s not a lot sexier than seeing you in my shirt ... I’d say we could probably lose the furry socks but I know you’re prone to cold extremities.”

  Moving his legs, she sat next to him on the sofa. Not too close, she didn’t quite feel at ease within herself to behave as a “regular girlfriend” just yet, but he inched closer to her.