by G. K. Brady
Gage’s phone vibrated, and he broke out in a smile despite the leftover tension crackling in the air. “Working on ’em now.”
Lily: Group went well. Thanks for asking. Sorry about the loss.
Gage: It’s just a game. You and Daisy are still coming to mites, right?
Lily: Wouldn’t miss it, Professor.
The charged atmosphere seemed to dissipate while the weariness that had been weighing his limbs down seemed to disappear.
Gage: They’re about to make us shut off our phones. How about I take you girls out to dinner tomorrow night?
Lily: Sounds nice. What time?
He suppressed the urge to pump his arm. Pick you up at 5:30?
Lily: See you then.
The last three words took away his lingering agitation, giving him a lift. Locking out the unsettling exchange between his teammates, he turned his thoughts in a much more pleasant direction and drifted off.
The next day, he parked in front of her house a few minutes early. Before he could pull his bundles out of the car, Daisy opened the front door and yelled, “Hello, Mr. Cage!” Her big eyes widened as he strode up the walkway. “Are those for my mom?”
Lily appeared behind her daughter, and when her eyes landed on the bouquets he held, they widened too.
“One’s for your mom, but the other one’s for you.” He climbed the few steps and handed Daisy an arrangement bursting with yellow daisies and tulips. It was so big she needed both arms to wrap around it. On her face, pure delight made his chest swell.
“Mom! Mommy! We got flowers!”
Laughing, Lily accepted his gift—an even bigger arrangement of spring flowers that included different kinds of lilies—and beckoned him inside. “Yes, we did. Wasn’t that nice of Mr. Cage? What do you say, sweetie?”
“Thank you.” Daisy beamed. “I’m gonna put these in water.” She scampered away.
Gage resisted the urge to lean down and kiss Lily, even though doing so seemed so right. Maybe she felt it too because her cheeks pinked, and she let out a nervous laugh. He also laughed, for no reason, feeling like a total idiot.
“Do we have a few minutes to get these in vases?” she asked shyly.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Kitchen’s this way. Thank you for the flowers—for both of us. It was very thoughtful, and they’re lovely. It’s been a long time since anyone’s brought me flowers.”
“Really?” he blurted. “You should get flowers every day.”
Her blush deepened, turning his heart into a jackhammer. As he followed her, his eyes swept the living room, dining room, and kitchen beyond. Though it was an older home, it had been brought into the twenty-first century and had an open, airy, comfortable feel. It was exactly like its owner. It even smelled like her—clean, fresh, and flowery. In a spotless white-and-gray kitchen splashed in yellow and turquoise, Daisy was chattering excitedly about the flowers as she struggled with the top-heavy bouquet.
While the ladies busied themselves, his eyes explored the space. A long hallway to one side beckoned with an array of pictures. Curiosity piqued—were there photos among them of Lily as a girl?—he pointed toward it. “Do you mind if I …”
Lily’s eyes darted that way. “Um …”
Holding up his hands in surrender, he laughed. “It’s okay. If you don’t want me to see any messes …”
“I don’t have a messy house.” She gave him an impish grin. “Go ahead. Help yourself.”
He ambled that direction, stopped, and studied. Bands constricted his chest. Where he thought he’d see at least a few pictures of Lily and many of Daisy, he was stunned to find instead a wall of what could only be Jack from the time he was a baby until he was a grown man. And it wasn’t just pictures. It was a collection of mementos, like backstage passes, awards, a guitar strap. The hallway was a veritable two-walled shrine.
One of the rare pictures that featured Lily depicted her with a mic in her hand and that soulful expression he’d been inexorably drawn to. Onstage with her were Derek and Jack, whose coloring and build mimicked one another’s. Jack was playing bass, his eyes riveted on Lily and a smile splitting his face. The scene about knocked the wind from Gage’s lungs. He felt like a voyeur peeking behind the privacy curtain belonging to a husband and wife.
When Lily called to him from the kitchen, he didn’t register it at first. He was fixated on Jack. The ghost. His rival.
Lily called to him again, and he turned to find her watching him with curious eyes.
“I guess I’ve finally met Jack,” he said evenly.
Her eyebrows shot to her forehead. “Oh?”
“And now I understand,” he said simply.
I understand you worshipped him. That you still worship him.
He also understood she was a beautiful, vibrant woman stuck in the past. A woman who deserved a living man to take care of her, to worship her.
And looking at her made him want to be that man.
It would be an uphill battle, and it would take determination. Persistence. Patience. Traits that were ingrained in him. Did he want to go to battle to win a place in Lily’s heart? Even if it meant sharing space with Jack?
Hell yeah.
Chapter 15
Stuck in the Discovery Channel
Lily was pulling into Gage’s driveway when Ivy’s number lit her phone screen.
“Hey, Ive. I’m at Gage’s. What’s up?” She parked and turned off the engine.
“Isn’t he still out of town?”
“Well, he got back last week, but he left again, so I’m checking on his cat.”
Ivy chuckled. “Oh, I love it. The more weeks go by, the cozier you two get.”
The tease prodded at Lily’s nerves. “It’s not like that.”
“Of course not. You just keep convincing yourself, Little Sis.”
Lily tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear, slung her purse over her shoulder, and climbed out of her Highlander. “Is there a purpose for your call besides giving me crap?”
“A little sensitive, aren’t we?” Another sisterly chuckle rocketed Lily’s irritation. “Actually, I was calling to see if you wanted to meet up for lunch after my shift ends? That’s in two hours.”
Lily crossed the driveway and paused at Gage’s front door, eyeing the keypad built into the lock. “That should work if we keep it short.”
They settled on a meeting place and Lily punched in Gage’s code and let herself in, warily studying the alarm system he claimed he didn’t use, in case it decided to spring to life and bring on a squad of police cars to haul her butt to jail.
Hobbes sauntered toward her. Lily dropped into a crouch to scratch the cat’s ears. “Hi, Hobbes. I bet you miss your dad. I think I miss him too, but don’t tell him I said so. He might try to act cuter than he already is.”
Gage and she texted multiple times a day, and while she had fun doing it, it wasn’t the same as seeing his face light up or feeling his rich, deep baritone roll into her every nook and cranny whenever he spoke.
After refilling Hobbes’s bowls and cleaning her litter box, Lily stood in the family room and pulled in the gorgeous view outside the windows. From there, she drifted into his office and looked over the piles of mail she’d been answering. Before long, she was sticking her head into other rooms to be sure nothing was out of order.
Poised at the foot of his wooden-tread, metal-railed staircase, she debated heading upstairs to check the rooms on the second level. Hobbes bounded up the steps, making up Lily’s mind for her. She followed the cat, who wandered into Gage’s master bedroom, a space Lily had only seen briefly once before.
Understated and oh so masculine, the scene twined a seductive, invisible lasso around her and tugged her inside. She scanned clean, angular lines splashed with blacks, whites, and warm grays as she breathed in a musk-and-cedar man smell permeating the room. Soothing yet strong. Like him.
Hobbes leapt onto the bed.
“Oh, I see how it is. And just
how do you rate?” Lily plopped on the edge of the mattress and stretched her hand toward Hobbes. “I’m betting you sneak off in the middle of the night and he doesn’t get bent out of shape.”
What the hell am I saying?
Lily straightened, ready to leave the room when Hobbes started hacking. She recognized the sound immediately. “Oh no, Hobbes! Don’t throw up on the bed!”
Little good the command did. As Hobbes continued retching, Lily scrambled for something, anything to catch the hairball that was about to erupt. First she yanked open the nightstand drawer—so hard, stuff came flying out of it. Whoops! No tissues.
Hobbes’s yaks grew more urgent. Lily wrenched open a cabinet door below the drawer and rummaged around for a box of tissues. Her hand landed on different shapes, none resembling a tissue box, and as she withdrew, she inadvertently hauled out more stuff that hit the floor with a dull thud.
She vaulted upright and sprinted to the bathroom. Not a single tissue. Toilet paper! She snatched a wad and ran back to the bedroom, just as Hobbes coughed up her treasure. The cat then sprang off the bed and scurried from the scene of the crime.
“That’s it! Run away, you … you cat!”
Lily gathered the offending hairball in the toilet paper, disposed of it, and returned to the bedroom to survey the mess she’d created. Cards of various sizes and shapes were scattered over the rug like an explosion of giant confetti. With a sigh, she knelt and began gathering them into a pile before she realized what she was looking at. As she gave them a closer look, her stomach twisted into knots.
A number were regular business cards—many with thumbnail-sized headshots of women—while others were postcards from bars, restaurants, sports venues. Even music stores. Others were girlie note cards. Greeting cards.
Though they came in all shapes and sizes, they all appeared to be from women, their hand-scrawled messages some variant of “Let’s get together” or urging him to “Call me.”
Was this some weird trophy collection? How many women has he been through? The Gage she thought she knew collided with the Gage these women knew. Maybe knew.
A headache began blooming behind her eyes from the confusing emotions detonating inside her. She turned her attention to the items she’d accidentally yanked from the cabinet’s interior. One proved to be a box of Trojan Magnum condoms.
Large size. Yeah, that fits—literally. On closer inspection, she noted it was an unopened three-pack. Judging by the expiration date, it was also not a new purchase. She peered inside the cabinet but found no other telltale packages. The possibility popped into her head that he’d worked his way through a few Costco economy-sized boxes as he’d worked his way through the stack in his drawer.
Lily shook off the thought, thinking back to the night she’d spent with Gage. He’d had two condoms with him, and those, he’d claimed with endearing awkwardness, had been in his wallet a long time because he hadn’t been close enough to anyone to put them to use.
The memory of being under him, on top of him, beside him replayed in her head. Their tongues twining. The melting pleasure of him inside her. The lust that had pulsed through her body. All that hardness and heat. Had the B&B had a condom-dispensing machine, they’d have put those in play too. She refrained from fanning herself.
That night she hadn’t thought of him as a pro athlete who charmed his way in and out of women’s panties. Nothing she’d learned about him since had shot down that opinion either, but she’d be wise to remain wary, wouldn’t she? Eyeballing the drawer teeming with women reinforced her caution.
She handled the box, putting it back in its proper place, and a giggle bubbled up inside. The giggle died in the next instant when she picked up the other item that lay on the floor. As her eyes scanned it, her chest compressed. Staring at her from an eight-by-ten gold frame was the picture of Gage cuddled up with the beautiful blue-eyed brunette. The same picture Lily had seen on the Internet. Across the bottom, inscribed in loopy black letters, were the words: “Had such a wonderful time at the all-star weekend! Looking forward to many more nights together. With all my love, Jess XO.”
Lily’s hands trembled as they returned the picture to its hiding place inside the nightstand. Her heart felt leaden, achy. Here, surrounded by his scent, she told herself what she’d discovered didn’t matter because she wasn’t about to fall in love with him.
Lily kept her discoveries to herself at lunch with Ivy, who vented on and on about work. Thank God because all Lily had to do was offer understanding nods and uh-huhs without tuning in. Unfortunately, the picture of beautiful “Jess” and her gushing words about spending more nights with Gage took center stage instead.
That evening, as Daisy and Violet helped Lily clear the dinner dishes, Daisy took her by surprise. “Momma, when can I see Mr. Cage play hockey?”
“You mean on TV?” Gage was on an East Coast road swing, and tonight the Blizzard were playing Tampa.
“No, I wanna watch him play for real. He said I could.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” When had he told Daisy that? Lily bristled with the thought he’d extended the offer without consulting her first. Then she immediately softened, recalling the seemingly bottomless patience he showed Daisy and the other kids on the ice. For a man with no children, he had a way about him that warmed her through and through.
Lily gave herself a mental shake and bottled up the feels. “How about we ask him when he comes back to Denver? In the meantime, you can watch him on TV tonight.”
Both girls clapped and bounced, squealing, “Yes!”
Lily wrangled the remote. “Okay. Let’s see what Mr. Cage is up to tonight.”
She refused to let her mind wander to what he’d be doing after the game or how many “cards” he was collecting on the trip. No doubt he had plenty of options throwing themselves at him. Just like Jack had. The thought jarred her. She’d long ago buried her insecurities over Jack’s sex appeal and the way he’d drawn women like flies to honey. He’d downplayed the part he’d played in the pheromone-fest, just as he’d dismissed the reasons behind Lily’s uneasiness. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing, babe,” he’d say. “It’s because you’re still so young.” Translation: she was acting immaturely.
Locking away the old hurts, Lily cleaned up the kitchen while in the background the girls’ excited chatter blended with sounds of the game. When their attention spans stretched beyond their natural limits, they wandered off to play in Daisy’s bedroom.
Lily perched on the edge of the couch as a seemingly endless loop of commercials aired on TV. She startled when her phone rang.
“Our boy’s really tearing it up on the road,” Ivy gushed. “Did you watch tonight’s game?”
Lily smiled at Ivy’s use of “our boy.” “Is it over? I think I missed it. What did he do?”
“What didn’t he do? He had a Gordie Howe hat trick!”
Alarm bells clanged in Lily’s head. “You mean he got in a fight? But Gage doesn’t fight!”
“Well, he did tonight, and he won! Plus, it was after the fight that he scored his goal and picked up an apple. That’s hockey talk for assist.”
Lily would have rolled her eyes, but her heart was racing like a greyhound around a track. “So he’s okay?”
“He’s fine. You really need to watch the highlights, Lil.”
The TV switched to Gage standing in front of a locker, surrounded by iPads, phones, and mics. Gear stripped off, he was down to a black Under Armour shirt. His head was tilted as he listened to a question, and sweat beaded his forehead and cheeks. He shoved his wet hair back and raised his head, his eyes shifting side to side as though he were contemplating. Lily’s breath caught in her throat when she saw his entire face.
“Mr. Cage has an owie, Mom.” Daisy stood in the doorway pointing at the TV, Violet peeking over her shoulder.
Ivy piped up. “Oh. I forgot to mention he took a punch during the fight.”
Over his left eyebrow spanned two butterfly bandages.
A purplish-red bruise ringed his under eye.
He broke out in a smile, and relief flooded Lily. He still had all his teeth! Not that it mattered to her … except from a social media standpoint, of course.
When he began talking, Lily upped the volume.
“Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I got in a fight. Juniors, probably.” There was that self-deprecating grin, so typical for him. His default grin. Then came a shrug. “But it all worked out for us. The boys were going tonight, and they battled hard. Every game’s important, and we needed those two points.”
A voice said, “Tell us about your goal, Gage.”
He swiped moisture from his forehead. God, those hands! Lily nearly swiped her own forehead.
His eyes were animated, his eyebrows dancing above them as he spoke. “Well, it was a really lucky break. They had that turnover in our zone, and I wound up with the puck on my stick. Shanny was right there, and it turned into a two-on-one. My shooting lane was blocked, so I passed it to Shanny. Their D-man committed, Shanny made an unbelievable pass back to me, and I was able to lift it over their goalie.”
“Have you seen the standings?” another voice asked.
“No, I’ve been too busy talking to you guys,” he laughed. Then his blue eyes went wide. “Did Arizona lose? Are we in first place?” A mumbled answer, then he said, “This was a good win for us, but it’s only one game. We have to get ready for the next one. And we have to keep the momentum going, stay sharp, and head into the playoffs on a hot streak. There aren’t any easy games, and we can’t afford to take any nights off.”
“Speaking of hot,” came Ivy’s voice. Lily had almost forgotten she was still on the phone. “Don’t get me wrong, Lil, because that man cleans up really well, but all hot and sweaty like that? Hubba, hubba! And don’t even get me started on him fighting.”
Lily barked out a laugh.
“Mom, is Mr. Cage okay?” Daisy’s lower lip wobbled.
“He’s fine, honey. Come see for yourself. He’s talking to all those people. If he weren’t okay, he wouldn’t be able to talk to them.”