“Where else would I ever go?”
Silas grinned. “I have a few owner buddies who’ve made a game in trying to poach my employees.”
“Like Weston Rutherford?” His eyebrows raised, and I waved him off. “My best friend is married to Hendrix Malone.”
“Ah,” he said. “So you know a few of my friends.”
I nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good.”
And now that I had his approval…
“Can I be totally honest with you?” I asked, my heart in my throat. God, I hoped I wasn’t about to blow what trust I’d just earned from him.
“I’d prefer it,” he said, his tone so business-like I wondered if he always had his owner’s hat on or if he ever let loose.
“What are your thoughts on…” I swallowed hard. “Players and staff…fraternizing?” I had no other way to ask, but I couldn’t not ask. Not if I wanted to continue with my career and hopefully, possibly ever mend things with Jansen.
A small, almost sad smile shaped his lips. He looked down at the amber liquid in his crystal tumbler before his eyes glanced across the room. His sister Harper danced with Nathan Noble, one of his top players. “It’s never bothered me before. As long as the job gets done,” he said, returning his attention to me. “Who am I to stand in the way of people who are actually capable of finding real love?”
I parted my lips, my heart snagging on the flicker of pain in his hazel eyes. I wondered over his statement, wondered how hard it might be for a billionaire like him to discern real affection from false. But before I could express my gratitude or my concern, he scooped his tumbler from the bar and motioned it toward the party. “Speaking of,” he said, then gave me a wink and sauntered into the fray.
My eyes followed where he’d motioned, and my heart stopped before it took off at a gallop.
Jansen Sterling stood at one of the tables near the entryway, chatting with Briggs. He looked good enough to eat in a crisp dark tuxedo, those crushing blue eyes striking even from across the room.
He looked so damn wonderful, I thought my knees might actually buckle.
19
Sterling
The party was in full swing by the time I got there at eleven p.m. Having spotted an empty seat next to Briggs, I tugged at my bowtie and made my way across the busy ballroom. The fucking suit was tailored to me, and yet I still felt choked, but that could have been nerves, too.
London hadn’t been our coordinator for the last two games, which meant I hadn’t even seen her since before Christmas, and yet here I was, ready to shoot my shot.
“There you are,” Briggs said as I took the chair next to his at one of the tables that lined the dance floor. He rolled a glass of amber liquid between his palms, and I could tell from the bubbles that it was ginger ale.
“Did I miss anything exciting?” I glanced over the dancing couples like I wasn’t looking for London, but who was I kidding? I was looking for London.
“If you count Langley hauling off the rookies by their ears after they got trashed out of their minds, then maybe.” He laughed and thanked a waitress who put another tumbler of amber liquid on our little table. “It’s ginger ale,” he said, pushing it toward me.
“I figured. Thanks.” I took a sip of the sweet stuff, hoping it would calm the nausea that rose in my gut every time I thought about getting an answer out of London.
“It keeps women from offering to buy me a drink.” He shrugged.
“Good point.” The band switched songs, playing something a little slower that sounded like it was from the forties. “Hey, I heard you signed a new endorsement yesterday.”
He nodded, sipping his drink. “Lusso Men’s Wear.” He motioned to the tux.
“No shit?” I loved Lusso. It was a little higher priced than what I usually went for, but everything high end was.
“Shocked the hell out of me, but I snapped it up.”
“Hi.” A blonde in a strapless dress came over and leaned on the table next to Briggs, adjusting her arms so her breasts swelled above her neckline.
“Uh. Hey.” Briggs gave her a once-over and smiled.
“You’re Cormac Briggs, right?” she asked, looking at him like he was on the damned menu.
“That’s me.”
I sipped my drink and turned my attention back to the dance floor. This was London’s event, so she had to be here somewhere. But instead of London, I saw Brogan Grant making his way toward us.
If I thought I felt uncomfortable in a tux, that guy had to be downright tortured by the way he was tugging at his sleeves.
“I don’t want to be here,” he said as he took the spot next to me.
“Better than face painting with kids?” I asked.
He grunted.
The girl worked her hand up Briggs’s chest, and he moved back suddenly, putting his drink on the table.
“Yeah, I’m going to have to see some ID before you put your hands anywhere near me.”
I nearly spit out my drink.
Even Brogan looked over with his brows raised.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” The girl glared at Briggs.
“Nope. I’m the adult version of Disneyland, and only eighteen and up get to ride.” He folded his arms across his chest.
Wow.
“Okay, now I’m glad I came,” Brogan muttered.
The girl started to curse Briggs out for assuming she was anything younger than twenty-one as the band finished their song, then played a short-blasted two-tone harmony like an announcement was about to be made.
We all turned to face the stage, and my breath caught.
There she was.
London stood in the center of the stage with Silas, and damn did she look good. Her dress flowed along her curves way that made my mouth water, and her hair was in some twisted updo, leaving her neck bare. My heart launched into a straight gallop.
“Thank you so much for being here tonight,” Silas said, pausing while the crowd gave him a round of applause. “Giving back to the community is something that every Reaper takes pride in. We aren’t just happy to help out the Ronald McDonald house tonight, we’re honored. And for tonight’s biggest announcement, let me turn over the mic to the woman who put this all together, London Foster.” He handed the microphone to London.
My chest swelled with pride.
“Thank you. I’m so very happy that you guys all showed up!” She laughed, and the crowd did, too. “Together we’ve raised a half-million dollars for the Ronald McDonald House. And that’s just the beginning.” She smiled and held out her hand, beckoning to someone off stage. “I’m so proud to announce that with the help of Lusso Design, we’ve been able to write a one million dollar check to the Ronald McDonald House!”
The crowd exploded in applause, and I was right there with them. Fuck, she was amazing.
A young woman with glossy, black curls in a long black dress walked out onto the stage, wearing a million-watt smile. The woman was gorgeous—though she wasn’t close to holding a candle to London—and easily a good five inches taller than my girl.
“You have to be fucking kidding me.” Briggs tensed beside me.
“Who is that?” I asked Briggs quietly.
“And we’re so lucky to have the brand-new CEO and lead designer, Bristol McClaren, with us here tonight!” London announced, handing the microphone over.
“Thank you so much for having me,” Bristol said from the stage.
“That is who got me fucking traded.” Briggs looked like he’d seen a ghost. “In all fairness, her brother did the trading. She was just the catalyst.”
“Good looking catalyst,” Brogan muttered next to me.
“Wait…” The gears in my brain turned. “Didn’t you say Lusso…”
“Fuck me,” Briggs pushed away from the table and walked straight to the bar.
London made her way off stage. This was my chance. “I’ll be right back,” I said to Brogan, then hauled ass around the
dance floor to intercept her.
Shit, this crowd was massive, and London wasn’t exactly tall. I raced for the entrance to the ballroom. At least I’d be able to catch her if she was leaving.
I wiped my sweaty palms on the fabric of my pants as the crowd parted and London appeared. Her gaze locked with mine and my heart fucking stopped.
Ten feet, that was all that separated us, and we were coming closer with every step she took in my direction. But hey, she wasn’t running the other direction, so that had to be a good sign.
Within seconds she was right in front of me, a determined glint in her eyes that could go either way for me.
“You weren’t a goddamned bet.” It came out as a growl.
“I know,” she said softly. “Maxim told me.”
Of course, she fucking believes him.
“Which apparently was not the right thing to say,” she bit her lower lip and looked left, then tugged me through a door and into…the coat closet. We were in a coat closet.
“Can you give us a second?” London asked the attendant.
The guy took one look between the two of us and walked out.
London locked the door, then leaned back against it, like she needed to block my exit.
“We’re in a coat closet.” A very small, very confined coat closet.
“I’m okay,” she assured me, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “As long as you’re in here with me, I’m okay. Jansen, I knew,” she rushed. “Before Maxim told me, I knew. The more I thought about it, I knew there was no way you’d do something like that. That’s not who you are.”
I leaned back against the attendant’s counter. “You stole my line.” She knew. She knew. I didn’t know if I wanted to sag in relief or fuck her against the door. “I had a whole speech planned about how I fell for you in that elevator, and now it seems pretty pointless.”
Her eyes flared. “Not pointless! I want to hear your speech!” The plea in her eyes was my undoing.
I arched a brow at her as my heart thudded to a steady beat and gravity shifted back to where it belonged. My steps were slow as I closed the distance between us. “I fell for you in the elevator, and no, it wasn’t just because you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I fell for you when we were on the floor, when I saw just how hard you fought to keep calm.”
Her hands rose to my chest as I caged her in on one side, flattening my palm against the door next to her head.
“I fell for you on the roller coaster and again when I kissed you for the first time. The fact that Maxim appeared between the elevator and the roller coaster never changed how I felt about you. Was I jealous that he said he was going to date you? Yeah. I’d be jealous of any guy who said he wanted to date you. I’d work my ass off to prove that I’m the right choice.” I leaned down and brushed my lips over the shell of her ear, breathing her in. “I will always prove that I’m the right choice.”
“Jansen.” She gripped the lapels of my tux.
“I love you, London.” I rested my forehead against hers. “There is so much about life I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll always get to play for the Reapers. I don’t know if I’ll get injured in the next game or play until I’m too slow to keep up. I have no clue if Maxim is suddenly becoming more relatable or I’m losing my mind, and I have no clue what to do with the voicemail my sister left me this morning. My sister.” I palmed her waist. “The only thing I’m certain of is that I love you with every bone in my body, London Foster.”
“Oh, Jansen, I love you, too.” She brought her mouth to mine and licked her tongue along the seam of my lips.
I groaned and kissed her, tangling our tongues. She tasted like champagne and home, and while I’d gone hard at the damned sight of her, this was a whole new level of need.
My hand slipped through the slit in her dress to find her bare thigh, and she gasped, breaking the kiss.
“Wait.”
I froze.
“I’m not hiding us anymore…if there’s an us. If that’s what your speech was saying.” Her eyes searched mine, worry creasing her brow. “That there’s an us.”
“There’s an us,” I assured her.
A smile flitted across her face. “Good, because I realized that yeah, I really love this job, and I want the position at the end of the year, but not if it comes at the cost of losing you. I don’t want to sneak around or hide what you mean to me.”
Her words were breathing life back into my soul, but— “I’m not going to be the reason you don’t get the job.” I refused to be the one standing in her way.
“You won’t. That’s what I’m saying. I asked Silas, and he’s fine with players and staff fraternizing as long as the job gets done.” She grinned.
“You…” I smiled slowly, letting this feeling fill me to the brim until it overflowed. “You talked to Silas.”
She nodded.
“Because you want us to be public.” I needed the words. Too much had gone wrong between us because we hadn’t said them in the past.
“So public.” She kissed my chin. “So, so, so public.” Her hands slid down my chest, my stomach, and then she grasped my dick through my pants. “Like. Right. Now. Public.”
Hell yes. I had her legs around my waist before I could even voice the thought. Our mouths collided. Fabric moved. My zipper came undone. I pulled her panties to the side.
She was wet and slick and so fucking hot.
“Please.” She tunneled her fingers through my hair.
I slid inside her, and it was everything.
“God. London.” I took her hard and deep, kissing her exactly the same way. I couldn’t get close enough. Our hearts pounded. The door rocked with every thrust.
She went tight around me, and I angled her hips so I ground against her clit. Fuck, I was close, but I needed her there with me.
“I fucking love you, London.”
She came apart in my arms, and I swallowed her cries with a kiss, tumbling right after her.
Finally, we were whole. We were home.
“I love you,” she said as our breathing calmed.
“Good.” I grinned. “How about I take you home and do this properly? You know, naked. Maybe in a bed?”
Her fingers stroked over my cheeks and the same joy I felt radiated in her eyes. “Oh no. We’re dancing, and you’re kissing me at midnight. In front of everyone.”
“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”
We smiled.
When we danced.
And at midnight, I kissed her senseless in front of everyone in that ballroom.
Epilogue
London
“I didn’t think this much stuff could fit in your tiny apartment,” Jansen called as he closed the front door behind him. He set the last of my boxes near the stairs, smirking at me.
I walked up to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Are you regretting this?” I asked, twirling the diamond around my ring finger.
“Hell no,” he said, shaking his head as he snaked his arms around my waist. “I can’t wait until you take my name and everyone knows who you belong to.”
Warmth flushed my skin, and I trembled as he hauled me against him. “I love you,” I said before pressing my lips to his.
He slid his tongue between mine, and I arched into him.
This. Would. Never. Get. Old.
Tasting his kiss, feeling his body, having him to come home to, and vice versa. It didn’t matter that we’d had months of bliss between us, I wanted it forever. Which is why it hadn’t been even a hesitation when he’d proposed.
“How badly do you want to unpack?” he asked, breaking our kiss long enough to speak.
I shook my head, and hopped up. He caught me without a blink, and I locked my ankles around his back. “Not even a little bit.”
He smirked against my mouth. “Where should I make love to you today?”
“Anywhere,” I sighed between his lips. “As long as it’s now.”
“Greedy woman,�
� he teased, turning us into the living room just off the entryway. He settled me onto the leather sofa, his weight a delicious thing between my legs.
“Only for you,” I said, and that wonderful pride and happiness swelled in his blue eyes. I cupped his cheek, making sure he could see the love shining through in mine.
“Always for you,” he said before lowering his mouth to mine.
Always sounded just about this side of perfect, and I would cherish every single second of it.
THE END
Thank you so much for reading! If you love these alphas and want to try something with a little more bite, check out my brand-new, steamy vampire romance, Crimson Covenant!
New to the Reapers? The NHL's been at Axel's door since he was eighteen, but he'd never leave the Swedish hockey league while he was raising his little brother. But now he's grown, and the Carolina Reapers are at Axel's door with his greatest weakness: Langley Pierce. The fierce and fiery publicist has sworn off men, but if she wants him to accept her proposed contract, she'll have to accept his...proposal. Read Axel, book one in the Carolina Reapers series here!
Want more hot hockey romance? The rink gets steamy when star NHL player Gage McPherson falls for his bff/nanny—click here to read their story and binge the whole Seattle Sharks series today!
Crimson Covenant
Chapter One
Alek
The massive, formal front door of my estate swung open before I could so much as reach for the handle.
“Welcome home, my king.” Serge bowed his head and made room for me to pass. The guy was dressed in a suit, which was as casual as he got. He took his job as the head of the talem—our immortal stewards—just as seriously as I took my position as king.
“You know I was only gone for an hour, Serge. Relax a little. Maybe let me get the door every once in a while.” The sound of my boots echoed off the vaulted ceiling as I strode through the marble entry and past the sweeping, dual staircases that led to the second floor.
Sterling: A Carolina Reapers Novel Page 20