by Toni Aleo
The Bellevue Bullies Series
Boarded by Love
Clipped by Love (early 2015)
Hooked by Love (late 2015)
The Assassins Series
Taking Shots
Trying to Score
Empty Net
Falling for the Backup
Blue Lines
Breaking Away
Laces and Lace
A Very Merry Hockey Holiday (Coming December 2014)
Overtime (Spring 2015)
Standalone
Let it be Me
Taking Risks Series
The Whiskey Prince
Becoming the Whiskey Princess (Due out 2015)
This is my tenth novel. Holy crap, right?!
Because this series wouldn’t have ever been started without this man, I want to dedicate this novel to Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators.
Thank you for always being so supportive and proud of my accomplishments. It means the world to me.
This book is for you.
GO PREDS!
Letter from the Author….well, me.
Hi, y’all! Hope you are well and THANK YOU SO MUCH for buying my tenth novel—and the sixth installment in the Assassins series, Laces & Lace. Before you get started in the magical world of my beloved Assassins, I want to take a moment and explain what I have done here. When you turn the page, you’ll see that Tangled in the Laces is there. I decided to include the prequel because it’s the start of Karson and Lacey. Some people didn’t buy Seduced by the Game, and I really didn’t want anyone to miss out. (Though you should get Seduced by the Game, there are some great stories in there!) I also thank you, because a dollar of your purchase goes to the Nashville Predators Foundation which helps the babies with cancer.
I am completely in love with this novel. I had my heart ripped out like you did during the prequel, and I love the way Karson and Lacey’s story plays out. It isn’t going to happen the way you think, and I pray that you love it the way I do. These two are so complex and amazing, but it isn’t just Lacey and Karson; Karson’s family and his best friend are a hoot! And I can’t wait to read your reviews.
Most of all, again, I thank you. I wouldn’t be where I am without you, and I feel so blessed and elated to have you as my reader.
Thank you.
Enjoy.
Love always,
Toni
Start reading Tangled in the Laces
Jump to Laces and Lace
February 2005
Karson King pushed himself as he skated up the ice and back along with his teammates. A cloud whooshed out with every breath he let out; his lungs were burning, and so were his legs. The rink was cold, and he loved the sound his skates made against the ice, along with those of his twenty-nine teammates. It was seven in the morning, and he was tired from staying out way too late the night before, but he loved this. Hockey was his life. He had eaten, slept, and breathed hockey since he was old enough to stand in his skates. It was all he knew; it was all he cared about. This was his life, and he was ready to do everything he could to make his dreams come true.
And that was making it into the pros.
He had done everything to get there. He played hockey 365 days a year, trained with the best coaches, went to the best camps, and never started a day without a morning skate and a little puck handling. He was taught to be the best by his father, who played for twenty-one seasons in the pros before getting hurt and having to retire. Karl King was the best on and off the ice, and Karson had every intention of following in his father’s big footsteps.
He, along with his family, believed that the Chicago Cats were one of the stepping-stones to get him to the pros. He loved his Cats family. In the two years of being here, since he skipped going into the draft at eighteen, he had made friends for life and worked to polish his skills even more. His mother, Regina, was very adamant about his going to college for at least two years to make sure that hockey was really what he wanted to do with his life, despite the many scouts who begged him to go into the draft. So he did, and while he believed it was a complete waste of time, he was glad he was able to meet the guys he had and to be trained by one of the greatest college coaches around. He had enjoyed the life he had here in Chicago, but he was ready to be drafted. He was ready to play for the big leagues.
Passing the puck up to his friend, Grady Martin, Karson crashed the net, going around it before hitting the slot where Grady slid him a beauty of a pass, resulting in an awesome top-shelf goal. Doing a small fist pump, Karson turned to congratulate his teammates before throwing his arm around Grady.
“Way to pass, Grad!”
“Thanks,” he said, sending him a wide grin. “Let’s do that tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me,” Karson agreed before skating back to where Coach was waiting for them. Tapping Karson’s shins before doing the same to Grady, he nodded.
“Good pass, great goal. Let’s do it again. Passes have to be hard and accurate if we are going to beat NYU tomorrow. Come on, boys. We got this,” he encouraged before blowing his whistle.
Karson nodded, turning to get set for the next drill. Leaning on his stick, he took in a deep breath and noticed that Coach had skated up beside him.
“Scouts will be here tomorrow. They are looking at you, Martin, and Fellows. Go out hard, and make me proud.”
A man of very few words, Coach skated away. Karson’s stomach fluttered but only for a second. He wanted this, he was ready for this, and the pros were his for the taking. Barely able to contain his excitement, a grin pulled at his lips as he set up for the upcoming pass, shooting the puck past the goalie and then lining up to do it again. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, his heart was pounding, and he couldn’t wait to call his dad to let him know what was going on. More than likely his parents would fly out for the game, since he always played better when they were there, and they’d probably catch his sister Kacey’s game the following day. Like Karson, Kacey was one of the best, too. They were both offered full-ride scholarships to Chicago, and that was the main reason they left Wisconsin. Not wanting to put a financial burden on their parents, even though they could afford it if it came down to it, they both worked hard to make sure their college was paid for. It was just the way the King kids were raised.
You worked hard for the things you wanted.
After doing the drill again, Karson found himself behind Grady and tapped him in the shin.
“Big day tomorrow,” he said, leaning on his stick.
Grady nodded. “I know. Nervous as shit.”
Karson laughed as he shook his head. “I’m not. This is what we want. It’s ours. This time next year, we’ll be in the pros.”
“Or the AHL,” Grady said, always the level-headed one between the two.
“Sure, and we will be one step closer to the pros. We got this.”
Grady could only nod before kicking off to accept the pass that he quickly shot toward the goal, but the goalie stopped him. When the whistle blew again, Karson dug into the ice, accepting the puck before shooting it hard to the goal, through the five-hole. He hadn’t missed a shot yet and didn’t intend to. Being the captain of the Cats meant being the best, and he wasn’t going to accept anything less.
Skating toward where the next line was, he glanced up at the stands to see who had braved the cold to come watch them practice. Usually, the guys’ girls would come out, some parents, and maybe even Kacey if she woke up on time. But she didn’t come often though, not that he minded since he never went to her practices. His stare traveled lazily over the almost-empty stands as he waited for his turn. When his gaze met a pair of pale green eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks.
He had no clue who she
was. He hadn’t seen her around campus either, but he wished he had. She wasn’t his normal type, but that didn’t matter as he watched her move her gaze from his to look out on the ice. He was thankful she looked away since it gave him the opportunity to enjoy her without her knowing. Her legs were folded up against her chest with her arms wrapped around them. She wore a large Chicago Cats sweatshirt, her jeans hugged her every curve, and he wanted nothing more than for her to stand so he could drink in every single detail of her. From where he stood though, he could see that her eyes were large and round, framed by long, dark lashes. Her cheeks were a bright pink color, maybe from the cold or maybe because she felt him watching her, but he couldn’t stop. Her lips were a sweet, light pink color and pursed as her eyes followed the guys. He wanted to know who she was watching, instantly jealous as his eyes traveled up to where her blond hair peeked out in spikes under the thick, knit hat she wore. She had a pixie cut, something he wasn’t really into. Usually, he liked long hair, but something about this girl had him drooling when he should have been paying attention the game. Nothing ever distracted him, but this girl had the power to. That should scare him, make him want to run the other way, but he only wanted to run to her.
“Why the hell are you staring at my sister?”
Forcing his gaze away from the girl, Karson looked back at Grady and asked, “That’s your sister?”
He nodded. “Yeah, stop staring at her before I kick your ass.”
The whistle blew, signaling it was time for the next in line to go. Karson looked back to see it was his turn, but he didn’t want to move. He wanted to know more about Grady’s sister, despite the fact that Grady would very much follow through with his threat. Digging in, he headed for the goal, ready for the pass. When it came, he shot it right into the goalie’s glove.
Not good.
Letting out a breath, he knew he should have taken that little mess-up as a sign saying he needed to ignore his attraction to Grady’s sister, but instead, his gaze found its way back to her. He couldn’t wait to know more about her.
He was still staring.
Lacey Martin couldn’t believe it, but Karson King was staring at her, like almost undressing her. So bad that she found herself wrapping her arms tighter around herself. He made her feel naked with those caramel-colored eyes fixed on her. She didn’t know why he was staring, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t like it. Even though she wasn’t one of those girls to get completely hung up on a guy, Karson King was beautiful.
He had arresting eyes, dark brown hair that had a red hue to it, and a face that could grace an ad for Calvin Klein. With hard angles, scruff that made him hotter, and a sexy smile, he made Lacey feel like there was a rainstorm in her panties. His body just screamed sex. He had door-busting shoulders, toned and thick in the most delicious way. He was magnificent. She had seen him all over campus; girls flocked to him like he was a famous pro. Even though he was gorgeous, Lacey refused to be one of those girls. Yeah, he had the kind of eyes that could make a girl bend over and take it any way he wanted, and maybe he did have the greatest ass on the team, but she wasn’t stupid. There was no way a guy like that would want her.
Lacey was content with her life. She didn’t need to get her hopes up, thinking that Karson would want something to do with her. Not only would that be dumb, but if it were true, she needed to stay a thousand feet away from him. His rejection could break her and, after the year she had, she didn’t need anything else breaking her. She had finally put herself back together; she was finally getting into the groove of things. Nothing could jeopardize that—not even someone as gorgeous and lethal as Karson King.
She was finally Lacey again.
That was why she was at the arena that morning. She had come to watch her brother play. She missed doing that, and it was worth waking up at the butt-crack of dawn just to see her big brother’s grin when he saw her in the stands. She knew he missed seeing her, and it was nice to be able to start doing the things she had been doing her whole life.
She had always been there, through Grady’s whole hockey career. Being the only girl in the household, she wasn’t allowed to be a girl. The fact that she didn’t have a dick hanging between her legs wasn’t ever brought up. She got dirty, she cussed like a sailor, she knew how to change her oil, and she knew how to hold her own. Girl or boy, Lacey wasn’t going down without a fight. Despite her father wanting her to be the Grady of women’s hockey, she had no interest in playing, but her father would be damned if she didn’t know the ins and outs.
She loved the sport, loved watching her brother play, and even loved skating, but she had no patience when the stick was in her hands. Grady would steal the puck and, instead of trying to steal it back, she would try to physically take him out. Yes, it might be frowned upon, and yes, Grady accused her of having anger issues, but she thought it was more like passion than anything else. Grady didn’t agree, and that was probably why he and their father thought it was crazy that Lacey wanted to design lingerie.
It was such a neat idea though! She had always loved designing things. Clothes, rooms, and even the jerseys that Grady wore, but there was something about bras and panties that just got her gears turning. She loved making sexy things. She loved the feminine part of it, and that was probably because she had been around farts and burps her whole life. Any time she came out in anything remotely sexy, her dad and Grady would throw a fit, so most of the time she walked around covered up like a nun, when all she really wanted was to walk around in lingerie. Well, she did before, now she was perfectly happy being covered up. Before though, it wasn’t as if she wanted to be a ho or anything—she just wanted to feel pretty. But since that might never ever happen again, she decided she would design pretty things for other women to feel beautiful.
So that was what she was going to school for, business and design. It was her first year, and she loved every minute of it. Not only had she made great friends, but she was in the school’s a cappella group, the Catappellas. Yes, she knew the name was dumb, but she enjoyed it so much. Singing had always been a passion of hers and, while she could carry a tune, her love for it wasn’t something she wanted to do with the rest of her life. It was just a pastime.
With the year she had just had, she decided she was only going to do what made her happy. She was going to live life to the fullest—no matter what. Even though the idea of having Karson King interested in her made her all giggly, inside she knew it was a bad idea.
Still though, her gaze fell on the sexy captain who wore number sixteen.
When Coach blew his whistle again, Lacey knew practice was over. She stood and pulled on her gloves, wrapping her scarf around her neck before picking up her books to head out to the rink. She could wait for Grady, but there was no telling if he would be out before her eight o’clock class, so instead, she headed for it. It was freezing out, so she hurried across the quad to Reeding Hall, thankful when the warm air hit her face. Letting out a breath, she headed up the stairs to her class to find that her best friend, Rachel Wise, was waiting for her.
Like Lacey, Rachel was going for business and design but, unlike Lacey, Rachel was quiet and very OCD. It was cute, and Lacey loved how Rachel was the yin to her yang. Falling into the seat beside her, Lacey’s book fell on the desk, knocking the pencils Rachel had lined perfectly straight onto the ground.
“Ugh! Lacey,” she complained. Standing, she rushed to the pick them up.
“Oops, my bad! My hands are frozen!”
Rachel sent her a lopsided grin, retrieving her pencils and falling back into her seat. Wearing a pair of jeans with boots up to her knees and a large Cats sweatshirt, her dark brown hair fell in curls around her face. Her brown eyes were framed with darker lashes as she focused on getting her pencils right in line again. They hadn’t been friends long, but, from the beginning, Lacey had known that she and Rachel were going to be friends for life.
“No biggie—did you go watch your brother play this morning?”
“’Cause that’s normal.”
“Yeah, it is,” Lacey said with a laugh, opening her business book.
“I’m glad you went,” Rachel said after a few minutes. “That’s it, right? You are completely back to normal now.”
Lacey smiled as she bit into her lip. “Yup, completely normal Lacey now.”
“Awesome, now all you need is a hot boyfriend to make life a little interesting.”
“This coming from my single best friend,” she teased, causing Rachel to laugh.
“That is true, but I am on the prowl. All I need is a man who is clean and knows what he wants, and my life would be complete.”
Lacey laughed. “Good luck with that.”
They shared a smile before returning to their books. They had a quiz that morning. Lacey wanted to refresh herself, but she couldn’t focus. All her thoughts kept floating back to number sixteen.
“So…crazy idea.”
Lacey looked up, leaning against her hand. “And that is?”
“Wanna go to the Cats’ team party tomorrow?”
Her brows shot up as she laughed. “What? Who are you, and where is my best friend? Cause the Rachel Wise I know doesn’t go to frat parties. They are dirty, remember?”
That made Rachel dissolve into giggles, and soon Lacey joined in. “I know, but I think we need to be proactive here. We’ve been here for six months and haven’t been to any parties. We study and we go to the movies. We are nerds, Lacey!”
“I like being a nerd,” Lacey said with a nervous laugh. Her heart kicked up in speed, and everything went cold inside her. She was pretty sure she knew where her best friend was going with this.
“I do too, but I want to get laid, and no one has caught my eye. I need to broaden my boundaries, and hockey players are hot.”