by Toni Aleo
“You suck,” she muttered, but he leaned in close, kissing her jaw.
Then he whispered, “You know it turns me on seeing you in my number. Just think of the things I can suck.” She gasped against his ear, and he grinned as he pulled back. “Now be a good girl and wear your man’s number.”
Making a face, she shook her head. “Okay. I’ll be in a damn Assassins jersey.”
“That’s just wrong,” Rachel said with a shake of her head. “Your team is the Hawks.”
Without even leaving Karson’s gaze, she said, “No, it’s the Assassins.”
“She’s married to an Assassins player. She really has no choice in the matter,” Nate said, but Karson could hear the venom in his voice. He was pissed his “princess” had come over to the good side.
“See, he’s coming around,” she whispered, kissing his lips.
“Sure,” he laughed and she rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, you’re leaving afterward, right?”
“Yeah, but you’ll meet me right in the bar of the hotel?” he asked, wishing like hell her family would disappear so he could love on his wife.
“That’s the plan,” she said with a nod, and he actually felt okay about leaving this time. She seemed ready for it, even though he knew neither of them really was. He would only be gone for a couple days, but still, he didn’t want to leave her. She was leaving the following day, but he didn’t trust Nate not to try to talk her into staying. He may be trying to act like all was well and forgiven, but Karson didn’t miss the way Nate looked at him or the way he didn’t even say goodbye after Thanksgiving. He’d kissed Lacey and left, no word to him or his family. Which was understandable, but he wasn’t on the road to accepting Karson anytime soon.
Karson knew this. Lacey was still in delusional land about it. She really thought he was coming around, but Karson couldn’t disagree more. Cuddling into her, he said, “What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“Four.”
“Why don’t you just stay until Karson gets home?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah, honey, no reason to be home alone,” Nate said just like Karson knew he would, but he didn’t say a word. It was Lacey’s decision, not his.
“Um, I don’t know. I have things I need to do at the house, and I think I’m having lunch with his boss on Monday,” she said with a shrug. “I’ll be back in a couple weeks.”
Karson’s heart pounded with pride as he dropped his mouth to hers. Kissing her long and hard, he didn’t care that he had onlookers. His baby was going to their home and she was adjusting.
What more could he ask for?
He could ask for a damn win, that’s what he could ask for.
Karson couldn’t believe they lost the game in overtime, but what was worse was the look of pure satisfaction when he saw Lacey at the hotel bar. Glaring, he wanted to enjoy the picture-perfect view she was creating, but it was hard. Even with her sporting his jersey, it sliding off her shoulder as she wore a pair of jeans and boots up to her knees, he couldn’t miss the grin on her face. Her hair was in a braid along her shoulder with a purple knit cap angled off to the side. Her eyes were bright with purple eye junk, but that grin told him she was a little too happy they lost.
“Shouldn’t you be upset I lost?” he asked as she entered his arms, squeezing her arms around him.
“You see, what had happened was,” she started, laughing, and his furrow deepened, but she just giggled. “I was cheering for you guys. It’s not my fault your team lost.”
“You’re a horrible hockey wife, woman,” he teased and she laughed as she kissed his chin.
“Sorry, I bleed Blackhawks’ red and black.”
“You need to change that,” he said, squeezing her ass. “But we shouldn’t have lost.”
“Nope, it was Shea’s fault. He let that dude deke him,” she said with a shake of her head.
Karson nodded. She was right, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “Whatever,” he said and then he waggled his eyebrows. “Wanna go in the bathroom for a quickie?”
She giggled, her face reddening. “As fun as that sounds, my dad and Sabrina are waiting to have drinks. Plus, I gave it to you earlier.”
His grin dropped. “Ugh, why are they here?” he whined and she sent him a look.
“He wants to send you off! He’s trying, Karson.”
He grumbled as she dragged him to where Nate and Sabrina sat, Nate looking like a high-rolling businessman and Sabrina like his trophy wife.
Weren’t they adorable?
Not.
“Great game,” Nate said with a grin as Karson lowered himself down into the seat. As his gaze met Nate’s, he not only wanted to gouge the guy’s eyeballs out but he had never wanted to skip out on drinks as badly as he did right then. Thankfully though, it was only an hour before Lacey started yawning.
“You tired, baby?” he asked, rubbing her back as she nodded.
“Yeah, dead on my feet, but I don’t want to leave you yet,” she pouted and he smiled.
“We should be heading out soon,” he said, reassuring her so she would leave. He knew they’d had a long day; he, too, was beyond tired. There was a pillow and a blanket with his name on it.
“Yeah, I’ll wait,” she said, leaning against him, but he wasn’t having that.
“No, come on. I’ll walk out and get you a cab,” he said, standing up.
They said their goodbyes to Nate, and Karson was glad to be rid of him as he walked Lacey to the front. With her tucked into the crook of his arm, he kissed her temple before asking a bellman for a taxi.
“I can manage to stay, just let me lean on you,” she said, cuddling into him.
“No, go on home and sleep. Call me in the morning.”
“I don’t want to leave yet,” she complained and he smiled.
“Only five days, not long at all,” he said, kissing her again. She achieved a smile as the bellman came back to tell them he had a cab for her. After turning Lacey in his arms, Karson’s mouth came down on hers, kissing her with all the love in the world. As her fingers snaked up his chest, resting at the base of his neck, his tongue moved with hers and he hoped she realized how much he was going to miss her.
As they parted, he kissed her lips a few more times before smiling against them. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too. Have a safe trip,” she said and he saw the tears in her eyes.
“No crying,” he managed to say around the lump in his throat.
“Not possible,” she said as they started to fall. “I hate being without you.”
“I know, me too,” he said with a nod. Kissing her nose, he wiped away her tears before kissing her lips. “Off you go. I’ll see you in a couple days. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She nodded, stepping back out of his arms. “I miss you.”
“I miss you more,” he promised and then she slowly disappeared out the doors. Standing there, he watched through the glass doors as she got into the cab and then she was gone. Feeling incomplete, he started back for the bar and soon fell into step with Shea.
“They are saying it’s gonna be another two hours before we can leave,” Shea muttered, obviously mad about that or perhaps because he was the reason they lost.
“Great,” Karson said sarcastically. “Want a beer?”
“Yeah,” he agreed as they made their way toward the bar.
When Karson noticed that Nate and Sabrina still sat at the table by the bar, he wondered why. Wasn’t it past their bedtime? “One second, it’s on me,” he said to Shea before heading over to them. “I thought you two had called it a night.”
“No, we were waiting for you to come back,” Nate said, tapping the edge of the table. “I have something to offer you.”
“I’m sure I don’t want it,” he answered, crossing his arms across his chest. “I’m not leaving her, Nate. Give it up.”
“Why not? Just go. No one wants you here,” Sabrina sneered but Karson rolled his eyes.
“Obvi
ously she does.”
“You aren’t good enough for her,” Nate said, but again, Karson shook his head.
“She thinks I am. That’s all that matters.”
“No, you’ve glamoured her! She isn’t thinking right,” Sabrina complained and Karson raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not a damn vampire; I’m her husband. She loves me. Let it go,” he almost begged. “Just let us be happy.”
“Never. You will disappear,” Nate promised.
“What, are you going to kill me? ’Cause that’s the only way I’m leaving her. I will continue to do everything to keep her with me. You aren’t going to take her away.”
Without letting them say anything else, he turned away, but as he started for the bar, Nate said, “Don’t walk away from me.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” he said over his shoulder and then settled into the seat beside Shea. “Fucking assholes.”
Shea looked over and then back from what Karson assumed were Nate and Sabrina. “Her parents?”
“Dad and soon-to-be stepmom,” he muttered before taking a pull of his beer. “They are hell-bent on breaking us up.”
“Wow, assholes,” he agreed before taking a sip of his own beer.
As they watched highlights on the TV, Karson didn’t bother looking back at his in-laws. He couldn’t believe that they did that after sitting with Lacey and acting like they approved of Karson. It was sickening. Shaking his head, he pulled his phone out when it vibrated to see it was Lacey. She was home and wanted to tell him she loved him. Smiling, he wrote her back and decided to leave his little conversation with her dad for tomorrow. She was tired, and he didn’t feel like keeping her up as they hashed it out.
Sitting back in his chair, he tucked his phone in his pocket and was ready to go. It was getting late, he was tired, and there was a chick staring at him. Really staring at him. Like she was eating him up with no concern for others.
Looking at Shea, he asked, “Do you know her?”
“Nope, not at all,” he answered and soon the girl was making her way toward him.
She was gorgeous, banging body, and a dress that didn’t leave much to the imagination. She had dark hair, darker eyes, and lips as red as a stoplight, but Karson wanted nothing to do with her. Before Lacey, he would have jumped at the chance to tear her apart, but now, she did nothing for him.
“Karson King, you just gonna stare at me or are you gonna say hello?”
Huh?
He gave her a friendly smile. “Sorry, do I know you?”
“Well, yeah,” she said with a grin. “Jeez, you don’t remember?”
His head cocked to the side. He remembered every girl he been with. Their names may be fuzzy, but he never forgot a face, and he was pretty sure he’d never been with this one. “You must have me confused with someone else.”
“Nope, we spent the night together about a year ago, met here.”
He shook his head. “Nope, wrong guy. Maybe my buddy Jordie?”
“No, it was you. I would never forget you.”
He laughed as her hand reached out, moving up his arm. Edging away from her, he smiled. “I’m married now.”
“Oh?” she asked, leaning into him, which made him lean into Shea trying to get away from her. “She doesn’t have to know about us.”
“There is nothing to know,” he said, taking her by her arms and moving her back some. “I love my wife.”
“That’s what they all say, but it’s fine, whatever. Break my heart,” she feigned hurt, but Karson saw right through her. When her hands rested on his thigh, he went to move them, but then her lips pressed against the side of his mouth. Before he could react and push her away, she was backing up, grinning.
“What the hell?” he asked with a glare. “I told you I’m married. Don’t fuck around like that.”
“Oops, hope she doesn’t find out,” she blinked not so innocently. “Good thing no one is watching us.”
“Hey, this isn’t funny. Go on and troll on someone else,” Shea bellowed. “We don’t have time for shit like that.”
She pouted as she puckered her lips out at Karson. “He has time. He always has time for the ladies,” she said, and when she reached out again, he stopped her.
“Leave me alone,” he warned. “Go. Now.”
“Aw, always so domineering. I love that, but I’ll go since you are obviously ‘committed’ to your wife,” she said, putting air quotes around committed. Glaring, he watched as she backed up, going to the other side of the bar with a conniving little grin on her face.
Looking over at Shea, he said, “I have no clue who that is.”
“Obviously someone trying to cause problems,” he said with a shake of his head.
Then it dawned on Karson.
Whipping around, he looked to see his in-laws grinning as they stood up, putting their jackets on. When Nate met Karson’s gaze and nodded his head to him, he knew that Nate had caused that. He knew with all the fibers of his soul that he had been set up. Or tried to be set up. He’d brushed her away like a fly, but why were they grinning like that?
Standing up, he rushed to catch up to them, taking ahold of Nate’s arm to stop him. “What the fuck are you up to?”
Nate grinned. “I have no clue what you are talking about.”
And then he tore his arm from Karson’s grasp and started for the door, leaving Karson in his wake.
Son of a bitch.
When Lacey rolled over the next morning, she stretched her body out as she slowly opened her eyes to the picture of her and Karson in front of their home with a “Sold” sign in their hands. His face was priceless and he looked every bit like a man who was utterly blissful. Lacey mirrored his expression, excited for their future, but seeing that picture meant one thing.
She was in her apartment, alone.
She hated that. She wanted to be home in Karson’s arms, but that wouldn’t happen for another four days. She had a full day, and that would keep her busy until she flew out to Nashville. Thankfully, she was meeting Elli for lunch tomorrow too, so really, she only had to get through two days without any distractions to keep her from missing Karson terribly. She figured she’d work. She wanted to do a new summer line of bathing suits, and to do that, she needed to come up with something amazing.
Sitting up, she pushed her hair out of her face and saw that her phone was blinking beside her. Reaching for it, she saw she had some missed calls from Rachel and then texts from Karson. Clicking on his text, she cuddled in the blankets as she read them.
Karson: hey, we’re finally about to take off, but listen some shit went down and I need to talk to you. Call me if you wake up and get this. I love you.
Karson: You awake?
With her brows pulling together, she clicked on the icon to call him but then a call came through. It was Rachel.
“Hey,” she answered. “Let me call you back. I need to call Karson.”
“Before you do that, I think you should know that some chick was all over him last night, from what Sabrina said this morning. Apparently Nate is pretty upset about it but doesn’t know how to tell you without hurting you. So yeah, your husband is a dick.”
“Whoa, what?” she said, sitting up again. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Last night he was at some bar with some chick,” Rachel said slowly as if Lacey didn’t comprehend what she said, and really, she didn’t. “I told you he was bad news.”
“Actually, you never said that,” Lacey said as her heart kicked up in speed. “He wouldn’t hurt me like that. I know he wouldn’t. I need to let you go.”
“People saw him. Don’t be naïve.”
“And don’t be a bitch, Rachel. I’ll call you later,” she snapped before hanging up the call and calling Karson. He answered right away.
“Hey,” he said, and she could hear it in his voice; he was worried sick.
“Rachel called me this morning, told me you were with some chick at the bar.”
“Figured she would, either her or your dad.”
“So it’s true?” she asked, her heart dropping into her stomach.
“There was a chick at the bar and she came on to me, claiming we’d had sex before, but I don’t forget faces. I’ve never seen her before; I can promise you that. She was all over me and then kissed the side of my mouth. I pushed her away and told her to go away. Shea was there, saw the whole thing. I promise. Nothing happened.”
Her blood burned as she let out a breath. “Well, that’s undesirable. Especially in front of my dad.”
“Baby, it was him,” he claimed, causing Lacey’s brow to go up.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that he set me up.”
Lacey shook her head because she couldn’t believe he was blaming her dad. She didn’t care that it happened. It didn’t bother her because she trusted him, but why did he have to blame her dad? Her dad had been good to them lately. Supportive, even. Yeah, it was still a little tense between them, but he was trying. “Karson, please. He is coming around, I promise. He wouldn’t do that,” she urged, but before she could go on, he interrupted her.
“No, baby, I’m telling you,” he said, sounding almost panicked. “I walked back in after saying goodbye to you, and I went over to the table because he was still there, and he said, I have a deal for you. I told him I didn’t want to hear it, I don’t care. And then he and that fiancée of his go on and on about I am going to lose you because I don’t deserve you.” He sucked in a deep breath as her mind went crazy. This wasn’t true. Her dad wouldn’t do that. He was being supportive. “And then I’m like whatever, and I walk off and I’m sitting there with Shea and that chick comes up and does what she does, and when I look back, your dad is grinning at me like a fool. So I confront him about it, and he tells me he doesn’t know what I was talking about, but it was obvious he did, Lacey! I’m telling you, this is his doing. He’s playing you.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sucked in a deep breath before letting it out. “Karson, I’m not mad. I trust you. I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, but blaming my father for what some dumb bitch did isn’t right. He wouldn’t do that. He supports us now.”