by Kat Mizera
“I was thinking more about all that kissing…” He leaned in to do just that.
The next game was on a cold March evening a few days later and Charli got to the arena a little early. Sara was already in the seats with Niko, who ran to Charli the moment he saw her.
“Miss Charli, are you here to see my dad play?” he asked, hugging her tightly.
“I’m here to see the whole team,” she said, taking his hand and letting him lead her to her seat.
“Will you sit next to me? I can explain all the plays to you.”
“Of course.” She grinned at Sara. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Hey, Charli!” Whitney and Hailey waved, along with Amy, who’d just arrived.
“You were let out tonight?” Charli teased Amy.
She chuckled. “It happens once in a while. It’s getting close to the end of the season so I was given a reprieve.”
“Oh, not fair!” Hailey laughed. “You can come to any game you want as long as we have time to find a sitter.”
“No one takes care of our babies like we do,” Amy said primly, “so it’s difficult to find someone I trust.”
“It’s like she gave birth to them,” Hailey said, shaking her head.
They fell into easy banter and Niko, of course, kept up a running commentary on everything going on, from the players warming up on the ice to where his mother stood behind the bench. Charli found his enthusiasm heartwarming and wondered if all the players’ children were this passionate about the game. Niko already played hockey and talked about it incessantly at school, so there was no doubt he would follow in his father’s footsteps if he could.
“So tell us about you and Miikka,” Hailey asked once Niko had moved down to talk to some of the other kids he knew. “We need the deets.”
“He’s nice,” Charli said. “We’ve been spending time together.”
“And?” Amy prompted, making a circular motion with her hand to indicate they needed more information.
“And…nothing?” Charli wasn’t used to talking about stuff like this and there wasn’t that much to say anyway. Other than a couple of heavy-duty make-out sessions that stopped at second base, she had nothing to report.
“You haven’t gotten naked yet?” Whitney asked.
“No.”
“This must be serious,” Amy said, whistling under her breath. “He’s going slow.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to just jump into bed with him,” Charli protested. “I mean, did you guys?”
Hailey and Whitney burst out laughing.
“Jake and I started as a one-night stand,” Whitney said. “Then I found out he was still legally married—but separated—and it took us four years to get back together.”
“And Kane and I were phone buddies for months before we met in person,” Hailey told her. “So yeah, the night we finally met, I jumped on that. Oh, and got knocked up too.”
Charli’s mouth fell open. “Really? And he was okay with someone he just met being pregnant?”
“Well, it took us a little while to wrap our heads around it and get to know each other as a couple, but yeah. He was always going to step up and be a dad, no matter what happened with us romantically. Why?”
“I…was just wondering.” Charli looked away, her own past sneaking into her subconscious and reminding her of things she wanted to forget.
“Sex isn’t an indicator of how serious a guy is,” Hailey said gently. “We’re allowed to enjoy sex without a commitment, although that’s fine if that’s what you want. Kane and I had a friendship we’d built on the phone while I was training for the Olympics. It was during hockey season so the Olympics itself was where we finally had a chance to meet in person. I wanted him, no matter what. If he decided not to pursue anything after we had sex, it didn’t matter to me. Obviously, I wanted there to be more with us, but it wasn’t mandatory. As women, I think we’re a bit more clued in to emotions and intimacy, but he came to see me when I was living in Boston before he knew I was pregnant. I hadn’t told him yet, so he was into me. And I can tell Miikka’s into you. He has the attention span of a gnat. The fact that he’s been spending time with you without the sex means something is there.”
“He’s a really nice guy,” Whitney added. “A little young maturity-wise, and kind of quirky, but beneath all that is a huge heart and a great friend. He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to break your heart. At least not over sex.”
“Live a little, girlfriend,” Amy told her. “Believe me, I wish I had the time to date someone like Miikka. Not him specifically, but in general.”
“You can go out on dates!” Hailey said, nudging her.
“Yeah? When? And with who? Most of the guys on the Blizzard are married. Miikka’s not my type. Logan’s too young. And Donovan just got divorced, so he’s on the rebound. No thanks.”
“What about the new guy?” Hailey asked. “Ryder’s hot.”
Amy made a face. “Total playboy, fucking all the groupies at the rink. No thanks.”
“What I’m hearing is that you’re picky,” Whitney interjected primly, her eyes twinkling, “not that there are no options.”
Amy lifted her middle finger in Whitney’s direction.
11
Luckily, the conversation moved away from Charli and Miikka’s budding relationship, but she’d thought of little else lately. Unfortunately, as wonderful as he was, whatever was going on between them brought back a lot of bad memories. Memories she’d worked hard to bury as far away and as deep as possible because they hurt so much.
She’d been in love twice before, but it was her high school sweetheart that had gutted her. Roy Lomond had simply disappeared. He’d joined the military and called her once during basic training, when he’d had a free afternoon. That was it. They’d talked that day and when she’d told him she was pregnant, he’d told her everything would be okay. He’d said he would come for her as soon as he could get leave. As soon as basic training was over and he got his first duty assignment. And then nothing. Not even a Dear Jane letter. It had never made sense.
He’d cut and run as if she’d meant nothing to him. He’d been her first everything and he’d turned his back on her, left her to handle a huge mess on her own. Then her conservative, religious parents had turned on her, and by telling her friends’ parents what she’d done, they managed to cut her off from her friends too. The only person who’d been there for her, albeit reluctantly, had been her grandfather. And even that was short-term. By the time she left for college, she’d had no one.
Circumstances had essentially forced her to give up her baby, and it had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. She’d cried for months after they took him away, and though she’d been promised he would have a good life, she still thought and worried about his happiness all the time.
Not that anything like that would happen again, but the fear lingered. The hurt lingered. It all sat just beneath the surface of her emotions, sneaking up on her when she least expected it.
Like tonight. In the middle of a hockey game.
Pushing all the negativity aside, she couldn’t wait to get to the family lounge to see Miikka after the game and ignore her melancholy again for a while. She was the first one out of her seat when it was over, and they’d won, which meant they still had a chance of making the playoffs. The bad news was that if they did, it meant she wouldn’t get to see him much in general. He’d already warned her that his schedule was filled with practices and team meetings, so she was anxious to see him tonight. In fact, she was considering following the girls’ advice about taking things to the next level with him.
It had been too long since she’d had an emotional, intimate connection with anyone, and there was nothing Miikka could do to her, short of physical violence, that hadn’t already been done to her by others. It would hurt if he left her, but she’d put up huge walls around her heart and didn’t plan to let anyone get close enough to break through any time soon. Sex and a little rom
ance with a gorgeous hunk of a hockey player might be good for her, though.
She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice a guy approaching her until he leaned on the wall next to her.
“Hi.”
“Oh. Hi.” She stared into a pair of long-lashed green eyes. Damn, he was hot. She had no idea who he was, though.
“I’m Ryder.”
The new guy Amy had mentioned. The one that slept with all the girls who hung out at the rink. Well, with those green eyes, it was no wonder. She wasn’t into bad boys, though, and she didn’t have eyes for anyone but Miikka anyway.
“I’m, um, Charli.”
“Short for Charlotte?”
“It is.”
“That’s a pretty name.” He gave her a charming smile and she couldn’t help but smile back.
Miikka, Donovan and Logan walked down the hall to the family lounge together. Miikka couldn’t wait to see Charli. He was hoping she’d want to hang out since she didn’t have to work tomorrow and tomorrow would probably be his only day off until the season ended. Unless they went all the way to the championship, in which case Coach Saunders would most likely give them days to rest, but they’d always been taught to focus on one game at a time, so he was trying not to think ahead.
They rounded the corner and stepped into the lounge, and he immediately spotted Charli. She was laughing up into Ryder’s face and he was laying on the charm. Sonofabitch. Was Ryder hitting on Charli, knowing she was here with Miikka?
“Kusipää.” Miikka grunted the words under his breath.
“What does that mean?” Donovan asked, following his gaze.
“Pee head.”
They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Imma use that one.” Donovan nodded. “Kusipää.”
“Is good insult.” Miikka nodded. “I can teach more if you want.”
“Right on.” Donovan high-fived him but Miikka was distracted, his gaze never leaving Charli, and he took a step in that direction.
“Breathe.” Donovan caught his arm, pulling him back. “You don’t want to make a big deal out of this. She’s pretty and as far as I know, you haven’t let anyone know she’s taken.”
Miikka looked up at him and took a deep breath. “Yes, but he can’t…”
“Then go over there and lay your claim. Don’t make a scene. He’s new. He’s young. He doesn’t know who’s who. You be the bigger man and the role model. Now, if she was into him, that would be different, but look at her body language. She’s totally leaning away from him. Go play boyfriend, but do it nicely. It’ll show her you’re not some jealous asshole and it’ll give Ryder the hint without sacrificing your relationship, because hating the new guy on the team never ends well.”
Miikka nodded, took another deep, calming breath and approached Charli and Ryder casually, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Hi.” He leaned over and brushed his lips across Charli’s cheek, sliding an arm around her waist.
“Hey.” Ryder gave him a grin. “Charli was just telling me about her dishwasher debacle and how you guys are renovating her bathroom. My uncle is a contractor and he might be able to hook us up with a distributor to get new tile dirt cheap. I can call him and get you the info if you want?”
Miikka nodded absently since this was the last thing he’d been expecting. “Yes. This would be excellent. Thank you.”
“Ryder said if the three of us work together, we could probably knock out the tile project in an afternoon. Once hockey season is over, of course.” She gave him a grin.
“My dad’s military,” Ryder said, “so he was gone a lot, and my uncle kind of stepped in to help raise me since, you know, I was a bit of a troublemaker. So I can do tile like a fucking boss.”
“That would be helpful,” Miikka said. Part of him was disappointed, because renovating that bathroom felt like his and Charli’s project, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think getting help from someone who’d actually done it before wouldn’t be a good thing. Especially since he wasn’t getting any weird vibes from either of them now that he was standing here. Charli was leaning into his side and Ryder seemed perfectly relaxed.
“Well, I’ll get the info from my uncle and you can let me know what happens. Nice to meet you, Charli.” He gave them a friendly grin and wandered off.
“Are you going home to sleep?” Charli whispered in his ear. “Or do you want to come home with me?”
Miikka wasn’t sure what he saw in her eyes as he met her gaze, but it was different. There was an excitement there he hadn’t seen from her before and it was sexy as hell. “Home with you,” he responded automatically. “Tomorrow is my only day off for a while and I’d like to spend as much time as possible with you.”
“I’d like that too.” Her smile melted his heart and got him hard at the same time. He needed to make love to this woman sooner rather than later. Hopefully, she was on board with that plan.
He followed her back to her house and watched as she kicked off her shoes and sank onto the couch. Her eyes found his in the semidarkness and he saw something there he hadn’t seen before: Lust. The last few days had been filled with a lot of slow-burning passion that he hadn’t wanted to push, but something had shifted slightly and whatever it was made him desperate to touch her. Before he could do anything, she licked her lips and leaned forward, taking the lead. Letting her make the first move seemed to relax her, but he took over from there, deepening the kiss and sliding one arm around her waist, the other into the hair at the nape of her neck. It was soft and silky, just as he’d imagined it would be, and he stroked her tongue with his.
Damn, she was sweet. Timid and shy, but delightful and warm, twining her arms around his neck. Her firm breasts pressed against his chest and his body reacted no matter how hard he tried to tell himself to slow down. She moaned and her head fell back as he dragged his lips from her mouth and focused on the soft skin just beneath her jawbone. He licked a trail from there to her ear, blowing softly and watching the goose bumps rise on her skin. The fingers of one hand traveled down from her hair to the curve of her shoulder and along the indentation of her waist.
She was wearing too many clothes, but as far as he was concerned, this was almost as much fun as being naked. Her body would be spectacular, he already knew that, so he took his time exploring it on the outside. He ran his knuckles along one of her breasts, using his mouth to take little nips at the skin of her neck, and her nipple hardened right through her shirt and bra.
He slid his hand beneath her light sweater and splayed his fingers along her flat stomach. She was so damn soft and warm, he wanted to kiss every inch of her, repeatedly. Her chest was rising and falling faster now, and he slowly lifted her top, dropping his head to nuzzle her stomach. He kissed a trail up the center of her abdomen and then rubbed the side of his face between her breasts.
Her fingers dug into his hair, pulling him closer, and he nudged her bra out of the way, freeing those beautiful breasts and allowing him full access. Using the tip of his tongue, he circled one taut nipple before taking the whole thing in his mouth and sucking until her breath left her in a rush.
“Yes?” he asked, glancing up at her. “Or less?”
“More.”
He sucked a little harder, reaching back to unsnap the bra, and tugged her sweater over her head. He removed her bra next and pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him, giving him perfect access to her breasts. He feasted on them, taking his time and watching her body language. When she started to grind against his erection, he moved back to her mouth, kissing her until she was breathless.
“Miikka…” Her voice was filled with need and she was flushed.
“I’m right here, muruseni.” His voice was gentle.
“What does that mean?”
He smiled. “The translation is odd… It literally means my crumble, but it’s very sweet, romantic, something I say to a special woman in my life, like sweetheart.”
“My crumble
…” A soft smile played on her lips. “I like it.”
“Do you trust me, muruseni?”
“Of course.”
He reached down and undid the buttons on her jeans, unzipped the zipper, and slid them down over her ass and thighs.
“I’m not wearing pretty underwear,” she whispered.
“Underwear is coming off.” He traced a line along the edge of the white bikini-style panties she wore. “Simple. Easy to remove. What else would I want?”
She merely watched as he tugged at them.
“Take off everything. I want to see you.”
She hesitated for a fraction of a second before sliding both her jeans and her panties the rest of the way off. The sight of her naked body turned his cock to granite and he took a minute to just drink in his first real look at her. Her breasts were larger than he’d pictured and he realized she wore bras that minimized them, which was a shame, but a beautiful surprise for him.
“Do, um, I get to see you without clothes?” she whispered, biting her lower lip with her teeth.
He didn’t respond, merely pulled his shirt over his head. Watching her watch him turned him on even more and he pulled her back onto his lap. With her breasts pressed against his chest, her long silky legs bent and rubbing against his sides, he latched onto her mouth like a lifeline. Her silky hair tumbled halfway down her back and he was already imagining a time when they would do this in a bed and it would be fanned out behind her.
“Let me show you what’s better than cheesecake,” he whispered. He moved her off his lap and onto the couch. Then he slid down to the floor and positioned himself between her legs. Her eyes widened but her legs fell open as she watched him. He kissed his way up the inside of one thigh, nuzzling the sweet apex between them, inhaling her musky scent. She was just as aroused as he was and he used his fingers to gently open the glistening lips between her legs. She inhaled sharply as he placed a soft kiss on the delicate folds and her fingers found his hair.
“Miikka…” Her voice was hoarse, her breath coming faster as she watched him.