by L. P. Dover
By the time I took a shower and got dressed, I’d missed three calls from my agent and a text from my youngest sister, Lacey: Loved intermission. Can’t wait to see you in a couple of weeks.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I texted her back: Thanks. Looking forward to seeing you, too.
Lacey was a medical student about to graduate. I’d promised her she could come down for spring break since my parents were busy expanding the skate shop up in Maine. On the way to my car, I called back my agent.
“I saw your little charade on TV,” Ty answered with a laugh. “What was that all about?”
Clicking off the alarm, I hopped into my red Saleen S7 Twin Turbo. “Thought it’d be good for publicity,” I lied.
“Well, it worked. Good call. Looks like the fans got a kick out of it.” Starting up my car, I entered in the address for my destination into the GPS. Turned out it wasn’t that far from my own house. “You and the boys celebrating tonight?” he asked.
“Nope. Got other plans. Is there anything else I need to know about?”
“Don’t think so. I’ll be flying into Charlotte next month to stay for the rest of the summer for the playoffs and the TV show.”
“Sounds good.”
“Until then, keep out of trouble. Talk to you soon.”
I ended the call and continued on my way. The reality TV show had completely slipped my mind. A part of me wanted to back out and it made no fucking sense. Why would I want to give up ten beautiful women? Not to mention, they were all carefully picked from high society families all across the states with lots of connections. My goal was to get a foothold in the acting world once my hockey career expired, and this was the way to do it. At least, that was what Ty told me.
Pulling into the neighborhood, I slowed down until I arrived at Callie’s house. It was a large, two-story brick home with a three-car garage and circular driveway. Kristen warned me that she lived with her brothers. I knew Justin was going to the party; I just hoped the others weren’t at home. Taking a deep breath, I pulled into her driveway and got out to ring the doorbell. When the door opened, the surprised look on Callie’s face made me smile.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at me. “What are you doing here?” She still had on the same Strikers T-shirt that hugged her breasts perfectly and tight jeans that made me want to grab her ass. There were so many things I wanted to do to her, and with her fighting me at every turn, it only made me want her more.
“I got tired of waiting for you to call. At least this way, we’re face-to-face.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know where I live?” A sly grin spread across my face and she groaned. “It was Kristen, wasn’t it?” When I didn’t reply, she huffed and rolled her eyes. “If she wasn’t pregnant, I’d kick her ass. Might as well get this over with, since my brothers aren’t here. The sooner you get this off your chest, the sooner you can leave.” Stepping out of the way, she motioned me in and I shut the door.
I followed her to the kitchen and stood by the entrance as she sat down at the bar. There was a plate of sliced bananas and a bowl of melted chocolate in front of her. She picked up a piece of banana and dunked it in the chocolate before putting it in her mouth. I wanted to lick the chocolate off of her lips.
Taking her fork, she pointed at the seat across from her. “You can sit down if you want.”
I walked in and sat, watching her eat the rest of her chocolate-covered bananas. “I’m sorry,” I blurted. Her brows lifted but she didn’t reply. “If I’d have known you were you, I wouldn’t have tried to hit you.”
She snorted. “But you would’ve if I was a male.”
I nodded. “Pretty much. You know how it is in hockey. We have to be aggressive.”
Taking her plate and bowl, she set them in the sink and then sat back down. “You don’t have to explain. I do have three brothers who play the sport. I’ve been around it all my life.”
“Then why are you being so hard on me?”
She chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “You’re seriously asking me that? Why do you even care?”
“Because I feel bad for what I did . . . especially after what you did for me.”
“Which was?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “All I did was hurt my hand after I punched you to save you from my brother’s wrath.”
I rubbed my cheek where it still ached. “I thank you for that, but that’s not it.” Her green eyes twinkled, and for a moment I lost my train of thought. Memories from the party a few weeks ago flooded through my mind. I could still feel her hands on my face as she looked into my eyes to make sure I was okay. “I . . . I want to say thank you for what you did at the party. I know it was you who helped me that night.”
Her shoulders loosened and she sighed. “I wondered if you’d realize it was me.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry for what you saw. I was stupid.”
“You think? Having sex with a woman whose boyfriend was in the same house is flat-out insanity.”
“In my defense,” I said, holding up my hands, “I didn’t know she had a boyfriend. She came on to me.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “Like that matters. I’ve heard about you, Dallas Easton. You have a reputation with the ladies. I, for one, don’t want to be a part of your harem.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing here?” I asked. A spark of anger ignited in my gut, but it wasn’t directed at her. Yes, I’d sent her all those flowers and made her kiss me at the game, but I’d never done that with any female. Claiming her as my own has crossed my mind, but I needed her to know I wasn’t as bad as she believed me to be. Well, maybe I was, but it was time for a change.
“I don’t know what you’re doing here,” she snapped, her green eyes blazing. “But flowers and playing tricks on me to kiss you isn’t the way into my pants.” Lifting her chin, she stood and stared defiantly at me. “You wanted to apologize and give me your thanks, and you’ve accomplished that. I don’t think there’s anything left for you to say. It’s probably best you leave before my brothers get back.”
Pursing her lips, she tapped her foot impatiently for me to leave. I got up and slowly headed for the front door. Think, Dallas. There had to be a way to make her not hate me so much. She opened the door and I stepped outside. Before she could shut it, I stopped it, almost getting my fingers crushed in the process.
“Wait, I have an idea.”
Sighing, she opened the door. “What?”
“What can I do to make you realize I’m not as bad as your brothers and everyone else makes me out to be? I’ll do anything you ask just to prove it.”
She studied me for the longest time before her lips pulled back into a mischievous smile. I was probably going to regret saying that. “Anything?” she asked.
“Anything.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Call you later with the details.” With a wide grin, she laughed and slammed the door. I wasn’t about to give up.
Chapter 10
Callie
“Our shift is over,” Hannah announced excitedly as we entered the break room. “What time did you tell Dallas to come?”
I glanced down at my phone. “Right about now. I didn’t want to get in trouble if he came during work hours.” There were too many catty nurses I worked with who’d love to rat me out.
She snorted. “Can’t blame you there. Although I am shocked you’re letting him come here. I wish I was at your house last night when he stopped by.”
I winked. “You were too busy with my brother.”
She sat down at the break room table, her eyes twinkling with excitement. “True. And I get to see him again tonight. I can’t thank you enough for getting us together.”
I squeezed her hand. “You’re welcome.”
Waving her hands impatiently, she scooted closer to me. “Tell me the rest of the story before he gets here. What did he say when you told him what you wanted him to do?”
I shrugged. “He said he was happy to. It
was strange, because usually I can see through a person’s bullshit, but honest to God he looked genuinely interested in helping out.” I couldn’t deny that I was a little excited myself to have him at the hospital. I was curious to see how he was going to interact with the kids.
The door to the break room opened and Sandra, one of the surgical floor receptionists, stuck her head in. She was in her midforties with short brown hair and large blue eyes. I’d never seen her face so red. She looked at me with the biggest grin on her face. “Dallas Easton is here for you. He’s so adorable.”
Hannah snorted and I shook my head. “I wouldn’t call him adorable.”
She nodded toward the front desk. “Come out and see for yourself.”
Now I was intrigued. Jumping out of my seat, I beat Hannah to the door. I peeked out and there Dallas was, standing at the front desk in the Jake the Jaguar costume, holding the head in his arms. “Oh my God,” I said with a snicker. “I didn’t expect him to come dressed like that.”
Hannah nudged me in the back. “Get out there.”
I walked out into the hall and his eyes met mine. I couldn’t contain my laughter. “Look at you.”
He winked. “You said you wanted me to cheer up the kids.” He twirled around and his tail slapped against the desk, making the other nurses laugh. “Think this’ll work?”
“I have no doubt. Come on,” I said, nodding toward the other end of the hall. “There’s only about eight kids on this floor, but I know they’ll be happy to see you.”
“Lead the way,” he said, sliding Jack’s head over his own. “You might have to hold my hand, since I can’t see very well.”
“Don’t push it.” I laughed. “You didn’t have any problems skating around on the ice last night.”
I couldn’t see his face through the costume, but I could just imagine the smile underneath when he shrugged. “Can’t fault me for trying.”
We arrived at Ella’s room and I slowly opened the door. Her mother lowered the magazine away from her face and smiled. Ella was asleep, but her eyes fluttered open when I walked in. Her face lit up when Jack the Jaguar strolled in behind me.
Janie went to sit on the side of the bed with Ella. “What do we have here?”
Looping my arm with Jack’s, I guided him closer. “I brought a friend who wanted to see you. You know who Jack the Jaguar is, don’t you?”
Ella nodded fiercely, her red curls bouncing around on her head. “Yes. I watched you two on TV last night.”
I glanced at her mother in disbelief and she shrugged. “Ella and her father saw the game last night. She’s ready to tell all of her friends how her nurse Callie is the sister of a famous hockey player.”
Shaking my head, I giggled when Ella blushed. “Sweetie, you’re too much.”
Dallas knelt down beside the bed and talked to Ella in a cute, funny voice, almost like the sound of Goofy. For a moment, I totally forgot it was Dallas inside the costume. The smile on Ella’s face was contagious and it was hard to believe it was Dallas who put it there.
Janie slid off the bed and came over to me. “Thank you for doing this. Ella’s getting a kick out of it.” Ella’s giggles grew louder.
“I’m glad. I’ll miss her when she leaves.”
“She’ll miss you, too.” She pulled out her phone. “Do you mind if I take a picture of her and Jack?”
“Yes, please,” Ella squealed. Dallas turned to the camera while Ella held on to his arm, smiling wide. Janie took a dozen pictures, laughing after each one.
“All right, Jack, it’s time to go.”
Dallas stood and waved at Ella. “See ya later, princess,” he said in his funny voice.
I winked at her. “And I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Once we were out of the room, he took off Jack’s head and ran a hand through his dark hair. “That was fun. Why is she here?”
I looked up at him, shocked by the concern in his voice. It wasn’t what I expected. “She had a heart transplant. I was there in the operating room with her.”
His eyes widened. “That’s what you do here?”
I nodded. “And I work in the ER. I like being kept on my toes.”
“I’m impressed. No wonder you knew how to take care of me. Although I do have a question.” He glanced back at Ella’s room’s door. “Those flowers on the corner table. Were those the ones I sent you?”
With a sly smile, I winked. “Thanks to your generosity, my patients now have brighter rooms. I thought they’d enjoy them.”
“At least someone is. Maybe now you won’t hate me as much.”
Grabbing his arm, I hauled him down the hall. “We’ll see.”
“Ready for the game tomorrow?” I asked as we walked out of the hospital.
Dallas glanced over at me and nodded. “I’m always ready. You coming?”
“Yep. I try to go to all of them, especially if they’re on the weekends. When you go to Tennessee in a couple of days, I won’t be there.”
He walked with me over to my car, where his was parked a couple of spaces over. “I hear the party’s at your house tomorrow.”
I scoffed. “Don’t remind me. I’ll be in my room. Although I’m pretty sure you’re not invited.”
He chuckled. “I have no doubt.” We stopped at my car and I tossed my purse inside. “Thank you for letting me come today,” he said.
The kids all loved Jack the Jaguar, and judging by the smile on Dallas’s face, he loved it, too. “I’m not going to lie. I didn’t think you had it in you,” I confessed, leaning against my car. Storm clouds rolled overhead and it wouldn’t be long before we got rained on.
Still in the Jack costume, Dallas set the jaguar head on the ground, his expression serious. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Callie. I’m not always a dick.”
“I never said you were.”
“Then does my good deed for the day make up for how I was?” he asked.
I couldn’t deny that what he did completely made up for his idiocy on the rink. With a smile on my face, I held out my hand. “You’re forgiven.”
He looked down at my hand and stepped closer. The second our hands touched, the warmth from his skin rushed through my body. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Clearing his throat, he continued to hold my hand. “Can I take you out to dinner sometime?”
My heart stopped and I pulled my hand away. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Dallas was an extremely good-looking man and he was famous. The last thing I needed was to get involved with a man who had his kind of reputation. “That’s not going to happen.”
A spark of anger flashed in his eyes, but he reined it back. “Why not? Am I really that repulsive to you?”
Sighing, I closed my eyes and then opened them. “Of course you’d see it that way. You obviously don’t get rejected very often.” Judging by the look on his face, it was never. I picked up Jack’s head and held it. “You have no idea how happy it made me to see my patients smiling this afternoon. It’s all because of you. Just because I agreed to let you come here doesn’t mean it was an invitation to ask me out.”
He stared at me, those blue eyes of his searching deep into my soul. It was as if I could feel him penetrating me to the core. “Maybe I’m wrong, but it felt like we had a connection in there,” he said, nodding toward the hospital.
He was right, we did. “Even if we did, I can’t get involved with you. My brothers hate you, and frankly, I don’t want to get hurt. You have too much craziness going on in your life and you’re not exactly trustworthy.”
With a heavy sigh, he reached for Jack’s head and held it under his arm. “Maybe you’re right.”
It didn’t really matter if my brothers hated Dallas or not, it was too dangerous for my heart to get involved with him. Dallas was the kind of guy with whom you could lose yourself and have fun. It was best to not get attached. Guys like him got bored way too easily, and I was pretty sure a lot of women got hurt in the process. I didn’t want to be one of them. I needed s
omeone who was safe, someone I could trust not to hurt me.
Dallas walked over to his car and put Jack’s head inside, his face all serious. For a second, I thought I’d won. I’d forgiven him and that was it. All we had to do now was go our separate ways. Forget about the plans I had to have him make a fool of himself. The longer he was around me, the harder it’d be to keep my mind from drifting to thoughts I shouldn’t be having about him.
Dallas came back and held his arms open, waiting for me to make the move. “I really am sorry for everything.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. “It’s okay.”
“I’m also sorry you think I’m not trustworthy.” Groaning, I let him go, and that was when I watched his lips spread into a mischievous grin. He tapped my chin and winked. “But I’m sure going to have fun proving you wrong.”
Frozen in place, I stared at him while he got into his car and drove away. What the hell just happened?
Chapter 11
Dallas
I hated to lose, especially when it came to women. Pursuing Callie wasn’t just a game, it was a need. As much as I wanted to move on, I couldn’t. I’d never had to work so hard, but I had to have her. One way or another, Callie Davis would be mine. She wanted me, too. I could see it in her eyes and in the way her body responded to my touch. I just had to make her see it.
The coliseum parking lot had already begun to fill up and people swarmed past the ticket gates to get inside. It was going to be another packed house. When I got inside, the locker room was dead quiet except for a couple of the rookies talking in the corner. “Well, I’ll be damned,” Coach Carlisle teased, coming up behind me. “Never thought I’d see you roll in this early. You planning another intermission show today?”
Chuckling, I set my bag down. “No. Maybe one of the other guys can do it this time.”
“Good. I don’t want Davis pissed off like he was last game. You need to stop messing with his sister.”
I took off my shirt and tossed it into my locker. “Something tells me she can handle herself.” He made no move to leave so I turned to face him. The annoyed expression on his face was something I’d seen way too often.