by Toni Aleo
But at what cost?
He was ready to admit the price he’d paid to live up to the expectations of his father, his coaches and himself. Picturing the look on Andie’s face when he’d said he was busy over the holidays because he had to focus on the games ahead made it hard to breathe and he finally understood. There hadn’t been any room for her and he’d never made an effort to put her first.
“I have to go, Dad.”
“You just got here. And the Winter Classic is—”
“A hockey game.” Erik was already pulling on his coat. “I don’t think—I hope—I won’t be back tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Erik left before Lamont could get over his surprise and use all the familiar phrases to get back into his head. He called Andie’s number from the car, but got no answer. And when he drove by her apartment building, her car wasn’t in its space. Then he remembered she was working extra at the clinic to cover for Chelsea.
Not the best place for what he had to say, but he wasn’t going to wait any more. The young receptionist was back at the desk, watching a Christmas comedy on a tablet when he walked in.
“Sorry,” she said, tapping the pause button. “We don’t have regular appointments this week because we always get bombed with dogs that ate something they shouldn’t and cats that get hold of ribbon, but it’s slow today.”
“Is Andie around?”
“She was checking on a cat we have staying over for observation, but I think she’s in her office now.” Before Erik could tell her he knew the way, she’d hit a button. “Andie? Peanut’s dad is here to see you.”
That hurt. Peanut’s dad. Obviously the news about her going home hadn’t spread. But rather than focusing on his loss, he thought about the joyful reunion of Peanut and her girls until Andie appeared from out back.
“Erik.” She looked confused. “I thought you were going to your dad’s. You didn’t find another dog, did you?”
“Not yet, but I think visiting some shelters will be in my near future.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, jittery suddenly and not sure what else to do with them. “Can we talk somewhere for a minute?”
“Sure.” She nodded her head and he followed her back to her office. It was even smaller than the exam rooms, but he peeled off his coat and shut the door.
Andie looked at his face, her brows furrowing. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For?”
This was so damn hard, but hopefully worth it. “I’m sorry I made you feel like you weren’t as important as hockey to me. No, wait. You didn’t just feel like that. It was me. I didn’t make you more important than hockey. And I’m sorry.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“I love you.” His throat tightened and he cleared his throat. “I loved you then, and I let you walk away. I still love you—I will always love you because you are my one—and I hurt you again, when I used hockey to avoid dealing with giving Peanut back. I should have let you in.”
“I still love you, too, Erik. I never stopped.”
His pulse quickened and he had to take a deep breath. “I want us to be together again, Andie. Forever. I’ll retire right now. I’ll call everybody I’ve got to call and tell them I’m not playing anymore because I found a woman who’s more important to me than anything, including hockey.”
“Erik, I…”
He pulled out his phone. “I mean it. I’ll call right here and now.”
“I don’t want you to retire. That’s never what I wanted.” She slid her arms around his waist, tilting her head back to look up at him. “I never asked you to give up hockey. I would never have asked you to do that. All I wanted was for you to be present and really with me when you were with me. I had a place in your bed and I think I had a place in your heart, but I never fully occupied your mind.”
“I get it. You tried telling me before and I didn’t really listen.”
“What’s changed between then and now?”
“What’s changed? Everything. What’s changed is that I’ve spent the last year without you in my life. And because I had you in my life, I know what I’m missing. I know what it felt like with you and I know what it feels like without you, and being without you sucks.” He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “That’s all I’ve got Andie. I love you and being without you really sucks.”
“Being without you really sucks, too.”
He kissed her, holding her as tightly as he could without crushing her. Her kisses always rocked his world, but this one was different—better—because she was his again. He’d gotten a second shot and he wasn’t going to blow it this time.
“I don’t have a ring yet,” he said when they finally came up for air, “but I want you to be mine forever, Andie. I want you to share my life and my home and…everything. A dog.”
“Definitely a dog.” She stretched up on her toes to kiss him again. “Yes, Erik. And Merry Christmas.”
~ THE END ~
Books by Shannon Stacey
Hockey Romances
Here We Go – Book 1
The Boston Fire Series
A contemporary romance series about tough, dedicated (and sexy) firefighters!
Heat Exchange – Book 1
Controlled Burn – Book 2
Fully Ignited – Book 3
Hot Response – Book 4
Under Control – Book 5
Flare Up – Book 6
The Boys of Fall Series
A contemporary romance series about going home again.
Under The Lights – Book 1
Defending Hearts – Book 2
Homecoming – Book 3
The Kowalski Series
A contemporary romance series full of family, fun and falling in love.
Exclusively Yours – Book 1
Undeniably Yours – Book 2
Yours To Keep – Book 3
All He Ever Needed – Book 4
All He Ever Desired – Book 5
All He Ever Dreamed – Book 6
Alone With You – Novella 6.5
Love A Little Sideways – Book 7
Taken With You – Book 8
Falling For Max – Book 9
What It Takes – Book 10
The Devlin Group Series
This action-adventure romance series follows the men and women of the Devlin Group, a privately owned rogue agency unhindered by red tape and jurisdiction.
72 Hours – Book 1
On The Edge – Book 2
No Surrender – Book 3
No Place To Hide – Book 4
Christmas Novellas
Holiday Sparks
Mistletoe & Margaritas
Snowbound With the CEO
Her Holiday Man
In the Spirit
Holiday With A Twist
Hold Her Again
Historical Westerns
Taming Eliza Jane – Book 1
Becoming Miss Becky – Book 2
Also Available
A Fighting Chance
Heart of the Storm
Slow Summer Kisses
Kiss Me Deadly
About Shannon Stacey
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her favorite activities are writing romance and really random tweets when she’s not driving her RZR off-road. She loves mud, books, Boston sports & watching way too much TV.
Email | Website
Jaymee Jacobs - Christmas Crosscheck
A Dallas Comets novella
Bryan's planning to propose to Georgiana on Christmas Eve, but will the chaos of their families’ first holiday together ruin their special moment?
Prologue
Bryan Comstock fidgeted in his seat. The couch was plush and comfortable, but his nerves got the best of him. This was worse than NHL Draft Day, when he had to sit through other guys’ names being called before a team f
inally picked him. So much worse.
He cleared his throat. “Mr. Pierson, thank you again for meeting with me. I know you’re a busy man.”
“Well, you said it had to do with my daughter, and I will always make time for her.” Leonard Pierson was an imposing man. He was tall, broad shouldered, and had a paunch hanging over his belt—he was a hefty guy, and he knew how to throw his weight around. Even though he was sitting down, his presence was still intimidating.
“It is.” Damn, he was so nervous. And sweating way too much. Was it hot in here in Leonard’s office? “As you know, sir, I’m in love with Georgiana.”
Leonard nodded and said nothing. He knew the power of his words and used them sparingly. It had made getting to know him difficult at the few family functions Bryan had been invited to. Bryan wasn’t even sure Leonard approved of him, but she had reassured him that he did.
“I know I’ve only been dating her for about eight months, but I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. She respects you, and I want to do this the right way. So I’m asking your permission to marry your daughter.”
Leonard’s posture straightened. He squinted, examining Bryan carefully. “You tell me straight, boy. Did you compromise my daughter’s integrity?”
Was he asking if he’d knocked up Georgiana? “No, sir! Absolutely not!”
Leonard nodded, obviously relieved. He resumed leaning against the back of the chair, but his face never changed. “Let me tell you something, Bryan. Georgiana is my baby girl, my only daughter. And you are not the first boy to stroll in here and ask for my blessing. I’ve sent each of those boys away because none of them deserved her. So you tell me straight, what makes you think you deserve my daughter’s hand in marriage?”
Bryan swallowed, trying to force his nervousness back down. He was the number one defenseman on the Dallas Comets hockey team; he stared down the league’s best every game. But Bryan never felt as intimidated or as anxious as he did at that very moment.
“Honestly, sir? I don’t think I deserve her at all. She’s . . . amazing.” It was time to spill out his heart’s contents and lay it all out if he wanted Leonard on his side. And Bryan needed his backing, because he knew how important it would be to her. “Georgiana was the light in my life when I was at my darkest. And she’s been my guiding light ever since. Everything I do, it’s for her. She’s my whole world, and I can’t imagine my life without her in it. I make good money, I can take care of her.”
“That’s a lovely sentiment, boy, but I raised my daughter to be able to take care of herself.”
“I know, sir, and she doesn’t need me to provide for her.”
“Damn straight she doesn’t.”
“I love that about her, that she’s so independent.” Bryan pictured Georgiana in his mind, seeing her big, brown, curly hair, her wide and genuine smile, and the confidence she exuded. “But that doesn’t change this feeling I have, that I want to take care of her, more than just provide for her. I want to make sure she’s happy, make her feel supported, be by her side for everything life’s gonna through at us. And love her as best I can.”
There was a short pause before Leonard’s voice boomed in the high-ceilinged room. “You’ll understand if that answer doesn’t convince me that you’re good enough for her?”
Bryan’s face fell. He wasn’t going to get Georgiana’s dad’s approval. His voice was shaky. “Yes, sir.”
There was a long pause before Leonard spoke again. “But I reckon that I’ll never think any boy is good enough for my daughter.”
“Sir?” A bit of hope returned to the room.
“You are a good man, Bryan. And Georgiana loves you. I never would have picked a hockey player for her. Hell, I don’t even understand ice hockey in Texas.” Leonard shook his head. “You have my permission to ask her. We raised her to have the good sense to know what—and who—is best for her. And if she says yes and accepts your proposal, then we will welcome you into our family.”
It happened!
Yes!
Bryan had really been thrown for a moment, but he was successful in his endeavor.
He was going to ask Georgiana Pierson to be his wife.
“Thank you, sir.” Bryan stood and reached out to shake Leonard’s hand. “Thank you.”
Leonard chuckled. “Don’t thank me now, boy. She hasn’t said yes yet.”
Bryan smiled. He was sure she’d say yes; the hardest part was facing her father, and he’d already done that. “Only a matter of time.”
“You have a ring?”
“I planned on proposing with my grandmother’s diamond ring. My grandparents were married for sixty years, so I figure it’s good luck.” Bryan pulled out his phone and showed Leonard a picture. It was a two-karat diamond, his mom had told him, a solitaire on a yellow gold band. “It’s not fancy, but it’s sentimental. I was really close to my Nana, and if she was still here, I know she’d be happy for me for finding a woman like Georgiana.”
Bryan realized he was gushing. He cleared his throat and added, “My mom’s bringing it down with her when my parents visit for Christmas. That’s when I’m going to pop the question.”
Leonard clapped Bryan on the back. “I’m sure she’ll love it. If it means a lot to you, it’ll mean a lot to her.”
He smiled at his—hopefully, in due time—father-in-law. When Bryan had been traded to the Dallas Comets before the deadline last season, he hadn’t been sure of anything in his life. But now, he knew he had never been so certain of something. It was like he had been just wandering through life before, with no real sense of who he was or what direction he was headed, outside of being a pro hockey player.
And then he met Georgiana, and she changed all that for him.
Bryan wasn’t just a hockey player anymore. He felt like a man, a provider, a protector. Someone who had a lot more to live for than a cup or a prize at the end of the season. Because Georgiana was the prize of a lifetime.
Chapter One
Georgiana had been running all over hell’s half acre trying to get everything ready for the big Christmas Eve celebration she was hosting. She smoothed out the table runner one more time. She’d ironed it twice already, and it wasn’t necessarily wrinkled, but it wasn’t laying right. It was throwing off her entire tablescape. All that time spent in the debutante program, and she felt it had failed her when she needed it to count most.
First impressions were tantamount to winning someone over. And who more did she need on her side than her boyfriend’s mom?
If Carol didn’t like her, then she was screwed. Georgiana had never had—or heard of—a successful long-term relationship where the mother didn’t like the girlfriend. It had never worked for her or her friends in the past, and the idea of Carol disapproving of her was twisting her stomach in knots.
“Don’t worry, honey.” Her mom could tell she was nervous and came into the room to reassure her. “Everything looks great.”
“You think so?” Georgiana began to run her fingers through her hair, but she made herself stop. She’d spent too much time taming her curls to ruin them with her restless hands. “You sure it’s not too . . . red?”
“It’s Christmas. There’s no such thing as ‘too much red.’”
Georgiana pouted, still unsure. Not so much about how everything looked, but how the festivities would go.
Everything was already all cattywampus. The Comstocks were supposed to fly down the day before, with the intent to be there for the Comets’ game against the Lightning on the 23rd. That was when Georgiana was supposed to meet his parents. They’d all join Bryan for a low-key pregame meal, and she’d get to know Carol and Perry better during the game, in the privacy of a box. That way, she would have had a full day of getting to know them and winning their favor before welcoming them into her home for Christmas Eve dinner—and meeting her entire immediate family.
But a blizzard up north in the Dakotas kept the Comstocks grounded, so they couldn’t fly out until that
day—Christmas Eve, the night of the big gathering she’d planned a full month earlier. Dinner was guaranteed to be a shit show now. The Piersons were a big, loud family, and Georgiana had hoped to ease the Comstocks into it. Now she had no time to make a good impression before bringing Bryan’s parents into her home and meshing them with her family. The pressure was mounting, and felt it heavily on her shoulders.
“Georgie,” her mother cooed, running a reassuring hand across her back. “Don’t go borrowing trouble. Everything’s going to be just fine. The place looks so festive and welcoming. Dinner is going right on schedule. And they will love you, just as I do.” She cupped her daughter’s face and placed a kiss on her forehead. “This is so unlike you, to worry this much.”
“This is really important to me,” she admitted. Georgiana had met parents before, and she’d always won them over with her southern charm and polite manners. But this time, it was different because the stakes were higher—and Bryan’s yankee parents sounded totally different than the Texans she was used to.
Well, everything had been different when it came to Bryan, from the day that they met to the following nine-month whirlwind of a relationship. Georgiana thought that Bryan could be The One, and this was a huge milestone in their relationship.
And Georgiana was used to solving problems, not fighting them. She was the go-to girl for the Comets, taking care of the needs of the team and the players. She was damn good at it too; she worked her way up to Director of Team Services, and there wasn’t a thing she couldn’t handle. So why did she feel like she was falling apart before meeting her boyfriend’s parents?