The Bad Boy Hockey Collection: A Collection Of Single Daddy Romances

by Cass Kincaid

  “Oh, honey...” Nancy stretches up and hugs me to her. “You couldn’t save Ella, no matter what you did. What happened to her was a tragedy, but you couldn’t have changed the outcome. But, maybe she saved you.”

  I pull back, barely holding back the tears brimming my eyelids. My eyes are narrowed. “How?”

  Her mouth curves into a soft smile as she stares up at me. “She gave you Ellis, didn’t she?” Nancy pats my hands and steps away from me. “You walked away from everything when your son came into your life, Craig. But now it’s time to actually start living. Ella would want that. For you, and for Ellis.”

  She’s right. And the rightness of her words resonates through me so completely that I can barely breathe with the weight of it. I’ve tried so hard to do everything perfectly for so long now, in order to live for Ellis and his needs, that I’ve forgotten how to live for myself, too, pushing away everything and everyone in the process.

  I bend down and plant a kiss on Nancy’s cheek, then side-step around her to flip the Open sign in the window to Closed.

  “What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes wide.

  “Living.” I give her a wink as I grab my truck keys from the top shelf of my toolbox. “I’ve got to go find Megan.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Megan

  Harold has been a phenomenal boss since I started here at the Chronicle. Since it’s a small newspaper, we work pretty closely with each other on just about every aspect, and I would like to think I’m getting the hang of it quickly.

  And I’d still believe it if it weren’t for my complete lack of ability to concentrate on anything other than Craig Connelly.

  Every word uttered through his clenched teeth, every flash of anger that shone in his eyes when he looked at me—I just keep replaying the entire conversation over and over in my head, hearing him tell me how I lied and how I played him and hurt him and ruined everything.

  I could have prevented this whole sordid thing if I’d just ignored Aunt Nancy’s jabbering about him, if I’d ignored the sexy, chocolate-colored eyes that stared into me instead of at me that first day I met him when my car broke down.

  My car. I’ve spent the past four days trying to work up the courage to go find out how close I am to getting it back. As the thought wields through my head, however, I’ve convinced myself that Craig is holding it ransom, purposely not calling me about it because he knows I’ll eventually have to come to him.

  Well, that’s not happening. He can keep the goddamn thing for all I care.

  “Megan, what are you still doing here?” Harold comes around the corner from his office, turning to stare up at the clock on the wall. “You could’ve left almost an hour ago. I didn’t realize you’d stayed.”

  Not wanting to admit that I had nothing better to do with my time than work, I quirked a half-smile up at the older man. “Just wanted to get this page design out of the way before I called it a night. I’m almost done.”

  “Thank goodness. That’ll get that boy off the front step, then, I’m sure.”

  “Boy?” My gaze flew toward the front door, despite not being able to see through it. “What boy on the front step?”

  Harold points a finger toward the door. “That Connelly boy’s been perched on that stoop since closing time. I was just coming out to see what he wanted when I realized you were still here.”

  “And what makes you think it’s got anything to do with me?” I ask, my eyes narrowed.

  My boss gives me a knowing smirk. “Megan, this is a very small town. People talk, you know.” He points towards the door again. “Now, go talk to him, will you?”

  Aunt Nancy. God knows who she’s been talking to while trying to fix this. I should’ve known better than to confide in her about Craig’s angry outburst, but I’d needed some solace and sympathy, and she’d certainly given me that. Maybe it wasn’t my aunt at all. It’s all just as plausible that the neighbors heard us in the driveway, if their windows or screen doors had been open.

  “I’ll fix this,” I advise my boss.

  “Good,” he says. “Lock the door on your way out? I’ve got some family coming to stay at our place tonight, and I can’t be late or Elaine will never let me hear the end of it.”

  I chuckle, nodding. “No problem. Have a good night.” I’ve only met his wife once, but I don’t doubt that people would want to avoid her bad side. The woman’s polite and all, but she’s definitely a firecracker, too.

  I start packing my things up and shutting down my computer after he leaves. It takes no time at all for the mere knowledge of his presence on the other side of the door to urge me towards it, opening it.

  Sure enough, Craig is huddled down on the first step, hands wrapped around his knees, hat pulled down low over his face to block out the setting sun on the horizon.

  “Shouldn’t you be home by now?” I ask him, having to clear my throat when the words come out hoarse.

  Craig turns at the sound of my voice, standing. “Shouldn’t you be off work by now?”

  “I was getting some things done.”

  “And I was waiting for you.”

  “That solves that mystery, then.” I look past him and see a couple of ladies walking down the sidewalk. Their gazes are fixed on us, too interested and intrigued by us for my own liking. “If you want to talk, you’d better come inside. Especially if you want it to be just us that’s hearing it this time.”

  Craig follows my gaze, then stands up and follows me silently into the office. “They weren’t trying to listen in on us,” he says, closing the door behind him.

  “Well, everyone seems to know what’s going on around here whether it involves them or not, so I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  “It’s a small town,” he argues, like that makes it all better. “What people don’t actually know, they make up.”

  “Is that what you did?” I stand at my desk, pushing my hands flat down onto it. “Didn’t know the whole story, so you made up the rest?”

  I’m shocked to see Craig’s cheeks redden, his throat moving visibly. He pulls his hat down off his head, clutching it tightly. “Megan, I made a mistake.”

  “Before or after you assumed I used you for sex?” The question comes out of my mouth before I have time to stop it, followed by muttering, “Wonder what else has been assumed in this town about me and you.”

  “Megan, if you don’t like this town, then why are you staying?” Craig sounds exasperated, but I snap my gaze up to his, wary.

  “Who told you I was staying?”

  “Nancy came to see me.”

  I groan, pressing my hands into my eyes. “Of course she did. Son of a bitch, why—”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” he says through gritted teeth. “Megan, why are you staying here? Why are you—”

  “Because of you!” I exclaim, slamming my hands down hard on the desk. “Because, despite what you think, being with you meant more than some one-night stand. Because I like how I feel when I’m with you. Because I thought Aunt Nancy was right, that you’re a good man—”

  My frustrated speech is cut short by Craig’s mouth crashing against mine. I gasp, but it’s stifled by the urgency with which his tongue enwraps mine, spelling out every ounce of apology and regret and pain neither of us can put into words. He tosses his hat onto my desk and wraps me in his arms, pulling me against him. I moan, not realizing how much I’d been craving his touch until the moment I felt it again.

  “Craig,” I said, breathless, struggling to keep myself from kissing him again because it’s easier than talking this through.

  “Megan,” he breathes, pressing his forehead against mine. “I am a good man. I just needed you to remind me of it.”

  “I’m not sure—”

  “I’m sorry,” he says, bringing his hand up to wipe my hair away from my eyes. “I’m so goddamn sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so angry at you. I shouldn’t have accused you of lying to me.” He pauses, his eyes fixating on mine. “I shoul
dn’t have compared you to Ella. That wasn’t fair.”

  A veil of confusion is cast over my thoughts. “What’s Ella got to do with this?”

  His jaw ticks, but he explains. “I only told you part of the story, Meg,” he admits. “She did die in a car accident; that was true. But she’d broken up with me months before that, without any warning. It wasn’t until the hospital called me and I went there that I found out about—”

  “Ellis,” I whisper. “She didn’t tell you about him.”

  Craig shakes his head. “But that’s no reason for me to take my trust issues out on you, either. I mean it, Megan, I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry, too.” And I am. For fighting with him. For avoiding him for the past four days. For the unfair thing Ella did to him. For the closure he never got because he lost her so tragically. “We’ve all got things we’ve got to work through,” I remind him, running my finger along the curve of his jaw. “There’s no shame in that, but we have to communicate through it.”

  “You’re so fucking smart.” He leans down and kisses me again. “That’s why I need you so much.”

  A childlike giggle escapes my mouth. “That’s why, huh? No other reasons you can think of?”

  “Oh, I can think of many, many reasons,” he advises, trailing his lips down across the side of my face, to my throat, then collarbone. “That’s why you should let me apologize to you the best way I know how to convey how sorry I really am, and how fucking much I want you in my life.”

  “Mmm.” I’m already lost, too consumed by the damp heat of his breath on my sensitive flesh to give a damn why we fought in the first place. “Something tells me I might like where this is going.” I tilt my head, giving him more access to my neck.

  “You will,” he growls between soft kisses. “I promise.”

  Another moan escapes my lips as he nips lightly at me, and I pull back to stare into his eyes. “Don’t promise me,” I whisper. “Show me.”

  Craig’s gaze bores into mine, hot and blazing. Then he steps away from me, scanning the room. He crosses the office and flips both locks on the door, the one that can be unlocked from the outside as well as the deadbolt, into place and turns the overhead lights off.

  “I can’t wait to have you,” he whispers hoarsely once he makes it back across the room, in three long strides. He pushes me back onto my desk, pressing the entire length of his firm body against mine.

  “Then don’t,” I say just as huskily. “But not here.” He’s already kissing along the side of my neck again, making my breath come out in long pants. “Around the corner. The meeting room.”

  Craig lifts his head, his gaze following the direction my hand is pointing unsteadily. Determined, he plucks me up into his arms as though I’m weightless, carrying me into the meeting room. It’s small, and it’s cramped, boasting only a banged-up table and six chairs, but it’ll save us from any prying eyes that, on the off chance, might see us through the main office windows.

  The moment he sets me on the tabletop, we’re pulling at each other’s clothes with jerky, desperate movements. I manage to push his plaid shirt from his shoulders then peel his t-shirt over his head in record time, needing to feel the taut, contoured muscles of his chest under my fingertips.

  Craig helps me remove my blazer and silk top quickly, too, his mouth kissing and licking my throat and collarbone as he wastes no time in finding the button on my dress pants and undoing it.

  “You’re beautiful,” he whispers, sliding his hands under the open waistband of both my pants and panties. “And mine,” he adds, almost inaudible. “Please fucking say you’re mine, Meg.”

  I push on the table with my hands, lifting my hips up to allow him the room needed to slide my pants and underwear down over my hips. The insatiable, furious need for him racing through me is consuming, unquenchable, and I stare up at him with large, emotion-filled eyes. “I’m yours,” I whisper.

  The smoldering fire in Craig’s eyes ignites, and all trace of measured control leaves him, replaced by fevered movements and urgent kisses that devour my resolve and leave me begging for him to be deep inside me.

  Our hands scramble and fumble with his jeans, undoing them and pushing them down to reveal his long, rigid cock. I open my legs in the same moment he pushes my knees apart to step between them, stroking his erection as he curses to himself and has to shuffle through our mess of clothes to find the condom in his wallet. He rolls it on, flustered, and positions himself against my entrance, the slick evidence of my arousal obvious a second later when he sinks into me with ease.

  My head tilts back, a low, guttural moan escaping my lips as his cock fills me completely. Every muscle inside me is tight, clenching around him as he slides in and out of me. There are no words needed, and if they could be uttered they’d never stand a chance at describing the absolute euphoria I feel at being consumed by Craig Connelly, his delicious body, and his sexy mind.

  I’m his, I think as he thrusts into me faster, my thighs gripping his hips tightly. The thought is followed a moment later by, And he’s mine.

  I know then that Craig and I have something more here than a physical connection. Like everyone, we’ve been through things that have shaped us and molded us into who we are, good or bad. But even though we’re broken and battered by life and everything it throws at us, we’re still here, still fighting, and still surviving.

  And, now, we can fight together.

  “Oh God, Craig.” I moan his name, feeling the buildup of sensual pressure in the deepest parts of my core as he plunges into me. “Craig...”

  “It’s okay, Meg,” he grunts out against my ear, letting his tongue flick out and touch my earlobe. “Let it go, baby. Let it go.”

  His tongue sends a shiver of decadent electricity shooting through me, and I reach out with one hand to guide his hip thrusts harder and faster against me, my other hand pressed on the table behind me, steadying me as I take everything he gives.

  He’s panting loudly with each crash of our hips, and I’m gasping for air as the heady combination of pleasure and pain forces me closer to coming apart completely. The moment I realize there’s no turning back, that I’m about to careen off the cliff into blissful release, Craig lets out a low, animalistic groan.

  “Oh, Jesus, Meg!”

  Every muscle in his body clenches and constricts violently, and Craig’s mouth devours mine, muffling the cries of passion that emit from our throats as the thunderous wave of release overtakes us both, drowning us in our own physical connection.

  “Jesus Christ, Megan, you are—”

  “Yours,” I finish for him, seeing how hard it is for him to get the words out as he attempts to catch his breath. He grins at my answer, a boyish smirk edged with amusement...and tenderness. “You’re also a liar,” I add jokingly, pursing my lips to suppress my smile.

  “What? Why?” he laughs, his eyebrow arched, still beaded with sweat.

  I stare into his gorgeous chocolate eyes. “You said our next time would be in a bed,” I chuckle. “This is far from it.”

  “Well, shit, I guess you’re right.” He ducks his head and kisses me, a long, passionate kiss that reminds me of the gentleness this man also possesses when he’s not completely lost in a flurry of lust. “Good thing I plan on having plenty of time to make that up to you, too.”

  Epilogue

  Five Years Later...

  Craig

  The arena must still be cold despite the heaters suspended from the ceilings, judging by the way Meg and Ellis keep rubbing their mittens together and huddling in close to each other. But the sight of them, so close—it warms me more than I can put into words.

  I can see them from my vantage point on the bench between Grayson and Lukas, and my heart is still beating wildly from the goal I just scored. The goal that made the crowds scream and cheer.

  The goal that made my little family proud of me.

  It’s been a long road to get here, a winding one that I wasn’t sure was going to l
ead me here at all, but tonight is my first game played on home ice for the NHL. I’d given it all up in order to be a good father to Ellis, in order to do what I thought was right for him. For us.

  What I didn’t bargain for was the force to be reckoned with that I married. Yep, Megan agreed to be my wife two years ago. When I hear someone call her by her full name now, Megan Connelly, a bloom of pride erupts inside me. Every time. I still can’t believe she chose me. Chose us.

  Meg is the best mother to Ellis that I could have ever dreamed of. She may not have expected to meet me, or him, five years ago, but you’d never know she had reservations or second thoughts about whether she could handle that kind of responsibility now. Ellis adores her.

  So do I.

  Even more so since she’s the one who convinced me to go back to university, finish up what I’d started. Get back in the game. Or the hockey game, that is. And I did. I fought tooth and nail to get back on the college hockey team after almost a year and a half of being away from school. Thank God my track record had been spotless on paper. After that, my efforts and determination paid off.

  Each game, each goal, each night away from home...Megan has been my rock throughout all of it. And when I was finally drafted to the NHL at the ripe old age of twenty-seven, I knew that Megan had been right—I’d been holding myself back.

  Probably the most shocking move we made was to move out of Cardon Springs. We say it’s only temporary, and for that reason I made the choice not to sell the repair shop, instead choosing to hire two licensed mechanics to run the place in my absence.

  Will we eventually go back? Perhaps. But I couldn’t let Megan hold herself back, either. Especially not for me. So, we bought a place three hours away, close enough to visit my parents and Aunt Nancy when we can, but closer to the bigger city to allow Meg more lucrative job opportunities. She was snatched up by Dallas Daily the moment she sent in an application—I like to say it’s because she’s just that fucking good—and she hasn’t looked back.