by Sarah Hegger
Elizabeth’s bullshit meter twitched. Sam didn’t give a shit who thought what about him. If he was buying a new bus for Mountain Vista it was because he wanted to. “Sam.” She dropped the attitude and appealed to him honestly. “That’s a lot of money, and so much more than I asked for.”
“Are you feeling guilty for twisting my arm?” Sam bent his knees so he could meet her gaze.
She totally was. “Never.”
“Remind yourself about how useless my job is and how much they pay me to do it anyway,” Sam said.
She did that and it still didn’t help. “Yes, but Sam, a new bus—”
“Look, Sugar Lips.” He took hold of her shoulders. “Think of it this way. Now I can have them paint a decal of me in all my glory all the way down the side.” His eyes lit up. “A bigger bus means more decals. I can plaster the damn thing with them.”
“Sam.” He needn’t think he could fool her. She’d known him too well for too long. “This is so kind of you.”
And then because the man was going to spend a small fortune, she hugged him. A small fortune that meant Carson and his buddies could get to their Friday night darts game at their local pub, and that Gloria and her girls could go shopping on Wednesdays.
Her breasts mashed up against his hard chest. Like granite, his thighs met hers as she reached up, and up some more, to wrap her arms around his neck.
And, oh my, did he smell good.
“Thank you, Sam.” Her voice got a bit breathy and she cleared her throat. “I didn’t expect this.”
She stepped back, but Sam caught her hips and held her close. “You are most welcome, Sug—”
“You fucking suck, Sam Stone. I hope the Titans never take you back!” A man ran past.
He tensed and Elizabeth tightened her hold. “You don’t suck all the time, Sam. Sometimes, and don’t quote me on this because I’ll deny it, you’re a lovely man.”
Chapter 9
Friday night, and Elizabeth was home alone. Peter had texted to ask her out and she had turned him down. They hung out as friends from time to time but even that was waning and she just didn’t feel like spending time with Peter tonight.
Someone pounded on her door. “Ottawa Police! Open up!”
Yes! And Elizabeth flung the door open to her best friend.
“Chris!” She avoided the bags in Chris’s hands and gave her a hug. “You’ve saved me from a sad singly Friday night.”
Raising a brow. “We are sad singlies.” Chris navigated past her and put her bags down on the kitchen counter. “And speaking of who is single and who isn’t, I feel it’s fair to warn you I came to interrogate you.”
Elizabeth had expected as much. What with the pictures on the internet, the hanging out with Sam, and the best friend who knew more about her than she knew about herself thing. She dived into the bags Chris had bought. “That all depends on what you brought.”
“Wine.” Chris produced a bottle and put it on the counter. She unpacked the bags. “Cheese, baguette, crab dip, chips, crackers and hummus. The hummus cancels out the chips, so we’re golden on the calorie front.”
Elizabeth leaned closer. “That’ll do it. What are we watching tonight?”
Tapping a finger on her chin, Chris thought it over. It was really hard to be friends with someone with Chris’s flawless skin. Doubly hard when that rich creamy skin covered delicate, finely chiseled features that had yet to see the touch of makeup. “I’m feeling Bridezillas.”
“You’re on.” Elizabeth got wineglasses and plates and put them on the counter.
Chris perched on a barstool and gave her the steely gray stare. “But first.” She raised her finger. “I need to know what gives with Sam.”
“Not much.” Elizabeth shrugged. She liked to make Chris work for the information.
“Liar.” Chris jabbed a forefinger at her. “I know for a fact you’re not his girlfriend. Yet…” She produced a picture of Sam and Elizabeth at the dealership. “The evidence against you is mounting.”
Sam had his arms around her. Hers were draped around his neck and they were laughing. The picture didn’t capture how good Sam had smelled and felt, but her imagination happily filled in the blanks.
“Not bad.” Elizabeth studied the image. “We almost look like we can tolerate each other.”
Chris snatched her phone back. “You look like you’re boning each other. What gives?”
“Boning?” Elizabeth played dumb. “Isn’t that a tad strong?”
She got the look of death in response and laughed.
“Okay.” She cut the baguette into rounds. “Sam and I are pretending we’re a sort of thing.”
“Oh, no.” Chris shook her head as she poured the wine. “We’ve watched the chick flicks. We know where this is going.”
“Ordinarily, I would agree with you.” Elizabeth carried their snacks over to the coffee table in front of her television. “But this is Sam we’re talking about. No danger of the chick flick factor coming into play.”
Dressed in her usual off-duty uniform of track pants and a T-shirt, Chris settled on the coach and crossed her legs. She helped herself to a wedge of cheese. “But Sam is hot.”
“Yeah. If you like that whole rippling muscle, athletic thing he has going.” Even Elizabeth couldn’t say that with a straight face. “Except, when I look at him, I see that, but I don’t.”
“Uh-huh.” Chris rolled her eyes. “You’re suddenly blind?”
“No.” Elizabeth climbed onto the couch next to Chris. “You were there almost from the beginning. You know it isn’t pretty when Sam and I get together. Plus, there’s no mystique. I’ve known him forever and I still see him as that kid.”
Chris pinned her with a stare and then grabbed her phone and brought up the picture again. “This is you seeing him as a big, goofy kid?”
“I’m acting.” Mostly. “And anyway, you should be thanking me.”
“For?” Chris cocked an eyebrow.
“As part of my deal with Sam, he’s going to work with your team.”
Gaping, Chris dropped a chip. “Say what now?”
“I’m going to have to tell you everything. Sam did his Mike Tyson impersonation, and then went dark. Danica panicked when she couldn’t get hold of him and threatened to come home. Danica coming home meant Mom coming home.”
Chris grimaced. She got it.
“To keep them both in Europe, I promised to help Sam clean up his image.” Elizabeth kept her shrug light.
They locked gazes and then Chris said, “You know what I’m going to say.”
“I know.” Elizabeth sipped her wine. “And I don’t let people take advantage of me. I do these things because I want to. Anyway this is completely different.”
Chris raised an eyebrow.
Honesty demanded Elizabeth amend that last statement. “Mostly. I do these things because I mostly want to. And anyway, now you can get some help with your team.”
“Babe.” Chris looked perturbed. “That really is the sweetest thing.”
“But?”
“But my kids are bad, babe. Really bad.” Chris winced. “And I hate even saying that about them because they love to play so much.” She fiddled with the crackers. “And Sam was not suspended for being the nicest man in the league.”
Elizabeth saw where she was heading. “You think he’ll be bad for them?”
“I’m worried he won’t understand how fragile they are.”
Now Elizabeth felt like the worst kind of friend. “I didn’t think of that. All I thought is how much they would love to be coached by a real league player.”
“I know that.” Chris squeezed her hands. “And I love you for that.”
With a nod, Elizabeth made a decision. “I’ll get a different favor out of him.”
For a moment Chris looked thoughtful and then shook her head. “You’re right, they will love it. These kids are the ones nobody would take on their team and having someone like Sam spend time with them, will do more
for their confidence than anything I can do.”
“I’ll talk to him first.” The doorbell rang and she and Chris stared at it. Elizabeth got up to answer, part of her wondering if Sam had dropped by.
She opened the door to Maddy.
“Hi.” Maddy looked uncertain, also stunning in a pair of poured on jeans and a tight cropped sweater. No muffin top, not even the shadow of the thought of one. “I dropped in to see how your date with Sam went.”
“Nondate.” Elizabeth needed to get that straight before Maddy had them as BAEs and started shipping them. “More of a business meeting.”
“But you looked hot.” A hint of mischief lit Maddy’s brown eyes. “And so much better in that dress than I ever have.”
Honestly, she tried, but the snort got away from Elizabeth. Not a hint of insincerity came from Maddy. Something this gorgeous couldn’t be sweet as well. “Would you like to come in?”
“Um…no.” Maddy fiddled with her purse strap. “I don’t want to interrupt your evening.”
“You’re not.” Elizabeth stepped aside. “And there’s got to be more you can do with your time than watch Sam’s house all the time.”
Stepping into the apartment, Maddy pulled a face. “Can I be honest?”
“Always.” Elizabeth led the way into the apartment.
“It is getting a bit boring.” Maddy slipped her shoes off. She even had adorable feet with toenails painted pink. “It’s not like the days when he used to party all night long.”
“Hi.” Chris stood up from the couch. Her face flamed red.
Maddy stopped and went pink. “Hi.”
Chris stared at Maddy.
Maddy stared right back.
Stepping into the loaded silence, Elizabeth introduced them.
“Hi.” Chris sounded gruff.
Maddy went pinker than her toenails and her eyes rounded. “Hi.”
“Why don’t we all sit down?” Elizabeth steered Maddy closer to the couch and maneuvered her into it. All with Maddy not taking her eyes off Chris, and Chris looking anywhere but at Maddy.
“I’m Maddy,” Maddy whispered.
Elizabeth controlled her eye roll. She’d already covered that much.
Flushing, Chris cleared her throat and managed an eyelock. “Chris.”
“So.” Elizabeth couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Maddy is a super fan of Sam’s.”
Maddy nodded. “We call ourselves the Stone Cold Foxes.”
“Really?” Chris looked blindsided. “I like hockey.”
“I like hockey too.” Maddy perched like a bird about to take flight on the edge of the couch. “I like to hang out with the some of the players. Just hang out though.” She blushed. “Nothing else. Not like a groupie and I run the Ottawa chapter of Sam’s fan club.”
Sam had fan club chapters? Who knew? They obviously hadn’t heard him belch Mississippi, or maybe they had.
“Great.” Elizabeth went for another glass. She came back and sat right next to Chris, forcing Chris to shift closer to Maddy.
Chris went magenta. Despite her tough girl exterior, Chris was pure marshmallow. She was also painfully shy.
Shoving wine at Maddy, Elizabeth hoped she was more forthcoming.
“Chris and I were about to watch Bridezillas.” She got comfortable and flipped through the channels. The show in her living room looked a lot more interesting however. “Would you like to stay?”
“I’ve never seen it before.” Maddy sipped her wine and slid another glance at Chris. Taking a breath, she turned her full body to face Chris. “Will I like it?”
Nearly disappearing into the cushions, Chris nodded. “Uh-uh.”
“Then I’ll stay.” Maddy shifted an inch closer to Chris and spread an arm over the back of the sofa.
“Great.” Elizabeth got the show started.
Somewhere between the atrocious behavior on the screen and the second bottle of wine, Chris unwound enough to relax and be more herself. Beneath the shyness, Chris was the best woman Elizabeth knew, funny, clever and with the biggest heart of anyone.
Maddy was smoking hot and so sweet it almost made you want to hate her.
Who knew she’d spend her Friday night playing matchmaker? Judging by the sparks flickering around her living room, both Chris and Maddy were onboard.
The show ended and an uncomfortable silence settled between them.
“So.” Elizabeth had another idea and it was a good one. “As you both love hockey so much, and I’m supposed to be Sam’s friend why don’t you give me a crash course on the team. Other than Craig Dalton, I don’t really follow the players anymore.”
Maddy blinked at her. “You don’t watch hockey.”
“Not if she can avoid it,” Chris said. “Something to do with the way she and Sam have been rubbing each other the wrong way since they were kids.”
“Why is that?” Maddy stared at her.
“Our mothers were always together, so we were always together.” Elizabeth couldn’t really point to a time when it had all begun. The tension between her and Sam had always been there. “He was a brat and I was perfect.” Chris’s look made her laugh. “Okay, I might have been a bit bossy.”
“You’d make a cute couple.” Maddy wrinkled her nose.
Chris groaned. “Spend more time in their company and you won’t say that anymore.”
“Anyway.” Elizabeth found the hockey channel and turned up the volume. “Let me know what I need to know to fake it.”
Marc Gracie appeared on the screen. Chiseled features, close cropped hair and a pair of shoulders filling out his beautifully tailored suit. He had a deep, rich voice with a touch of gravel around the edges. “The Titans are surprising themselves with what they can do without Stone in the lineup.”
“Ugh, Marc Gracie.” Maddy made a face.
“Really, they don’t need him,” Marc Gracie said. “Players like Sam Stone are a throwback to the bad old days of hockey before we wore helmets, and frankly, the game doesn’t need to go back to that.”
“Wow.” Elizabeth paid closer attention. She really hoped Sam wasn’t watching this.
“Don’t get me wrong.” Marc Gracie flashed a megawatt smile. “I like the game fast and hard.” That sounded dirty to Elizabeth. “But hits that threaten the career of a young player, hits like Sam Stone enjoys handing out, don’t belong in hockey.”
No wonder Sam had been hiding in his mom’s house. Gracie was mean.
“He hates Sam,” Maddy said. “After Sam’s suspension, he’s been worse than ever.”
“To be fair.” Chris shrugged. “Sam does give him plenty of material.”
“Sam’s a tough player, but that doesn’t mean he earns everything Gracie says about him.” Ire lit Maddy’s dark eyes. “It’s like Gracie stays up all night and waits for Sam to screw up.”
The flirty atmosphere was disintegrating. Elizabeth tried to recover it. “Maybe we shouldn’t watch the hockey.
Chris stiffened. “That last hit of Sam’s was dirty as they come.”
“Please!” Maddy threw her hands up. “It was bullshit. Sam connected with his shoulder not his head.”
Gaping at her, Chris shook her head. “Not from the replay I saw.”
“I have ice cream.” Elizabeth waded into the growing tension. Shit! No, she didn’t. Sam had eaten most of it when he’d come over. “Why don’t we go out for ice cream?”
“Karlov deserved an Oscar for his performance.” Maddy crossed her arms and set her jaw in a harsh line.
“Really?” Chris scoffed. “He must be the most amazing actor ever to be able to produce blood on demand like that.”
Maddy stood. “You don’t get Sam at all.”
“I’ve known Sam since I was five.” Chris stood as well. “I would say I know him a helluva lot better than you.”
“You may have known him as a boy, but you don’t know the man, and you sure as hell don’t know the hockey player,” Maddy’s voice rose. Apparently even the sweetest
girl got her lioness out in defense of someone she valued.
“I’ve watched every game Sam’s played.” Chris stuck her jaw out at an angle Elizabeth knew meant war to follow. “This whole damn town has lived and breathed Sam Stone since he first showed promise.” She jabbed a finger Maddy. “And I can tell you, he’s never lived up to that potential.”
Eyes wide, Maddy opened her mouth and shut it again. Hot color rode her cheeks and her eyes flashed her anger. “That is so unfair.” Her voice rose. “So unfair! How is he supposed to play his best hockey when everyone keeps treating him like an enforcer and ignoring what a powerful forward he is.”
“Because he can’t keep his gloves on long enough to finish a game.” Chris sneered. “If he doesn’t want to be treated like a goon, then he should stop using any excuse to hand out a bit of pain.”
Even when he wasn’t in the room, Sam could create a battleground. Elizabeth had to give salvaging the night a try. “Look, we can all agree to disagree.”
“Thanks for a lovely evening.” Maddy’s face tightened into a grim smile. “But I really should get going.”
Chris clenched her jaw. “Great to meet you. See you around.”
“Right.” Maddy sneered.
Grabbing her shoes, Maddy slid them on and picked up her purse. The door shut behind her with a careful click that held all the intention of a slam.
She loved Chris to death, but sometimes Elizabeth wanted to shake her. Turning, she glared at her best friend. “Really?” Her voice rose. “Really? The hottest woman you’ve met in ages. Ages, Chris. And you choose to get into an argument with her about Sam.”
“Someone like that wouldn’t look at me twice.” Chris hunched into the coach. “Nobody that perfect can be real.”
“She is real.” Elizabeth poked Chris’s folded arms. “And she was sitting right here, all but eye humping you.”
Chris went red enough to spontaneously combust. “You imagined it.”
“No, I didn’t.” Elizabeth wanted to shake Chris, and then she wanted to hunt down Chris’s ex for the number Alena had done on Chris. “She liked you. I mean really liked you.”
Shrinking further into herself, Chris dropped her chin to her chest. “You think?”
“I saw it.” Elizabeth’s anger dissolved into sadness. Since Alena had left and taken Chris’s sense of self with her, Chris had been hiding from relationships. Terrified to put herself out there in case it ended like the last time. Well Maddy had been as thunderstruck as Chris and neither of them better imagine for a minute this couldn’t be fixed. She curled up next to Chris and gave her a hug. “Now stop being a sulky bitch and teach me to be the perfect Ottawa Titan’s girlfriend.”