Roughing (Ottawa Titans Book 1)

by Sarah Hegger

  He took her by surprise, and she stiffened momentarily.

  “It’s Sam Stone!” A man shouted from a few rows above them. The news spread around the stadium on an excited buzz.

  Elizabeth’s mouth softened beneath his, and she grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him back.

  All the noise and commotion faded away. The taste of beer lingered as he slid his tongue into her warm mouth.

  Her soft moan vibrated through him. Her hips lined up with his and he wanted to grab her ass and tighten the fit between them.

  The soft press of her breasts against his chest set a flash burn beneath his skin and sent blood surging to his cock.

  “Stoney!” A hard tap on his shoulder pulled him away from heaven.

  He turned and wanted to punch the grinning, round-faced fan shoving a pen and a jersey at him. “Can I have your autograph?”

  “Oh.” Elizabeth blinked at him, sleepy and sexy and as affected by the kiss as he.

  He snatched the jersey and pen out of the fan’s hand and gave Lizzie a hard stare. “We’ll circle round to this later.”

  Chapter 21

  Elizabeth waited for Sam as he went to greet his team in the locker room. Propping her shoulder against the wall, she spent the time watching the hustle and bustle all around her.

  Reporters streamed in and out of the locker rooms. Equipment managers had already loaded hockey bags on carts and were pushing them down the constricted hallways.

  The game had ended with a four-zero win for the Titans.

  Sam had asked her to wait while he went to congratulate Guy on his fiftieth shutout of his career.

  It didn’t take long before Sam was pushing through the throng, bottlenecking the locker room door. He spotted her and threaded his way toward her.

  “Sam!” A tall, dark-haired man in a suit stepped in front of him.

  Sam tensed. “Gracie.”

  “Looking good, Sam.” Gracie shoved his hands in his pockets. “This break seems to be treating you well. You appear to be making good use of your time.”

  It didn’t sound to Elizabeth like Gracie meant that the way it sounded. In fact, it sounded a lot like criticism.

  Elizabeth moved closer to Sam.

  “Excuse me!’ A young equipment guy shoved past her with his hands full of sticks.

  Folding his arms over his chest, Sam faced Gracie. “I’ll make better use of my time when I’m back on the ice.”

  “You sure that’s going to happen?” Gracie gave Sam a slight sneer. “Way I hear it, the team is real happy with Des Jardins.”

  An unholy desire to kick Gracie rippled through Elizabeth.

  Sam gave good face, but she knew that shot had taken a piece off him. Gracie had it in for Sam. Well, not on her watch.

  “Hey, baby!” Elizabeth channeled her best Maddy as she slid up beside Sam and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You see the team?”

  He dragged his attention away from Gracie. “Yup.”

  “Ready to go?” She snuggled closer. Tension locked Sam’s body tight.

  Gracie turned his dark eyes on her. Gaze filled with intelligence, he assessed her. “Ah! The perfect new friend puts in an appearance.”

  “Well, I don’t know about perfect.” She giggled at Gracie as if she had missed his sarcasm. “But I’ve been on his side since he first played peewee hockey.” She managed a playful glance for Sam. “Actually before that.”

  “Really?” Gracie shifted and studied her closer. “So you two have known each other for years? And I take it you’re behind this new squeaky-clean Sam?”

  “I’d love to claim the credit for that.” Beaming at Gracie, Elizabeth patted Sam’s chest. “But Sam’s always been passionate about giving back to his community.”

  “Right.” Gracie’s expression said he didn’t believe her for a minute. “Good for Sam,” he said. “Judging by the kiss earlier, Sam is certainly passionate about certain aspects of his community.”

  * * * *

  Sam drove them home in silence. He hadn’t said much since the encounter with Gracie.

  She didn’t think she’d done the wrong thing. “Should I not have said anything to Gracie?”

  “Huh?” He pulled his attention away from the road. “What? No, that was great.”

  “Oh.” She studied his profile as streetlights flashed across him. “Guy was okay? Everything was okay with the team?”

  “Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m being moody.”

  “About going to the game?”

  He shrugged and dropped one hand to his thigh. “Yeah, I suppose so. I loved the game. I had a great time. It was just…”

  “Being in the locker room with the team made the suspension feel more real to you.”

  “Exactly.” He gave her a grateful smile.

  They drove into the night, and the atmosphere in the car got darker.

  Sam spoke suddenly. “What if I don’t get back there?”

  And then she got it. It had taken her a little long, and she took his hand. “You’ll get back there, Sam. You’re too good not to play again.”

  “But I screwed up, Lizzie. I had everything I’d ever wanted, and I let it go.”

  This was a side to Sam nobody ever saw, the vulnerability he kept hidden.

  “Sam.” She squeezed his hand. “You’re human, and that means making mistakes. You’re not immune to that.”

  He eased the atmosphere with a grin in her direction. “Yeah, but I’m a phenom. The normal rules don’t apply to me.”

  She didn’t press him. “As my pretty princess play palace can attest.”

  “Your what now?”

  “My play palace.” Okay it still stung a bit. It had taken ages to get her father to agree to buy it, and she had loved it. There was nothing like dressing up and hiding from the fighting going on in her home. “You shot pucks at it and destroyed it.”

  Frowning, Sam gave that some thought. “That big pink, sparkly thing that looked like a dog’s kennel on crack?”

  “It was beautiful!” In a very pink and sparkly way. “And I loved it.”

  “Hmm.” He stared at the road ahead of them. “Technically, Busy Lizzie, you only have yourself to blame for that.”

  This, she had to hear. She turned in her seat and stared at the side of his head. “How do you make that one out?”

  “You wouldn’t let me play inside it with you.” Sam shrugged. “You were being mean, and sharing is caring, Lizzie.”

  “Oh!” It was something Sam the little shit from their childhood would have said.

  His shoulders shook as he grinned at the road.

  “Are you laughing at me?”

  He glanced at her, blue eyes brimming with laughter. “Only a little.”

  “I’m glad my childhood trauma amuses you this much.”

  “Ah, Lizzie.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry about your pink unicorn dance hall.”

  “Pretty princess play palace.” He needn’t think the hand kissing worked. Okay, it worked a little.

  Still holding her hand, he lowered it to his thigh. “How about I buy you a new one? We could set it up in your parking spot.” He looked at her as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “We can invite Randy to tea parties.”

  “Dickhead.” But he had her laughing with him already.

  They pulled up outside her condo, and the easy atmosphere crept away.

  Elizabeth didn’t know what to do. The hockey game was over. She should thank him, get out of the car and go upstairs to her condo. Put on her pjs and mentally dissect that kiss for the rest of the weekend.

  Even thinking about it made her skin prickle with heat. Damn, Sam could kiss.

  One arm braced on the steering wheel, Sam turned to her. “Don’t you hate this part?”

  “Yep.” Because she really did, but that he got that made it a bit easier. “Thanks for tonight. I enjoyed the game.” Then she felt like a shit. “Although I know it was difficult to be there for you.”


  “It could have been harder.” He gave a tendril of her hair a small tug. “Thanks for coming with me and holding my hand through it.”

  “Any time.” And shit, she really meant that. “Are you okay?”

  He shrugged. “As good as I can be.”

  “You’ll play hockey again, Sam.” She stared at him until he looked at her. “And everything in my dad’s life will return to normal.”

  His laugh didn’t have his heart in it. “I hope so, Lizzie. I’m not good at anything else.”

  “Crap!” Not for a second did she believe that. “You can play anything with a ball and stick. Anything. And I know this because it made me want to hit you when we were children.”

  “You did hit me.” His wry smile took some of his worry with it.

  “I’m not sorry,” she said. “Someone had to keep you in line. And you’re great with people.”

  That earned her a skeptical glance. “Why don’t you check that with Karlov?”

  “He’s a hockey player.” She waved a dismissive hand. “And he knows the score when he laces his skates and steps on the ice. I’ve watched you with normal people while we’ve been hanging out.”

  He looked at her.

  “You handle all the different ways they come at you.”

  With a wince, he shook his head. “That comes with the territory.”

  “Not necessarily.” She tapped his shoulder to get his attention. “And once you stopped being an ass to Chris’s team, you were great with them.”

  “I enjoyed that.” Sam smiled. “There’s something very satisfying about working with kids like that. Kids that everybody else has written off.”

  “Like they did you?” She held her breath to see how that would go over.

  He frowned at her. “Me? Nobody gave up on me. In fact, it was the opposite. From the first time I stepped on the ice, the scouts started circling.”

  “No, before that,” Elizabeth said, and she remembered this well because her mom had worried for young Sam. “When you were so sick, and your mom wanted to wrap you up and keep you safe.” She nudged him. “You decided to prove them all wrong.”

  “Your mom helped with that.” His face softened. “She was the only one who could get my mom to back off long enough for me to get some room to breathe.”

  “She was good like that.” Too good to have been married to Elizabeth’s dad all those years. “I wish she’d gotten out sooner.”

  “Why didn’t she?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “She wanted to stay until Jane graduated high school.”

  “Huh.”

  They sat in silence until Elizabeth couldn’t avoid going into her apartment for any longer. Not without making it pathetically obvious she wanted another kiss. Maybe even more.

  That thought galvanized her. As hot as the chemistry between her and Sam was proving to be, her head hadn’t quite caught up. Her heart lagged miles behind that even.

  This thing between her and Sam defied her efforts to classify it. They had years of history between them, and once they stopped bitching at each other, a solid friendship underlying all that. And now they were having trouble keeping their hands off each other.

  At least one of them did.

  “Well.” She opened her car door. “I should be getting in.”

  Sam’s gaze smoldered. “Or you could invite me in?”

  “I could.” Her libido cheered that idea. “But would that be a good idea?”

  “I think that would be an excellent idea.” Sam leaned into her.

  Elizabeth got the hell out of the car before she jumped him. “Good night, Sam.”

  “I’ll walk you to your door.” He climbed from the car.

  That wasn’t such a hot idea. What with her willpower tripping and fusing. “It’s not far.”

  “I’m a gentleman.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave her a look loaded with challenge.

  Elizabeth led the way. “That remains to be seen.”

  “Look, ma, no hands.” He raised his hands before jamming them back in his pockets. “However much I want to put them all over you, pretty Lizzie.”

  That took her breath away, and she had to concentrate on not tripping up the stairs.

  She got her door open somehow. No easy feat with her hands trembling and her pulse pounding loud enough to wake Randy.

  As she turned to say goodnight, Sam’s disgruntled expression stopped her. He looked like he had when she’d stolen his treat when they were kids.

  “Hey, Sam.” She leaned in. Her lips lingered next to his ear. “You kiss at least as well as you play hockey.”

  She shut the door as he reached for her. Giggling she pressed her back against it as he swore from the other side.

  She risked the peephole.

  Both arms braced on either side of her door, Sam hung his head and swore. He looked up suddenly, as if sensing her watching him, and winked. “Game on, Lizzie.”

  Chapter 22

  Thursday night drama night at Mountain Vista rolled around, and Elizabeth barely had time to get there straight after work.

  Dad had taken her time with Sam personally and was behaving like a jealous girlfriend. He didn’t mention the kiss at the game, but she was sure he’d seen it. Paul Rogers never missed a Titan’s game and barely moved from his lounger for the duration.

  Chris had called earlier in the day and assured her not only had the kiss been captured on the JumboTron, but also shared across the hockey channel on television. It was now making the rounds of Twitter. Response was ranging from “aww!” to “get a room.”

  “Elizabeth.” Dad flung open his office door as she was photocopying the script for drama night. “Did you set up that appointment with the town council?”

  “Yes, it’s in your planner.”

  “What planner?”

  She barely restrained her eye roll. He’d been letting his bully brat off the leash all day. “The one on your computer.”

  “It’s not in my diary.” He shook the book at her. “You know I like things in my diary.” Tossing the diary on her desk, he upended a cup of water.

  Elizabeth lunged for it and righted it before the water could creep over her completed scripts. She picked up the diary to get it out of the mess and started wiping the cover. Then she stopped. Dad was being an ass, and he certainly didn’t pay her enough to put up with his shit.

  “The appointment is in your computer.” She thrust the diary at him. “For reasons you approved of, and if you want it written in your diary, then you do it.”

  She tossed sodden tissues into her wastebasket.

  Dad blinked at her. “But…you’re my secretary.”

  “Office administrator.” She scooped up her purse and the scripts. “And that’s only from nine until five. As it’s now six thirty, I am once more your daughter, and I have somewhere to be.”

  “Where?” He followed her to the elevator. “I hope you’re not crawling all over Sam. Embarrassing yourself and the rest of your family.”

  That should have stung, but it more irked her. “Oh?” She stopped long enough to meet his angry stare. “I know for a fact Sam would love me to crawl all over him and embarrass our family.”

  The elevator door shut on him still sputtering.

  So childish and yet so satisfying. Apparently she was discovering her inner vixen, and that meant no longer letting the men in her life dictate the terms.

  Her phone rang, and she thumbed it open.

  “Elizabeth, darling.” Leonard Smytkowski’s fruity tones oozed down the phone. “I am at Mountain Vista already.”

  Elizabeth let the pregnant pause stretch for a bit. “Right, Leonard. Tonight is a rehearsal night.”

  “And you are not here.” Leonard cleared his throat like a Victorian debutante. “I am here, and you are not.”

  “That’s because I am leaving work now, Leonard.” She wrestled the scripts and her large tote into her car. “Because rehearsal doesn’t start until seven.”

&nbs
p; “Yes, Elizabeth.” Leonard got his snippy tone on. “But you are the production assistant, and you should be here already. When the director—which is me—arrives at the rehearsal space, he expects to have the space set up and ready to begin.”

  Elizabeth started her car and put Leonard on Bluetooth.

  “Most production assistants make sure their director is also provided with sustenance before he must work his artistic magic, but you have not worked in the professional thee-AY-tah as I have.” Leonard heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Those of us who have worked extensively in the professional thee-AY-tah, Broadway to be exact, do not place our high standards on those who have no—”

  Her phone beeped an incoming call. “Gonna have to let you go now, Leonard.”

  “Elizabeth!” Jane demanded. “What’s this bullshit about you kissing Sam?”

  Like most teens Jane had a glass-fragile ego, and Elizabeth didn’t fancy getting into the truth. Not that she had a great handle on the truth herself. “It was the Jum—”

  “You’re such a fucking hypocrite,” Jane shrieked, her voice reverberating around the car. “You tell me to stay the fuck away from him, and then you go and make out with him in public.”

  Talk about your overreactions. It was like Jane was reacting to her and Sam releasing a sex tape. “It was a kiss, Janie, and done because the KissCam was on us.”

  “I hate you—”

  Blip.

  Rescued by her phone again. “We can talk about this later, Jane, but I’m going to have to let you go.”

  Elizabeth switched to the incoming call. “I know you’re impatient, but I’m coming. Right now.”

  “Sugar lips.” Sam’s smooth baritone filled the car like honey. “You have no idea how impatient I am, and shouldn’t that be, I’m coming, Sam. Yes, Sam, yes. I’m com—”

  “Ugh! You’re a pig.” Elizabeth choked back a laugh. “And there are children in the car next to me.”

  “Then this is sex ed, and it’s free.” Sam chuckled. “Where are you?”

  “Pulling into the parking lot of Mountain Vista.”

  Sam’s tone sharpened. “Something wrong with the bus?”

  “Nope.” She gathered up her bag, the scripts, and the bottle of juice she’d taken from the office fridge for Leonard. “It’s Thursday night.”