by Cari Quinn
Hailey matched his posture on the opposite side of the net. “You’re on. Ready. Set. Go!”
He dug his blades into the ice and bolted forward. The sounds of metal scraping the ice and sharp pants of exertion echoed through the barn. He swung his arms to propel himself forward, his eyes fixed on the opposite goal line. At first, he was neck and neck with Hailey. Then she turned on the gas and passed him with a blur of her blond ponytail.
But it didn’t matter that she won their informal race. A rush of joy pounded through his veins as he put the brakes on to keep from crashing into the boards. He was back on the ice, and that was all that mattered to him.
“Not bad.” Hailey came over to him, her cheeks pink, her eyes sparkling as if she knew exactly how he felt. “Not bad at all.”
The burning in his lungs suggested otherwise, keeping him from saying anything.
“You surprise me, Ben.”
She gave him a playful hip check that threw his weary muscles off balance. She reached out to steady him, but they both toppled onto the ice. He pressed his body against hers, thankful for her lack of pads today, and forgot all about his fatigue. The swell of her breasts pushed into his chest, and his blood rushed straight to his groin. His mouth went dry. He froze, not wanting to move away from her. Time hadn’t dulled his physical reaction to her one bit.
Her pupils widened as she stared up at him, and she licked her lips. Her fingers gathered the front of his shirt into her fist. Instead of pushing him off, she drew him closer with a subtle nod of her head.
The cold sting of the ice evaporated when his lips touched hers. He held back, letting her take the lead this time. At first, she seemed hesitant, like she was scared to take things too far. But with every brush of their lips, every flick of her tongue, the timidity faded. She grew bolder, more passionate, as she opened up to him.
Heat sizzled through his veins. Yes, this was what he remembered. The one woman who made him hard with just a kiss. The one woman who made his heart pump until his fingertips pulsated. The woman who awakened desires he’d never known he had.
A low moan came from one of them, and her legs shifted as though they were already naked under the sheets. His hips rocked, grinding his erection against the junction of her thighs. He wanted her more than ever. His hands yearned to slide under her jersey and caress her silky skin, to cup those round breasts and firm ass.
And yet he didn’t take things further. He was content to let her call the shots, to tell him how far she was comfortable taking things. If he pressed too hard for sex, he risked losing her completely. Just like with his skating, he had to take it one step at a time.
His cock throbbed, forcing him to end things before he lost control and pushed things too far. “If we’re not careful, we’re going to melt the ice.”
She nodded, her breath ragged. “Yeah, I can’t feel my bottom.”
He grinned. Nothing felt frozen on him. He was alive and burning after that kiss. Maybe he wouldn’t have to accept her challenge to take things to the next level. Who needed dinner when they could go straight to dessert?
He got up and offered her his hand. Now it was her turn to wobble on her skates. Her eyes were dark and wide, as though he’d just awakened her from a dream. The delicious flush in her cheeks told him their kiss had aroused her just as much as it had him. He did a little mental victory dance as he guided her to the boards. “You okay?”
She nodded and lowered her eyes. “You?”
“Fine.” For now. But if she continued to kiss him that way…
Yes, he’d definitely made some progress today.
“Good.” She rubbed her arms and backed away, her gaze still not meeting his. “I need to get the rink ready to open before heading over to Pop’s.”
She was asking him leave. A pinch of defeat tempered his good mood. He’d made progress, but she was still pushing him away. “And I probably need to ice my knee after skating.”
“Definitely.”
His tongue felt twice its normal size as he worked up the nerve to ask, “Can I come back and share the ice with you tomorrow?”
She finally lifted her eyes, the wariness in them dousing the last of his desire. But she nodded before turning around and skating toward the Zamboni.
Ben stepped off the ice and removed his skates, his movements hindered by frustration. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a slow breath.
Just take it one day at a time.
Chapter Eight
Hailey looked up from the bar just as Ben walked into the Sin Bin. He gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement before heading to his usual booth.
“Should I let you take care of table twelve?” Cindy asked, her eyes dancing with mischief.
“I don’t know—you’re the one who got the eighty-dollar tip from him.”
“Yeah, and I spent the rest of the night trying to convince Sam not to string him up by the gullet.” She tittered like a girl half her age. “I never realized how jealous he could be, especially over nothing.”
“Then perhaps I should take one for the team to keep you and Pop in the land of happily wedded bliss.”
“Don’t play coy with me, sugar. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other.”
The back of Hailey’s neck grew uncomfortably warm. “What are you talking about?”
“As if you don’t know.” Cindy leaned on the bar and grinned. “Seems like someone has a new training buddy at the ice rink.”
“I hate this town sometimes,” she muttered and threw her towel under the bar. Of course someone would notice the Land Rover parked next to her Jeep Cherokee at the barn. Ben had come in every morning for the last two weeks to work on his skating and stick handling with her. And every day, he made progress. But he still hadn’t donned his goaltender’s gear.
He also hadn’t kissed her like he had the first morning. Practice with him had become as neutral as practice with Moose, and she suspected it had something to do with the growing number of gawkers who hid in the seats for a chance to meet the great Ben Kelly. It hadn’t taken the town long to recognize him, even though he’d tried to clean up his appearance.
The heat along her neck turned into an irritating prickle. As much as her head told her that was a good thing, she still craved the taste of his lips, the heaviness of his hard body on top of hers, the warmth of his arms around her. Doubt nagged at her. Had he lost interest in her?”
But when she approached his table, desire simmered in his eyes, and her doubts lifted. No, he definitely hadn’t lost interest in her.
“What brings you in tonight?”
“You.” His sexy grin forced her to lock her knees to keep from melting right there. “And of course, dinner.”
“They have several fancy restaurants in the resort, you know.”
“I know.” He stared at her as though he were starving and she was the only thing on the menu that would satisfy him.
He was laying every ounce of charm he owned on her, and so far, it was working, much to her displeasure. Getting involved with him meant more trouble than she was ready to deal with. She cleared her throat and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So, what would you like?”
“No meatloaf tonight?”
He was teasing her, damn it. How could he go from cold and businesslike on the ice to warm and seductive here? “I can ask Cindy to whip up a batch.”
He shook his head, his grin widening. “I’ll just settle for a Rueben and a beer.” He dropped his voice and added in a low tone that sent a tingle down her spine, “And perhaps a few minutes of your time when you get a break.”
She nodded, not knowing what to say to that. It wasn’t until she’d retreated behind the bar that she realized she’d forgotten to ask him which beer he wanted. She poured a pint of the last beer he’d ordered and waited for her pulse to drop back to normal.
“You’re not catching a fever, are you, sugar?” Cindy placed a cool hand on Hailey’s cheek. “You’re mighty flushed.�
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“I’m fine.” She shook off Cindy’s hand and took the beer to Ben.
He thanked her, his gaze lingering on her until she turned around. When she emerged from the kitchen a couple of minutes later, he was bent over his iPad with a set of headphones over his ears, giving off a very clear “do not disturb” vibe.
“It’s slow tonight,” she said to Cindy, testing to make sure it was safe to spend a few minutes with Ben.
“Well, what do you expect now that the Whales are out of the playoffs? It’s going to be dead in here until they start playing again.”
“We still have some folks here watching the playoffs.” She pointed to the tables, which were three-quarters of the way filled. “But it’s definitely not as boisterous.”
“Agreed.” Cindy flicked her eyes over to Ben’s table. “I don’t mind holding down the fort for a bit if you need a break.”
Her lips twitched at her stepmother’s offer. “If I didn’t know better, I’d assume you were trying to play matchmaker.”
“Who says I need to?”
Hailey waited until Ben’s Rueben was ready before returning to his table. He smiled and took off his earphones as she set the plate on the table. “Do you have a moment now?”
She glanced at Cindy, who gave her a wink and a thumbs-up, and slid into the booth next to him. The warmth from his thigh penetrated her skin and spread throughout her body, driving away any desire to add some space between them. “What did you want?”
“I wanted to show you this.” He placed the headphones over her ears and tapped a couple of things on the iPad before handing it to her.
The screen came alive with her name, followed by one great play after another, all choreographed to a pulsating techno soundtrack. Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes burned when the snippets came to the end. “This is fabulous.”
Ben removed the headphones. “I’m only part of the way done, but I wanted to show you what I’ve been working on.”
“No, really, this…” Her words trailed off as she stared into his eyes. The light shining from them told her he had done this for her, and she struggled to find an adequate way to show her appreciation. “This is more than I had hoped for, but why?”
“Besides the fact that you’re good and deserve a shot?” He shifted next to her, stretching his tall frame out and draping an arm along the top of the booth behind her. “Let’s just say I’m trying to make the most of my second chance. I know this is important to you, and while I can’t help much on the ice, I can help in other ways.”
Watch it, girl. You’re coming dangerously close to falling for him. Remember when you needed him the most and he wasn’t there.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and handed the iPad back to him. Now was a good time to start asking the hard questions. “Why did you keep my note all these years?”
He looked down at her and gave her another of those smiles that made her want to take him straight to bed. “I wanted a little memento of that night.”
“So you kept it with you?”
He nodded. “It stayed in the back of my wallet from that morning until I gave it back to you. Caused me a bit of grief with one of my girlfriends, too.”
“Which one was it—the model, the actress, or the singer?” She relaxed and leaned in closer. It was easy to tease him, and yet she’d felt no jealousy when he mentioned the women he’d been with after her.
“The singer. She even wrote a song about it,” he said with a wry laugh. “All she saw was that I was fixated on a woman in my past. She didn’t even want to hear my real reason for keeping it.”
“So you didn’t keep it because of me?”
“Yes and no.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and focused on her mouth. “I always wanted to remember you and that night, but I also wanted a reminder to act when I felt the urge and not let something special slip through my grasp again.”
A glow filled her chest and spread to her fingers and toes. He hadn’t forgotten about her. But when she replayed his explanation, a chill coursed through her, reminding her that she still needed to tell him about his son. She pulled back and added some space between them. “Ben, I—”
Tell him!
But a tsunami-sized wave of grief rose from her stomach and drowned her words. No, she couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Not when things seemed to be so perfect.
Coward!
But Jen had told her to listen to her heart, and right now, her heart was telling her this wasn’t the right time. She crawled out of the booth and focused her gaze on the floor. “I need to get back to work. Pop took the night off, so it’s just me and Cindy.”
His disappointment squeezed her heart as tightly as her own and slowed her steps as she returned the bar. Until she found the courage to tell him about Zach, there would always be something that would keep her from giving herself completely to Ben.
Cindy frowned when Hailey went back to restocking glasses like a zombie. “Everything okay, sugar?”
“Yeah.”
Her frown deepened. “Did he—”
“No, Cindy, it’s not him—it’s me.” She shoved a glass onto the shelf, jingling the others with a discordant blow. “You know how I am with men.”
“Hailey, honey, you can’t keep pushing away every guy who shows some interest in you. You deserve someone special.”
“Maybe, but right now, the only thing that matters is my promise.” She snatched the empty rack and ducked back into the kitchen before Cindy decided to press the issue further.
* * *
Ben watched Hailey leave and cursed under his breath. He’d almost succeeded in winning her over. He’d seen it in her eyes, her face, her body as it molded next to his. But then, as fast as a lightning strike, she’d done a one-eighty on him and run away. If she’d been any other woman, he would’ve accused her of playing games with him, but he’d gotten a glimpse of something before she ran away.
She was scared.
And if what Gus had told him was true, then she had reason to be. It was a classic case of once bitten, twice shy. He curled his hand into a fist. What he wouldn’t give to find the man who’d hurt her and beat him to a pulp.
The thought made him pause. He was never the type to have violent thoughts. Usually, it was his brother Frank who was dying to beat the crap out of someone, not him. Growing up, he’d always been the pacifist, the peacekeeper amongst all his brothers. Now his thoughts were as red and rage-filled as Frank’s.
He flattened his hand and combed his fingers through his hair as he groaned and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was she doing to him?
“Is something wrong with the food, sugar?”
He looked over to find Cindy standing beside his table. “What makes you think that?”
“You haven’t touched it.”
The Rueben and fries had cooled to the point where they weren’t appetizing. “Can I get a to-go box?”
“Sure thing.” Cindy bustled over to the bar and returned a moment later. “Anything else?”
He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket to pay for the meal. “Care to tell me why Hailey keeps pushing me away?”
“That ain’t none of my business.” But something in her tone told him that if he asked the right questions, she might be willing to share some information with him.
He decided to take a chance. “Gus mentioned that Hailey had missed out on her shot at the Olympics before because she’d gotten mixed up with the wrong type of guy. Is that the reason why she won’t go out with me?”
“You said it, not me.” She emptied his plate into the to-go box.
“What did he do to her?”
Cindy jerked as though he’d Tasered her. She slowly straightened and studied him, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “That all happened shortly after I came to town, so I don’t know all the details.”
“Can you give me a hint?”
She glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen door before leaning closer and whisp
ering, “Let’s just say he left her with more than a broken heart.”
She opened her mouth to say more, but the banging of the kitchen door shut it. She resumed wiping down his table. “Do you need any change?”
“No, I’m good.” Hailey didn’t look his way as he got up from the table. “I guess I’ll have to be patient and wait for her to open up to me.”
Cindy nodded. “I knew you were the good sort of man the moment I laid eyes on you. Yes, just give her some time, and she’ll come around.”
He left the Sin Bin and started his car, his mind still on the little tidbit Cindy had managed to feed him. What else had that asshole done besides break her heart? Once again, those vicious thoughts surfaced, and he gunned the engine up the road to his cabin.
His phone rang as he got to the edge of town. He clicked the answer button for his Bluetooth and prayed it wasn’t Mac checking up on him again. “Hello?”
“Hello, Ben,” his mother crooned on the other end of the line. “Did Adam tell you the good news?”
“No.” But he suspected it had something to do with Lia.
“He came by the house tonight while I had Amelia over for bridge and asked her permission to marry Lia.”
How quaint and responsible of his older brother. It sounded like something Adam would do. “And did her mother say yes?”
“Of course she did. What woman wouldn’t want Adam for her son-in-law?” His mother was too refined to squeal, but the excitement in her voice was barely contained. “He’s going to propose to Lia tonight when she gets home.”
“Here’s to hoping she says yes, too.” A twang of envy coursed through his dry reply.
His mother didn’t miss it. “Is something wrong?”
“No, not really, Mom.”
“Aren’t you happy for your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why do you sound like you aren’t?”
He gritted his jaw and exhaled slowly. “Just having my own issues.”
“You’ve met someone?”