by Jennie Marts
A commotion at the front of the plane caught her attention. Must be a last-minute passenger sneaking his way on to the flight.
She could see the flight attendant smile and touch her hair. Must be a handsome passenger.
That passenger stepped into the plane, and her heart froze.
Bane?
She’d thought he would have taken the red-eye out the night before. Was this just some crazy coincidence? The cosmos playing a trick on her?
Bane looked around, searching the seats. Then his gaze locked on hers.
And he smiled.
A heartbreaking, panty-melting smile. That was all for her.
Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t think—couldn’t move—as she watched him walk down the aisle and drop into the seat next to hers.
“What are you—I mean, how are you—” Her words stuck in her throat.
He seemed slightly out of breath, nervous even. He picked up her hand. She swore she felt a slight tremble in his fingers.
“Addison, I’m so sorry.” He ran a hand over his hair and shook his head. “Shit. I’ve been running for the last thirty minutes—praying I would get here on time—and now I’m here, and I made it—and I can’t think of what I want to say.”
“Slow down. I don’t get it. Why were you praying you would get here on time?”
He took a deep breath. “I knew I had to make this flight. Had to catch you. I felt like it was my only chance to make things right. To make up for the way I acted last night.”
What was he saying? She was afraid to wish. Afraid to hope that he wanted them to have another chance. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I was an idiot. I did everything wrong last night.” He stopped and gave her a slight grin. A grin filled with naughty implications. “Well, not everything wrong.” He paused, like he was waiting to see if he had earned even the smallest smile from her.
He had. The corners of her mouth tipped up the tiniest bit. He was right. He had done that one thing right. Very right.
He squeezed her hand. “But the time that really counted, when the clock was ticking, and it was sudden death in overtime, I blew it. I missed the shot. And I think I may have blown my chance at the one thing that could be more important to me than the game.”
She held her breath, afraid to speak, willing him to say the words she wanted to hear.
“Addison, I may have screwed up my career, but I realized last night that there are some things more important than hockey. That this thing with you could be more important. I’m not saying I’m giving up the game. I’m going back to Denver to talk to my coach and to work my ass off to regain my spot on my team. But I don’t want hockey to be my whole life—because I feel like my life will be empty without you.”
He smiled, a shy smile. “I know I probably sound like a lovesick teenager, but that’s kind of how I feel. Like you came in to my life, and I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t know where we’re going, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I know is that I’m not ready to let you go. I feel like there is something between us. Something real. Something worth the shot.”
She didn’t know what to say—could barely think—so she just kissed him instead. A mind-blowing, toe-curling—I like you a lot, too—kind of kiss.
Pulling back, she held his face in her hands. She looked into his eyes, his gorgeous blue eyes. “This is real. As real as anything I’ve ever felt before. And I don’t want to let you go, either.”
The captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker instructing them to fasten their seatbelts and prepare for takeoff.
She leaned back in her seat, her heart still racing, as she clicked her seatbelt.
Bane did the same then picked up her hand and squeezed it tight. “We’re in this together now. You and me. We’re our own team now.”
She grinned as the engines rumbled, and the plane taxied down the runway. Toward her new life. Their new life. As a team. She liked the sound of that.
But what about The Rule?
Screw The Rule.
Rules were meant to be broken anyway, right?
This was a new game. And this time she was playing without rules. Risking it all.
Risking it all for that one shot.
Because this time, that one shot just might win the whole game.
**THE END**
If you enjoyed this story, click HERE to get Icing On The Date—the next Bannister Brothers book. Bane’s brother, Owen, meets Gabby Davis—the sexy caterer who is about to change his entire game. She’s cooking up romance and their passion is hot enough to melt the ice. Owen learns that love is the ultimate game changer and he’s about to get checked.
***
Keep Reading for an excerpt to ICING ON THE DATE:
ICING ON THE DATE
She scrolled through the contacts. Had he said Bane or Ben? Her eyes caught the word Bane, and she pressed the contact and held the phone to her ear.
A sleepy male voice answered. “Dammit, Owen. I told you I’m not coming out tonight.”
“Um. Hello. Is this Owen’s brother?”
“Who’s this?” The voice went instantly alert. “Where’s my brother?”
“This is Gabby Davis. I’m a caterer, and I’m working a party at the Crown Hotel downtown. I’m in the women’s bathroom on the first floor, and your brother appears to be very drunk and passed out on my lap. He asked me to call you. He seems to think he’s in some kind of trouble.”
“Oh, he’s in a whole hell of a lot of trouble. Listen, Gabby, thank you for calling me. I can be there in fifteen minutes. Can you stay with him until I get there?”
“Sure, I guess.” She wasn’t in charge of the whole catering job tonight—only the desserts—and no one would notice she was missing as the party wound down.
“I’m on my way. Keep him out of sight and in the bathroom if you can.”
Out of sight of whom? What kind of trouble was this guy mixed up in?
“I can try.”
“I’d really appreciate it, Gabby. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Tell him I’m on my way.” He hung up.
Gabby set the phone down. “Your brother’s on his way. How about if I just sit here with you until he gets here?” The guy was big and his brother had said he was in trouble, but she wasn’t afraid. He didn’t seem dangerous, even with the bruised black eye.
He snuggled into her chest, smearing remnants of chocolate frosting across his cheek. “Are you an angel? ‘Cause you smell like heaven,” he slurred. “Seriously, why do you smell so damned good? Like cookies and cake and chocolate?”
He opened his eyes and squinted at her chest. He ran a finger along the top edge of her breast, sending a wave of tingles darting down her spine, and came away with a dab of frosting on the end of his finger tip. Popping his finger into his mouth, he groaned in pleasure. “God, you even taste like chocolate. I just want to frickin’ lick you.”
Wow. Wildly inappropriate to say, but the words still sent a prickle of desire through her. This crazy hot guy just told her he wanted to lick her. Granted, it was a drunken statement and he most likely meant the chocolate frosting spread across the front of her shirt, but it had been a long time since she’d had a man tell her anything half as remotely sexy as that statement had been.
Spending all of her time working, saving money, and taking care of her miscreant brother didn’t leave a lot of time for dating, and she didn’t want to think about how long it had been since anything of hers had been licked.
** To keep reading Icing On The Date—click HERE **
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennie Marts loves to make readers laugh as she weaves stories filled with love, friendship, and intrigue. She writes for Entangled Publishing and reviewers call her books “laugh out loud” funny and full of great characters that are “endearing and relatable.”
She is living her own happily ever after in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, two sons, two dogs, and a parakeet th
at loves to tweet to the oldies. She’s addicted to Diet Coke, adores Cheetos, and believes you can’t have too many books, shoes, or friends.
Her books include the contemporary western romance Hearts of Montana series, the romantic comedy/cozy mysteries of The Page Turners series, and her latest hot hockey player’s series, the Bannister Brothers Books.
Jennie loves to hear from readers. Follow her on Facebook at Jennie Marts Books, or Twitter at @JennieMarts. Visit her at www.jenniemarts.com to sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the latest news on sales and new releases.
**If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review!**
And thanks for reading!
Acknowledgements
Huge thanks to my Entangled sisters, Beth Rhodes and Cindy Skaggs, who helped make this work possible through constant support and lots and lots of writing sprints—whether I wanted to do them or not. Your accountability and support is invaluable!
Special thanks to Kristin Miller for your plotting help. Your friendship and support mean the world to me.
My thanks and credit for this fantastic gorgeous cover goes to Kim Killion and the team at The Killion Group. Thanks to Jennifer Jakes for your formatting—and your friendship. You girls are amazing!
Special acknowledgement goes out to the women that walk this writing journey with me every day. The ones that make me laugh, who encourage and support, who offer great advice and sometimes just listen. Thank you Michelle Major, Lana Williams, and Anne Eliot. XO
Thanks to my editor, Arran McNicol, at Editing720, for your editing talents and for squeezing in my edits at the last minute.
For my fellow Mischief Under the Mistletoes sisters—thanks so much for your encouragement and support! This project was so much fun, and I am so happy to have met all of you. Special thanks to Melanie James for inviting me. And to Selena Laurence—for your friendship and steadfast support in the final hours when we were exhausted and roasting marshmallows together.
Copyright © 2015 Jennie Marts
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