ShouldveKnownBetter

by Cassandra Carr

  It was difficult to keep a straight face when he said his hobbies were stamp collecting, working on old cars, and raising poodles. Sarah could just see a life filled with walking fluffy dogs covered in grease to which several valuable postage stamps had affixed. Eight minutes had never seemed so long.

  Sarah was beginning to get discouraged about speed dating when the buzzer sounded again. She was out of her chair like she’d been shot from a cannon.

  She sat at the next table and gazed with a wary eye at her partner. He had a friendly face with wide-set brown eyes, a strong nose, and wavy brown hair. He wore a sweater with a dress shirt underneath.

  An improvement over the previous men.

  “Hi, I’m Dan.” He stuck out his hand. “This is pretty crazy, huh?”

  Sarah nodded, relieved, and shook his hand. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Sooo,” he glanced at her name tag, “Sarah.” Her face burned. She’d never given him her name. “What do you do for a living?”

  “I work for the Storm.” She didn’t feel like elaborating until she knew he was worth the effort.

  “Really? That’s cool. I’m a chiropractor. Are you from the area?”

  Pleased he hadn’t launched into a dissertation of what the Storm was doing right and wrong like the first guy had, she said, “No, I’m not. I just moved here from Ithaca.”

  “Me neither. I grew up here, but I was living in Raleigh until my father broke his hip a few months ago.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Dan appeared to be like a nice, decent guy. It must’ve been difficult for him to uproot his entire life to take care of his father.

  “It’s okay. That’s why I’m here today though. I’ve been so busy taking care of my dad and setting up my new practice I haven’t had time to meet anybody. So, I figured, why meet women one at a time when I can meet eight at once? It’s much more efficient this way.” Dan smiled, revealing straight, white teeth, and Sarah laughed.

  He was funny. Thank God. “Yeah, that was my thought too. Regular dating seems like so much effort.”

  She and Dan continued to chat, until they both jumped as the bell sounded.

  “Nice meeting you,” Sarah said, getting up from her chair with a tinge of regret.

  “You too.” Dan flashed a grin.

  The rest of the evening passed without Sarah making any additional worthwhile connections. Her slip of paper had only one number on it, Dan’s, and she hoped he had reciprocated. It would be nice to have something to focus her time on besides work and attempting to vanquish her lust for Sebastian. With the first smile on her face for days, she left the restaurant.

  The next day, finally back at work, Sarah was packing up for the night when she heard a noise behind her. Turning, she spied Jaroslav skulking into her office and closing the door behind him. He threw her a wolfish smile.

  “Open the damn door,” Sarah snarled, hoping like hell he would take the hint and leave her alone. She’d been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt since she couldn’t ignore him completely—he was part of the team—but that appeared to have been a mistake.

  His demeanor changed as his eyes flashed, his smile turning into a full-out sneer. “No. We talk, now.”

  She was not in the mood for this. Her arm hurt and she was dead tired. “Jaroslav,” she used his full name to keep things professional and formal. “I’ve made this clear already. I have no intention of dating you. Ever. Get out of my way.” Sarah tried to shove her way past, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him.

  “I want you. I am done playing these games.” His erection pressed into her belly as he pushed his body against hers and she hoped her dinner would stay down as her stomach lurched.

  The crazy thought that her getting sick all over him might deter him nearly caused her to break out in hysterical laughter. He leaned toward her, his eyes heavily lidded, and she recoiled, straining against his hold. When he pushed in even closer, she froze, her mind flashing back to that terrible night with Liam. For long seconds, she just stood there, gasping for air and trying to force herself into action.

  At long last her self-defense training kicked in. I’ve had enough. Pushing away from him with her good arm, she drove her knee into his crotch with as much strength as she could muster.

  Jaroslav crumpled to the ground, grabbing at his groin and coughing, tears streaming out of his eyes. “Bitch!”

  “I told you,” Sarah replied, standing over him. “I’m not interested. Do you get the picture now? Are we clear?”

  She reached over him to yank open the door. Narrowly missing his head, she said, “Get out.” She poked his side with her sneaker none too gently. “If you leave now and agree to never bother me again, we can keep this little incident between us. However,” she paused, narrowing her eyes as he stared at her. “If you ever make a move on me again, or harass me in any way, I will go to management. You have a lot more to lose than I do, Jaroslav. It’s your choice.”

  He continued to hold his crotch, glaring at her.

  His expression would’ve terrified other women, but Sarah suspected in her gut he was more bark than bite and that remaining tough was the way to deal with him. “What’s it gonna be? Are you gonna skulk out of here like the dog you are, or are we going to go have a talk with management about your inability to understand the word ‘no’?”

  “Fuck you.”

  “You wish.” Sarah stepped around him. “Now get out of here.”

  Jaroslav stumbled to his feet, his face pale, but his eyes bright. “They won’t believe you even if you tell them. Who they believe? Their star defenseman or you, who has only been here two month?”

  Sarah wasn’t about to let another man intimidate her. “Maybe they won’t believe me, but like I said, you have more to lose than I do.”

  He moved into her personal space and glowered down at her. “You will not tell.”

  “Try me.” Sarah refused to back down from this jerk. “Do I have to tell you again or should I start screaming?”

  “I’m going. You not worth it anyway. I think you are, what is word, ah yes, tease. I could make you very happy, but I don’t want woman who hates men.”

  “Whatever,” Sarah muttered, shoving Jaroslav out the door then scooting back inside and throwing the lock.

  To make sure he’d gone, she stayed in her office for another hour, replaying the scene in her head and willing her heart rate to slow so she’d be able to drive. At least she could take comfort she hadn’t completely frozen and her self-defense training had kicked in. Who knew what would’ve happened if she hadn’t?

  She’d told Jaroslav she would keep the whole thing quiet, but now she wasn’t sure she should keep her word. Sarah had already committed that mistake once before. Jaro was a danger to women, and management should know about a troublesome player. From the organization’s point of view, getting blindsided after he’d attacked someone else would be disastrous.

  She’d say something to Doug, get his opinion, and then proceed from there. Satisfied for the moment, she went home and immediately climbed into bed, only to have another nightmare, no doubt triggered by what had happened with Jaro. Once she was awake, she couldn’t get back to sleep and cursed Jaroslav the rest of the night as she stared at the ceiling, willing herself to let it go and fall asleep. The adrenaline crash had her freezing and shaking, and she hated him all the more for eliciting such a fierce reaction.

  The next morning she told Doug what had happened, and he urged her to go to management. She called upstairs and then headed up when Karen told her Keith was free. Doug had offered to come along, but she needed to do this alone to prove to herself she could, so she’d declined.

  Keith was working on his laptop when she entered his office. He glanced up and smiled. He’d been friendly lately and appeared to accept that she did valuable work. “Karen said you wanted to see me?”

  Sarah nodded and sat. “There’s something I think you should know about.”

  He frowned, hi
s eyebrows drawing down. “This sounds serious.”

  “It is.” Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure what to say. Would Keith believe her? Would it be her word against Jaro’s? Keith wouldn’t be happy after she relayed her tale, but it was her duty to protect other innocent women. “Jaroslav has made several unwanted advances toward me, and last night things escalated.”

  Keith sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”

  Sarah knotted her fingers in her lap. “He tried to physically intimidate me. It never went as far as him tearing my clothes off or anything,” she shuddered, remembering how trapped she’d felt, “but it was far beyond the normal boundaries of acceptable behavior. I thought you would want to know about it.”

  “Can you give me details?”

  Taking a deep breath, she recounted all the times Jaro had asked her out and how she’d always declined and then gave Keith the full version of what had happened the night before. As she talked, Keith’s expression turned stormy.

  “Thank you for telling me. I’ll speak with him, his agent, and the NHLPA. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve gotten word of him not taking ‘no’ for an answer. Do you want to press charges?”

  “No.” Having her reputation dragged through the mud and having to relive everything in a trial was not something she thought she could handle. “I just don’t want him to have the opportunity to do this to anyone else. I…” she debated how much to tell Keith. “I was attacked at Cornell, and if Jaro went even further than he had… I’m not sure how I would’ve reacted.”

  “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I can’t make any guarantees, but it’s my job to make working for the Storm a safe environment, and I’ll do everything I can to ensure no woman ever has to fear working with someone within this organization.”

  She blew out a breath, a weight lifting from her shoulders. “Thank you. And thank you for taking me seriously.”

  “You’ve given me no reason not to trust you.”

  Sarah sighed. If he knew about what was happening with Sebastian he might feel differently.

  Jaro was sent to counseling and suspended by the team. Thankfully they hadn’t had to name who’d lodged the complaint against him.

  Sarah was sure he knew who it was, but if he was smart, he’d keep his mouth shut. Sebastian would not have reacted well to the news, if his actions after her accident were anything to go by. She had to admit, she felt safer at work knowing he wasn’t hiding around some corner waiting to attack her.

  The team went to Florida for a road trip and had a day and a half free before the next game. Her workload had increased with the loss of Jaro to the suspension and a couple of other key players to injury, and the respite couldn’t come soon enough.

  The guys had all brought their golf clubs and were already pairing off into foursomes on the plane ride down. Sarah was planning to go to the beach alone and sack out while she soaked up the sun. It sounded heavenly. Much as she loved the guys, she needed her alone time and a day on the beach with a book would hit the spot.

  Late to dinner as usual, after having got caught up in her book, Sarah rushed out of her hotel room, slamming the door behind her. She spun and plowed into someone coming down the hall. She stumbled and dropped her purse with a gasp as a sharp pain coursed through her still-tender arm.

  Strong hands caught her upper arms. She looked up to find Sebastian gazing at her with an eyebrow raised.

  “Sarah, we have got to stop meeting like this. Mon Dieu, you are dangerous to be around.” His gaze swept over her in a hungry perusal. “Good thing I like danger.”

  A surge of lust shot through her like a thunderbolt, and she stooped to pick up her possessions so she could collect herself. Unfortunately, Sebastian had the same idea and they bumped heads. Sarah briefly saw stars and blinked a couple of times to refocus.

  “I think I’ll just back away before they have to put me on injured reserve,” Sebastian said with a laugh. “How are you? There’s no more cast on your arm.”

  Sarah grimaced as she scooped everything back into her handbag. If she actually hurt him, she’d never forgive herself. “They took it off, finally. I’m sorry for being such a klutz. I’m late, as usual.”

  “Ah, that explains why you ran into me like a defenseman checking me into the boards.”

  Sarah had a well-known reputation for being late, which the guys had latched onto like a starving dog to a bone and teased her about constantly. Since she was continually guilty of it, Sarah didn’t try to stop their jesting, not that it would’ve done any good. Now, she stood on uncertain legs.

  His gaze dropped to her mouth. “I have to touch you.” Lifting his thumb, Sebastian then traced it over her bottom lip before dipping it into her mouth.

  She couldn’t help herself. She needed to taste him again. Swiping her tongue over the tip, she sampled his hot skin and arousal roared through her.

  Pulling his thumb out, he brought their bodies flush then kissed her hard. It was a kiss filled with fire, his lips hot and restless. He pushed his tongue into her mouth, exploring and spreading a warm blanket of lust over her. Sebastian kissed her as if he was establishing possession, and a heavy wave of ecstasy flooded her.

  “Tu es ma femme.”

  Her own breath came in short pants as she forced oxygen into her starving lungs. She didn’t need that phrase translated—she knew what it meant—“you’re my woman.” If their circumstances were different, she’d like nothing more than that, but it could never be.

  He leaned in for another kiss and Sarah melted into his embrace until a noise down the hall startled her from the fog of desire permeating her brain. Breaking the kiss, she forced herself away from him. After cursing softly, she said, “Sebastian, we can’t. Not now. Not here. Someone might see.” She should have added “not ever,” but she couldn’t make her mouth form those words.

  He nodded, his eyes as dark as molten lead. Raking his hands through his hair, he sighed. “I know. Go to dinner before I get carried away again. I will be right there. I just need to grab something out of my room.”

  “Okay,” Sarah called, already starting down the hall in her haste to get away, all the guilt about how she shouldn’t get involved with him flooding back and choking her. It was so wrong and completely unacceptable behavior on her part, but she was powerless to stop wanting him.

  But him kissing her right in the hallway of the team’s hotel? That worried her. The fact he would take the chance of being caught was bad enough, but how she had reacted, too, forgetting where she was as she allowed him to seduce her, that was beyond mortifying. She groaned and stepped into the elevator.

  In the future she’d have to be even more vigilant about staying out of situations where the two of them could get into trouble. Of course, they were both headed to the same team dinner, but she managed to avoid him for the rest of the night. He watched her but didn’t try to approach and she said a silent prayer of thanks.

  The next day, Sarah received a phone call from the speed dating staff. Dan had put her number down on his card. She was relieved she wasn’t the only interested party. They gave her his contact information, but before she could do anything, Dan e-mailed asking her if she’d like to go to dinner that upcoming Friday.

  She couldn’t let the latest kiss she and Sebastian had shared derail her plans to date other people. Maybe spending time with Dan would take her mind off Sebastian. She replied “I’d love to,” hoping the enthusiasm she displayed through the e-mail would translate into actual emotions.

  Chapter Seven

  After the team returned from Florida and an arduous road game, Jon gave the team a much-needed day off. Sarah’s outlook was much improved after sleeping in late. She ate a leisurely breakfast then sat reading the newspaper with Tasha curled in her lap.

  Tasha had taken Sarah’s traveling well and Sarah’s guilt was mitigated a little. Even though, when she was home, she tried to lavish affection on the cat, and Tasha, being the attention whore she was, always l
et her. With no roaring airport announcements, no hotel beds and no lurching buses, life was heaven on earth. Silence was truly golden.

  After a while, nerves about her date with Dan invaded. She called Marcy for a little pick-me-up speech. Once they exchanged greetings and gave general updates, Sarah took a deep breath. “My first date with that guy I met at speed dating is tonight.”

  “Oh yay! What are you going to wear?”

  “Wear? God, I have no idea.” She’d been so worried about the date itself she hadn’t even considered it.

  “Make sure it’s something you feel confident and sexy in,” Marcy advised, then cleared her throat. “So you decided not to pursue anything with Sebastian?”

  “I guess I have.” The mention of Sebastian made her cringe. With any luck Dan would make her forget how much she wanted Sebastian. A tall order to be sure.

  “Well, you did go out of your own volition to meet other people. Sounds like you’re moving on to me. Are you okay with that?”

  Sarah shrugged, but Marcy couldn’t see her. “I have to be, don’t I? There isn’t any other way.”

  “You make it sound like a death sentence.”

  Sarah rubbed her forehead. “It’s not. It just sucks, you know?”

  “How succinct of you.”

  Glancing at the clock, Sarah groaned. Dan was picking her up at seven, and she wanted to do laundry, get groceries, go to the bank, and stop by the cleaner’s, so she said a hasty goodbye to Marcy before dragging herself out of the house. By the time she returned home, it was nearly six, so she jumped into the shower.

  Putting her hair up in a towel, she went to her closet to pick out something to wear. It had been so long since she’d been on a date she wasn’t sure what to pull out. Her skirts and other dressier clothes had gotten pushed to the back of her closet since she wore jeans or track suits to work. Sarah shook her head at her annoying indecision then decided on a black pencil skirt and a button-down shirt with a tank top underneath.