TheEnforcer_Kobo

by Steph

Her mouth dropped open before she could stop it. Stunned, her brain spun for several seconds before she blinked and got it to stop.

  “I… That’s not a good idea.”

  His head cocked to the side. “Why?”

  “Because I don’t date players.”

  “Why not?”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Seriously? How old are you?”

  “Thirty-three. But you know that already.” He pointed his chin at her. “How old are you?”

  Her eyes widened even more. “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to ask a woman her age?”

  Now he shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. “Why? You know pretty much everything about me, apparently, except which side I adjust to. Or maybe you know that, too.”

  Her lips parted but she couldn’t think of a damn thing to say. And now she was thinking about things she shouldn’t be thinking about.

  She had to struggle to keep her gaze from dipping to his crotch but she managed. Barely. Which was probably exactly what he wanted.

  Will wasn’t known for instigating most fights, but the damn man was a menace just the same.

  She was tempted to take the high road and tell him his crude mouth wasn’t appreciated. But that would be pretty hypocritical considering she’d grown up around hockey players and only just managed to keep her own dirty mouth in check when she was in public.

  So, she was going to have to be straightforward.

  “Look, Mr. MacDonald. You’re a good player. You’re going to make a great addition to the team. I wish you luck. But I’m not going to go out with you. I don’t date players.”

  He didn’t look surprised, and he didn’t get out of his chair and leave like she’d hoped he would. “Who do you date?”

  No one.

  She stopped her grimace mid-formation. “None of your damn business.”

  His lips quirked into a grin that made her thighs clench and her girly parts get hot.

  Oh no. No, no, no. That wasn’t happening. She’d given up lusting after hockey players a long, long time ago. Either they broke your damn heart when they left you behind or you found out they were engaged to their high school sweetheart back home but they had an “arrangement” and no, screwing around was not cheating.

  Okay, maybe she had a few issues but that just meant she was absolutely right not to say yes.

  Even though you want to.

  No, she didn’t. She really didn’t.

  Liar.

  As if he could read her mind, Will’s smile got even wider. “So there’s no one steaming up your sheets right now?”

  Damn him. Why the hell was she now imagining him naked on her bed?

  Fuck.

  With an effort, she smiled, making sure he knew it was fake. “I am not going to dignify your question with an answer. I think you’d probably better leave because if you don’t, Coach is going to wonder why you’re limping.”

  “And I think he’d laugh his ass off when he found out I pissed you off so bad, you kicked me in the balls.”

  A laugh bubbled up along with the knowledge that this man had no filter and absolutely no idea how to take no for an answer.

  “Mr. MacDo—”

  “Will.” He shrugged like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Call me Will and I’ll leave.”

  She opened her mouth to call him a few other choice words, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the organization’s event manager walk into the main office. Judi hadn’t noticed that Jess had someone in her office, but that wouldn’t last long. Judi prided herself on knowing exactly what everyone in the entire organization was up to. It wouldn’t take long for her to put one and one together and make a complete mess of Jess’s life.

  Women didn’t get far in the business side of this sport if they slept with the players. It wasn’t professional, especially if you wanted to climb the ladder and work for an NHL team.

  She didn’t want a reputation like that. And she didn’t want to sleep with this damn man.

  Liar, liar, pants on fire.

  Okay, now who’s acting like the twelve-year-old?

  Smiling a smile that held a very sharp edge, she leaned back into her chair.

  It might take Will a few times to get the hint because apparently he was dense, but he would understand eventually.

  “Mr. MacDonald. I have work to do. And if you don’t leave, you’re going to be late for practice. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be late for your first day of practice with your new team.”

  His slow smile made certain parts of her flutter. And she didn’t mean her heart.

  “Okay, Miss Jess. I can take a hint.”

  Relief made her suck in a breath. It had absolutely nothing to do with that smile. Nothing at all.

  But she couldn’t help but watch his every move as he stood and turned toward the door. And if her gaze happened to land on that perfect ass… Well, no one would know.

  “But just to be clear.” He stopped in the door, turned to look over his shoulder and grinned at her a little more. “I’ll be back to ask again.”

  And now her heart did give a traitorous little thump. “The answer will be the same.”

  “Well, I’m nothing if not persistent.” He knocked on the doorjamb. “Talk to you later, Miss Jess.”

  Only when she sucked in air did she realize she’d been holding her breath.

  * * * * *

  “Hey, Will. How’s it going?”

  Will hadn’t exactly been dreading this meeting but he had to admit he hadn’t been looking forward to it.

  Rising from the bench, he held his hand out to Cary Lenville. “Going well. Glad to be here.”

  “And we’re glad to have you here.”

  Will was aware that everyone else in the room was paying attention while trying not to make it obvious. The rest of the team were in various stages of dress for practice. Cary was ready to go, of course. The guy always had been an overachiever.

  “Lori’s looking forward to seeing you again. We’re hosting the team dinner next week so you’ll get to see her there if you don’t catch her at the games this weekend.”

  Surprised Cary had mentioned Lori, considering their history, he nodded. “It’ll be nice to see her again.”

  Cary’s expression didn’t change a bit when he nodded. “See you on the ice.”

  Then he walked off and Will went back to getting dressed.

  Well, that had gone better than he’d expected. Honestly, he hadn’t known what to expect but he should’ve realized Cary would never do anything in front of his team. Because the guy really wasn’t a dick. They just didn’t see eye to eye on almost everything.

  “So, you and Cary. There’s history there, right?”

  Will glanced over at Tony, watching him with steady dark eyes. He’d kept his voice low so only Will could hear him.

  Pulling his sweater over his head, he shook his hair out of his eyes. “We played together in California for part of a season. We weren’t the best of friends but that was a long time ago. I’ve grown up since then.”

  Tony grinned. “Yeah, right. So, hey. I saw you coming down the stairs earlier. Did you need to make a stop in the front office before practice for something?”

  Will grabbed his helmet, shoved his hair out of his face, and jammed the helmet on his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Uh-huh.” Tony’s smirk made Will want to pop him in the nose. “I’m rooting for you, buddy, but you’re not gonna get anywhere with her.”

  Fucking hockey players. Worse gossips than old ladies.

  Will ignored Tony’s smartass comment and headed out to the ice. Though the thought that maybe Tony was right niggled at the back of his brain all through practice.

  First day with a new team was always a learning experience but this wasn’t his first rodeo. Hell, it wasn’t even his tenth. Probably more like eighteenth, if he had to guess. But who was counting. He was still getting calls to play and he still got excited to answer t
hose calls.

  He’d play until the thrill was gone or the calls didn’t come.

  Today, he had a little more speed in his stride and maybe a little more enthusiasm. A lot of the guys here were young and he didn’t just mean under twenty-five. Nearly a third of the team was twenty-two or younger. Skill players who’d been playing for a decade and more but were still learning to handle the professional side of the game.

  He and Cary, at thirty-six, were the oldest players and Will watched how the younger forwards took their cues from Cary.

  When the team broke into offensive and defensive squads about a half hour into practice, Will took a look at his fellow defensemen.

  Justin was twenty-four, and though he looked like a huge puppy learning to walk off the ice, the guy flew on skates, like he’d been born with them strapped to his feet.

  Derek looked to be a good all-around guy, the class clown who’d never met a swear word he couldn’t use in even the most innocent sentence, but determined and focused on ice.

  Jake and Lad were all business, more in sync than even the Fransechetti twins, who at nineteen were the team’s second-youngest players. Luckily, the identical twins grew their hair different lengths or Will would’ve never been able to tell them apart.

  The only defenseman he hadn’t met yet was Joey Constantino, on the IR for concussion and not allowed to skate. With Joey out, they were down a defenseman but apparently Coach would be calling one up from the ECHL affiliate later today.

  Practice was practically over when he caught sight of the figure in the arena entrance near the handicapped section.

  Jess stood far enough back that he wasn’t sure at first it was her. But as he took a few more laps around the ice, he realized he was right. And she was watching him.

  Yeah, she was standing there talking to someone, but every now and then her head would move and he could tell she was looking toward the ice.

  How long had she been standing there? He’d been rightfully focused on practice and hadn’t noticed when she’d shown up, but now he was curious as hell.

  Which didn’t mean a damn thing because they had a game tonight and he needed to head back to the apartment and eat lunch before he took a nap and headed back to the arena for the team dinner.

  “So you, my friend, are probably wondering why I am waiting here for you, yes?”

  Jake stood just outside the boards, leaning on his stick wearing a shit-eating grin, no one else around.

  Suppressing a grin, Will ignored him, heading for the locker room.

  Jake easily caught up and matched his stride. “Well, I will tell you. You will need my help with this one.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Jake.”

  “Yes, you do.” Jake tapped him on the arm with the butt end of his stick for emphasis. “I can be an asset in this. I know much about women.”

  Will had to laugh, stopping just outside the door. “And what is it you think you can help me with?”

  “She is always here on game nights.”

  Will looked over his shoulder at Jake. “Most of the front office staff is. Not exactly earth-shattering news.”

  “What you probably do not know is, after the game, she always goes back to her office for ten or fifteen minutes.”

  His gaze narrowed. “And you know this how?”

  “Because I am an observant guy. And because one night I had to drop off something in the office and saw her there.”

  “What’s she doing?”

  Jake shrugged. “I do not know. Writing report or something. What does it matter? You can have a few minutes alone with her. Ask her out for a drink. Maybe she will like you better after a few beers.”

  The glint in Jake’s pale blue eyes made Will want to smack the guy. But he had given him a decent tip so he’d give the guy a pass. This time.

  “Thanks for the tip.”

  Jake gave a little bow. “Is no problem. I have a feeling you will have more luck than I did. Bastard.”

  Chapter Three

  “Hey, Jess, how are you?”

  “Oh, hey, Lori. Sorry, didn’t see you. Busy as always.”

  Cary’s wife laughed and squeezed her arm. “You work way harder than you should. We need to do a girls’ night out. The guys are on the road this coming week; we should plan to meet one night.”

  “That sounds awesome.” Jess nodded earnestly. “Absolutely. But right now, I’ve got to run. I’ve got a group of fifty senior citizens complete with walkers, canes, and enough alcohol to sedate an entire team in two suites and their food is delayed. I’m having visions of rowdy little old ladies tossing their bras at the ice.”

  Lori’s laughter rang out again and Jess smiled, even though her stress level was high enough to make her heart race.

  She had several large groups tonight, including the seniors, who were funny as hell and probably going to run out of alcohol before the end of the second period. She hadn’t expected them to drink more than the suite full of businessmen on the other side of the arena.

  She also had two children’s birthday parties, each with almost twenty people, and a school group of nearly a hundred kids and adults.

  “You definitely have your hands full tonight,” Lori waved as she started to move away, “so I won’t hold you up any longer. But I am going to hold you to our date.”

  “I’ll text, I promise. Gotta go!”

  Hustling away, she got to the senior center’s box just as the team was taking the ice for the start of the game.

  It was just another game, one of seventy-six times the team would skate out onto the ice this season. No big deal.

  She’d seen this scene happen more times than she could count.

  Still, she stopped to watch. And to tell herself she wasn’t watching for one infuriating player.

  And now you’re lying to yourself.

  She didn’t even need to see his number to realize she’d already spotted him.

  Will was a big guy, one of the biggest on the team. It made him easier to pick out, but she realized she would’ve known him if he’d been in a crowd of guys with the exact same build. It was the way he skated, so deliberately.

  Damn. Damn, damn, damn. This was not good.

  She refused to fall for a hockey player. No way in hell.

  Tearing her gaze away from the ice, she put on her game face and waded into the fray.

  Tonight was going to be one of those nights when her face would hurt from smiling. And that wasn’t a bad thing.

  The seniors in this party were freaking hilarious. Smiling, funny, happy to be out and about.

  “Wow, what I wouldn’t give to work around those men all day.” A tiny white-haired woman smiled at Jess as she headed for the exit on her way to the next suite. “Men didn’t look like that when I was your age. Lucky girl to work around that eye candy all day.”

  “They are definitely nice to look at,” Jess agreed. “But you don’t want to be anywhere near the locker room after practice. You’d change your mind about getting up close and personal.”

  “My sense of smell doesn’t work as well it did fifty years ago, babe.” Another woman who had to be at least ninety stepped up beside the other. “So that definitely wouldn’t be a problem. I’m sure I could show those boys a few new tricks. The young don’t have a monopoly on sex.”

  “These young people forget where they came from sometimes, Edie.”

  “Sex certainly isn’t everything in life, but damn, I do like a good tumble every now and then. Thank god for little blue pills.”

  Swallowing her own burst of laughter, Jess headed to the next suite to check on that group of seniors.

  “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, John. There’s three quarters in hockey, not four.”

  “How can there be only three quarters? And when’s halftime?”

  On her next stop, the businessmen weren’t even paying attention to the game, all of them wrapped in private discussions, a few of them stopping to smi
le at her as she walked through to check with the organizer to see if they needed anything.

  One guy deliberately caught her eye and smiled. Nice-looking. Maybe thirty, short brown hair, nice blue eyes, sincere smile. She smiled in return as she made her way out the door.

  She’d be back later. Maybe she’d say hi.

  He’s not your type. Way too clean-cut.

  Ignoring that little voice in her head, she made her rounds to the rest of the groups then stopped to talk to the catering manager to see if there were any problems. Then, since everything was running smoothly at the moment and there were ten minutes before the end of the period, she made her way back up to the private box where the injured and scratched players sat. Tonight, three guys sat hunched over the wall, completely focused on the game.

  They barely noticed as she took a seat at the other end of the row to watch a few minutes of the game. They all knew her, were used to seeing her around, so they never really took notice of what she was doing.

  The Syracuse team had several young players she’d been watching this season, and since Syracuse was in the same division as the Redtails, she’d already seen them a couple of times.

  But there was one guy who stood out even more than the kids.

  At twenty-eight, T.J. Delauria hadn’t yet had his shot at the NHL and that baffled the hell out of her. Everything she’d heard about him had been positive. Steady right winger with good plus-minus numbers. Fast skater, not flashy, but something had changed with his game this year. Something good. Kind of like he’d hit another gear. He’d played overseas last season and since his return, he’d been even more focused.

  She’d talked to her dad about him and he’d told her to keep her eye on the guy.

  And she was. He’d already scored a goal off a juicy rebound that would make the Redtails goalie, Shane, obsess for hours after the game. And he’d had another couple of good chances.

  But even as she tried to keep her focus on Delauria, her gaze kept wandering to a certain Redtails sweater with a fourteen on the back.

  Will didn’t have any points yet but it wasn’t for lack of trying. In fact, he and Justin played like they’d been on the same line for months instead of days.

  He was a skilled skater, though not as fast as some, and moved the puck well. He cleared the crease and blocked shots but he wasn’t afraid to shoot and when he did, most were on net.