TheEnforcer_Kobo

by Steph

  “But what?”

  “But I’m not sure I was wrong.”

  “Oh, you were most definitely wrong about something.” Derek laughed. “But maybe you just don’t know what it is. So tell me what happened. Let’s figure this shit out.”

  Will wanted to laugh but Derek looked so damn sincere, he couldn’t do it. The guy actually wanted to help.

  “She’s planning to do something and I think she’s making a mistake.”

  Derek’s eyes widened. “You told her she was making a mistake? And she didn’t immediately cut off your balls? Dude, you got lucky in my book.”

  “I walked out before she could.”

  Now, Derek’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, man, you are so not as smart as I thought you were.”

  Grimacing, Will took a sip of his warm beer. “Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing myself. The problem is, I still think she’s making a mistake and I haven’t figured out yet how to say that without getting into another fight.”

  Dammit, he wanted her to stay, to be with him. And he knew how amazing she’d be as a scout and—

  “Holy shit, I’m an idiot.”

  Derek’s expression was a whole lot of “No shit” as he sipped his own beer. “Apparently, I’m a miracle worker. You’re welcome. So what are you going to do now?”

  Will shook his head. “Fuck if I know. But I think I need to get the hell out of here tonight. Can you give Justin a ride back to our apartment?”

  “No problem, man. He can sit on Lad’s lap. Lad needs a little pick-me-up with Jake out of the picture.”

  Rolling his eyes, Will smacked Derek on the back of the head for being an asshole, which Derek took in stride, then headed for the door.

  He needed some space to figure out how the hell he was going to making things right with Jess.

  * * * * *

  Thursday morning, Jess pushed away from her desk and headed for lower level.

  She’d had shit luck getting anything done since she’d arrived at her desk at 8:45 a.m. Her brain refused to cooperate. Too many things crowding it and not enough sleep last night.

  But she had come to a conclusion around three o’clock this morning.

  And now was as good a time as any to set it in motion.

  She hadn’t expected any of the players to be there for practice yet. Actually, she’d been counting on it.

  But she should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. And of course it would have to be Will.

  Her heart gave a painful little thump in her chest as she caught sight of him walking through the door, duffel bag over his shoulder.

  He hadn’t seen her yet but it’d only be a matter of time before he realized she was standing in the hall.

  She just wasn’t prepared for the pain. It’d only been a few days but damn, she’d missed him.

  Had he missed her? Would he even speak to her?

  She got her answer a second later when his head popped up and his gaze connected with hers.

  Was he happy to see her? He didn’t look happy. He didn’t mad either. He just looked…like Will. The man she was about to do something very brave or very stupid for.

  No, that wasn’t right, either. She wasn’t doing this for him. She was doing this for herself.

  And if she was very lucky, she’d get him in the process.

  “Hey, Jess. How are you?”

  His voice wasn’t filled with the warmth she’d gotten used to but it wasn’t cold, either. And it still made her want to push him up against the wall so she could climb all over him.

  But she couldn’t. Not yet.

  She smiled, hoping he might still want to let her later. “I’m good. You had a great game last night.”

  “Thanks. Tough game but we pulled out the win.”

  An awkward silence fell and she hated that this was so hard. And that she had to go. She had to catch Cary before practice.

  “Well, I need to get to a meeting but—”

  “Sure, no problem.” He cut her off but he still didn’t sound angry or upset. “I’ll see you around, Jess.”

  Then he faked a smile and continued down the hall to the locker room.

  Okay, wow, that had sucked. But it didn’t change her mind. In fact, it actually made her more resolute.

  With a deep breath, she headed past the locker room entrance, down to Cary’s office.

  His head popped up as she knocked on his door but he didn’t look surprised to see her.

  “Hey, Jess, got your message. What’s up?”

  She bit her lip. “Could you come in and close the door?”

  His eyebrows rose but that was his only outward sign of curiosity. “I feel like I’m being called into the principal’s office. Except this is my office.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be so secretive about this. It’s just… I know I said I didn’t want to be considered for a scouting position. But… I’d like to reconsider.”

  Cary’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Seriously? Of course you can reconsider. I’m thrilled but I hope I didn’t pressure you into something you don’t want to do. That wasn’t my intention.”

  “No, you didn’t pressure me. And I need to thank you. I understand that you’re going out on a limb for me on this.”

  “It’s no limb when I know you can do the work. I realize picking up this scouting position means a whole hell of a lot of extra work on your part. But I have to confess I already talked to Philly’s GM about this and he’s behind you one-hundred percent. If you take the job, you’ll be supervised by Bobby Vigneau, who I believe you already know. When I mentioned your name, he was on board immediately. Are you going to encounter some assholes along the way? Of course. It’s going to be tough. But I don’t think for one minute that you can’t handle the job.”

  Her smile had grown as he’d spoken, her heart pounding a mile a minute. “Thank you, Cary. That means the world to me.” Which was pretty stupid considering Will had said almost the exact same thing the last night they’d been together.

  Shaking her head at the thought, she drew in a deep breath. “You know about Will and me, don’t you?”

  His amused grin spoke volumes. “I think everyone knows about you and Will.” He raised a hand to stop her response. “And that relationship isn’t going to be a problem. At least, not from a team standpoint.”

  “I’m not sure there’s a relationship left to have a problem. We had a…falling-out.”

  Cary’s brows rose. “Sorry to hear that. Will and I have had our differences but we worked them out. Maybe you will, too. So…does this mean you’re staying?”

  She paused for several seconds before nodding, slowly at first and then faster, her smile becoming full-blown. “Yes. And Cary? Thank you.”

  Cary’s smile stretched wide. “Welcome aboard but don’t thank me. I just doubled your workload and probably made the next few months of your life complete hell.”

  No, the only way the next few months of her life would be hell was if she couldn’t convince a certain tough defenseman to accept her apology for being a total basket case.

  The question was how did she do that?

  * * * * *

  “Tough game tonight, guys, but I’m proud of the way you played.” Coach paced back and forth as the team gathered in the locker room just after their loss against Idaho. “The bounces didn’t go our way, but you played a full sixty minutes and that’s what I want from you. We’re going to spend time on special teams tomorrow before the game so heads up. Get cleaned up and rest for the game tomorrow.”

  As the rest of the team headed toward the shower room, Will dropped his head back and remained seated. He had nothing to rush out for and damn if his shoulder didn’t hurt like a sonuvabitch from a wicked check in the second period.

  “Hey, Mac, you okay?”

  Opening his eyes, Will saw Cary standing over him, frowning.

  “Yeah, shoulder’s a little sore. Nothing major.”

  “Make sure you have the trainer look a
t it. We need you at full strength tomorrow night. Wilkes-Barre’s gonna be a tough one.”

  Nodding, he expected Cary to move off but the guy stuck.

  “Something wrong?” Will asked.

  “Nope. One of the scouts from the big club is here tonight. Wants to talk to you before you head out. In the spare trainer’s office.”

  Will frowned. “What the hell for?”

  Cary shrugged. “Just relaying a message.”

  Before Will could ask any more questions, Cary turned to talk to the coach.

  Well, damn. All he really wanted to do tonight was head back to his apartment, eat a shit-ton of food, and sleep until tomorrow morning at nine, when he had to get up for morning skate.

  Shit, what he really wanted to do was go home with Jess, make love to her until they both passed out then sleep curled around her.

  He’d wanted to get on his knees and apologize this morning before practice. Had wanted to beg her to take him back. And when she took that job in Philly, he’d find a way to make it work. They’d find a way to make it work, even if it meant he only saw her one day a week until the end of the season.

  That’s what he should’ve told her this morning. What he wanted to tell her now.

  But first, he had to talk to someone from the main office so…

  Fifteen minutes later, he walked through the silent halls to a small, out-of-the-way office and stopped dead in the doorway.

  “Hi, Will.”

  Jess leaned back against the small desk, staring at him like she wasn’t sure he wanted to see her.

  Considering his heart had begun to pound against his ribs and his stomach twisted in on itself, he knew she was dead wrong.

  And he knew exactly what he had to say.

  “I was a complete ass. I’m sorry. And whatever job you want, I’m behind you. I think you can do fucking anything you want, Jess. I should’ve said that the other night. You’re not a coward. You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met and I hope you can forgive me for being a dick.”

  Her lips quirked up a little at the corners and her head tilted to the side, just enough to make her hair fall over her shoulder in that way that made him want to brush it over her shoulder and kiss the now-exposed side of her neck. And then he’d work his way down to the small vee of skin revealed by the silky blouse she wore tucked into one of those pencil-thin skirts he loved on her.

  He stuck his feet to the floor, waiting for her to acknowledge his apology, ready to be sent packing if she didn’t. She’d gone to the trouble of seeking him out tonight, but she needed to make the next move.

  “Apology accepted.” Her smiled widened. “But I owe you one as well. You were right.”

  He shook his head. “About what? Because from where I’m standing, I was wrong about so many things, I have no idea what you could be talking about.”

  “About me being afraid. You had more faith in me than I did. And I wanted to thank you for that.”

  Shit, was this good-bye? The pit that had pretty much taken up residence in his stomach the past week opened just a little wider.

  Then he remembered Cary had said someone from the big club wanted to see him. She must have taken the job in Philly.

  He stepped closer until she had to tilt her head back to stare up at him. He clenched his hands at his sides so he wouldn’t reach for her. But he so wanted to pull her against him and say he was sorry again with his mouth all over her body until she could do nothing but pant and say yes.

  Instead, he nodded and forced himself to ask her, “When are you leaving?”

  Another ghost of a smile crept over her lips, and he had no idea what the hell she was thinking.

  “I have my first game in Norfolk next week.”

  What the fuck? “Philly doesn’t play Charleston.”

  And that was the stupidest fucking thing he thought he’d ever said, but he had no idea what the hell she was talking about. She was making no sense at all.

  “Philly has their eye on a couple of rookies playing for Norfolk.”

  Which didn’t clear up a damn thing. “Jess, what—”

  “I’ll be gone Wednesday and most of Thursday, but I’ll be back in time for our game Friday.”

  “Jess—wait.” His brain began to work again, having finally made its way through the clues she’d already dropped. His gaze narrowed and he took another hard look at her. “You agreed to the scouting position.”

  Her mouth had a wistful twist to it as she nodded. “I told you. You were right. I was afraid. About the job. About change. But mostly I was a little afraid of you.”

  He took a step back. “Whoa, wait—”

  “Sorry.” She held up a hand and shook her head then reached for him, placing her hand flat on his chest. “That didn’t come out right. I’m not afraid of you, Will. I’d never be afraid of you. But I am deathly afraid of losing you.”

  As he tried to catch his breath, his heart pounded hard against his ribs, right under her hand.

  “I don’t want to lose you.” Her voice held so much sincere emotion, it cut straight to his heart. “I want to wake up with you in the morning and go to bed with you at night and fight with you over which game to watch before bed and—”

  He closed the space between them and dropped his mouth over hers, sealing their lips together and kissing her until they were both breathless and clinging to one another and he practically forgot that they were still in the arena. Otherwise he would’ve turned her around, pulled up her skirt, and pushed her down on the desk so he could prove to her just how much he wanted her.

  As it was, he had a hard time releasing her even though he knew they both needed to breathe.

  When he finally did pull away, he only allowed their lips to part enough to speak.

  “I can think of a lot better things to do while watching a game than fight.”

  Her smile was a revelation. “I thought you liked a good fight.”

  “Only when I know we’re both going to win. And right now, I feel like I won the fucking Stanley Cup.”

  Running her hand through his still-wet hair, she had to rise onto her toes to rub her nose against his. “I’m going to be really busy for the rest of the season. There are going to be weeks that we might not see each other.”

  He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, breathing in her scent. “It’ll just make the time we spend together even better.”

  “I’ll be traveling most weekends.”

  “I have games most weekends. We’ll spend every day off together. In bed. We won’t answer our phones or the door and we’ll only get out of bed to eat.” He trailed kisses up her neck to her ear and bit the tiny lobe until she shuddered against him. “Unless you wanna do it on the couch. Or against the door. Or on the kitchen table. I’m easy.”

  Her hands tugged at his hair and he lifted his head. “I’m serious, Will. I’m going to be away. A lot. My mom couldn’t take that. It’s what broke up her marriage to my dad.”

  He stared down in her worried eyes. “We’re not your parents. We know how this game works and what it takes to win.”

  Her smile was back and it wiped the worry from her eyes. “Have you always been this sure of yourself?”

  “I’m that sure of you. We’ll make it work. Besides, I’m pretty sure I love you, Jess. No, not pretty sure. I’m damn sure.”

  Her smile got even wider. “I’m damn sure I love you too, Will.”

  “Then I’m pretty damn sure we should go the hell back to your place and fight over who gets to be on top.”

  Her laughter filled up all the little cold places in his heart that’d been there since he’d walked out on her. “That’s a fight I think I can win.”

  “And I will gladly lose if I get to make you scream out my name when you come.”

  Heading for the door, she tugged on his hand. “I’ll race you to the car.”

  “You go right ahead, I’ll just follow behind, watching your pretty ass the entire way.”

  The look
she threw over her shoulder made his heart beat double-time.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to keep up?”

  “I maybe not be the fastest guy on ice but I will always be right beside you, Jess. Always.”

  The End

  Stephanie Julian

  Stephanie Julian has been a daily news reporter, a freelance feature writer and a movie, theater and music critic but what she loves most is writing heat with heart. She’s happily married to a Springsteen fanatic and is the mother of two sons.

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