“Yes, barely,” Nik answered. “Only because you were here supporting me.”
“I will always support you. That’s what couples do.” Meryl still looked back with awe and admiration for the way Nik confronted her father, and given her the strength to do the same. Didn’t every girl dream of being loved that way?
Now, with that behind them, they could look forward to the future—the end of the inaugural season, the start of the Young Generals program, and even looking for a house. Although Meryl worried about meeting Nik’s mother and being accepted by his family, she kept telling herself it would all be okay. He’d been teaching her Russian and she was trying to learn to cook some traditional Russian meals in the hope of impressing Marina Brantova just a little bit.
“You’re coming with me to the hospital, right?” Nik asked.
He and several other players were scheduled to visit the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and bring gifts to the patients as part of the Generals Charity Foundation, and Meryl knew he looked forward to it. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it. After all, I helped Char organize it, remember?”
“Then let’s go,” Nik said. “I have my jersey in the car to put on.” He gave her a wink. “And I brought an extra for you as well. I know you like wearing it.”
Meryl laughed, thinking of her bold move a few months before, trying to get Nik to notice her. It had certainly paid off in a big way. “I sure do,” she said, as they linked hands and walked out of the TV studio together.
###
Books by Michele Shriver
Women’s Fiction:
After Ten
Tears and Laughter
Aggravated Circumstances
Contemporary Romance:
Finding Forever
Leap of Faith
The Art of Love
Starting Over
Love & Light
The Men of the Ice Novellas:
Playing for Keeps
Crossing the Line
Winning it All (Fall 2015)
Scoring at Love (2016)
Chasing the Prize (2016)
Boxed Sets:
Heroes to Swoon For
Spring into Love
Score One For Love
Christmas Pets and Kisses (coming October 2015)
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story and will consider posting an honest review of this book on the site you purchased it from.
Keep reading for a special preview of Winning it All, next in the Men of the Ice series.
Winning it All
Chapter One
The little girl might have been completely bald, but it didn’t detract from her overall beauty at all. She wore sapphire studs in each of her ears, her smile could warm a room, and her eyes were the color of the sky on a crisp, clear summer day. And her laugh—her laugh was absolutely infectious.
It surprised Trevor Collison to hear such an obviously very ill child laugh, but maybe it shouldn’t have. After all, she had an NHL superstar making faces at her and generally acting like a total goofball. Nikolai Brantov was a natural with kids, and so was his girlfriend, Meryl Johnson. It made perfect sense why Meryl, the daughter of the San Antonio Generals owner, was trusted with the task of establishing the fledgling Young Generals program, designed to bring hockey awareness and skills to local kids, and why she recruited Nik to help her.
Less clear was why anyone wanted Trev involved. He wasn’t sure himself why he got involved, other than knowing his image needed a major boost. Fresh out of rehab and having his contract bought out by his last team, Trev signed a one-year contract with the NHL’s newest expansion franchise, happy to get one last chance to prove he could be a productive player. Assuming he could keep his nose clean.
He hadn’t touched cocaine in a year and half, or alcohol in fourteen months. He also didn’t pick up cheap women after games. Instead, Trev went home to an empty apartment and thought about how different his life was now, as opposed to ten years ago when he’d started out in the minors, paying his dues for San Antonio’s American Hockey League team, before making the jump to the NHL with Ottawa. How ironic was it that he was back here now, in the city where it all began, playing out his last chance. If Trev flamed out here, Europe beckoned, but for less money. He wanted to make this work, and since he currently stood at third on the team in scoring, Trev was pretty confident he could. There was more to succeeding here than simply playing well on the ice, though. It was important to be involved in team activities throughout the community, such as visiting sick kids to try to cheer them up a little, which was why he stood in the pediatric cancer ward of the San Antonio Children’s Hospital watching his teammate make faces at a patient.
“This is Trevor,” Nik said to the girl. “He plays on my line, the other wing position.” Together, with team captain Colton Tremblay, they comprised the Generals’ top line and the main reason the team remained in the playoff hunt in its inaugural season, with only a few weeks left in the regular season.
“I know who Trevor is,” the young patient said. “He’s my favorite player on the team.”
How the heck did I get that honor? Trev wondered as he approached the bed. “It’s nice to meet a fan, then,” he said, extending his hand. “What’s your name?”
“Kaylen.” She gave him a limp handshake, and Trev wondered if her medical treatments had tired her out. Probably. In spite of her circumstances, though, she remained upbeat. “I’m nine. I’ll be ten in a few months.”
If she lived to see the day. Trev hated to think that way, but this was a pediatric cancer ward, after all. “That’s great,” he said, trying to sound optimistic. He was there to try to cheer her up, even if he himself couldn’t stop thinking about the cruel hand life had apparently dealt this beautiful young girl. “I guess you must like hockey, then?”
“She’s a huge hockey fan. She watches all of your games, and I’ve recorded the best ones so she can watch them again while she’s doing her treatment.”
The voice came from the doorway of the hospital room, and Trev turned around to face a woman with dark hair that fell just to her shoulder and the same blue eyes as the patient. His voice almost stopped in his throat as he said her name. “Dani.”
***
Danielle Greer found herself staring at the past. A past she never intended to revisit. She’d been a hockey fan once, back when the AHL was in town, but when the team left San Antonio and relocated to New York, Dani didn’t miss them. As a single mother raising a very ill child, she had other priorities, and hockey wasn’t one of them. But when the game returned to her hometown in the form of the Generals, her daughter took an immediate liking to the men of the ice. Kaylen didn’t have much to be happy about these days, with the chemo and radiation treatments seeming to be losing effectiveness, so Dani took her to games when she felt up to it, and allowed her to watch the rest on TV. Still, Dani never expected for a face from her past to be standing two feet away from her, even if Trevor’s mug greeted her from a highway billboard every day as she drove to work.
When he’d left town, his NHL dream a reality, Danielle hadn’t planned on ever seeing him again. Now, here he was. He was still handsome, no doubt about that, but there was a tiredness to his expression, as if his best years were behind him. At only thirty-two, Dani hoped that wasn’t true. In spite of what happened between them, she still wished the best for him. She just didn’t plan on getting close to him again.
“Hello, Trevor,” she said. “It’s been a while.”
Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
I love hockey and hockey players, so I knew I would have fun writing about them. What I didn’t know was whether anyone would want to read about them. It turns out you do. Thank you! I am thrilled with the response to the first book in the Men of the Ice series, which has now expanded to five planned books, up from the original three. What can I say? I love these guys!
I hope readers enjoy Nik and Meryl’s story and will also look forward to future Men of the Ice Nov
ellas, featuring Trev and Dani (Winning it All), Becker and Kendall (Scoring at Love) and Ryder and Jess (Chasing the Prize).
As always, I am grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way in my publishing journey. Your support and encouragement means the world.
Michele Shriver writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance. Her books feature flawed-but-likeable characters in real-life settings. She’s not afraid to break the rules, but never stops believing in happily ever after. Michele counts among her favorite things a good glass of wine, a hockey game, and a sweet and sexy book boyfriend, not necessarily in that order.
Contact:
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Crossing the Line (Men of the Ice Book 2) Page 10