“What happened?” Violet asked, panic rising up in her throat.
“I just got a call from Dennie.”
“Oh, no, Pats. Did you call the police?”
“Yeah, but he’s using an untraceable phone and they’re having a hard time tracking him. Apparently he also moved and quit his job, so they have no idea where he is.”
“What’d he say this time?” Violet had spoken to him once, weeks ago when he called the office looking for Patricia. His creepiness had gripped her right through the phone. She couldn’t believe the jerk was still so hung up on Pats.
Patricia signed. “More of the same. He can’t live without me. He won’t live without me. He loves me and wants me to take him back. Like we were even together in the first place! I told him I filed a restraining order, but he doesn’t care.”
“Come into the office and sit down.”
Until the time she had to leave for Jace’s housecall, Violet sat in the office with Patricia and consoled her shaken up friend.
Love was a peculiar thing. It drove people to do things they never thought they’d do and made them say things they never thought they’d say. It brought great happiness and fueled bitter fights.
And it even flung some people into madness.
* * *
Jace tossed his head back and groaned. Was this how it was supposed to feel when things were “just sex”?
Who in the hell had he become?
He leaned against the sink and took a good look at the reflection in the mirror. He was buying flowers for someone he was having “just sex” with, thinking about her day and night. This wasn’t Post-Divorce Jace, this was…In-Love-With-Violet Jace.
Was this what love did to you? Made it impossible to think straight, eat or sleep.
Jace didn’t know. And he wasn’t ready to call it love yet either. All he knew was that he sure as hell hadn’t felt this way with Simone. Sure, there was a mutual attraction—he wouldn’t have put a ring on her finger otherwise—but nothing like what he was feeling for Violet. She was like a song he couldn’t stop singing. Just when he thought his mind could focus on something else, flashbacks from their nights together crept into his mind. It was turning out to be one helluva highlight reel.
Jace thought about how much he wanted her. Since the first moment he saw her, he wanted his hands moving over her. He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted his lips on hers. And most of all, he wanted to bury himself inside her until everything else faded away.
Jace hung his head and wondered when the world had become so topsy-turvy.
* * *
Violet knocked on the big, solid oak door of Jace’s cabin.
“It’s open,” he yelled from inside.
She let herself in and found him in the bathroom shaving. He was hunched over the bathroom counter in his tightie whities, razor in hand, squinting into the mirror. Damn, there was something incredibly sexy about a man when he was shaving. She was half in love with him already and that was before she’d gotten a glimpse into his personal routines.
Without a word, she went up to him and gave him a bear hug from behind.
“Hi,” he said, swishing the razor around in the sink full of water.
“Thanks for the flowers,” she said and rested her cheek on his smooth back.
He lifted his good shoulder and let it fall again in a half shrug. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.
The flowers were a moment of weakness and he cursed himself for giving into it. If his teammates ever found out, oh, Jace could hear them now. Oh yeah. They’d have a field day with it and never let him live it down.
Before Jace met Violet, pigs would be flying over the interstate before macho Jace Make-Sure-She-Signs-A-Prenup McQuaid would ever send a woman flowers. What made things even worse was the fact that there hadn’t even been a real reason for him to send them to her. It wasn’t Violet’s birthday or their anniversary—if they even had one—he just knew she would light up when she saw them and he liked to see her smile.
God, he sounded like a total ninny.
Violet squeezed her arms around Jace’s waist and didn’t say anything else about the flowers. Sure, her first instinct was to ramble on about how beautiful they were and how lovely they smelled and how thrilled she was to receive them, but she knew it must have taken a lot for him to send them and she didn’t want to press her luck. This whole relationship they’d started was already a risky gamble.
Violet let go of his waist and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was shaving his chin and her gaze followed each stroke of the blade across his angled face. Their reflections in the mirror reminded her of their stark differences. Jace’s size was almost intimidating, his skin tan, hair black. Violet looked at herself peeking out from behind his large torso. She was dwarfed by his size, had pale ivory skin and long brown hair.
When she looked back up at his face, he was watching her. She smiled quickly and turned her focus on his back and started kneading his lower lumbar region. Gradually, she slowed her hands and slid them under the elastic at his waist.
With a few flicks of his wrist, Jace finished shaving his chin and focused on the right side of his face. When he was done, he rinsed the razor, set it on the counter and wiped his face on a towel.
“Do you need to be anywhere in the next two hours?” she asked in a breathy whisper.
He turned around to face her. “Nope.”
“Because I don’t have an appointment for a couple of hours.” It was a rare time when Patricia didn’t overbook her schedule and Violet planned on taking full advantage of it.
Jace spun her around so that her back was against the countertop. He looked into her eyes and down to her lips. “Two hours might not be long enough,” he said huskily.
Violet smiled. She couldn’t wait to feel those stubble-free cheeks brush against her inner thighs and everywhere else on her skin.
Jace lifted her onto the counter, slid his hands under her shirt and caressed her back. She plunged her hands beneath his waistband again and pulled him into the V of her legs. Then she kissed him hard. She kissed him for the flowers. She kissed him for being patient and understanding her situation. She kissed him because she was falling in love with him.
* * *
Violet slung her leg over Jace’s. She had a few minutes before she had to leave for her next appointment and wasn’t in a hurry to leave the warmth of Jace’s bed.
Something was bothering her though. Big time. She chewed the inside of her cheek and finally asked, “Do you like croissants?”
Jace shrugged and pondered the question. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. “I could take ‘em or leave ‘em.” He reached his arms up and clasped them behind his head. “They’re not my favorite food of all time, but,” he added thoughtfully, “if you slice a couple in half and slap on some ham and cheese, then you’ve got something worth eating.”
Violet laughed, satisfied with his answer. “Sounds good to me.”
He propped himself up on an elbow and looked over at her. “Why are you asking me about pastries out of the blue?” he asked. If this was some kind of test, he deserved to know it.
She shrugged. “I was just curious.”
He frowned. “Do you like croissants?”
“No,” she answered a little too loudly. “I think they’re a poor substitute for a meal.”
“Oh.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “Tell me how you really feel. You know, Vi, you really should develop an opinion about something once in a while.”
“Oh yeah? I have lots of opinions. Especially in the bedroom.”
“Mmm. Those are my favorite kind.”
* * *
When Jace’s supply of firewood got low, he paid to have someone deliver more. The only downside was that they left it in a big pile on the driveway that he was left to stack on the deck. That’s where his teammates came in handy. After a quick phone call, Cody drove out to August Lake with his five-yea
r-old twins in tow to help out. Ian and Liam Lambert were little terrors and the entire Razors team accurately called them the Tornado Twins.
The twins shoved their little hands into oversized work gloves and stacked the wood into a semi-neat pile on the porch, their tongues hanging out of their mouths in unflappable determination. They were told it was a game, a sort of brotherly competition and, to Jace and Cody’s amusement, were making quick work of it. Child labor was as cheap as it was entertaining.
Jace leaned against the porch railing and handed Cody a beer for “compensation.” “Well, I took your and Seb’s advice,” he told Cody.
“Which advice is that? The advice about getting laid?”
Jace nodded.
“How’d ya meet her?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Cody laughed. “Don’t tell me you went down to Splitz on twenty-dollar lap dance night.”
Jace’s face scrunched up in surprise. “How would you know about twenty-dollar lap dance night? You’re a married man with three kids.”
“Seb.”
Jace nodded. “That’s our Seb. Always lookin’ for a bargain.”
“So, who is she?”
“She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.” Man, Jace thought with a wince. He couldn’t believe he’d just said that out loud.
“What happened to just having sex?” Cody asked, taking a swig of beer. “You were supposed to find someone to fuck, not fall in love with.”
“Believe me, that’s how it started out, but now…”
Wait. Fall in love with? That wasn’t what this was. Was it? They were just having “just sex.”
With a shake of his head, Cody lowered his beer. “Shit, man. I’ve seen that look before.”
“What look?” Jace asked. He really should have kept his big mouth shut.
“You know. The googly eyes. Price looked the same way after meeting Ally. Con, too after Sarah came along. Man, Seb would say you guys are dropping like the flies,” Cody said in a terrible Russian accent.
Jace didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything at all. He hated it when his teammates were right.
“So much for Ace the Bachelor, huh?” Cody chuckled. “Man, I wish you better luck the second time around,” he added and clapped Jace on the back.
Jace didn’t want to be a chronic bachelor like Seb and their former teammate Dom Devereaux. Those guys were content with having a revolving door in their bedrooms. Jace liked having someone—a woman—to talk to. Someone beside the guys on his team. Someone who helped life make sense again. Someone who excited him and intrigued him.
Jace liked Violet. He liked her a lot. He liked her assessment of things and plus she always had an interesting point of view. If that made him a wuss, then so be it.
Chapter Ten
Russian Logic
When Violet pulled up to Jace’s cabin for their “appointment” an unfamiliar black Range Rover was parked in the driveway. This was the first time she’d seen anyone else at the cabin and her stomach flipped guiltily.
She wasn’t doing anything wrong, she reminded herself. She was here on a housecall, er wellness out-call or out-call massage session or whatever it was that Pats had insisted on calling it. The service was printed on her business card and everything. She didn’t feel guilty when she pulled up to Miss Lillian’s house, did she? No, because she wasn’t sleeping with Miss Lillian.
Violet hauled her massage table to the door and knocked softly. Jace, who’d been expecting her, swung the door open with a smile. “Hi.”
“Hey. How are you?”
“Good. Come in.”
Violet moved passed him and set her table down. In the living room, a man sat on the couch watching TV. Violet immediately recognized him as none other than the Razors goaltender, Alexandre Sebastien.
“Violet, this is Sebby. Seb, I’d like you to meet Violet James of Healing Touch Massage.”
Sebby’s handsome face spread into a grin. He got up from his place on the couch and moved toward Violet with an outstretched hand. “Hello Violet.”
Wow, that accent sure was sexy. If Jace was the Cup winning hometown hockey hero of Red Valley, then Alexandre Sebastien was a legend. The guy was a genius between the pipes and good looking to boot. The Razors wouldn’t win half the games they did without Sebby’s acrobatic moves and puck saving skills. Violet’s brothers were going to flip when they found out she’d met him in the flesh.
“It’s nice to meet you, Alexandre,” Violet said with a smile and stuck out her hand. “I’m a huge fan.”
“Thanks,” he said, shaking her hand and holding the grip just a little too long for Jace’s taste. “Please, call me Sebby.”
Violet was instantly charmed by Sebby’s boyish good looks. She shook his hand in return and willed her jaw not to drop. She’d seen him hundreds of times on TV and was nothing, if not a little starstruck, to meet him in person without the intimidating mask on. He might not have been as tall or as muscular as Jace, but his presence was unnerving just the same.
“Sebby was just on his way out,” Jace announced with a sideways glance at Seb.
“I’d better start setting up anyway,” Violet said, pointing to her massage table. “It was nice meeting you, Sebby.”
“You too, Violet,” Sebby drawled as he watched her walk away. He looked back at Jace who was scowling. Sebby cocked his head to the side. “Vhat?” he asked, feigning innocence.
“I’ll walk you out.” Jace shook his head and ushered the goalie out the door.
Outside, Sebby folded his arms across his chest and leaned against his black Range Rover. “Neat trick, Ace,” he said with a nod of his head. “She has massage table and everything. Very convincing.”
“It’s not a trick, Seb. She’s my massage therapist.”
“She’s hot.”
“Seb, you’d hump a stop sign if it looked at you the right way.”
“Aw shud-dup,” he said, his Russian accent thick.
“It’s the truth.”
Sebby ignored him and stayed on topic. “No wonder you’re taking so long to come back. You’re up here in mountains playing house. The guys said I talk to your machine more than you, so you must have found snow bunny.”
Jace let out a heavy sigh. “If I remember correctly, you were the one telling me to go out and get myself some tail. And lots of it.”
Sebby gave a lazy shrug. “I guess. You gotta start somewhere.”
Jace made a strangled sound. “It’s just sex, Seb.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m not blind, Ace. I saw how you look at each other.”
“Like what?” Jace played dumb. How did they look at each other?
“Like… Well, I’ll tell you what it wasn’t like. I’ve never seen any of model chicks I sleep with ever look at me like that.”
“Really?” Jace raked his fingers through his hair. “Huh.”
“There’s ‘just sex’ and then there’s sumpin’ else.” Sebby flicked his thumb toward the cabin. “You got sumpin’ else in there.”
“I’m recovering from my injury and Violet is my massage therapist,” Jace reiterated.
“Bullshit. And I am son of Khrushchev.”
“Whatever. I follow your advice and you’re still bustin’ my balls.”
“Nah, I’m proud of you. You done good, Ace.”
“Thanks,” Jace said sarcastically. “That means so much to me.”
“Vhatevah.”
“You’d better go,” Jace prompted. “It’s freezing out here.”
Sebby widened his stance and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. “I grew up in Moscow, Ace. This is like tropics.”
“Fine. You wanna talk, Seb? Let’s have a nice little chat.”
“What’s really goin’ on in there?” Sebby nodded toward the cabin again.
“I told you, it’s just sex.”
“Nah. You’re settle down type of guy. Most of the guys are. Not everyone can be playa’ like
me.”
Jace stifled a laugh. “You’ve taken one too many pucks in the face, my friend.”
“It’s okay, Ace. It’s not a sign of weakness or sumpthin’. If I was your age, I’d want someone to be old with, too.”
Jace couldn’t help but chuckle. “Guess I’m gonna have to get me a second rocking chair, eh?”
Seb frowned. He didn’t understand the reference. “Vhatever. Hey, I gotta go.”
Jace looked longingly at the house and back at Sebby. “Thanks for stopping by.”
“Yeah, better get back to your happy ending.”
Jace playfully punched Sebby in the arm and went back inside. In the living room, Violet was finishing setting up her massage table in its usual spot in front of the giant window. She wore her hair pulled back in a ponytail and it swished from side to side as she moved. She hadn’t taken her jacket off yet and the bulky fabric camouflaged the luscious curves beneath. She always looked beautiful, but even more so when she didn’t know she was being watched.
With a few long strides, Jace crossed the room to her. He put his arms around her and inhaled the feminine scent that was uniquely hers.
“That was pretty cool,” she said, pressing herself against Jace’s chest.
“What?” he asked and pressed a kiss to her neck. “Meeting Seb?”
“Yeah. You guys are like celebrities around here.”
He spun her around to face him. “Does that mean I get the celebrity treatment today?”
She smiled up at him, her cheeks pink and her skin glowing. “You always get the celebrity treatment, Jace.”
He nodded in agreement. “This is true.”
He slid the jacket from her arms and tossed it on the couch. “How was your day?” he asked casually. Without breaking eye contact, he took her keys from her and set them on the counter.
His eyes told her the details of her day were the last thing on his mind.
“Good,” Violet answered, playing along. “Pretty basic. And yours?” she asked in return, a smile curving its way onto her lips.
“Good,” he answered, pulling his shirt off over his head. “How was the drive up?”
“Good.” As he slid off her shirt, the fabric caressed over her arms. She bit back a shiver as his fingers danced over her skin. “I’m getting much better at finding the place. The squirrels give me plenty of leeway on the road and I still haven’t had any Sasquatch sightings. So, what did you do today?” she asked as he unhooked her bra.
Razors Ice 04 - Hot Ice Page 14