Seduced by the Game

by editor Lisa Hollett

  “I’m not holding grudges.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been reading a thing or two about this team. Mr. Parker fired your beloved coach and his staff, only brought a few existing employees with him, including his now fiancée, and he changed the team’s entire identity.”

  “There was no reason to fire our coach.”

  “I don’t know Parker. I don’t know his rationale. I did read he wanted a fresh start, and the old coaching staff wasn’t going in the direction he wanted to go.”

  “We were one goal away from playing in the Finals. Parker doesn’t know a damn thing about hockey.”

  “He’ll learn. He’s got the money, the time, and the ambition. The team’s old owners were idiots. They bled the team dry and wasted the money on gambling in Vegas. You know that.”

  Cooper nodded. She’d done her research, and he couldn’t deny the truth. He’d hated the old team’s ownership. They’d been slimy assholes who’d used the team as their own private bank account until they’d raided the coffers to the point that the team had fallen deeply in debt.

  “Mr. Parker is the richest owner in the league. He’s committed to bringing a championship to Seattle and putting the best team possible on the ice.”

  Cooper couldn’t mount a single, viable argument. The words escaped him.

  “Have you ever won a the Cup?”

  “Uh, no.” Cooper hated admitting it, but he’d never even played in the finals.

  “Isn’t it a hockey player’s dream to skate for a team committed to bringing one home?”

  Cooper shrugged, starting to feel like a stubborn, misguided idiot.

  “Did you know that the Seattle Metropolitans were the first US team to ever win the Cup?”

  “Uh, yeah, I heard that somewhere.”

  “Give Seattle a chance, Cooper. Quit shooting yourself and your team in the foot.”

  “It’s a pretty big foot; makes an easy target.” He grinned his lopsided grin, the one guaranteed to make any woman forget her name but definitely not his.

  Only her lecture wasn’t over.

  “You need to get over it. You aren't going back to Florida. Build your career here or get traded or cut. Is that what you really want?” She fingered the collar of his dress shirt and tugged on his tie to pull his face closer to hers. “I don’t want to see you go.”

  “You don’t?” He stared at her lips only a few inches away, wanting to kiss her, yet holding back.

  “No, I don’t.” She planted a wet kiss on his lips and drew back before he could recover. “Dance with me.”

  “Why is it so important to you?” His voice was raspy, husky with lust.

  “Because it’s important to you to move on and embrace your new home.”

  How could a man say no to a woman who put him first, a woman with beautiful eyes and a delectable body?

  He nodded. He couldn’t help himself. She’d decimated his resolve, not to mention his stubborn vengeance. He hoped his guys forgave him, but she was right. Nothing he did would move this team back to Florida, a team poised on the brink of success, a team he’d watch grow over the past ten years. It might not be the same location, but it was the same guys.

  He was their captain. They trusted him to lead them in the right direction, and he hadn’t lately, but tonight would be a start.

  * * * *

  Izzy couldn’t believe she’d worn him down that easily. A man like Cooper Black didn’t give up his convictions without a fight unless he believed those convictions hadn’t been correct in the first place. When she’d told him dancing was important for him, not her, she’d meant it. To hell with the money dangling on the line for Party Crashers, she wanted Cooper to embrace this city and give his team a fighting chance. For that, she’d do just about anything, and for Cooper, she’d skate into the great unknown or dance in the stars.

  Holding her hand, Cooper led her inside to the dance floor. She winked at her sisters over his shoulder as he pulled her body to his. The club music pulsed around them in a sexy, sultry beat, while lights flashed with dizzying speed.

  Over his shoulder, the shocked, open-mouthed faces of his teammates swam in her vision. Then they broke ranks and flooded the floor, dancing all around them with any available woman they could find. The party had gone from bust to blast in ten seconds.

  And Cooper had led the charge. She was proud of him, as if she had a right to be.

  The now crowded dance floor with its pulsating lights and club atmosphere afforded a bit of anonymity to the dancers in the crowd. It was hard to tell where one body started and another ended in the mass of wriggling, gyrating hips, waving arms, and flashes of leg.

  She glanced over at Bethany dirty dancing with the gorgeous Swede, Cedric. Bethany had always been as daring as her red hair, the wild child of the family, though the twins were a close second. Her sister threaded her fingers through Cedric’s hair and kissed the hell out of his mouth, while her hands roamed up and down his back.

  Cooper tugged on her hair bringing her attention back to him and his large muscular body pressing against hers. She could feel his erection against her stomach.

  “So how the hell did we meet?”

  Izzy blinked several times. “Meet?” She tried to switch gears from his dick to his question. It took her a few seconds. In fact, so long he clarified the question.

  “Yeah, we’ve been together for what? A month or so. How’d we meet?” He grinned down at her and his blue eyes sparkled.

  Izzy laughed. He might be an ass at times, but he could be a charmer, too. “I swept you off your feet when you came into my coffee shop.”

  “You own a coffee shop?”

  “No, I’m a barista. You ordered a double-caramel macchiato.”

  “That’s sounds like a girlie drink.” He made a face, and she had to laugh.

  “Oh, honey, that’s what I liked most about you. You weren’t afraid to show your feminine side.”

  Both brows disappeared under his shaggy mop of luxurious dark hair. “Trust me, I don’t have a feminine side. I’m all male.”

  “Prove it.” A dumb challenge, but hey, she was all-in, regardless of the consequences.

  A smile tugged on the corner of his so-kissable mouth. He dipped his head and claimed her lips and took a slow, sensuous stroll from one corner of her mouth to the other. She threaded her fingers in his hair. His lips pressed hers, demanding yet oddly gentle. She opened to him, closing her eyes and savoring the sensations of his tongue tangling with her tongue in a dance as powerful as the one their bodies were engaged in.

  She inhaled the pure male scent of him mingled with a trace of aftershave, a heady combination of civilized and uncivilized man. Opening her eyes, she found him watching her with interest, those blue eyes shining with desire. He broke the kiss to nibble on her neck. She sighed a sigh of raw pleasure. His lips rained feather-light kisses on her neck, around the shell of her ear.

  “I’m going to fuck you before the night’s over.” His steady gaze drove home the promise.

  She nodded, unable to speak or even comment.

  “I’d like to take you up against that wall over there while everyone watches.” The intensity in his eyes said he wasn’t kidding, and right now she’d probably go along with anything he wanted.

  Anything. Including fucking her brains out in a crowded ballroom up against the wall. Waltzing her into a dark corner away from most of the dancers, he slid his big hands under her skirt and gripped her ass, grinding her against him. She was ready, her common sense replaced by blind lust. Izzy wrapped a long leg around his thigh and wedged her hand between their bodies, rubbing his erection. He groaned and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  “It’s your turn next, handsome.”

  “I’m counting on it,” he rasped as she continued to stroke his erection. “Oh, fuck, you are so hot.”

  “So are you.” Izzy nipped his earlobe, and he groaned, sounding like an animal in pain.

  “Let’s get to fuck
out of here.”

  “We’re on a boat.”

  “We’ll swim to shore if we have to.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her along with him.

  She couldn’t do this. Shouldn’t do this. Well, crap, she was going to do this.

  “I thought we were going to do it in the ballroom?” she teased breathlessly as he stopped at the dessert table.

  His heavy-lidded eyes regarded her. “Ever done it in public?”

  Izzy shook her head.

  “I figured as much. Probably be better if the first time was private.”

  “We’re on a boat with a couple hundred other people.”

  “We’ll find a place.” He loaded up a plate with delectable desserts.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I will be after I’m done with you. Screwing a beautiful woman’s brains out makes me hungry.”

  “You romantic devil. Talk sexy some more to me.” She moved closer to him, drunk on his hard, muscled body and hypnotic blue eyes. She’d lost her mind, her common sense, and every other thing she’d held dear over the years. All Izzy wanted was him, and the consequences be damned. She glanced over her shoulder, but none of her sisters paid her any mind, busy as they were entertaining their own sexy hockey players.

  So much for their moratorium on sleeping with the guests.

  Balancing the plate on one hand, Cooper led Izzy back toward the private dining areas and hoped like hell no one was using them.

  “So we’ve tried both bathrooms. What do you suggest this time?”

  “I think I know just the place.”

  A few minutes later, after a few large bills were laid in a waiter’s palm, Cooper escorted her into a private dining suite suitable for a small group of six to eight. On the upper deck of the boat, the large windows afforded a great view of the city, not that they’d be looking at the view.

  Cooper placed the plate on a spare serving cart and turned to her. “This could get messy.”

  “I like messy,” she countered. Oh, God, what was she doing? This was so unprofessional, so incorrect, so bad of her.

  “You’d better take that expensive dress off.” He looked her up and down and licked his lips.

  “Why don’t you take it off for me?” she teased with a saucy smirk. He seemed to like that idea.

  Cooper backed her against the wall and lowered the straps on her dress, freeing her breasts. He dipped his head for an encore performance and sucked on a nipple. She arched her back and moaned while she unzipped his pants, slid her fingers along his flat belly, and squeezed his cock. It was his turn to groan.

  “Let’s get—”

  Footsteps and voices came closer and closer. They both froze, him with his lips on her nipple, her with her fingers wrapped around his penis.

  “Oh, crap, someone’s coming. Did you lock the door?” Izzy asked.

  “I thought you did.”

  The doorknob turned, and they dived behind the small bar in the corner of the room.

  “Hey, in here. Nice and private and no one’s in here.” Cedric’s voice.

  “Perfect, big boy, now let’s see if your stamina extends beyond the ice.” Bethany giggled.

  “I assure you, it does.” Cedric was breathing heavily, his voice muffled at times. Izzy didn’t want to picture what might be muffling it, such as a part of her sister’s anatomy.

  A zipper was unzipped. Clothing rustled. Another zipper, more rustling, a hearty chuckle, followed by heavy breathing. Talk about a mood killer. This was her sister about to have sex with a virtual stranger and only a few feet away.

  “They’re going to do it right here,” Izzy whispered.

  “Like we weren’t?” Leave it to a man to point out the obvious.

  “Yeah, but we were here first.”

  “They don’t know that.”

  More groaning, laughter, dirty sex talk. Izzy so did not want to hear this.

  “I need to stop them.”

  “Why?” He nuzzled her neck, planting little kisses along her jaw.

  “Listen to them.” She held her hands up to her ears, but couldn’t block her imagination. She had to stop them before they got naked.

  So much for the Party Crasher pact. How odd, it wasn’t like either of them had ever done anything like this before. Chalk it up to hockey players with hot bodies and hotter intentions.

  * * * *

  Cooper couldn’t believe his bad luck, but as a closet optimist, he wasn’t giving up yet. He could take her behind this bar while her sister and his buddy drowned out any noise Cooper and Izzy might make. Izzy’s sister was pretty damn vocal.

  Stupid, maybe. Desperate, hell, yes. Hard as a rock, abso-fucking-lutely.

  Cooper slid his hand under the V of Izzy’s dress, cupping her breast. She stiffened and shoved his hand away. “They’ll hear us,” she hissed.

  “You’re ruining the mood, honey.” He sucked on her earlobe.

  “It’s already ruined. I can’t hide here while they’re doing it a few feet away. She’s my sister.”

  Well, hell.

  Cooper’s brain worked overtime in an attempt to salvage the evening. His dick throbbed, almost painfully. God, he needed her. He couldn’t explain it, but she’d burrowed under his skin, a place he hadn’t allowed a woman in a long time, and she’d done it in a few short hours.

  Besides he had an entire tray of desserts he’d wanted to sample—on her body.

  Oh, yeah, that’s it. Right there. Bethany let out a rebel yell to equal all rebel yells.

  Izzy leapt to her feet before Cooper could stop her. “That’s enough.”

  Cooper sheepishly crawled to his feet to survey the scene before him. If he hadn’t been so horny, the twin deer-in-the-headlight expressions on Bethany’s and Cedric’s faces would’ve doubled him over with laughter.

  Bethany lay sprawled on the table—the exact table he’d planned to use to take Izzy. Dammit. The straps on Bethany’s dress were pulled down, her skirt was pushed up, and her thighs were spread wide. Cedric lay across the top of her, one hand between her legs, one on her breast.

  Bethany screeched, an ear-shattering screech, and twisted away from Cedric. The violence of the motion sent her rolling to the floor and Cedric slamming to the floor on the opposite side of the table.

  Izzy ran to her sister’s side, while Cooper walked more leisurely to Cedric’s side and glared down at him.

  Cedric sat up and rubbed his back. “Fuck, that hurt.”

  Cooper gave him a not-so-gentle nudge in the ass with his foot. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”

  Cedric pushed himself to his feet, still rubbing his back. “I could ask the same of you.” He stared pointedly at Cooper’s crotch, calling attention to Cooper’s unzipped fly. Cooper quickly zipped it up.

  Together, they glanced at the women. Bethany was on her feet, smoothing out her dress, pulling up straps, pulling down her skirt. Both women looked as if they’d been out for a stroll in gale force winds.

  Hands on her hips, Izzy turned to her sister. “You know we have a pact.”

  “And so do you.” Bethany braced her hands on her hips too, making them look like a pair of sexy bookends.

  “This—this—Swedish oaf had his hand between your legs, and you were screaming for more.” Izzy pointed accusingly at Cedric.

  “Hey, now, I’m not an oaf—”

  Izzy and Bethany both shot Cedric a murderous look. The huge man, who’d faced down the toughest men in the league, backed up several steps, obviously not wanting any part of a possible bloody catfight, as he inched toward the door. Cooper was no fool; he skirted the two women himself, several feet from safety and freedom.

  “What were you doing in here with that toothless Neanderthal?” Bethany shouted.

  Cooper ran his tongue over his mouth. All his teeth were still there. “I’m not—”

  Both women turned on him and Cooper froze. He tried a tentative smile and received two kiss-ass scowls in return. Cedric reached the door and bolted
through it. In three long strides, Cooper followed.

  Both men stood in the hallway staring at the closed door. Angry, muffled words echoed from the other side.

  Cooper ran a hand through his unruly hair and smoothed it back. “Damn.”

  Cedric blew out a relieved breath. “That was close. I thought we might end up castrated.”

  “No shit.”

  “I haven’t seen you so tied up over a woman in a long time.”

  “I’d like her to tie me up, or even better, I’d like to tie her up.” Cooper grinned. Cedric didn’t.

  “Are you walking away or are you going for it?”

  “I don’t know.” He really didn’t know. She did stuff to him, not just physically, but emotionally, getting more than his dick involved in this insane attraction to a woman he barely knew. That made him vulnerable, and he avoided vulnerable more than he avoided sushi.

  Cooper cast one last, longing look toward the closed door, imagining Izzy all messy and ready for sex. He wasn’t done with that woman yet. The night was young and the boat would soon be docking. This party wasn’t over until the fat lady skated home, and she wasn’t skating off the rink until he said so.

  Chapter 5—Drop Pass

  Izzy threw back her head and started laughing when the guys ran out like the devil was on their tails. She couldn’t help it. Those big, strong alpha males couldn’t handle a little sisterly disagreement. How funny was that? Bethany joined in, both of them laughing until their sides hurt. Finally, Izzy managed to gain her breath.

  “We scared the crap right out of them, didn’t we?” Bethany smiled, even though her eyes were still a little dilated and her hands shaky.

  Izzy turned toward her and went on the offensive before her sister had a chance to state the obvious. “What were you thinking, fooling around with a guest at a party? You know we don’t do that.” She spoke calmly in her matter-of-fact, older sister, lecturing mode. No one would guess what a screwed up mess she was inside with conflicting thoughts bouncing around inside her head like a duck in a whirlpool.

  “Really? And what were you doing in here with him?” Bethany raised her eyebrows and tilted her head toward the door the men had escaped through.