by G. K. Brady
His hand tightened in her hair, and he swatted her butt with the other, growling, “No biting until I’ve got you naked.”
She spun from his grasp and raced toward her bedroom. “Gotta catch me first.”
“Game on, sweet thing!” He took off after her and immediately thudded to the floor, pants twisted around his ankles. Shit! Casper covered his face with licks before he could push her away. Down the hallway drifted Ellie’s hysterical laughter, making his own bubble to the surface. In that moment, his wounded hand and wounded pride didn’t matter. The only thing that did matter was the woman who was going to let him into her bed tonight. He had everything he wanted, and it was easy to silence the voice warning him he was getting in too deep.
“I can’t believe you’re hungry again,” she said behind him an hour later as he stuck his head in her open refrigerator. Her voice held a sleepy smile. He raked his hand through his messy hair—the hair she’d messed up—and turned, the sight of her filling him with something he couldn’t understand because he’d never felt it before.
Dressed in yoga pants and a tiny tank top under a gaping terry robe, she’d pulled her hair into a ponytail that hadn’t quite captured all her strands. Some of them wisped around her face, and others hid one eye. She was sex-rumpled. Breathtaking. Utterly stunning. And he couldn’t wait to rumple her again.
She yawned and stretched, and her top rode up and gave him a peek at a stripe of smooth pink skin. “If I’m going to hang out with you much longer,” she said, “I’ll have to adjust my sleep schedule. Any more of this going to bed at 2:00 a.m. and getting up at six, and I’ll be falling asleep at the wheel and crashing into people, like someone I know.”
He perched his hands on his boxer-clad hips. They were all he had on, and he felt surprisingly comfortable, even though he wasn’t in his own house. “That accident had nothing to do with lack of sleep.”
“Oh no? What, then?”
Being distracted about everything and everyone driving me nuts in Denver. Which, interestingly, wasn’t holding his attention hostage like it had. “Not watching where I was going, I guess,” he lied. He closed the fridge door, scooped her up, and sat on a kitchen chair with her in his lap. An errant thought streaked through his brain, sending him into a near panic. With soft strokes, he ran his fingertips over her hair, her face. “God, I’m so glad I didn’t hurt you. I can’t imagine—”
“Shh. It all worked out.” She kissed him softly.
He cleared his suddenly clogged throat. “Yeah, it did. So maybe you should start adjusting that sleep schedule?”
Chapter 29
Playing House
"Hey, El. Looking a little worse for wear today,” Finn greeted her cheerfully as she sped into the office, late again. Except she was the boss, so she wasn’t technically late, but still, there was a standard to uphold, and if your employees beat you to work every day for the past week? Not a good example.
She dropped her bag on her desk and picked up Casper’s water bowl to fill. “Where’s Felipe?”
“Off picking up more lights. Where’s Casper?”
Ellie stared at the empty water bowl in her hand before setting it gingerly on the floor. “Um, with Dave.”
Finn barked out a laugh. “Again? You sure he’s not dating you for your dog?”
“Haha. No, I’m not sure, actually. Although he will be dropping her off later this morning when he heads to practice.”
“Oh good! Maybe he can help me with my problem.”
Ellie plopped into her chair and rubbed her forehead. “What problem is that?”
Finn parked himself on the corner of a desk, his expression bordering on pained. “I don’t know what to get Sonoma for Christmas. I want it to be something special, but not too special because I don’t want to spook her, but it should be more special than some generic friend-zone gift, and I just can’t come up with … Hey, do you think she’d like a pair of diamond earrings?”
The shock on Ellie’s face must have been obvious because Finn’s next words were, “Too much, huh? Yeah, I thought so. But I want it to be something—”
“Special. Got it.” Fascinated by her stepbrother’s transformation, Ellie watched him a few moments. “Have you ever bought a woman you were dating a Christmas gift before? Besides a bottle of wine or some cheap ornament you picked up at the Walgreens checkout, I mean?”
If Ellie doubted Finn was serious before, his next comment sent her across the finish line. “She’s just … I don’t know. Different from anyone I’ve ever known. She’s funny and smart and pretty and—why are you looking at me like that?”
Because you’re gushing like a sixteen-year-old girl? “Lordy, Lordy! I think I’m witnessing history. Unless I’m mistaken, she’s hooked the king of bachelors. And that’s not to say you’re royal, Finn, just that … Jeez, I never thought I’d see the day.” Ellie stood and pulled him into a tight hug, then gave him a knuckle-rub on his head. “My baby brother is turning into a man!” She feigned a sob.
“Shut up. You’re no help,” he chuffed and pushed her away, and she laughed all the way back to her desk. “Glad to see you’re happy, El, even if it is at my expense.” He reached behind himself, picked up a clipboard, and fanned through some sheets of paper. “After Felipe picks up the lights, we should have enough to complete our five remaining jobs, which will be the end of our season. Until after the holidays, when we go back out and take everything down, of course. But I’ve got that covered already. We start on January fourth with the McKenzies, then the Millers, then …”
She tuned out the rest because she was too busy trying to figure out who this person in front of her was and what he’d done with Finn. She stole a longing glance at the empty coffeepot. “How come no one made coffee yet?”
“You’re the only one who drinks it, El.”
“Oh. Right.” God, she was losing it! Too much sexy time between the sheets and no sleep was making her a little loopy. Thank God Dave was leaving tomorrow on a five-day road trip. A few twelve-hour nights and she’d be back on track. Except she was going to miss him. He’d become a fixture at her house, surprising her with how seamlessly she’d adapted to him taking up her space. Though his place was bigger, he felt more at home at hers, and she had no problem with that because he wasn’t a bad roomie. He took Casper for runs, cooked—even cleaning up after—and left the toilet seat down. In other words, he was housebroken. And so, so hot! Wonder if I could get him to wear an apron and nothing else when he cooks? That cute man tush right there for the grabbing—
Finn’s whistle startled her. “Hey. Where’d you go, El? Did you hear what I said about the coffee?”
“Um, maybe you should repeat it?”
“I said, I think we should get one of those pod dispensers. We’ll cut down on waste that way and have fresh coffee to offer walk-ins. As it is, I think we throw out about three pots a week.”
“Right. Coffee.” As she stared at Finn, a thought struck her. “Shit, what am I gonna get Dave for Christmas?”
He shrugged in answer.
“I mean, what do you get a man who can afford whatever he wants?” Fuzzy dice and a hula dancer—but not a real one.
“No idea, El. Never walked in those sneakers before.”
She raised a finger to make a point but stopped mid-thought when a man walked through the front door and sent alarms waving through her. Finn stood abruptly, and she shot up from her chair, whacking her knee on her desk. Suckitup, suckitup, suckitup. “Agent Clemente,” she managed to grit out. “What can we do for you?”
The agent’s cologne reached her before he did. In his hands, he held a cardboard tray loaded with Starbucks cups. “You’re a busy lady, so I thought I’d bring you and your staff some coffee, then maybe stay and chat a while.”
Ellie sat down hard. What does this man want? Whatever it was, there was no escaping him now.
Dave checked his phone as soon as they were wheels down in LA, the first city on their West Coast swing. H
is heart thumped a little harder when he saw Ellie’s message, a selfie of her and Casper with the caption, Have a great game tonight. We’ll save you some popcorn.
He looked around at his teammates, who all had their noses stuck in their phones too, some with shit-eating grins that probably matched the one he was fighting to hold back. While it was great to be back on the road, he missed Ellie already. He couldn’t remember missing Nicky this much. Anyone this much—as though he’d left a hulking hunk of himself back in Denver. What was different? And another question orbiting inside his brain: If he’d thought of Nicky half as much as he thought of Ellie, would they still be together? How much had their breakup been his fault?
Christ! Don’t overthink. Just go with it. He’d been repeating the mantra since the first night he’d talked himself out of following his conscience and into following his dick instead—right into bed with Ellie. But it had gone beyond sleeping with her. Hell, it had already passed that point when he finally did sleep with her. He’d had plenty of casual hookups that had remained just that. While some of them had lasted more than a night, a week, or even months, and he looked back on them fondly when he thought to look back at all, they’d never taken possession of him the way this girl did. When he wasn’t on the ice and in the game, all he could think about was her. Christ, he’d even invited her to his car cave! Because he wanted to see the look on her face when he pulled every last cover off. Not to impress her, but to delight her. He was tuned in to the Ellie Channel twenty-four-seven. And if he thought about it too much, it scared the fuck out of him. Just go with it, dumbass.
With Christmas right around the corner, teams had gone deep-space dark, even though he’d been playing as if he were at the pinnacle of his game. As if his hand wasn’t in constant pain—so much pain that he’d thumbed dozens of texts to Bobby only to delete them.
Truth be told, he was okay with letting his trade demand simmer on a back burner for now. There were no guarantees Herb could find the right opportunity for him anyway, and he could easily wind up staying in Denver. If he kept himself healthy, kept his nose clean, he’d still be tradable. In the meantime, no one needed to know he’d asked for the trade. No harm, no foul.
He looked around at his teammates joking with each other, and envy took a few steely stabs at him. Ellie’s words from the other night had been rolling around in his head like rocks in a tumbler. Leaders went into the dirty places, they took their lumps, and they came out of it pulling everyone else along with them. They got the job done. Not by themselves, but by galvanizing those around them into one cohesive force. He’d been that guy once, hadn’t he? Or had he just stumbled into it? It had come easily then. As he watched his teammates, he wasn’t sure he could dig deep enough to pull it off again.
If Ellie could peep into his thoughts right now, she’d tell him he absolutely could. Her faith in him was one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her.
Oh shit!
Two nights later, Dave was in Anaheim’s visitors’ locker room getting ready with the rest of the team when Coach Marty LeBrun sauntered in. “Grimson, see you for a minute?”
“Yeah, Coach.” Dave dropped his roll of hockey tape and followed Coach into the office designated for the visiting club’s coaching staff.
Coach closed the door and indicated a seat in front of the desk. “Have a seat.” Dave did, and Coach sat behind the desk and leaned forward, forearms on the desktop. “So what’s this I hear about you looking for a trade?”
Fuck! “What makes you think I’m looking for a trade?”
Coach gave him a mirthless smile. “Word on the street is an elite defenseman with leadership skills is looking to make a move out of Denver.”
“We have other defensemen on this team who fit that description,” Dave answered smoothly.
“Maybe, though none of them is struggling to fit in with the club right now.” Coach gave him a pointed look. “Look, I’m not gonna bullshit you. That’s a tight-knit bunch of guys in there, and they play for each other, but they still need a leader they can follow. I know you’ve been trying to earn back their respect, but it’s no secret you’re not there yet. It’s hard to come back. I get it. You still have some things to figure out, but I believe you can do it, given enough time and effort.”
Figure out? Dave bristled. “So what are you saying? Bottom line?”
“I’m saying you’ve given this organization your all for the past ten years, and you’re still a top-six defenseman at the peak of his career. Sometimes change is good, and if you decide a fresh start is what you need, I get that too. I don’t see you staying if you’re not wearing the C—that’d be hard to swallow—but if you want to stay and be this team’s leader, you need to step up and take some responsibility for what landed you here in the first place. While I’d rather not lose you, if you’re hell-bent on a trade, that might be the best answer.”
And just like that, reality smashed Dave in the face like a high stick. Breath stalled in his chest, and the seat seemed to go out from under him. This was the only club he’d ever played for, and he’d bled team colors since the first day he joined.
He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings, his balance. It was one thing to talk about a trade; it was another thing altogether when your coach said it might be better if you moved on.
Dave looked squarely at the man across the desk. “Is that it?”
Coach leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “That’s it.”
Dave rose, rapped the edge of the desk, and gave Coach a head bob. “Duly noted.”
As he walked back toward the locker room, his mind was a tilt-a-whirl. Before stepping inside, he pulled his phone from his back pocket, leaned against the wall, and made a call.
“Dave?” came Ellie’s voice. His world felt a little less rocked. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Dave, is everything okay?”
He straightened and blinked. “Yeah, I’m good. I just wanted to hear you wish me luck for tonight’s game.”
She laughed. “Good luck, Captain. Casper and I will be watching.”
Wish I were gonna be there, curled up with my favorite girls. “You gonna be eating popcorn?”
“Oh, you know it!”
“Hey, uh, before I let you go, I … Nicole texted me about watching Benny the week between Christmas and New Year’s.” A few beats passed, and when Ellie didn’t speak, he kept going. “But I have an away game, and I wondered—”
“Casper and I would be happy to take care of him while you’re gone. Can’t wait to meet the little guy.”
He laughed, and it helped blow off some of the stale air crowding his lungs. “He’s not so little, but thanks. I really appreciate it.” An assistant coach walked past Dave and went into the locker room. Once the door closed, Dave said in a hushed tone, “Hey El, I should go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay. Have a great game. Smash somebody! And score a goal!”
“Any other demands?” he chuckled.
“That’s it.”
“Okay, cutie.” Corralling an “I love you” fighting to roll off his tongue, he hung up. Any lift he’d gotten from talking to her evaporated when he opened the door and stepped into the locker room.
Dave sucked that night. So did the rest of the team. They redeemed themselves the next night, though, when they finished off their road trip with a win in San Jose. Fatigue seeped into his bones, but he was amped at the same time. Though it was late, he called Ellie. God, he couldn’t wait to get home and see her, and he didn’t want to wait until tomorrow. Hell, it was almost tomorrow now, but he needed his fix. Bad.
Hours later, he stood on her front stoop, poised to unlock it with a key she’d hidden for him, arguing with himself. It’s 2:00 a.m., for fuck’s sake. You’re going to wake her up. No, no. She said it was okay. He’d acted like a little pussy, practically begging her to let him come over. This isn’t about sex. I’m too tired anyway. I just want to hold her.
“Excuses, yo
u make. Leave her alone, you must,” Yoda growled at him.
Yoda, have you ever actually had sex? No need to ask you, Han. Maybe you can explain it to the little green guy while I go cuddle my girl.
The argument in his head continued as he pushed the door open, dropped his bag, and locked up. A little grunt and the click-clack of claws alerted him Casper, the ferocious guard dog, was headed his way … to lick him to death. Once he got her settled down, he toed off his shoes, shed his jacket, and padded into Ellie’s bedroom.
Soft light glowed from the bathroom door she’d left ajar. A sprawl of hair the color of Black Hills gold fanned across her pillow behind her, beckoning him to tangle his hands in it, and he started unbuttoning his shirt with urgency. The covers were pulled up to her chest, one satiny-sleeve-capped shoulder peeking out. Were these the PJs from their first night together? Hard to know since the only thought he usually gave her PJs was how fast he could strip them off. But not tonight. Tonight he just wanted to drift off with the comforting weight and feel of her in his arms.
Finally down to his underwear, he gingerly lifted the covers and eased himself in behind her so he didn’t let in cold air. Then he was wrapping her up, cradling her, tension leaving his body in one long, mattress-sinking sigh. She made one of those little mewling noises he loved and nestled against him, her familiar fragrance wreathing him. So soft and warm. She smelled and felt like home, and he melted a little inside. Home.
“Dave?” she whispered. With a shift of her hips, she rolled to face him and wound her arms around his shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re home,” her warm, moist mouth mumbled against his bare chest. Then her leg was over his hip, and she was pulling herself closer. “Mmm. You feel so good.” She dropped her hand between them and started a featherlight stroke through his boxer briefs.