Chapter 3

I was in the locker room after winning an intense back-and-forth game against the Rangers when I saw her again. My eyes seemed to seek her out of their own accord. I couldn’t say why. Nothing had changed. I still dreamed of her, but that didn’t change the fact that she was a reporter. Maybe Cage’s words still floated around in my head. Perhaps it was time to give up my voice, so to speak. Or not.

You going to talk to her, dickhead?

Cage’s signing was almost perfect these days. He was a quick learner. Instead of snapping back with a quirky retort, I simply gave him the universal signal of fuck you. In my peripheral vision, I saw Jennie laugh. My head spun her way, but as soon as our eyes locked, her gaze drifted to the right, and she lifted her hand held recorder closer to our captain as his interview moved along.

Giving Cage a bone, I signed back to him. She is pretty cute, isn’t she?

I’ve always liked the buxom ones, you know that. Of course my eyes are only for Karen now.

Cage had liked many, many different kinds of women in the past, but he was absolutely a one-woman man now. If I was in a snarky mood, I would have reminded him of how whipped he was, but Cage liked to think he was still the tough badass he’d been before Karen tamed him. I’d let him have that for now.

You really think she’s different, huh?

I do. Why don’t you come over to our house tomorrow night after the game? Jennie will be there. Jaromir will be too.

Jaromir Novak was a newbie. He’d just come up from our AHL team and was earning more and more respect with each game he played in the big league. He was a twenty-one-year-old kid from the Czech Republic and his English was minimal, but he was learning fast. Another stray Karen’s taking under her wing?

You know it. She’s already invited him to Thanksgiving dinner.

Of course she had. That was the kind of woman Karen was. Cage had hit the mother lode when she’d chosen him. Part of me was envious and part of me thanked God that I didn’t have anyone to answer to. Except maybe Eight Ball.

So how about it? Stop over tomorrow and play nice with the reporter.

It was an intriguing idea, and with the new kid there I’d have an extra buffer between me and Jennie. Yeah, okay.

***

Cage and Karen shared my love of the shore and lived just on the other end of the island. With no sun-seekers clogging up the roads, it took me mere minutes to drive there. I parked my four-day-old, black Chevy Silverado behind an ancient, beat-up Buick that sported more rust than anything else. Since it was the only other car on the street, I assumed it was Novak’s, but damn, surely he could afford a car that had actual paint on it.

I hurried up the stairs to the front porch, pulling my jacket tight as I did. To my dismay the air smelled of snow. Up to six inches were predicted, and I was not looking forward to it. Snow was a nasty four-letter word to me. I’d spent the better part of my childhood shoveling that crap, and I didn’t think it was fair that I should have to clean it up at the beach. Admittedly, my shoveling would be minimal since I’d had the foresight to buy a second-story condo, but even an inch of snow was too much in my opinion.

Before I could knock on the door, it opened with a heavenly gust of heated air. I high-tailed my frozen butt inside, pressing a kiss to Karen’s cheek in the process. “Temperature’s really dropping. The snow will be here within the hour, I’ll bet.”

Karen took my black peacoat from me and hung it in the closet. She rubbed my hands between hers, offering blessed warmth. “How can someone who makes their living on the ice be so cold all the time?”

“No idea, but I’ll be glad when summer’s back.”

“Me too. Go warm up by the fire, and I’ll have Cage bring you a beer.”

Sounded like a plan to me. I made my way over to the fire, carefully stepping around Cage and Karen’s two daughters, who were playing an intense game of Candy Land. “Hey, ladies.”

One pair of soulful, brown eyes looked up at me, along with a pair of bright baby blues. The Bookers had adopted the two girls before they left California, when Cage played for the San Diego Scorpions. Ebony was as dark as her name, with short curly hair sporting purple barrettes. Her sister, Penny, was obviously of Irish decent with red hair and freckles scattered adoringly across her pale skin. And they were inseparable.

If I remembered correctly, Ebony was eight and Penny was five. Hi, Magnus. Cage had told me Ebony had been working on signing my name for a week.

“That’s really great, Eb. Good work.” I gave her a high five and turned to wave to Penny. She was a shy one, and if I had my guess, she was going to be a heartbreaker with the way she peeked up at me from under her lashes with a bashful smile breaking over her face. There was just something about that kid.

“Who’s winning?”

I waited for a second as Ebony tilted Penny’s head up and pointed to me. She repeated what she’d said, making sure to look at me. “Ebony’s winning. She’s really good at Candy Land. Sometimes I win, though.”

We chatted for a couple more minutes before Cage came in, handing me a beer. Bending low, he placed a kiss on each girl’s head. Cage kissing his two little girls was something a lot of people wouldn’t be able to picture, but he was a natural. “I’m stealing Mags away now, girls. You can go watch a movie in our room if you want to.”

Both kids sprang up before being brought to a halt. “Clean this up first. You know the rules.” With smiles from each of them, they nodded, cleaned up the game, and waved to me as they bounded up the stairs.

I still can’t believe you’re such a good father. Doesn’t fit the mold, you know?

He punched me in the arm like I knew he would. Sure it does. I’m the best at everything I do.

Of course you are. What was I thinking?

My steps faltered as we made our way into the kitchen. Karen and Jennie were cooking together at the counter. Jennie looked sweet in a holiday apron. It was green with two gingerbread men on it, one missing a chunk of his butt, saying “My butt hurts,” and another a chunk of his ear saying “What?”

What was it about this woman that made me react as I did? It was confounding. Simply being around her gave me a jolt. When I’d first experienced the phenomenon, I figured it would go away. I’d met other women who I thought were gorgeous, but they didn’t affect me in the same way. Maybe a jab of lust if I’d gone too long without, but Jennie—I didn’t know—it was so much more than that. I’d much prefer if it went away.

Jesus, does she ever not look good? Of course, I was signing with Cage.

Do you really have to sign all night? I doubt she’s wired…

Fine. But could you do me a favor first? Could you drop something by her so she’ll bend over and pick it up? I gotta see that ass.

Cage laughed and shook his head. You have it bad for this woman. Why not go for it? Give her a chance?

We’ll see. I risked a look at Jennie and caught a faint blush on her cheeks as she stood there looking at me. She forced a small smile and turned her attention back to the vegetables she was chopping to go with dip that already filled a bowl in the center of the serving plate.

So here went nothing. “Hi, Jennie.”

Before she could respond, Jaromir walked in from the direction of the garage with a six-pack of Molson. “Here is beer. Hi, Magnus. Sorry it took me long time. Beer was behind the food.” He set the drinks down on the counter and then stood behind Jennie while he reached around her to snag a carrot. His face was inches from hers, and I saw him whisper something to her, although I didn’t know what. I didn’t care for the action. Nor did I enjoy it when she laughed, but I did like it when she batted at his hand and moved slightly away from him.

Taking a break from her chopping, she touched my hand to gain my attention. “Carrot?”

I hated carrots. Hated them. “Sure, thanks.” I ate the carrot. I don’t know why, but she offered so I took.

“You’re welcome.”

I took a full minute to look my fill, simply enjoying the view before me. Jennie was not wearing her typical work clothes. She had on a pink sweater that was snug in all the right places, and dark blue jeans that caressed her generously curved hips. I much preferred her casual look to the staid suits she wore in the locker room. I especially liked the way she had her hair back. The headband holding it was adorned with delicate pink flowers and allowed me to discover that she had four pretty earrings in her left ear and two in her right. The fourth earring in her left was a small, silver hoop at the very top. It was sexy as hell.

Karen’s hand appeared in front of my face, breaking my inappropriate staring.

“Huh?”

“Where are you, Mags? You look far, far away.”

I looked back at Jennie and then Karen again, not knowing what to say. “Nowhere. Just thinking.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I was thinking. About how cute Jennie looked.

Karen smiled a secret grin, as if she knew where my thoughts were. “Okay. Would you take this into the living room?” She handed me a plate of chips and salsa along with some plates and napkins.

“Sure thing.” I wasn’t sure what was on the agenda for the night, but I looked forward to it. I’d been spending entirely too much time by myself lately. When I did that, I tended to get melancholy, which wasn’t fun for anyone.

Cage and the rest of the crew came in behind me, carrying other trays of food which Karen set up on the small bar next to the fireplace. As we gathered snacks onto our plates, Karen pulled out some board games. “Trivial Pursuit or Cranium? We can play while we eat.” Turning to me, she added with a smile, “I’ll sign for you so you don’t miss anything important. I don’t want to hear any crying when you lose because you didn’t catch the question.”

I nodded my head in agreement, returning her smile. I wasn’t really much of a board-game guy, but what the hell? We decided on Trivial Pursuit first. The teams were Cage and Karen against Jaromir, Jennie, and me. We got Jaromir as an extra because of the language barrier.

“What is uninterrupted mean?” Jaromir asked us these kinds of questions throughout the game, and we won by a landslide. He may not have had all the English words down yet, but the guy was scary smart. And he wasn’t a one-note guy. Aside from his brains, he had a great sense of humor and wore his heart on his sleeve. The one thing I didn’t like about him was the way he kept touching Jennie any time he could. He reached across her for a napkin (while he let the one on his lap fall to the floor), casually rubbed his leg against hers as he stretched his arm out to grab the die, and accidently grabbed for the same chip on the plate between them, brushing his hand against hers. As nice as he was, I’d had about enough of the young pup.

“Jennie, can I take you to dinner sometime?” Great segue. I possibly could have done that with a bit more polish.

Her head snapped up at my inquiry. The surprise on her face would have been comical if it wasn’t accompanied by a frown. “Why?”

What did I say to that? It was a good question. Why indeed? I quickly signed to Cage. What do I say now? Why? Because I think she’s hot as fuck, and I’d like to get to know her? Hell, I don’t know. One thing I do know: if junior here doesn’t stop touching her, I’m going to start touching him…with my fist.

Cage threw his head back and laughed. Jennie touched my arm. “Hey. Why are you talking to Cage? You don’t know why you want to take me to dinner?”

I may have grimaced before I answered her. “I’m sorry. That was rude.” What I thought of as my charming smile didn’t seem to have a positive effect on her.

She shook her head and rolled the die, never answering my question. Of course I never answered hers either. We finished the game, but the rest of the evening was a little awkward due to my impromptu, badly-timed request. Since she didn’t say yes, I didn’t bring it up again. It was a new experience for me, to be sure. I didn’t believe I’d ever been turned down for a date before. I couldn’t say I enjoyed it.