A Better Man(81)
He rolled her to her back, leaned over her, and kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose. "You're not getting rid of me that easy."
He did get up then and disappeared into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Moments later he reappeared and dropped down onto the bed, trapping her between his big arms and body. She laughed at the big, sexy, satisfied grin on his face.
"And just so you know . . ." He kissed her and gently caught her bottom lip between his teeth. "Next time starts right now."
Chapter 14
Game two in the series between the Carolina Vipers and the Philadelphia Flyers turned out to be a free-­for-­all brawl within a hockey game. While Nicole leaped to her feet to root for the Vipers player to win in the scramble, Lucy turned her head. Especially when Jordan had been involved in a bout that had drawn blood.
His.
Glorified violence was something she'd never get used to-­not after what she'd experienced. Not that she wasn't willing to fight for what was right, just that she'd choose words over fists. Of course, in a hockey game, with the clock ticking, there probably wasn't much time to talk things out. And that little black puck moved pretty quick across the ice.
The penalty box seemed a place Jordan enjoyed because he sure ended up there a lot. As she watched him in that glass-­enclosed time-­out, the intensity on his face revealed a completely different side of the man who'd whispered such passionate words while he made love to her.
All around her people screamed his name when he rushed the puck toward the net. They screamed his name when he dropped his gloves on the ice and duked it out with an opponent. They screamed his name when he slammed an opponent into the boards. She'd known he was a fan favorite, but seeing the frenzy in person was something else. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have such fans. To have women throwing themselves at you wherever you went.
Not that he probably minded that part.
Before the game the PR department had arranged a meet-­and-­greet for the fans. It had been the first time Lucy had stood near Jordan when he'd been in uniform. He was a big, muscular, tall man made even more breathtaking by the added height from the skates and the shoulder pads he wore for protection. A true warrior on ice.
There had been little boys wearing Vipers hockey jerseys who looked up to him. Little boys who wanted to be him. There had been beautiful women who wanted him in their beds and who'd curled around him like cats while having their picture taken. They'd pressed their breasts against him and looked up at him with good time guaranteed flashing in their eyes.
While Nicole beamed with pride and inserted herself into the pre-­game activity, Lucy had stood back in the crowd, taking it all in. Invisibility had its advantages, but when the shield shattered, it did it in a big way.
One of the busty blondes who'd cozied up to Jordan in the meet-­and-­greet and had done everything in her power to grab his attention had walked up to Lucy afterward and shoved an open newspaper at her.
"Is this you?" she'd said.
Lucy looked down at the sports page headline and the photo below it.
KINCADE HOT FOR TEACHER?
The photo was of them leaving the Peach Magnolia Grill. His hand was at her back and he was smiling down at her.
Lucy felt her heart stop, then trip trying to get started again. She didn't have time to read the short article because the sneering blonde pulled it away.
"You're not his type, you know," she'd said. "Someone like you could never give him what he needs."
Nothing earth-­shattering about that. Lucy knew that fact painfully too well.
"We've been together," the blonde said. "Often. I'm sure if he has anything to do with you it would just be a pity fuck. So why don't you do us both a favor and back the hell away. Jordan and I belong together. And now that he's back, we can pick up where we left off. I'm sure the next headline you see will be our engagement announcement."
Stinging from the verbal assault, Lucy had watched the woman walk back toward Jordan, where she pushed aside a little girl in a hockey jersey to plant a kiss on Jordan's mouth. The smug look she flashed Lucy afterward claimed him like he was a piece of property to be owned.
Uncertainty again rose like smoke from a fire.
Even if Jordan had already stolen her heart, she had to be honest with herself. The blonde was right. They'd never fit. No matter how much she wanted it to be so.
She was a schoolteacher who lived a quiet, boring life compared to his fast-­paced and exciting existence. He traveled for most of the year while she preferred the safety and security of home. She abhorred violence. He played a violent game and loved every second of it. Jordan was wonderful, sensual, and patient. But he'd grow tired of someone like her-­even if he'd never made her feel that way. Her life was in a small town, his was on the world's stage.