Icing (Aces Hockey #1)(73)

She absorbed his warmth and compassion and let the tension inside her release.

“Is that why you didn’t want a modeling career?” he asked a while later.

“Yeah, partly. Although I really didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life, anyway. I kept doing it because it made Mom and me enough money to live off, but I hated the attention. People in the business in L.A. knew who I was.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Again he fell silent. Then he said, “I was pissed at Hallsy.”

Where did that come from? Her fingers went still on his shoulder, then curved into him and squeezed as she made the connection between him judging both her and Max without knowing what was really going on with them. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I was pissed because he wasn’t playing great. He was distracted and his head wasn’t in the game and…fuck.”

She got it. She got the guilt that was now eating at him because he hadn’t known the magnitude of the problems Max and Ariana had been facing. “You didn’t know.” She kissed his chest. “Nobody knew.”

“We should have known.”

“Maybe. People keep things private, though. Now he’s done what he had to do, he’s where he has to be. With his wife.” He nodded and she hoped she’d made him feel a little better. “I have to go to work soon.”

Duncan sighed. “Yeah. Come on. I’ll drive you there and pick you up after.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

In a heartbeat she was flat on her back in the bed with over two hundred pounds of pissed-off male holding her down. She stared up into his face.

“I know I don’t have to,” he growled. “I offered because I want to. I’ll probably be at the Sin Bin later, anyway. I want to take you home with me tonight. I want you in my bed, in my arms, all night. I want to wake up with you in the morning. And I want to fuck you and make you feel good and make you accept that I like doing things for you.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “Okay, then.”

In a flash his anger was gone and he was grinning. “Good. Let’s get going.”

—

The atmosphere at the Sin Bin was definitely somber that evening. More players than usual had gathered, with several tables pushed together at the back so there was room for them. They didn’t talk much about Max and Ariana, mostly shaking their heads and saying it sucked.

“I had an idea.” Duncan spoke up. “I’m gonna talk to someone at the Foundation tomorrow about it. Something we can do to raise money for cancer research.”

They all nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, man. Christ, whatever we can do.”

Duper bumped his shoulder with his in approval.

It wasn’t much, but if there was any way they could show their support for their teammate and his wife, they’d do it. Duncan still felt guilty for being annoyed at Hallsy’s poor performance lately, even wondering if he was doing drugs.

His mind then turned to Amber’s dad. Holy, holy shit. Never in a million years would he have thought she was Deke Johnson’s daughter. This information burned on his tongue and he wanted to share this incredible fact with Duper, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d promised Amber.

He understood that. This also made him uneasy, though. He wasn’t the most famous athlete in the world, but he did get attention in the press. There were stupid gossip websites and blogs that were always posting stuff about the players. If he and Amber were…okay, he wasn’t thinking the M-word. Yet. But he was really, really into her and wanted her in his life. If someone dug into her background, they’d easily find out who she was and it would be all over the world faster than you could say “Internet.”

Christ. He rubbed his face. She didn’t want that, and he didn’t want to do that to her.

So what did it mean for them? Right now, they were staying under the radar. He liked low-key restaurants and playing paintball and staying home to watch Duck Dynasty. But at some point he’d want her with him when he went somewhere more high profile.

He turned to watch her chat with some customers, narrowing his eyes at the guys who flirted with her. But the table she was at had two couples, and both the men and the women were smiling up at her as she made some comment. Then she moved away and headed toward his table.

Her eyes met his as she approached. Tonight she was wearing that black skirt that showed off her tight little ass and long legs, her top loose and drapey but still somehow sexy. He smiled and held her gaze as she neared them. She stopped next to him.

“Hey. Doing okay here?”

He knew her words were meant for him alone. He nodded, but the other guys responded.