New Game in Town(9)
Alex inadvertently chose that moment to interrupt. “Connor, we could use a few minutes here. Why don’t I meet you and your friend upstairs in the office in, say, ten minutes?”
The moment was gone.
“Take your time, buddy, we’ll be upstairs.” With a firm hand on her elbow, Connor guided Gina toward a door that led to the club’s office on the next floor.
“They knew we were watching?” Shock straining Gina’s voice, her barely whispered question had Connor chuckling.
“Of course they knew.” He led her up a flight of stairs and paused just outside of the office door. A suggestive grin playing across his mouth, he traced a light finger across her bottom lip. “I bet you didn’t wake up this morning thinking you were going to check off number one on your little ‘To Do List’, did you?”
Oh God, that damn list! It was too good to be true to think he was going to let it go.
Her next thought had fear choking her.
Could he just be playing with me?
After all, a man like Connor was an expert at sexual diversions. He had probably written the official playbook on the subject.
Getting involved with Connor was like playing with dynamite. Gina had a feeling that she was setting her life up for an explosion if she didn’t stay away from him. An explosion she would not recover from.
Chapter Four
“He shoots! He scores! Ladies and gentleman, it looks like Connor Waters is setting the stage to lead the Vancouver Reign Warriors to the Stanley Cup Finals this season! No question that the leading scorer in his division is back on track after last year’s broken foot that benched him for part of the season. Thanks to this goal with only seconds left on the clock, the fans will be celebrating tonight before the team flies out tomorrow for their four-game road trip.”
The announcer’s voice was drowned out by cheers of celebration in the luxury box that Gina had been invited to watch the game from. When she had taken this job, one of the benefits had been tickets to some of the home games. What she hadn’t expected was to enjoy the extravagance that came with watching a game from a private box.
Look at how far we’ve come.
Gina savored the light champagne bubbles caressing her mouth. Last year she would never have fathomed being invited to a luxury suite, never mind the attention lavished on her by many of those in attendance.
Her boss had sent her a text earlier in the morning to invite her to tonight’s home game. She had shown up early to the rink and made a beeline for the team merchandise store before the doors were opened to the public.
“What kind of employee doesn’t own a team jersey?” she had chided herself as she had bypassed security with her employee pass. Sports paraphernalia hadn’t been on the top of her shopping list when she had her makeover and changed her entire wardrobe.
Gina had waved at the attendant she had contacted earlier that day. Brittany was waiting for her in the team store as promised. She had been more than happy to let Gina into the shop early so she could pick out a jersey.
“Okay, we don’t have a lot of inventory left in your size. The new ladies’ jerseys have been selling like mad.” The bubbly young woman held up a few jerseys in front of Gina, dismissing all but two. “You are a medium. Lucky for you that a customer returned these two because they didn’t fit.”
She was holding up number seventeen “Waters” and number thirty-three “McLean”—Connor’s and Matt’s jerseys, waiting for Gina to choose one.
“So what’s it gonna be, Gina, the seasoned captain of the team or the rookie who’s still getting his feet wet?” came a sardonic voice from the entrance of the store.
Really, was there some kind of sick cosmic joke being played on me?
She turned to find Connor standing in the entrance, dressed in a dark tailored suit, looking more like a model from a fashion magazine than a professional hockey player. Weren’t hockey players supposed to have bruised faces, missing teeth and black eyes?
His hands were tucked into his pants pockets, pulling the fabric taut over his powerfully built thighs as he slowly walked up to her and Brittany.
“Decisions, decisions, Gina,” he mocked. “Who would have thought that the choices would be narrowed down to only two so quickly?” Connor tried to keep his annoyance in check while he closed the distance between them.
He didn’t give her a chance to respond to his taunt, irritated that she hadn’t automatically reached for his jersey.
“Some would say that it’s an easy decision,” he continued musingly while ignoring her pained look, “take the captain’s jersey. He’s a veteran player with years of experience. A man who knows how to handle himself, a man who knows how to play the game and satisfy his audience. Then others would argue that we have the up-and-coming rookie who is showing lots of potential and is eager to please. Who will you choose?” Tongue in cheek, he stared down at her with a raised eyebrow. He knew he shouldn’t get a kick out of her discomfort, but he couldn’t help but taunt her a little, pissed that she had stared at the two jerseys as if there really was a decision to be made. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind as to which number she would be wearing tonight. It just seemed that he had to remind his little Gina that he was the only man who was going to make her wish list come true.