Slap Shot(20)

“Please, take me home,” I said, placing my palms over his hard pecs and removing his cock from my abdomen. “I really need you to take me home.”

“But, Dana, I don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t and you wouldn’t.” I managed to slip from his embrace. Rick Lewis was a heartbreak waiting to happen if a woman was foolish enough to fall for him. And I for one didn’t use the “foolish” label for myself anymore. Okay, so I was behaving like the worst sort of tease, but it was his fault. He didn’t have to give me dessert.



I dressed quickly and hovered by the front door as Rick slipped into dry clothes and did up the laces on his sneakers.

In silence he helped me into the car and went through the ritual of opening the gates and watching them close in the rearview mirror to ensure no one slipped into the grounds of his home.

“Dana, I want to see you again,” he said in a low, determined voice as he turned onto my street.

I shook my head and stared out at the amber lamps lining Highgrove Avenue. “No, I’m sorry.” I couldn’t be trusted around him so there was only one thing to be done. I would have to stay away from him altogether.

“But I thought everything was going well between us, we had a great evening, chatting, eating. I… I can’t understand what I did so wrong. I thought you were enjoying yourself, you sure seemed as though you were.”

I looked at him and saw him glance my way through the shadows.

“I told you before, it’s not you. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want a man in my life.”

“And I’m telling you, again, that you do.” His voice was firm and his hands gripped the steering wheel. “My god, you’re like a wild flame in my arms, you want it, you need it, I’ve never felt so…”

I tipped my head. “So?”

“So goddamn crazy with lust and then been able to let it go without feeling mad, cheated.” He reached across the stick for my hand, squeezed it tight in his palm. “Because it’s not just about sex, it’s about you. I want to get to know you, figure out how you think and make you understand that there is no sense in being alone.”

“But why would you care about me being alone?”

“Because that’s how my life is, trying to meet someone is always superseded by my NHL fame. Women see the money, the hockey captain. They don’t see me.” He lifted my knuckles to his mouth. “I can sense that you’re different and I like that. I like it a lot.”

The car purred to a stop outside my house. “I am different, but that doesn’t necessarily mean in a good way.” I pulled my hand from his and gripped my purse. I had seen how relationships could go. The way my mother and father lived together was enough to put anyone off getting involved.

“Let me be the judge of that.”

I shook my head and opened the door. “I came out with you because you left me no choice. The meal was lovely and I wish you well in all your future plans, Rick, but…”

“But?” His voice was a low growl. “But what the hell is the problem?”

“Once again you caused me to break a promise I made myself and I can’t afford to do that.” I slipped out. “Goodbye.”

Quickly I shut the door. Tapped my heels up the path and let myself into my home. Dead-bolting the locks, I leaned back against the wood, my eyes filling with tears as they adjusted to the darkness of the living room. The Lexus waited several minutes, ticking over in the silence, then revved away, a deep hum that faded into the distance and out of my life.





Chapter Four



“Have you sorted out the Warringtons’ cake yet, Maddie?”

“No, I haven’t had time. This golden anniversary thing at the zoo is a complete headache. They even want to ride off on an elephant at the end of the evening.”

“Is the zoo okay with that?”

“Yes, but they say it has to be before eight because apparently that is elephant bedtime.”

“And have you told Mrs. Johnson?”

“Yes, she told me to offer them an extra five hundred dollars to have the elephant stay up late but the zoo isn’t budging.”

I sighed and rubbed my hand across my forehead. “Okay, you carry on with that and I’ll do cakes and balloons for Rachel Warrington’s christening.” I wandered back into my office and stared at the pile of notes and files on my desk. My to-do list was as long as my arm but my heart just wasn’t in it. I couldn’t summon the enthusiasm I usually did for anything involving Best Laid Plans. It was as though a part of me was elsewhere, but I wasn’t sure where.