Slap Shot(58)

I touched a curling lock of hair falling over his brow.

He grinned. “Well, at least within sight. I have a game later. You could come, sit in the stands.” He touched his lips to my cheek. “Nothing will hurt you, I promise, no one will even speak to you if you don’t want them to. I’ll make sure there are security guys swarming all around you.”

“Laurie’s gone,” I said gently. “She was the problem, not you, not hockey.”

“But I still want you to feel safe if you come to the rink.”

“I’m sure it will be fine.”

“So you’ll come?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’ll come.”

“And you’re not about to rush off to work now, are you?” He tightened his hold on me.

“No.” I slipped my hand over his waist, tickled over his trail of pubic hair and brushed my knuckles over his stiff, ready-to-go shaft. “I’m not rushing off anywhere.”



While Rick worked out in his gym, I called Maddie and filled her in on the events of the day before. She gasped and cried out in horror then begged me to spill the juicy details of my relationship with Rick “Ramrod” Lewis. I could feel the smile on my face as I chattered about the last few days and how he made me feel and how I seemed to make him feel.

“Take as long off as you need,” she encouraged as the conversation came to an end. “Cassie and I have it covered and I haven’t known you take any days off in all the time I’ve been working for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. Best Laid Plans is ticking along like clockwork. I took a Christmas booking from Jed Lanson’s assistant yesterday. He wants a big medieval party.”

“Jed Lanson? The politician?”

“Yeah, the hunky one with the silver hair.” She giggled. “Should be fun.”

“That’s great, we were thin on the ground for Christmas bookings.”

“Won’t be after next week when the two-page advertisement in Fun in the Sun hits the shelves.”

“Oh yes, I’d forgotten. In that case I’ll definitely take a couple of days off. If business picks up like it did last year after the Fun in the Sun ad we will be overrun next week.”

“You go girl, enjoy and refresh yourself. About time you had a man in your life.”

“Thanks, Maddie, I couldn’t do it without you.”

“Sure you could, but it’s sweet of you to say so.”

* * * * *



That evening, wrapped in a winter coat, I was escorted up the red-and-white-painted steps to join Carly in the stands.

“Dana, how are you?” she asked, jumping up. “Are you feeling better today?” She threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tight.

“Yes.” I squeezed her, feeling that although our friendship was new, the horror of yesterday had brought us close quickly. “Much better, thanks.”

We sat and I glanced at the two beefy security guards who’d placed themselves on either side of us. They had stern faces and holstered guns peeked from beneath their thick jackets.

“It was such a fright, so awful, wasn’t it?” Carly said. “We went straight home and Brick poured us both a whiskey.”

I nodded and tugged on chenille gloves to keep the chill air from nipping my fingertips. “Thank goodness no one got hurt.”

“And thank goodness she’s been locked away, crazy bitch.”

I nodded and looked around the rink. We were early, it was still the pre-skate game and only the first eager fans had taken their seats.

“It’s Rick’s four-hundredth game as captain,” Carly said, pointing at a big banner over the tunnel that had a picture of his smiling face on it and “Ramrod—400 Caps” written next to it.

I raised my brows. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s a Viper record.”

“He didn’t mention it at breakfast.”

Carly giggled. “Well, he either had something else on his mind or he’s a very modest guy.”

I glanced across at a group of teenagers all sporting red-and-white scarves printed with “Ramrod 400 Caps”. “Mmm, I guess he’s just modest.” Nothing to do with the fact that we ate breakfast in bed and he was most concerned about some sticky maple syrup that landed on my chest and had to be licked off.

“So how are things going for Saturday?” Carly asked, jolting me from my sexy memory.

“Great, we’re all set.”

She tipped her head and studied me. “You’ve given me a dilemma now though, Dana.”

“What? Have you thought of something else? Have we left something out that you asked for?”