Delay of Game (The Baltimore Banners Book 6) (25 page)

"Barbados. Our flight leaves in a few hours."

"What?" Customers turned at Val's screech, staring at them, but she didn't care. She tried to wiggle out of Justin's hold but his arms tightened around her. "Oh my God. Are you serious? Put me down. I have to pack. And the restaurant. What about—"

Justin silenced her with another kiss, this one filled with promise. He pulled away and looked down at her, his eyes warm and full of love. "We can buy whatever you need when we get there. And trust me, you won't need much."

"But—"

"And we have everything under control here, so don't worry." Alyssa grinned, leaning back in Randy's arms. Val looked around, at the smiles on the staff's faces, even on the customers' faces. Then she looked up at Justin, at the grin on his face and the promise in his eyes.

"I love you, Justin."

"And I love you. Now let's go." He pressed a quick kiss against her mouth then headed toward the door being held open by Randy. He paused when her brother grabbed his shoulder, a small frown on his face.

"Just remember, Tome. That's my baby sister. You better take care of her."

Justin nodded, just a small movement of his head, then looked down at her, love clear in his eyes.

"Always."

Justin flexed his left hand, opening and closing, opening and closing. Muscles pulled in his forearm, still a little tender just below the scar that gouged his skin. He rubbed at the knotted tissue then did a quick stretch.

"You ready?"

"Yeah. More than ready." Justin stood, making a final adjustment to his pads, then followed Randy and the rest of the team through the locker room and down the hallway to the ice.

It was late October, Justin's first game back. Yes, he missed pre-season and the first couple of weeks of the regular season, but he was back. It wasn't the three months he had aimed for, but not quite as bad as the six he'd been afraid of. And he was ready. More than ready.

Music blared through the arena, followed by cheers and applause as the announcer introduced the Banners. Justin stopped in front of Brad Goodrich for the traditional neck-grab and head-butt, then skated out on the ice, holding his stick up in salute as the crowd cheered. He skated over to center ice, stopping next to Randy as the two teams lined up for the National Anthem.

Justin's eyes scanned the crowd along the glass to the right of the players' bench. A bright smile spread across his face when his eyes met Val's, warmth filling him when she smiled back and blew him a kiss before pressing her hands against her stomach.

She was almost six months pregnant, her baby bump barely visible beneath the oversized jersey she wore. His jersey. With his name and number, 90.

His wife. His child. His life.

Randy nudged him, frowning.

"You know I'm still pissed you two eloped like that."

"It wasn't my idea."

"You should have convinced her to wait."

Justin looked over at Randy, not bothering to hide his disbelief. "She's your sister. Since when does anyone convince her to do anything she doesn't want to? Besides, it would have made her cry again."

Randy grunted but didn't say anything. Justin didn't miss the hint of smile on his face, though, and couldn't help his own smile.

He looked back over at Val, catching her eye again, feeling a familiar warmth fill him as she smiled at him. A year ago, there had been only cold and darkness. A year ago, he hadn't thought he'd see light in his life again. But there it was. He saw it every day, whenever he looked into Val's eyes.

There was no more darkness, no more living in the past.

His wife. His child. His life.

His future, filled with nothing but light.

Thanks to one stubborn woman who refused to give up on him.

*****

THE BALTIMORE BANNERS

Crossing the Line
, Book 1

Game Over
, Book 2

Blue Ribbon Summer
, Book 3

Body Check
, Book 4

Break Away
, Book 5

Playmaker
, A Baltimore Banners Intermission Novella

Seduced By The Game
Cancer Charity Collection

Delay of Game
, Book 6

Shoot Out, Book 7

Available April, 2016

On Thin Ice, Book 8

Available June, 2016

FIREHOUSE FOURTEEN

Once Burned
, Book 1

Playing With Fire, Book 2

Available May, 2016

Breaking Protocol, Book 3

Available July, 2016

STAND-ALONE TITLES

Emeralds and Gold: A Treasury of Irish Short Stories
(anthology)

Finding Dr. Right

Time To Heal

Lisa B. Kamps is the author of the best-selling series The Baltimore Banners, featuring "hard-hitting, heart-melting hockey players", on and off the ice. Her much-anticipated new series, Firehouse Fourteen, features hot and heroic firefighters and will launch with ONCE BURNED in March, 2016.

Lisa grew up with an overactive imagination, strong encouragement from her parents, and an insatiable infatuation with the Peanuts gang. That infatuation—along with an impatience she has yet to outgrow—jump-started her love of writing. After all, why should she be forced to wait a whole week to read the stories of her favorite characters when she could create stories for them whenever she wanted? 

That love of writing continued to grow, along with all those voices in her head, even during her assorted careers: first as a firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department, then a very brief (and not very successful) stint at bartending in east Baltimore, and finally as the Director of Retail Operations for a busy Civil War non-profit.

Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons, one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count.

Interested in reaching out to Lisa? She'd love to hear from you, and there are several ways to contact her:

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www.LisaBKamps.com

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https://www.instagram.com/lbkamps/

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