Home Ice (23 page)

“I love you, too. Thank you for bringing me here. It’s much more than I imagined it would be. It’s beautiful and wonderful and I can’t believe we’re here together.”

She sighed, fell back onto the bed and splayed her arms out on the oversized mattress. Ben leaned down and kissed her again. This time with more urgency and a sense of wanting. He wanted her now. He wanted to take her right then on the hotel bed. Everything else could wait. The gift basket. The Award Ceremony. The whole damn city.

Ally silently agreed. She pulled him down on top of her and wove her fingers through his hair. She wanted him, too. Piece by piece, their clothes were tossed on the floor and they made love in their beautiful and wonderful suite in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Three hours later and rested from their mid-afternoon nap, Ben gently woke Ally. She was curled up beside him, her hair fanned out behind her on the white sheets. He hated to disturb her, but it was getting late.

“We’d better start getting ready,” he whispered.

“Do we have to?” she mumbled into her pillow.

“I think we should at least try and make an appearance, don’t ya think?”

She sat up with a start and remembered where she was and why she was there. “Oooh, I’ve got to get ready. My hair, my dress…” Ally muttered all the way into the bathroom.

An hour later, Ben was dressed in his Armani tuxedo and ready to go. For the last forty-five minutes, he’d been flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch on TV. Ally was awfully quiet inside the bathroom and he was beginning to wonder if her nerves had gotten the best of her and if she’d decided to escape out the window. He got up and softly rapped his knuckles on the bathroom door. “Ally? Are you alive in there?”

“Yeah.” Her voice was muffled through the door and he thought he heard her say something about a mental institute. She definitely sounded distressed.

“If you want, we can stop by the loony bin on the way to the ceremony,” he said to the door.

She snorted and he smirked. “Very funny. I just…ugh…Ben I think you are out of your mind to think that I can do this.”

“All you have to do is hold my hand and smile. Well, I guess you don’t have to smile, but it should probably look like you actually
want
to be here with me and that I’m not forcing you against your will and holding you prisoner.”

She sighed in frustration. His snide remarks were not helping the situation. “I feel so overdressed and I just can’t…”

“Let me see,” he prodded.

He heard her mumble and then the sound of the door unlocking. Slowly, she opened the door and took a deep breath.

Ben took one glance at her and his eyes practically bulged out of his head. She was a vision of beauty, elegance and grace. Soft turquoise skimmed over her creamy skin and her golden hair caressed her shoulders in waves. She had carefully applied her minimal makeup just like Izzy had instructed her and she had never looked more beautiful.

“Ally.” He took a step back to fully see her. “Holy crap, you look sensational!”

She took a step out of the bathroom and had to sidestep Ben’s jaw on the floor in front of her. “You really think so? It’s not too much?”

He shook his head and began blinking rapidly. “How is it that you went into the bathroom already looking like an angel and came out looking like a goddess?”

She flushed, which only made her glow more beautifully. “I’m glad you like it.” She reached out and touched his sleeve. “I felt overdressed,” she continued her self-conscious ridiculousness, “but look at you in your tux. Wow. Ben, you look incredible. I had no idea I was walking the red carpet with James Bond.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

“Are you sure the dress is okay?” She twirled around to give him the whole view. Blue silk swirled around the silver strappy heels on her feet.

“Ally, you’re perfect. Literally. Come here.” He took her hand, brought her close to him and answered her worried question with a kiss. “I was almost going to say that I never want you to take it off, but we both know that’s going to happen later on tonight.”

She blushed again and straightened his bow tie.

After Ally took one last look in the mirror and made sure she had all she needed in her little silver clutch, they were ready to face the red carpet.

Ben patted his pocket to make sure he had the hotel key card and glanced at the clock. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’m ever going to be,” she answered and smiled weakly.

He smiled back but it didn’t reach his eyes. Even though he seemed excited, Ally could sense something was wrong beneath the surface. She could feel it in her gut. Hopefully, he was just nervous about the awards.

“Ally…” He paused like he was trying to find the right words. “There’s something I should tell you before we go.”

Her stomach plummeted to her heels and she instantly went into panic mode. “Ben, what’s going on? Is it my hair?” Her hands fluttered to smooth her hair. “Should I have worn it up?”

His lips formed a half-smile. “No, Ally, it’s not your hair. You look amazing. It’s…it’s something that Jerrold told me on the phone earlier today. I was going to wait to tell you until I know more, but they’re probably going to say something about it down there tonight,” he said referring to the reporters on the red carpet.

Her blue eyes searched his for answers. Obviously, it wasn’t good news or he wouldn’t be so reluctant to tell her. Her mind raced, trying to solve the mystery on its own. No such luck. “Ben, please, just tell me what’s going on.”

She could have sworn she saw him brace himself before he opened his mouth to speak. Was the news really that bad?

“Jerry’s in the middle of negotiating my contract.” Okay, that didn’t seem so bad. “As of this month, I’m an unrestricted free agent.” Ben sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Okay,” Ally said. That wasn’t the end of the world. Was it? “Wait…unrestricted…what? What does that mean exactly?”

He drew his eyebrows together and looked up at her. “It means that my contract with the Razors is expiring and if they decide not to resign me, Jerry gets proposals from other teams and then we go into negotiations.” There it was. All of it. No more secrets.

Panic washed over her a second time. And this time she knew why. “Negotiations? You mean that you could have to move?” she asked in horror. Here she was standing before him in a gown and he was leaving her. She felt ridiculous for being duped so easily.

“It’s something we need to be prepared for,” he said calmly.

She threw her clutch on the bed next to him and began to pace. “How can you be so calm about it? This is your
life
.”

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing.” He chuckled at the look of disgust on her face, but that only made her more angry. He grew serious again. “Another team might be a better fit for me and it also depends on what kind of salary they offer.”

“Ah,” Ally nodded her head. It was all beginning to make perfect sense now. “So, this is about the money?” She was disgusted. She never figured Ben as the type of person to let money go to his head. It was all supposed to be about the game, right?

“Well, that does play a part in it,” he answered honestly.

“For Christ’s sake, Ben, how many
millions
do you need?”

“Ally, don’t freak out. This is about a lot of things. I
have
to think about the money because what if something happens and I can’t play anymore. My knee goes out completely or they can’t put my shoulder back together. There’s nothing wrong with financially securing the future.”

She snorted and waved her hands in the air. “I
am
freaking out! When were you going to tell me that you had no intention of staying in town?”

“I’ve had every intention of staying in Red Valley.”

“But…?”

“But, now my contract has expired and I’ve got to check out my options. I wish it could be as easy as staying with one team for the duration of my career, but that’s just not how it works. If it weren’t for my no-trade clause, I could have been traded earlier in the season to somewhere else with no choice like a lot of other guys. Please don’t be upset.” He stood up and grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. She stood stiffly against him but at least she wasn’t pacing anymore.

“I’m sorry to lash out at you, but I had no idea that this was going on,” she said quietly.

“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but it just started. To be honest, I thought for sure the Razors would re-sign me, but now I don’t think that’s gonna happen. But hey,” he smiled and tilted her head up so their eyes met, “we had a good run. Maybe now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.”

He was talking about his career, but she feared he was referring to their relationship.

“Of course,” she said bitterly.

“Please, Ally. I love you. This doesn’t mean we can’t be together. We’ll make it work no matter what happens, okay?”

She sighed because she knew he was right. He wasn’t the bad guy here. In a sport where one bad hit could end his whole career, he had to make these kinds of decisions. And if the Razors didn’t want him anymore, what choice did he have?

She stood still without saying anything and he was afraid he had ruined everything.

“Please don’t let this ruin our weekend. I’m sorry about the bad timing, but I’m glad you know now because there is probably going to be talk about it down there on the red carpet. The press has a field day with this kind of thing,” he rambled on, trying to gauge whether or not she was ever going to speak to him again.

“I love you, too.” It was a whisper, but it was all he needed to hear.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, Ally. Everything is going to be all right.”

The red carpet was a frenzy of activity. Fans and reporters lined each side and kids dressed in jerseys yelled out for autographs. Ally had been worried about being on display for the whole world to see and critique, but there were so many people squashed together that she doubted anyone even noticed her. At least she didn’t feel overdressed anymore. There were several players’ wives and girlfriends wearing gaudy and flashy gowns much more formal than hers.

Ally held tight to Ben’s hand as he was interviewed and she looked around in amazement. Blinding flash bulbs, inquisitive press and screaming fans. Between all of the commotion, Ally couldn’t understand a word anyone was yelling besides the occasional “Over here” and “Can I have your autograph?!”

The swarming reporters on the sidelines bombarded Ben with questions, but he patiently answered them like the pro that he was. While Ally was overwhelmed, their pestering didn’t even seem to faze him. Ally had planned on staying behind him and out of the way, but Ben pulled her in beside him and put his arm around her.

Ironically, Ally had been the last to know about Ben’s contract, because the press was already all over the story like ants on a picnic.

“
What do you have to say about rumors that you’re leaving the Razors
?”

“
Now that you’re a free agent, what teams are you looking at
?”

“
Is it true you aren’t re-signing with Red Valley
?”

Ben stayed calm and cool. And handsome in his designer tuxedo. “My agent is in negotiations, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” A flash of his million dollar smile and the reporters were satisfied with his vague answer.

At the end of the red carpet, thousands of people streamed through the doors of the Pearl Concert Theater. Ally held tight to Ben’s hand as not to get separated among the mass of people. Once inside, Ben caught sight of Christian Barnier, an old teammate and friend.

“Barnie!” Ben called out the nickname everyone called him by. Barnie turned toward Ben and a smile lit up his face.

Barnie had spiky black hair and was wearing a blue tuxedo. He was the Colorado Blizzards’ team captain and an all-around nice guy who Ben played with on the Colorado Rockies team in the minor league. “Benjamin Price. How the heck are you?” Barnie asked and slapped Ben on the back.

“Doin’ good, Barnie. Doin’ good.”

“Benny, it’s good to see you, man.”

“The only time we see each other is when we play you guys a few times a year.”

“Yeah and we usually beat your asses, too.”

Ben chuckled and turned to Ally. “Ally, this is Christian Barnier. We played together in the minors in Denver.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ally said.

Barnie shook her hand and was hesitant to let it go. She thought she saw him raise his eyebrows at Ben in approval. “Ally, wow, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

Ben spoke up in time to interrupt Barnie‘s ogling. “Well, we’d better get to our seats before this shindig starts. Barnie, good luck tonight.”

Barnie was nominated for the Stanley R. Blake Award. It was awarded to the player who made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.

“Yeah, you too, Benny. See ya later, Ally.”

Ben and Ally were ushered to their seats and Ben leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You okay?”