Melting Away The Ice (THE ICE SERIES) (10 page)

“I know
. Max told me.” She slapped her hand over her mouth with a shocked look on her face, like she should not have said anything.

“Really
…and what else did Max say?”
I am going to kill him the next time we are on the ice.

She just
shook her head but I insisted. “No, really, it’s fine.”
I will need to figure out what to put on his tombstone.

“Um, he said that you had not had a girlfriend in two years and that I shouldn’t break your heart,” she quietly said.

“Yea that sounds about right. But I am not concerned about you breaking my heart.” I would fight for her until the end.
Yeah, I am pushing it with her.

“When I was in law school, I didn’t date at all.
I was too busy. So, I understand what you mean about being busy.” She looked at me with those big green eyes; my mind went blank and suddenly I couldn’t form a thought. We took the conversation down a different topic path and started to talk about her. She told me about her life, or lack thereof, with her parents. She told me about Rachel and about their friendship. It was nice to hear about her life for a change.

“What is next on our first real date?” she asked. I had just paid the bill and was not sure how to approach the next part.

I cleared my throat. “We could go to a bar and keep talking or go to the movies. You pick.”

“Or,” her cheek
s grew pink, “we could go back to my place and have a drink. I really can’t stay out very late because I have clients in the morning and I am sure you have to work.”
Alone with Sara in her home, I could handle that.

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

Chapter
15 – Sara

Why did I even suggest that?
Oh man, I hope that he doesn’t think I want anything.

I could not believe that I had even said those words.
I had a flashback to the panic attack outside the hotel room door in Pittsburgh.

We made it back to my place and I was shaking, but trying not to over
-think it at the same time. I unlocked the door and walked in, thankful that my place was clean. I had just sprayed air freshener everywhere and hoped it was not over powering.

“Make yourself at home
. I will grab us some beers.” I pointed at the couch and walked into the kitchen. I still had my phone in my hand, so I texted Rachel and told her what was going on right now.

             
Rachel:
Use a condom. Im 2 young 2 b an aunt.

I rolled my eyes!
Really!

             
Rachel:
Y R U texting me anyway ... when he is in there waiting!?

             
Me:
Thought my friend would calm me down

             
Rachel:
Isn’t that what Lucas is 4?

             
Me:
Im not talking to you anymore

In my head I
could hear Rachel giggling at the last text because she knew that was far from the truth. I really liked Lucas and he was everything that Jake was not. Lucas actually listened to the strange things that I said and paid attention. I didn’t have to have sex with him. I could be myself without that.

I can do this.

I
took a deep breath, counted to ten, grabbed two beers and headed back into the living room.

“Are you
okay?” Lucas gave me a puzzled look.
Sure, I’m just a crazy person having an internal conversation with myself.

“Yep, I am fine.
Still a bit tired from the trip, though. I am sure you understand that,” I handed him his beer and I noticed that my hand was shaking.

Get it together, girl.
This is not the first time that you have been with a guy alone.

“If you are tired I can go home.
I have an early skate tomorrow anyway.” Lucas went to get up but I stopped him.

“Wait, I
’m sorry. I am just a little bit nervous right now. It has been a long time for me too,” I said quietly. I was never going to tell him what happened to me, but I didn’t want him to think that I was really crazy.

“Sara, it
’s okay. I’m not asking anything of you.” He rubbed his thumb over my cheek.

“I know that
. But you’re a great person and I probably sound like a nut-job. I have been blurting out questions, acting all strange, and this is not going as I thought,” I did feel better telling him. Even though, he really must think I am crazy. I let out a deep sigh and pushed my hand through my hair.
Do I even know what I was doing?

“One, you are not a nut
-job and two, you are not acting strange. Although I can tell that you are nervous. How about this, lets finish our beer, then I will go home and we can pick up on the next date?”

“That sounds great
.” I nodded and took a drink of my beer.
Yep, he is perfect and I am nuts.

“I noticed that you have a ton of
books.” He pointed over to the far wall that was lined with bookcases.

“I told you that I like to read,” I stated.

“You did. However, that is a lot of books.”

“You think I am bad, you should see Rachel.
She has her own law library,” I laughed.

“You haven’t lived her
e long, have you?” he asked.

“Why would you say that?”

“By the bookcases you have broken-down boxes. Did you just move in?”

“Oh, well, I moved in
a while ago and just now got around to getting everything put away. I’ve been busy and what–not.” I looked everywhere but at him. It wasn’t a lie; I was busy, but mainly just didn’t want to unpack.

“So, why did you move to this place?”

Because the guy I thought was the love of my life beat the crap out of me.

“Rachel found it and it was close to work,” I said instead.
It was then that I noticed he was holding my hand. A sudden urge of liquid courage came over me and, I leaned in and kissed him. Maybe my inner-Rachel was coming out, maybe I didn’t want to think about the sadness of my accident, or maybe I just wanted to kiss Lucas because he was so wonderful. All I knew was that I wanted to kiss him.

He kissed me gently, but I wanted more.
I gently slid my tongue over his lips and the kiss became deeper. I could taste the beer on his tongue along with the sweetness of the pizza sauce. I could smell his cologne, just a hint a woodsy-spice, not over powering though. I pushed my hands through his soft hair and gripped the back of his neck.

It was then I realized I was on my back and Lucas’ weight was on top of
me. I moved my legs so that he was cradled in them perfectly. I could feel every inch of him and I wasn’t scared. I rocked against him and I could feel his hardness.

Just as soon as it started, it ended.
Lucas broke the kiss and put his forehead on mine. We both were trying to catch our breath and I was trying to stop shaking.

“Sara, I need to stop or I might not be able too
.” He voice shook with desire and all I could think about was kissing him again. Nevertheless, I knew what he meant and I nodded. He sat up and ran his hand through his hair, his eyes still clouded with desire and his face a little pale.

“Lucas, are you
okay?” I asked, my voice low with its own desire and concern for him.

             
“Yes, I am. I just didn’t mean to get that carried away.” He smiled a sweet smile and stood up. “I do need to leave though. We both have early days.”
Did I do something wrong?

“Hey,” he said and grabbed my hand, “don’t over
-think it. I can see it written on your face that you are thinking about it. Don’t. I just don’t want to go too fast. Okay?”
He could see it on my face. Wow, he actually does pay attention to me.

I nodded and stood up next to him
. He gently placed a kiss on my lips and we walked to the door.

“Will I see you at the game tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have tickets.” I had forgotten that he played tomorrow.

“
I will get them for you and Rachel. I will call you later,” he kissed me one more time before walking down the hallway.

Could
these be real feelings or just lust?

Oh, I think I am in trouble.

Chapter 16 – Lucas

“Max!” I yelled down the hall at my friend and teammate as he walked with Marc. I was still fuming mad thinking that he ran his mouth to Sara. They both turned to see me coming. “I’m going to kill you!”

“What did I do?”
He laughed as I got closer to him.

“Don’t play all innocent with me.
You told Sara I have not been in a relationship in two years,” I looked him dead in the eyes and dared him to lie back to me.

“
Look-“ he started.

“No,
” I threw my hand up to stop him, “there is no excuse for it. Why did you do that?”

“Calm down, big guy
.” He slapped my shoulder and all I wanted to do was punch him in the face. “I just didn’t want you to get involved with someone who didn’t like you back. I didn’t do it to be mean. I was trying to be your friend.” He looked sincere and I knew deep down he was trying to be a friend.

I sig
hed. “Don’t try to be helpful again. Let me tell her about personal stuff, okay?” Max nodded. “Now let’s get ready for practice.” I slapped him on the back. I could not really stay mad at Max.

Coach D was hard on us
at practice today, but it was worth it. It was still early, but I could feel us getting stronger as a team and the Cup was within our grasp. After talking to Amy and making sure Sara and Rachel had tickets, I decided to text her.

             
Me:
Hey, tickets will be at the front gate, under your name.

             
Sara:
I haven’t told Rachel yet, but I am sure she will go.

             
Me:
Wanna grab lunch?

             
Sara:
Sorry, I can’t! I have stale crackers that I will enjoy while I work =)

Stale crackers are
not lunch.
Maybe I could run something over to her office. I had the address on the card that Rachel had given me.

             
Me:
I will run some food by your work, then.

             
Sara:
That is nice of you but if you brought me food then you have to feed Rachel and our assistants & that is too much trouble.

             
Me:
Not any trouble =) be there soon.

             
Sara:
No No you don’t have to do that

I was going to ignore that text and text the one person I knew would help me out.

              Me:
if I were two bring lunch for 4 lovely ladies @ a law office what would they want

             
Rachel:
they would want ham & cheese subs from Sam’s on thirty-second & their homemade potato chips and bring extra for Charles

             
Me:
Charles?

             
Rachel:
our bodyguard =)

I laughed and
shook my head. I jumped into my car and headed for thirty-second street.

I made to the eighth floor with a box of food.
Getting off the elevator, I saw a security guard’s desk. An older gentleman, decked out in a security uniform and a gun sat behind it.

“May I help you sir?” he asked professionally.

“I’m bringing lunch for Sara Smith and you must be Charles,” I said.

“Sorry, she is not here
and yes I am.” I noticed that he moved his hand to his belt with a mean look on his face.

“Um, I just
spoke with her and Rachel…“ Just then I heard the door to his left unlock and we both turned to look. A young girl with long, dark, shiny hair stepped out. She had a bright smile on her face.

“Lucas?” she asked.
I nodded. “Charles, this is Lucas Sharp. He’s allowed to be on Sara’s list. It’s okay.” Her smile was just bright.

Charles
nodded. “Sorry about that, sir. I am just protecting Sara and the girls. We don’t need anything happening to her again.” I nodded.
Again?
What did that mean?

“Come this way Lucas
.” The young girl headed back towards the door, where she had to swipe her badge and put in a fingerprint for it to unlock.
Are we going into the CIA
?

             
As she opened the door I saw a very small office, much smaller than I thought it would be. There were three desks in the middle and large office to the left and to the right. Straight ahead was a copy/file room and off to the side of that was a small kitchen area.

I
looked up and saw on the far back wall:
Silver & Smith, Law Office
. It was then that it hit me, she owns the law office.

“Charity, where are those statues-“ Sara stopped dead in tracks as she came out of the office on the left side.
“Lucas, what are you doing here?”

I
didn’t need to answer when I heard Rachel shout, “Yes, food is here!” and came out of the office to the right.

I
looked at an older lady at the desk near Rachel’s office as she piped back, “Stop shouting child. We can see the food is here.”

“Lucas, you brought us lunch?” Sara had the most puzzled
look on her face.

“I thought this would be better than stale crackers?” I smiled sweetly at her.

“Come this way, Lucas,” the young girl said.
I followed her to the kitchen area, as Sara stood there. “By the way, I am Charity. I am Sara’s legal assistant. That is Betty and she is Rachel’s legal assistant.”

“It is nice to meet you both.
I’m Lucas and ladies, we have Sam’s ham and cheese subs with homemade potato chips. I also brought Charles lunch,” I announced.

“I will run it to him,” Charity said cheerfully, grabb
ing the food and heading to the front.

“Lucas would you like
a bottle of water?” Betty asked as she was standing by the fridge.

“Yes, thank you.” I placed the box of food on the table
. Rachel came in and sat down. Betty placed five waters on the table. Charity came back and sat next to Betty. I started handing out subs to the ladies sitting at the table. Finally Sara came in and sat down, still looking confused.

“How did you know we liked Sam’s?” Sara asked.

“A little bird told me.” I winked at her. “I have to say, I thought I was coming to a huge law firm. I didn’t realize this was your place.” I looked at Sara as I sat down.

“Yea
h, we started this up a while ago,” Rachel piped in. “We worked at a big firm, but it didn’t work out. So, we grabbed Charity and Betty and left. We have one more girl who works for us, but it is only part time. Just to help out when needed.”

“What happe
ned at the larger firm?” I asked. I noticed all three ladies stopped eating and turned to Sara.

“We needed a change,” Sara finally said. I
felt the tension in the room getting thicker and I knew that there was more she was not telling me.
All ladies have secrets,
my mom would say. “And we didn’t grab Charity and Betty. We asked them to come with us,” Sara clarified.

“You were not there the day we left
. I grabbed them and was giving everyone a piece of my mind as I walked out,” Rachel proclaimed. Charity and Betty laughed. I could see in my mind that Rachel doing just that. She was short with a small frame, but she almost looked deadly at times.

“I can see that from you
, Rachel.” I said. Rachel smirked. She was definitely a handful.

“How was practice?” Sara changed the subject.

I shrugged
. “It was good.”

“You have a very young team this year, Lucas.
Do you see a Cup in your future?” Betty joined into the conversation.

“Yes we are
, and hopefully this year. Are you a fan?” I asked. Betty was an older lady, probably older than my mother. Her hair was completely gray; she wore glasses, but was thinner and dressed very well.

“My husband loved you guys very much
.” She smiled sadly. Rachel patted her hand in a loving way and I got the impression the husband was not around.

“Well, my son wants to be Marc
Kane when he grows up. French accent and all,” Charity chimed in. This brought a laugh from the table. Charity went on to tell how her four-year-old son loved hockey and thought Marc’s accent was funny. She even explained that he does an impersonation of it.

“
All of you like hockey and not one of you could convince Sara,” I laughed.

“No,” all three said.

“Is this
pick on Sara Day?” she asked as she folded her arms.

“Yes, I sent the memo out,” Rachel quipped back at her and the rest of us laughed.

“Rachel, you have a visitor,” the intercom went off beside us and the girls turned their head to the monitor above us. I thought it was just a TV screen, but could see a couple older gentlemen in professional suits looking into the monitor.

“They are fine
, Charles. You can let them in,” Rachel said back to the monitor. I was still a little shocked to see this place with such high security.

Rachel stood up
, threw away hers and Betty’s trash and walked over to me and hugged me. “Thank you Mr. Sharp, it was lovely.”

I hugged her back.
“You are very welcome.”

Betty also stood up and
shook my hand. “It was very good. Thank you, Lucas.” Then they both headed towards the door to meet the gentlemen.

“Well, I have work that needs to be done,” Charity stated.
“Thanks, Lucas, it was very yummy.”

“You are very welcome, Charity.” I nodded
at her and couldn’t help but smile at her. Her grin was contagious almost like Marc’s.

“You have a great place here, Sara,” I
leaned over and said once we were alone.

She nodded
. “Lucas, thanks for lunch. You didn’t have to, though.”

“It was no
biggie. Besides I wanted to see you.” I took her hand and looked at her. It was the first time I saw her hair up and she wasn’t wearing a scarf. I noticed the scars along her jaw and her neck. “Hey, where did you get these?” I ran my finger along her jaw. I saw her eyes get wide and she paled.