Skating on Thin Ice: Seattle Sockeyes (Game On in Seattle Book 1) (13 page)

Lauren rubbed her eyes, grateful she never wore enough makeup to smudge it. “I cut him some slack because he does try. Sometimes. He means well.”

“We’re all doing the best we can with the knowledge and limitations we have at the time, Lauren. Just remember that.”

She nodded and sniffed. He kept his arm around her, and she didn’t pull away. She liked it too much, liked the feel of his warm, hard body next to hers, liked the scent of that spicy aftershave, and wanted this man in ways she’d never imagined, doing things she’d never imagined with anyone else. Not even Max.

They ate dinner and made small talk, drinking a bottle of wine in the process.

“So Ethan, I’ve been honest with you. Now it’s your turn.” Lauren pushed her plate away, ready to ask the tough questions.

He visibly stiffened, his smile brittle and his gaze wary. “Okay.”

“Do you have a future with this team or are you gone once your job here is done?”

He didn’t answer at first. Instead he swirled the wine around in his glass as if it were more fascinating than the third quarter in the Cup with a tied score. “Yeah, I have a place if I want it.”

“Do you? Want it that is?” She watched him closely, looking for something, though not sure what, but she’d know when she found it.

“Yeah, I think I do. I’ll be in a management role.” He turned to her, his eyes glinting with determination. “I want you there with me, Lauren.”

She pointed at herself, humbled, honored, and a little taken aback. “You do?”

“I do. I want you doing what you’re good at, evaluating each player’s strengths and weaknesses. Figuring out how to maximize their strengths. Running those incredible stats of yours and analyzing them to give our GM an advantage over other organizations.”

“Ike would never go for that stuff. He thinks it’s bullshit.”

When Ethan didn’t answer, the cold hand of dread wrapped its bony fingers around her heart and squeezed.

“Is Ike being fired, Ethan?”

“No one’s going to be fired. They’ll all get a fair shot. That I can promise you.”

“Even my dad who’s been lobbying for different ownership?” How ironic would that be to have a job over her father? The thought gave her no satisfaction.

He nodded. “Even your dad. He doesn’t know my potential ownership group so why should he feel loyal and why would I hold that against him?”

“You have a point. You’re a fair man, Ethan Williams.”

Instead of being flattered, he cringed. “I try to be when the situation allows it.”

Lauren tilted her head and eyed him, not sure what his statement meant exactly. “I think it’s time I should be going.”

“I didn’t see your car out there.”

“I walked to work this morning and then walked here from the arena.”

Ethan stood and held out a hand. “Let me give you a lift home. This isn’t the best of neighborhoods, and it’ll be dark in an hour or so.”

Lauren nodded, not even attempting to win that argument and secretly not wanting to win it. She was tired of fighting this attraction, tired of denying their attraction, just damn tired of not getting what she really wanted.

And she wanted Ethan in the worst possible way.

* * * *

Ethan put the key in the ignition and drove Lauren home to a modest apartment building. It appeared well-maintained with four units on each of two floors, in a decent neighborhood surrounded by tidy little single-family homes.

She turned in the seat to him, her beautiful eyes more brown than green, which seemed to happen when she was concerned. “Ethan, you never told me what happened with the commissioner that had you looking like your mama ran off with a twenty-something pool boy.”

Ethan chuckled. “Trust me, my mother would never do that.”

“All the more devastating if it happened since you seem to think it wouldn’t.”

“Lauren, I truly appreciate your concern, but I have to work this out myself.” He grabbed her hands and held them, something he’d done way too much tonight, but he couldn’t help it. He loved the feeling of her soft hands in his. Ethan leaned closer, and she did too, neither of them saying a word, because words might slap some sense into them.

God, he was going to regret this, and he’d chastise himself for once again being too weak to resist, but damn it all to hell, he was fucking tired of telling himself no, not when she looked at him with intense hazel eyes, now more green than brown, this incredible green which reminded him of the sun filtered through the trees in a forest.

“Lauren,” he rasped as he framed her expressive face in his hands and drowned in those incredible eyes of hers.

“Ethan,” she whispered in response.

Oh, shit, she wasn’t going to stop him. His erection pushed against his fly. It sure as hell wouldn’t be stopping him. And his head appeared to have ordered takeout, while it settled in for the show. No help there either.

He brushed her lips with his, taking a taste, and circling back around to taste more deeply with his lips and tongue. She melted against him, despite the fact that the console separated their lower bodies—good thing, really.

He explored, pillaged, plundered, and savored all at the same time, feasting like a starving man on all she offered. Her moans of pleasure against his mouth wiped out what little brain function remained, and his primal instincts kicked in. He buried his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer across the console.

She felt good, like all of life’s great memories rolled into one incredible kiss. She tasted even better, and he couldn’t get enough. Neither could she. Her tongue danced with his, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, panting, squirming, and begging for more.

Damn, but he wanted to give her more. He wanted to give her everything.

Ethan slid his hand under her blouse, and she trembled as his warm palms contacted her bare skin. His hands shook slightly. He dragged his mouth from hers and kissed his way across her cheek.

“You are so incredible,” he whispered against her cheek. “So fucking incredible.”

“So are you.” Her breathless voice slipped past all his carefully constructed defenses, leaving him dazed by the sheer power of the emotions careening inside him.

“Sweetheart, you taste and feel like nothing I’ve ever imagined.”

She nipped at his earlobe and moaned as he rubbed his thumb across one nipple through the fabric of her bra. “You’re making it hard for me to behave.”

“Then don’t.” He pushed her shirt upward, needing to see more of her.

A motorcycle started up very close by and drowned out the sounds of their heavy panting and murmured words of encouragement.

“Fuck.” Ethan muttered as he glanced around for the location of the bike, a Harley by the sounds of it.

“Shit.” Lauren scrambled back to the passenger seat and smoothed back her hair, regarding Ethan with wary, ashamed eyes.

Ethan was the one who should be ashamed, especially considering the position of power he was in over her, or would be in the near future. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to apologize. He’d lied so many times to her. He couldn’t lie about this. He wasn’t sorry. Not one damn bit, and he’d do it again in a heartbeat. The only thing he felt sorry about was her obvious regret.

“I need to go in. We fly out in the morning. It’s a big day for the team.” Lauren opened the door and bolted for her apartment. But Ethan leapt out and caught up with her in several long strides.

He grabbed her hand before she could escape. “Don’t regret what happened, Lauren. Please, don’t regret it.”

“It was a mistake.” She stared up at him through lowered lashes.

“A mistake between two people who have an undeniable attraction to each other? I don’t see that as a mistake.” Who was he kidding? Of course, it was a mistake, and she didn’t know the entire story. The truth of it hit him squarely between the eyes. He’d do it again given half the chance.

She stared him directly in the eyes. “I do.”

He framed her face in his hands. “Well, you shouldn’t. Nothing that feels this good could ever be a mistake.” Ethan dipped his head and took her mouth once again, her plump lips already swollen from his earlier kisses. She stiffened, and he half-expected her to jerk away, but she didn’t. Instead her arms twined around his neck, and she leaned into him, her body pressed against his length. He cupped her sweet ass in his hands and lifted her upward, dragging her crotch across his dick. He groaned at the torture of it all, hating the clothes that separated them, and knowing if those clothes didn’t exist, he’d lift her butt onto the porch railing and plunge deep into the greatest heaven known to man, especially this man with this woman.

Clothes be damned, he sat her fine ass on the rail and humped her with all the finesse of an animal in heat. Her skirt hiked up her thighs, and she wrapped her mostly bare legs around his waist and ground her crotch into his. Her whimpers sent him over the edge and his kisses roughened again, demanding and promising at the same time. Her mouth spoke of undeniable lust, explosive chemistry, and ragged desire without uttering a word.

He slid his hands up her blouse and cupped her rounded breasts, not too large, not too small, just perfect. He felt her hardened nipples through a lacy bra. Dragging his mouth from her lips, he rained little kisses down her neck and nibbled on her collarbone.

“I want to get naked with you, Lauren.”

“Just get naked. That’s it?”

“Oh, no, that’s the appetizer. I want the whole five-course meal.”

She leaned away from him, blinking a few times then smiled. “I bet you say that to all the women.”

“I bet I don’t.”

Lauren wrapped her fingers around his collar and stared up at him. She chewed on her lower lip, looking as if she were considering his proposition. Finally she rested her forehead on his chest and heaved a deep sigh. Ethan heaved one of his own. He knew her answer as sure as he knew she regretted it as much as he did.

Stepping away, Lauren fumbled to turn her key in the lock. Once the door was open, she turned to him. “Good night, Ethan.”

“Good night, Lauren,” he said as the door shut in his face. He stared at it for a long time, willing her to come back outside and invite him in. She didn’t. Instead the outside light flicked off and cloaked him in darkness.

With a frustrated sigh, he trudged back to the car. Bad idea to try to sleep with her, to even tell her that he wanted it. He couldn’t, not once, not even so he could carry the memory of that moment around with him for the rest of his life.

He had a week at the least and a month and a half at the most before the news got out, assuming the deal didn’t fall through. This was about business, about the goal within his reach, not about fucking with a staff person and in turn fucking this up.

Instead of muddying the waters with sex, he needed to determine if Lauren’s loyalty to the team was stronger than her loyalty to her father. He wanted her tied up as an employee for his team. Actually, he’d love to tie her up in other ways, too.

Get your fucking mind out of the gutter, Parker. This is about the game. The mission. The ultimate goal. Not about you getting your rocks off with a woman about to be your employee.

He could get physical relief elsewhere, but he couldn’t duplicate Lauren’s knowledge, drive, and dedication to the team and the game. That type of passion didn’t skate across the ice every day. She was a big part of his future plans, as much as blue-chip players like Coop and Cedric.

He needed to win her over so that when his true intentions came to light, she’d forgive him. Winning her over did not include getting her naked.

Chapter 10—Cooper on Ice

Frustrated and angry with the league and with his own weakness toward Lauren, Ethan barely slept. Finally, at the crack of dawn, he gave up on sleep, packed a small suitcase for the two-day road trip, grabbed his skates, and headed to the rink. He had a few hours before the team buses loaded and left for the airport.

It’d been too long since he’d been on the ice.

He needed to clear his head and skating as fast he could into exhaustion had a way of doing that.

Right now his thoughts bounced from the conversation with the commissioner to his conflicting feelings about Lauren. His focus had to stay on his mission.

Had the league played him for a fool? Used him to drive up the price of the team, only to back out and sell to an ownership group that intended to keep the team in this city? But for how long? All the long-term financial and attendance records proved that hockey didn’t work here, and nothing would change that fact. Even if the league sold to the other group, the team would eventually move. The old arena was barely adequate, the facilities in disrepair, and the political climate didn’t lend itself to any public funds or support for a new rink.

Even more frustrating was the gag order. Ethan wanted to tell Lauren, pour out his heart, reveal his dream of bringing hockey to Seattle, and invite her on this journey with him. He wanted her to feel his passion for the city and the market, to understand that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but the situation forced one city to be the loser, and it damn well wouldn’t be Seattle.

With a heavy sigh, Ethan finished lacing his skates and stepped onto the ice, leaving all those doubts and fears in the bleachers. Only a few lights were on in the rink. He’d snuck in early enough, long before the coaching staff and team showed up to skate laps. He loved the sound of his blades cutting into the ice as he leaned into his turns. Loved the way his blood pumped through his veins as he raced down the long side. Skating had always been his outlet for his emotions, that place he went to where none of the outside world interfered. It was just him, the ice, and his blades.

He took a few leisurely turns around the rink to warm up before he felt eyes on him and realized he wasn’t alone. He glanced over his shoulder to see Cooper step onto the ice and glide toward him with long easy strides until they were side by side. Ethan continued to skate as if they did this every morning.

“Didn’t realize you skated.” Cooper’s voice held a neutrality not usually reserved for Ethan.