Icebreaker (29 page)

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Authors: Deirdre Martin

Tags: #Women lawyers, #Contemporary, #Legal, #General, #Romance, #Hockey players, #Fiction

BOOK: Icebreaker
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Adam looked mildly disapproving. “He seems like a really nice guy, but wrecking his life like that makes it hard to respect him.”
“That’s awfully judgmental,” Sinead replied, surprised. “Alcoholism isn’t a moral weakness, you know. It’s a disease.”
Adam looked dubious.
“Don’t you dare say anything against Oliver,” she warned. “He’s my best friend. Nobody is perfect. I give him a lot of credit for finally admitting he has a problem and taking care of it.”
“I suppose.”
“Not everyone can be perfect like you,” Sinead muttered under her breath.
Adam squinted at her. “What did you say?”
“Something not very nice.” Sinead began rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little cranky because I have so much to do.”
“You sure you can handle all this?”
“
Yes
. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I worry,” Adam admitted. “I don’t want you driving yourself into the ground.”
Sinead tried not to bristle. “I’ve worked double time like this before.” That’s what had driven her blood pressure up the first time. And increased her headaches. Not that she would ever tell him this.
“Okay.” Adam backed off, but he still looked worried. He began massaging the back of her neck.
Sinead let her head drop forward. “That feels amazing.”
“You should get one once a week.”
“Don’t have time.”
“There’s always time. Just carve out—”
Sinead stilled his hand. “Ever notice you like telling me what to carve out time for?”
Adam kissed her hand. “Sorry. Part of being a control freak, I guess.”
Sinead tilted her head back to look at him upside down. “I hate to do this, but I need to throw you out. I really have a ton to do.”
She got up from her chair, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I wish you could stay,” she murmured, nuzzling his neck.
“It’s all right. I’ll just head home and watch some
Stooges
.”
“Would you like a noogie before you go?” Sinead teased in a breathy voice.
“Not unless it’s a code word for something else.”
“I wish.”
“Thursday night at my place?” Adam checked.
“Yup.” She could “carve out” time for that. Hell, she could always work when she got home. She used to pull allnighters all the time in college. Of course, that
was
over a decade ago. But she’d do what she had to do.
“Good.”
His kiss was tender, so fitting with the quiet way he often had about him.
“Night,” he said.
“Night.”
Sinead wished she could call out, “Screw it!” and tell him to come back and spend the night; but there was no ignoring the small tower of paperwork on her desk. She sat down with a sigh and got back to work.
26
“I don’t know
why you’re nervous. Just be yourself.”
Sinead smiled weakly at Adam as they walked into Dante’s, where the wedding reception for Adam’s teammate, Ulf Torkelson, and his new bride—wife number two—was being held. A month had passed since Adam had indelicately tried to push her into wrapping up his case. During that time, Sinead barely had time to breathe with all the work she was juggling. At least she had something to look forward to: she was going to visit Oliver at the rehab facility for the first time tomorrow.
Sinead wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. They’d skipped the ceremony. No one from Kidco Corporation was going to be here. Ty and Michael were skipping the reception; they didn’t want their presence as GM and coach to inhibit the players from letting their hair down. In any case, she and Adam weren’t going to display any outward signs of being a couple. Sinead supposed her anxiety went back to the shyness she’d always experienced in large social situations.
Sinead knew she’d be an object of curiosity. The players knew virtually nothing about Adam’s personal life, and there was no way any of them would come right out and ask Adam if she was his girlfriend. She still worried that they were playing this a little close to the edge, even though she couldn’t imagine how it could ever get back to her bosses.
Adam gestured toward the French doors across the room. “Shall we?”
“Sure.”
You can do this,
Sinead told herself.
You’ve mingled with doctors, attorneys, stockbrokers, the rich and famous . . . you can handle this
. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to shake off her stress and accompanied Adam into the banquet room.
“Son of a
bitch,” Sinead heard Adam grumble under his breath as he pulled out her chair for her at their table. They were sitting with eight others: Tully Webster, his wife, Annie, and their twins, Carolyn and Jamie; Sebastian Ivanov and his girlfriend, Lennie; and Esa Saari and Kayla Black, a very well-known model. At least she knew Sebastian and Lennie.
Adam was still frowning as he sat down beside her. Of course, being control freaks and punctilious to a fault, they were the first ones there. “What’s the matter?”
He gestured at the place setting for Esa Saari. “I hate that little bastard. He’s an arrogant little shit, and he doesn’t take the game seriously. He’s gotten better, but he acts like a rock star outside the rink. He’s a total party boy.”
“So? You don’t have to talk to him.”
“I can’t believe Torkelson put us at the same table.”
“He probably had nothing to do with it. I think it’s the bride who figures out the place settings.”
“I thought couples figured it out together. My brother and his wife nearly came to blows figuring out the seating at their reception.”
Sinead shrugged. “I don’t really know much about it.” She paused. “At least I know Seb and Lennie,” she said cheerfully.
“Sebastian’s a good guy. Tough player, works hard. I don’t know Lennie.”
“Trust me, she’s a sweetie.” Sinead took a sip of the ice water that had already been poured. “Tully?”
“One of the assistant captains. Good player. Veteran. Needs to kick it up a notch if we’re going to go far in the playoffs. He’s getting a little tired on the ice. Don’t know his wife.”
Sinead cocked her head quizzically. “You only know about them as players?”
“That’s all I need to know, just like that’s all they need to know about me.”
“So what are you going to introduce me as? Your cousin?”
“I’ll just say your name is Sinead. Period.”
Sinead raised her eyebrows. “And when they ask me what I do for a living?”
“Tell them the truth and let them think what they want. And like we agreed, it’s not as if we’re going to act like we’re a couple.”
“That’s going to be hard,” Sinead admitted, discreetly running her fingers down his arm. “You look so handsome.”
“You’re a disciplined person,” Adam teased. “I’m sure you’ll be able to restrain yourself until later tonight.”
“I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
Adam grinned. “Nope.”
“Where’s Lennie?”
Sinead was disappointed when Sebastian arrived solo. She was looking forward to talking to her, possibly commissioning her to make a few new blazers.
Sebastian sat down across from her, looking sad. “She’s at her cousin Winnie’s wedding back in Saranac Lake. She couldn’t miss that, and I couldn’t miss this. So . . . no girlfriend.”
“That sucks, my friend.” Esa Saari extended a hand to Sinead, flashing a charming smile. “I’m Esa.”
“Sinead.”
“Very, very nice to meet you,” he said. He leaned in close and said in a stage whisper, “You’re here with Cap?”
“That’s right,” Adam answered for her with a glare of warning.
Saari sat down next to Sinead. She could see why he was such a “rock star”: he was gorgeous, his confident demeanor smooth as ice. He knew how to work it.
“This is Kayla,” Esa announced to the table, as his date, a flawless blonde, joined him. “We met at a private party thrown by Bon Jovi.”
Sinead smiled at Kayla. “Nice to meet you. You, too,” she said to the Websters. She waved across the table to the kids. “Hi. I’m Sinead. What’s your name?”
The towheaded little girl suddenly looked shy. “Carolyn.”
Sinead shifted her attention to the little boy, a male version of his sister. “How about you?”
“Jamie,” he said bashfully, trying to turn his cloth napkin into a piece of origami.
“Cool name,” said Adam.
Jamie looked up at him.
“Seriously. When I was a kid, that’s what I wanted my name to be.”
“What is your name?” Carolyn asked.
“Adam.” His smile was charming as he asked, “Do you like to dance, Carolyn?”
Carolyn, looking mesmerized, nodded yes.
“Me, too,” Adam confided. “Maybe we can dance together later.”
Jamie immediately lost all interest in his napkin. “I wanna dance, too!”
“I’ll dance with you,” Sinead offered.
Jamie mulled it over. “Okay!” He returned to napkin folding.
Sinead was initially shocked by the way Adam just dove in and started talking to the twins. Then she remembered the footage she’d seen of him with his niece and nephew, and his love of children came back to her. Another thing they shared, except he seemed to have the golden touch, whereas she, if Charlie was any measure of success, didn’t. Maybe watching him in action would prove instructive.
“How old are you guys?” Adam asked the twins.
“Six and a half,” Jamie said proudly.
Adam reared back slightly, impressed. “Wow. That’s pretty old. You guys must be in college, right?”
“Nooooo!” said Carolyn. “First grade!”
“Almost second,” Jamie added boastfully.
“Pretty impressive,” said Adam, turning to Sinead for confirmation. “Isn’t that impressive?”
“Totally,” Sinead agreed. “You guys look soooo much older.”
Both children looked pleased.
Sinead wanted to talk to the kids some more, but Esa Saari got her ear. And once he had it, he wouldn’t stop talking.
It turned out Esa and his date knew a lot of the same people as Sinead; he also wasn’t shy about telling Sinead people he was dying to meet, many of whom she knew. He pumped her endlessly for info, dominating her time, making it hard for her to even chat with Adam, who looked more and more displeased the longer Esa prattled on.
Eventually, Ulf and his bride, Margo, stopped by the table.
“Thanks for coming, guys.”
“Yes, thank you,” said Margo in a thick Russian accent.
Sebastian Ivanov’s face lit up as he began speaking to her in Russian. At one point he looked at Ulf with a smirk and burst out laughing, prompting the hulking Swede to snap, “We have to move on to the next table,” to his bride, practically pulling her arm out of the socket as he dragged her away.

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