Las Vegas Sidewinders: Dominic (30 page)

She shook her head and
focused on enjoying the sensation of a man touching her, even if she was
covered from head to toe. It had been nearly three years since she’d had sex,
and for whatever reason, this man made her miss it. Between her multiple
surgeries, physical therapy, visits to the psychologist, work, and of course
dealing with both Clay and her father, she never thought about sex. Mourning
Shay had pretty much sucked the life out of her; if not for Liv, Kate and
Tessa, she wasn’t sure where she would be.

“So how long have you been
divorced?” Drake asked, cocking his head. “We might as well get all the hard
questions over with.”

“Legally? About a year, but
I got a letter from him while I was in Afghanistan, asking for a divorce, a
little over two years ago. The day of the explosion.”

“Shit.” Drake shook his
head. “You mean you came home from Afghanistan with burns all over your body
and he still filed for divorce?”

“Well, he’d
already
filed apparently, but his mother made him wait a year. She and I are still
close. If not for her and my three best girlfriends, I never would have made
it. It’s been the worst two years of my life, and to add insult to injury, Clay
tried to say that it was my fault.”

“An IED in Afghanistan was
your fault?” Drake narrowed his eyes. “What kind of asshole were you married
to?!”

She smiled wanly. “A big
one, apparently.” She shook her head. “Let’s not talk about me anymore, okay?
Let’s talk about you. You know I’m a Marine—what do you do for a living?”

“I play in the NHL.” He
paused. “Hockey.”

This time she scowled at
him. “I’m a woman, not a dunce—you think I don’t know what the NHL is?”

“A lot of girls give me a blank
look when I say that,” he said. “Unless they’re puck bunnies, and I’m too old
for that shit.”

“Puck bunnies?” She frowned.

“Girls who hang around the
rink trying to sleep with hockey players.”

“Oh.” She made a face. “
Groupies
.”

“Exactly.”

The music was fading and he
took her hand. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk. It’s hot in here and I would
prefer to escape before my sister tries to set me up with someone I don’t
like—I’ve had to suffer through three terrible dances already.”

“Was she playing matchmaker
with us?” Erin looked up in surprise.

“Why not?” He smiled down at
her. “You’re beautiful, intelligent, and successful—what’s not to like?”

“She’s seen me naked!” Erin
muttered. “Why on earth would she want to subject her baby brother to someone
who looks like I do?!”

“Does that mean I get to see
you naked?!” he asked, his eyes glistening with amusement.

“Hell no!” She laughed
though, finding it easy to do with this giant of a man who seemed so kind and
gentle.

He guided her out onto a
beautiful balcony that overlooked the grounds of the country club where the
ball was being held. Lit by hundreds of tiny candles, it was romantic and
peaceful.

They leaned over the railing
and for a while, neither spoke. “So, who do you play for?” she asked.
“Chicago?”

“No. This is my hometown,
but I was drafted by Montreal and then played with Atlanta and Detroit. This
past summer I was traded to the new expansion team in Las Vegas.”

“How’s that been?” she
asked. “I don’t follow them, but I remember thinking it was an odd place for a
hockey team.”

“It’s actually been pretty
cool. The city has really stepped up to welcome the team, we get a ton of
tourists at the games, believe it or not, and the guys I play with are stellar.
Really special group of guys—we’re like a family, and in the 11 years I’ve been
in the NHL, it’s never felt like this before.”

“That’s wonderful,” she
nodded. “That’s what my last unit was like. My ex-husband’s twin, Shay, and I
were best friends all through college. When we graduated, I married Clay and got
assigned to Quantico, and Shay deployed. A few years later, they put him in
charge of a top secret mission and he had to put together a special team. He
asked for me to be his security chief—that’s my specialty—and so he handpicked
our unit. It was a really great team.” She paused. “Obviously it didn’t end
well, but anyway, why are we talking about me again?”

“I like your voice,” Drake
said softly. “I like you. You’re pretty, you’re funny, and it seems like you’ve
been through hell, so I don’t mind listening. Plus, I have a confession to
make.”

“Uh-oh,” she looked at him
suspiciously.

“It’s not a big thing!” he
chuckled. “I noticed you and asked Mack who you were. She said I should come
over and ask you myself. Of course, I got suspicious and asked her why she
wouldn’t tell me who you were, and then I kind of guessed you were a patient,
but when I started moving your way, she stopped me and told me about the PTSD.
She said she was only telling me because—” He grimaced.

“Because?” she prompted.

“She knows me well,” he
squirmed. “And I like women. Since my divorce—”

“Divorce! You didn’t tell me
you
were divorced!” Erin frowned at him.

“I’ll tell you about it,” he
said solemnly. “Just let me explain. She told me about the PTSD so that I
wouldn’t try hooking up for the night. Don’t be mad—she knows there have been a
lot of women since I’ve been single and she didn’t want you to be a number.”

“It’s been so long since
I’ve had sex, I think being a number might be necessary,” she murmured, before
realizing what she’d said and turning red. “Crap, did I say that out loud?”

“Yup.” He grinned. “But
honest, I noticed you first.
Then
she told me. It wasn’t intentional.”

“It’s fine.” She shrugged
and looked up expectantly. “Your turn.”

“Typical story.” He
shrugged. “She was a puck bunny.” It felt odd talking about his ex to someone;
he’d never talked about the divorce to anyone, but Erin seemed like exactly the
kind of girl he could talk about it to.

 “We met when we were
both 22, and I had been picked up by Atlanta. I met her at some charity thing.
She was a model, catalogs and such, and we hit it off. I was offered a pretty
good contract that year. Within the year, I bought her a massive engagement
ring and a Mercedes, and bought us a gorgeous condo in Buckhead.” He shook his
head. “
Then
we got married. And you know, spending all that money would
have been fine if she hadn’t done what she did.” He stared out at the beautiful
grounds in front of them.

“If it’s awful, you don’t
have to tell me,” she said gently, touching his forearm.

He glanced down at her.
“Seriously? After what you’ve been through? My story is a piece of cake. Just a
case of being young and stupid.” He shrugged. “We were married within a year. I
got picked up for two more years for two million dollars. We got married,
furnished our place and the nine months we dated plus the six months we were
married, were actually pretty good. We had fun. She was a model, but she wasn’t
stupid, and she liked to work out so we did that together. She traveled for her
work, and I traveled of course, so she wasn’t clingy or whiny when I was gone.
My parents didn’t love her, and her mom is a crazy drunk that we saw maybe
twice the whole time we were together, but we were a little family.” He looked
down at her and sighed. “And then I went on a 12-day road trip. I pulled a
groin muscle on the second day and flew home. I’d tried to call her but she
didn’t pick up so I just hung up and got on the plane—I was tired and in pain.

“I got home and the condo
was dark and quiet. Her car was in the garage, so while it was possible someone
had picked her up, it was odd that the alarm wasn’t on. I got into the kitchen
and turned on the lights. There were a bunch of papers on the counter, along
with some pain medications and one of those bracelets they give you when you’re
at the hospital. Her name was on it, and I stared at it, wondering how she’d
been at the hospital yesterday but hadn’t called me. So I looked at the papers
and I kept reading the words, but didn’t understand them. And then it hit me.
She’d had a D&C; fancy name for an abortion.”

“Oh, Drake.” She winced.
“You didn’t know she was pregnant?”

“Nope. And while I was just
24 and we’d only been married six months, I was furious that she didn’t even
give me a choice, didn’t trust me enough to talk about it! I probably would
have agreed—neither of us was ready—but she didn’t even tell me. She killed my
kid without a second thought, and planned it perfectly so I’d be away for 12
days and I’d never know.”

“Was the fight terrible?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I
slept on the couch and when she got up in the morning she found me there. She
realized I knew what she’d done and tried to make excuses, saying she couldn’t
have a baby and all the stuff I knew she’d say. But I couldn’t trust her anymore.
I couldn’t even look at her. I told her to pack up her stuff and go. I didn’t
care about the ridiculous money I’d spent on her and told her she could keep
the ring and any of the wedding gifts she wanted, but the house and furniture
were mine. I told her if she fought me I’d tell the whole world what she did.
She left. I got divorce papers from her lawyer about a week later with exactly
what I’d said. No alimony since we were only married six months. That was seven
years ago and I haven’t had a steady girlfriend since.”

“And now you’re a bad boy,”
she said with a soft smile. “Who has lots of one-night stands.”

“Sometimes.” He grinned
sheepishly. “It’s not like a new girl every night, but it’s usually a few times
and then I move on. Women are hard, you know? I guess I’m telling the wrong
woman about that, though.”

“Men are hard too,” she
agreed sadly.

“But now we’re both
divorced, and we’re here.” He reached for her hand and intertwined their
fingers between them. “Do you want to take a walk on the grounds or is it too
cold?”

Erin didn’t know if she was
excited or incredibly nervous, but his touch was both sexy and comforting. “No,
I’m fine.” She let him lead her across the balcony, their hands linked between
them. She had no idea why she was holding hands with a man she’d only known for
half an hour, but something about him made her feel good for the first time in
a long time. It wasn’t just his good looks either; he seemed so solid and
reliable. It was kind of ridiculous to feel that way since she had no idea what
he was really like, but right now she didn’t want to think about it and didn’t
care anyway.

They made their way across a
path that wove around the country club. There were intermittent streetlights
that made it romantic instead of creepy, and while it was unseasonably warm for
this time of year in Chicago, it was still chilly. She had never really liked
the cold, but tonight it didn’t bother her. Maybe it was the man beside her or
the fact that it was the first time she’d gone out in over two years, but for
tonight she was happy to go with the flow, wherever it led her.

“So, what’s it like being a
hockey player?” she asked as they walked.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s
all I’ve ever wanted to do. Are you a fan?”

“I am,” she nodded. “Not a
huge fan, but I follow the Capitals since I live outside of D.C., and we used
to go to a lot of games in college. It’s fast-paced, so I think it’s exciting.”

“Do you play any sports?”

“A little volleyball and
basketball,” she shrugged. “Before the accident anyway. Now I do mostly
strength-training and weight lifting, and I’ve been starting to run again. I
kind of stopped everything after I got back from Afghanistan.”

“What do you do for fun?” he
asked lightly.

“Not much,” she admitted. “I
haven’t been the same since the accident.”

“No boyfriends?” he stopped
walking, turning to look at her.

She shook her head slowly.
He made her nervous when he looked at her with his beautiful eyes that were
actually more amber than hazel. He was tall and she could see his broad chest
and muscular arms through his jacket. She had the strangest urge to run her
hands over his biceps so she forced herself to focus on his face.

“What were you thinking just
now?” he asked, his voice a little huskier than before.

“I, uh,” she swallowed hard.
“I was just thinking that you have great shoulders. I like broad shoulders.”

“I like tall brunettes with
blue eyes,” he murmured, moving his hands around her waist and pulling her a
little closer, his eyes never leaving hers.

“I’m broken,” she whispered.
“My body is hideous—truly. Tonight you see a lot of makeup, a fancy dress and a
mask, but it’s really bad. I also have PTSD and nightmares. I can’t be alone
for long periods of time. And there is absolutely no way I could take my
clothes off in front of you. I don’t have anything to offer a guy like you.”

He paused, confused as to
why he still wanted her after everything she’d told him; he just did. “I still
like you.”

“So you want to be friends?”
She glanced down to where his thumbs were making little circles around her
waist.