Playing the Game (The Renegades) (Volume 3) (27 page)

There was no way she was meeting him tonight for
coffee. But how was she going to get out of it now? Especially
since she hadn’t actually said no.

“
What are you doing? I thought I
heard yelling.” Rylee flopped down on the couch next to
her.

“
That was me.” Paige dragged her
fingers through her hair.

“
Why were you yelling?”

“
Because the stupid phone wouldn’t
hang up.”

“
I still don’t understand.” Rylee
settled in against the soft couch.

“
He asked me out for coffee, and I
tried to hang up on him in a moment of panic, but the stupid phone
wouldn’t cooperate and I didn’t exactly get to say no.” Paige
dropped her head back against the couch and stared at the
ceiling.

“
Paige, I’m really not seeing your
dilemma. You like this guy, I know you do. Plus, he’s super
handsome and a hockey star. He’s showered you with flowers and
stuffed animals, not to mention the sweetest mix-CD. Now he’s
inviting you for coffee after multiple times of asking you to
dinner, and you of course are ignoring him.” Rylee rolled her eyes.
“Again, please help me see the problem.”

“
Rylee, I can’t deal with you right
now.” Paige covered her face with her hands. Maybe if she counted
to three this would all go away. Quietly she whispered, “One, two,
three,” then peeked out from behind her hands.

“
It’s all still here, and you still
have a sexy hockey hunk after you.” Rylee smirked.

“
Rylee, what am I going to
do?”

“
How about you just have coffee
with him?”

Paige thought for a moment, irritated that Rylee
couldn’t help her figure this all out. Then it came to her. “That’s
it. Thanks Ry!” She hopped to her feet and ran up to her room.

It was nearly two o’clock. She could go in to the
office now to prepare for tonight’s game in peace, and no one would
know she was there. Tyler wasn’t playing tonight and she had some
press releases to respond to, so there were things to keep her
busy.

She hurried to her office. The halls were quiet, just
the way she had hoped. Her heels echoed along the carpet of the
empty lobby. Closing her office door behind her, she let out a
breath. Why was she hiding from him?
This isn’t hiding, it’s
working
. She had a job to do and she was here to do it.

A manila folder had been sitting on her desk for a
few days with the words “Request for Kidd” scribbled on it. Once
she had finished all of her emails, she reached for it to see what
exactly needed to be done. Scanning over the papers, she read that
a Canadian journalist wanted to follow Tyler during his off-season
training this summer. Unfortunately, this was something she needed
to clear with him first.

Calling him would be easiest, but after this
afternoon that was out of the question. She was still so flustered
that putting together a sentence would be impossible. So she wrote
him an email instead.

The Renegades had two regular season games left, and
they had to win both in order to squeak their way into the
playoffs. Every media outlet wanted to talk to Tyler and Kaden
tonight; the spotlight was on them. Even though Tyler wasn’t
playing, they all still wanted to know if he would be playing
tomorrow night, and he wasn’t going to answer that now. The typical
answer from the coach was it would be a game time decision tomorrow
night. She didn’t blame them. The team needed him, but his health
mattered too. Head injuries were nothing to play around with.

At least she didn’t have to monitor the locker room
before the game because Mel was handling that, and only a select
few media folks were being let in tonight because Tyler still
wasn’t one hundred percent.

She shook herself out of her thoughts. Hopefully her
plan would work tonight and he would back off. She needed this job.
She liked this job. Being fired was not an option, and Melanie
didn’t seem like the type to give second chances.

A new email popped up. It was Tyler. She expected
more Romeo-like theatrics of him asking her out, but this time it
was a simple answer. Yes, he would love to accommodate the
journalist, and to have him send over the details.

She’d expected more and somehow felt a little let
down that there wasn’t. The thought annoyed her. Didn’t she want
him to back off? And why should she ever let another person control
her happiness?
When did I become such a grouch
?

She closed her laptop and pushed it aside, laying her
elbows on the desk and putting her head in her hands. When had she
become so against love? The gestures Tyler was making were poetic
and romantic, and all she could do was fight him. What was she so
afraid of?

Rylee had her opinion about things, and Gram gave her
the best advice she knew. But what she really needed right now was
her mom. They’d cut all ties when Paige was a teen—more than a
decade ago—but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss her. She had a
great family in Rylee and Gram, but she needed her mom, she needed
a mother’s advice and a mother’s hug. Those pivotal teen years she
survived, but lacked a mother’s love. Gram had been everything to
her, a mom, a friend and a grandparent, and she would never tell
her how much she missed having her mom here.

Her brother would’ve loved to have met Tyler; he’d
been a huge hockey fan. She didn’t think about him as often as she
used to, but lately he’d been on her mind. Maybe he was watching
over her, trying to make sure his baby sister didn’t screw up her
life like he had. That was the only explanation as to how she
survived her experimentation with drugs. A skinny little girl like
herself should’ve been dead that night she OD’d. But she’d
survived. No one but Rylee knew about that, not even Gram and
Pap.

She fought back and changed her life after that.

Right now she could sure use her mom’s advice about
Tyler. Was falling in love worth putting her job on the line? A
single warm tear slid down her cheek and she let out a breath. Her
mom had walked out of her life, which was her choice. Her brother
was lost when he left her. He never would’ve chosen to leave her
here all alone. He would’ve wanted her to be happy. But did that
mean with Tyler?

A knock on the door brought her focus back to reality
and she quickly wiped the tear from her face. Melanie peeked around
the door. “Paige, interviews are over and Tyler is already in the
owner’s suite.”

“
Okay, great.” Maybe it was a sign,
maybe it was coincidence, but whatever it was it seemed like a good
time for coffee. “Thanks, Mel.”

Melanie smiled before disappearing into the
hallway.

Paige grabbed the file for Tyler and closed her
office door behind her. As she walked down the hallway she stopped
to admire herself in the glass in the lobby. She felt especially
sexy tonight in her new tan suit jacket and skirt; it was a soft
material that moved with her body. The white silk blouse she wore
under it had a lower neckline than she normally wore, but she
couldn’t deny that she looked damn good in it.

The halls of the arena were filling up. The game
would start soon. Making her way through the sea of fans, she
finally got to the coffee shop. Lucky for her it wasn’t very busy
yet. She was feeling impatient as she approached the counter.

“
Hi. Two regular coffees, please.”
She flashed her badge to the cashier, then an idea came to her.
“Wait, does Tyler Kidd come in here often?”

“
Sure,” the young man behind the
counter answered.

“
Does he typically order the same
thing every time? He asked me to grab him a coffee but didn’t
specify what he wanted.”

“
Oh yeah, he always gets a Venti
Caramel Macchiato, skim milk and no whip,” the barista called
over.

“
Wow, okay. You’re
sure?”

“
Oh yeah, he comes in here a lot.”
She chuckled as she handed a customer their coffee.

“
Well, then I’ll take one of those,
and a Grande French Vanilla Cappuccino.” Unsure what she was doing,
she stopped thinking and just acted. She handed the cashier the
money and proceeded to the side of the counter to wait on her
coffees.
Skim milk, huh? Didn’t see that one
coming
.

“
Thanks guys. Enjoy the game.” She
placed both cups in a cardboard drink holder, and waved as she
ventured back out into the arena. It was harder to navigate through
the people the closer it got to game time, so finally reaching the
VIP elevator was a relief.

She flashed her badge to security before being let in
the doorway, and then on the elevator she hit the button for the
club floor. She could hear her brother’s voice in her mind.
Stop
thinking so much.

The elevator floated to a stop and opened. She exited
the car and strutted down the hall to the owner’s suite. The room
was already filled with people in suits, a few with Renegades
jerseys on over their dress shirts. They all gathered in the back
of the room, talking amongst each other, while Tyler sat alone
along the railing, resting a bottle of water on the counter top in
front of him.

Paige took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders
back before proceeding over to him. Setting the coffees down on the
counter, she spoke. “Here. Now we can have coffee.”

He looked up at her with surprise in his hazel eyes,
dark and wide.

She slid the cups from the cardboard holder and
tossed it into the garbage. “Caramel Macchiato, skim milk, no
whip.” She placed his cup in front of him and sat in the empty
chair.

A smile slid across his lips and one eye brow arched.
“How did you know I drank that?”

“
I know more about you guys than
you think.” She teased. He didn’t need to know that she’d asked the
barista.

“
And what are you
drinking?”

“
French Vanilla Cappuccino,” she
answered. She lifted the cup to her mouth, took a sip, and then
licked the foam from her lips.
That ended up being way more
seductive than I planned
. Her face burned with
embarrassment.

“
Vanilla, huh?” He watched her
intently. His gray suit jacket hung on the back of his chair, and
his light blue dress shirt showed every flex of his
arms.

Her body warmed as she watched him. His tie matched
his suit and the blue somehow brought out his eyes. She wasn’t used
to seeing him in anything but a white dress shirt. “What’s gotten
in to you tonight? You’re colorful.”

“
Yeah.” He shook his head with a
grin. “Melanie and her suggestions. She thought I should try being
more colorful, you know, like Kris and Dominic, and expand my suits
to more than just gray and white. So, I went with gray and
blue.”

She nodded. “Bold move.”

The Renegades took the ice and the crowd roared, but
his eyes never left her. “Are you trying to outsmart me? This is
the coffee that you agreed to?”

“
I never actually agreed to go for
coffee with you.” She took another sip. Crossing her legs, she
continued. “I tried to hang up on you, but the phone wouldn’t let
me.”

“
Well,” Tyler said, as his eyes
slid down her body, “I’ll have to thank your phone.”

She could feel his stare slide down her legs and back
up to her mouth. Warmth pulsated through her as she tried to regain
control of her ragged breathing, but his effect on her was too
much. She bit her lip and watched his glance travel to her
mouth.

“
Paige,” he whispered, “can I see
you in the hallway?” He grabbed her wrist and gently led her out of
the room.

“
Tyler, what are you doing?” She’d
barely finished her sentence before he pushed her against the wall
and pressed his warm lips to hers. One strong hand ran along her
neck and cradled her jaw, while the other pulled her hips into
his.

His kiss was strong, and he tasted like caramel and
coffee as he slid his tongue into her mouth. Her brain was
screaming for her to stop this nonsense. She was more professional
than this, and Melanie could walk down the hall at any moment, not
to mention the room full of people behind this wall.

But her body begged her to give in. Being in his arms
was the freest she’d felt in a long time. Ignoring all her
instincts, she kissed him back fully. Grabbing his shirt she pulled
him to her. She wanted this, she wanted him.

She was scared and unsure, but his lips made her
forget about everyone else. She explored his mouth as his tongue
danced with hers. Warmth filled her body while heat pooled between
her legs.

This felt right. Until her brain caught up with
her—she was in the hallway, and the room behind them was full of
people.
Oh dear God, what am I doing
?

Pushing Tyler away, she took a long exaggerated
breath. “I’m sorry, but we can’t do this.”

Tyler nodded. He never said a word, but the look on
his face tore her heart to pieces, and he looked defeated, like
she’d finally broken his spirit.
What am I doing
?

“
Tyler, I’m sorry.” Her voice
cracked as she softly spoke. She hoped her words sounded as
heartfelt as she meant them. Not being able to look him in the
face, she dropped her eyes to the floor and hurried off down the
hall. She had to get back to her office and figure out what to do
now. Taking the stairwell, she moved faster than she ever had in
these heels, surprising herself that she didn’t fall and break her
ankle.

Finally reaching her office, she closed the door
behind her and took in a deep, shuddering breath. She didn’t want
to hide from him. She wanted to be with him, but it could never be.
Not if she wanted to keep this job.