Risky Business (10 page)

Theo skated past them as they walked toward the table, close enough on the other side of the Plexiglasss for her to see the dark blue in his eyes and the five o'clock shadow on his cheeks. He never once lifted his head from the ice.

“So, Allison, Harper told me she'd given you my name.” Allison forced her attention away from Theo, to Presley.

“Yes. Good. What do you think?”

“The timing's great because one of my customers just retired, so I have an opening.”

“That would be fantastic. I can't even tell you. I mean, I hope I can afford your rate, but I can't even figure out on my own if I can or not. Isn't that terrible?”

“Not terrible, not with what I know about Cloud Nine's history of ownership. Don't be so hard on yourself. And don't worry about my rate. I'm sure you can afford it because it's my business, so I get to make up my rate, which is always affordable for my friends.”

“Thank you.” Talk about a load off her mind. Now if she could only get Theo to explain his process of taking and keeping track of reservations, she'd really be getting somewhere.

Harper took the middle seat at the table in front of a black digital timekeeper and directed Allison to take a seat next to hers. Presley and Marlena, a curvy redhead with a serene face and pale, freckled skin who'd seemed particularly smitten by Katie, took seats directly behind them on the first row of bleachers.

Presley set a hand on Allison's shoulder. “We'll exchange numbers before the game's over and work out a time to get together next week. Sound good?”

“Sounds great. Thank you again.”

While Harper busied herself starting a countdown on the game clock to the start time, Allison got as comfortable in her chair as she could with Katie still strapped to her. Katie, for her part, was being particularly well-behaved, kicking and squealing with happiness, her eyes riveted to the players. Who would've guessed her daughter would be such a hockey fan?

Though Theo in uniform, in motion, was mesmerizing, she vowed not to stare at him the whole time. Amid the other players, she immediately picked out Brandon, Will, and Liam. Duke stood in one of the players' benches across the rink, looking as intense as any NHL coach she'd seen.

Will was wearing a different prosthetic than he had while working at Cloud Nine. This one didn't resemble a hand at all, but seemed specially designed with a slot to hold a hockey stick. Then she noticed another player skate past Will, this one with no left arm at all.

She leaned toward Harper. “Help me understand something here. I met Will, so I know he's missing a hand, but number twenty-three is also disabled. It seems unprecedented that there be two men on the same hockey team who are missing limbs.”

“Ah. I forgot to mention that. Sorry. It's not unprecedented on Bomb Squad. In fact, there are nine men on the team who are amputees. The team's made up entirely of soldiers who were wounded in combat. The Canal Towns Adult League is open to anyone, with the exception of Bomb Squad, which is all wounded vets.”

Allison blinked at the players as it all came together in her mind. Bomb Squad. Cool name for a team of wounded soldiers. Then it hit her that that would include Theo. Her attention shot his way. He didn't look wounded or like a soldier. He wasn't even American. “But Theo's Canadian.”

Olivia set a beer in front of Allison, then scooted it out of a lunging Katie's reach. “He was in the Canadian army. Wounded in Afghanistan.”

She felt instantly lame for that comment. Of course Canada had a military. Allison had just never given it much thought. She gaped at him as he skated to the bench for a pre-game huddle, seeing him in a whole new light. He'd been wounded in Afghanistan? Wounded how? Looking at him—solid, muscled, so vital a man—she couldn't see any evidence of a wound. The person who'd gone over the canal wall with her, who'd kept her from burning or drowning, hadn't been disabled in any way. She'd seen him stripped to his briefs, and she couldn't recall any scars of note on his body. Not like some of the other men on the team.

Her attention roved over the rest of the players. Number Eight had noticeable burns over his neck and scalp, Number Fourteen had a long scar cutting through the center of his face, and Will and Number Twenty-Three were missing limbs, along with a third man Allison saw now. But other than that, she couldn't tell what the other men's injuries were. It seemed like such a private thing, to wonder what each's injury was.

She almost asked Harper and the others about Theo's injury, but she already felt like she was prying by attending the game against his wishes. She hadn't imagined that a hockey game would be so revealing about his past or personal details of his life that he didn't want to share with her, but the very nature of Bomb Squad told her a lot about the man she was determined not to be attracted to. The trouble was, seeing him in uniform, and getting this glimpse into his private world, into his vulnerabilities, drew her to him even more. Thank goodness he was such a jerk or else she'd be in danger of developing a full-blown crush on him.

Like you haven't already.

In the final minutes before game play started, Allison glanced at the bench to see Duke looking her way. She gave a little wave, and he smiled and nodded in return. Will and Brandon acknowledged her as they each skated by the scorekeeper's table, and even Liam seemed to notice and be pleased by her presence.

After the ref blew a whistle indicating that game play was about to begin and the teams both headed to their respective benches, Brandon skated over, his expression intense and heated, and only for Harper. Allison wondered what it would be like to be looked at like that.

“I'm scoring the winning goal tonight,” he said.

Harper rolled her eyes and tapped her pen on the score pad. “We'll see.”

It seemed a callous thing to say, totally out of character for the kind person Harper seemed to be. She remembered them standing together the first night at the landing. They'd seemed close, so Allison knew there had to be more to her comment than she knew.

Brandon's eyebrows flickered and his lips curved into the slightest of smiles. “I'll come find you after the game.” Without waiting for her response, he pivoted away from them and skated to the bench.

Marlena tapped Harper's shoulder. “Don't act like you don't like it. We're all on to you.”

“I've never met a man with more hubris,” Harper grouched.

Allison was still struggling to understand. “Are you and Brandon dating?”

Olivia, Presley, and Marlena chuckled good-naturedly at the question.

“God, no,” Harper said. “Brandon isn't the dating kind. And neither am I.”

“Then what was that about, if you don't mind me asking?”

Harper offered her a rueful smile. “I lost a bet to him last NHL season when the Flyers lost in the finals. So now, every time Brandon scores the winning goal, I owe him a kiss.”

Okay. But they weren't dating. Right. “His idea or yours?”

“His alone. Trust me.”

“So, then, he must be into you.”

“He wants into her pants, all right,” Marlena said, hiding her smile behind her beer glass.

“True,” Harper said. “But then again, he wants in every woman's pants. He's one of those guys who's all about the chase.”

Allison eyed Brandon with fresh understanding. As she'd thought the first time she'd seen him, he was classically handsome—balanced features, chiseled jaw. He didn't have any combat wounds that she could see.

She debated the wisdom of the observation she was tempted to make. She and Harper were new friends and they seemed to be treading on intimate ground, but she couldn't help herself. “Sounds as though you might like him chasing you since you agreed to a bet like that.”

“Exactly. Thank you,” Olivia said, as though she'd been trying to get Harper to see that point for ages.

Luckily, Harper's expression was more grin than cringe. “I've never met a bet I didn't want to make. It's my Achilles' heel. And I really thought the Flyers had last season in the bag.” She pursed her lips together in a look that told Allison there was more to it than that.

“And?” Allison said.

“And . . . he's a great kisser. So it's not exactly a hardship.”

Olivia threw up her arms. Presley and Marlena laughed.

“The truth always outs,” Presley said.

“When is the bet repayment over?” Allison asked.

“When this season's NHL playoffs start.” She speared a mock-scolding finger in the air at them all. “And, may I remind you bitches, it's only when he scores the winning goal.”

Presley shook her head. “But that's the problem. Bomb Squad is undefeated and the whole team knows about the bet, so they feed him the puck all the time.”

It was Allison's turn to roll her eyes. “Of course they do. Boys will be boys, right? What would he have had to do if the Flyers had won the cup?”

“A vow of celibacy until the next playoff season starts,” Harper replied.

“Yikes. That's a harsh bet. Then again, I'm in the middle of my own bout of celibacy, though not by bet or by choice. Just sheer, rotten luck and my terrible taste in men.”

“Yeah, what's up with that? You're way too decent a person to have been married to Lowell Whitley. No offense.”

“None taken. Lowell wasn't all bad.” Her mind flashed to the night he was arrested. “Just mostly.”

“Well, if you're looking to cure your celibacy problem, I'm sure Brandon would be more than happy to help you with that.”

It would've been a pretty screwed up thing to suggest, had Harper not said it with an undertone of weary frustration, as though if only Brandon could stop sleeping around, the two of them might have a future. Funny coincidence—that turned out to be Lowell's issue, too. What was it with men not being satisfied with only one woman? At least Harper knew that about Brandon up front, as opposed to Allison, who hadn't had the advantage of finding out until it was too late.

“I'll pass, thank you. I'm done with men who don't know the meaning of fidelity.”

“Amen to that.”

After a moment's debate, Allison asked. “What's Brandon's combat wound?”

Harper didn't take her eyes off him when she answered. “He lost his right leg when an IED blew up the armored vehicle he was riding in.”

Allison blinked in shock. Brandon skated like a pro. She would've never guessed in a million years that he was wearing a prosthetic leg. “You can't even tell he's suffering a war wound.”

“None of them are exactly suffering, and they'd kill you if they heard you use that term,” Harper said.

“Understood. Suffering was the wrong word. More like thriving. He really is remarkable.”

“Agreed,” said Harper. “Even if he is a player of the worst variety.”

A buzzer sounded, signaling the start of the game. Katie whimpered, clearly not a fan of the buzzer, but settled down as soon as the players taking the drop gathered around the circle in the center of the rink. Katie's attention remained glued to the rink. It was nice, for a change, not to be her sole source of entertainment.

Theo was the Bomb Squad teammate taking the drop. He had yet to acknowledge her presence, which wasn't a surprise even if it was a disappointment. But there was no time to dwell on that. The whistle sounded, the puck dropped, and play began.

Harper hadn't been kidding when she'd told Allison the day before that Destiny Falls took its hockey seriously. A beer league, this was not. The game was intense and so were the spectators. The caliber of the players' skills, on both teams, made it difficult to remember that this was only a weeknight men's league game.

Katie loved the noise, movement, and energy of the rink. Theo and the game held both their interests captive. He was a magnificent player, easily the best on Bomb Squad, though Brandon was a close second. Both men executed jaw-dropping spins around Brockport's defense and shots on goal so fast and perfectly placed that they seemed to travel through the goalie's arms and pads and into the goal.

More than once, she'd wished for instant replays because Theo's moves were so fast and sly. He was so good, she had no doubt he could have been a professional if he'd wanted. By the end of the second period, Katie had used up all her energy and had fallen fast asleep, while Theo had racked up one goal and one assist to Brandon, two stints in the penalty box, and three shots blocked.

As far as she could tell, Duke worked Theo mostly on the offensive line, but he also sent him out, along with Will, when he needed enforcers. Both Will and Theo were physical players, despite the league's no-touch policy that Harper had leaned over and explained to her after Theo checked a Brockport player into the wall early on in the third period. A whistle was blown and a penalty levied against him, his third of the game.

He assumed a seat in the box on the other side of Harper, his body dripping sweat, his eyes pointed forward, never once turning his head their way, which was fine with Allison because she had no idea how to respond to him. What expression did one give to an employee crush who hated your guts as he sat in a penalty box? She could flip him the bird. That would probably be the most appropriate gesture, given their relationship.

Actually, she knew what would annoy him the most. A wave and a thumbs-up, something peppy and friendly. That would really get him. She rose, her arm around a sleeping Katie in the baby pouch, ready to make her move.

Then he was on his feet, his mouth guard back in. He looked her way as he shot out of the box, his expression aggressive, his whole being radiating a brutish virility. Their gazes locked. Her toes curled in her boots. She may have stopped breathing, but she wasn't sure because all she was aware of was how utterly, deliciously turned on she was.

Then he was off, across the ice, back in the game. Allison lowered slowly to her chair, recovering her wits.

She'd thought she wanted a man to look at her the way Brandon had looked at Harper, but forget about that. This was what she wanted. She wanted to be looked at the way Theo had just looked at her, except by a man who wanted her. A man who did that right before he pinned her to the wall, ripped her clothes off, and gave her the hard, passionate sex she'd been missing out on her whole adult life.

Oh, yes. That was exactly what she needed. Soon. Just not with Theo. As if he'd ever want to do that with her anyway.

“Why'd you get up?” Harper asked. “Were you going to try to talk to him during his penalty?”

Allison cleared her throat and tried her best to snap out of the trance Theo had put her in. “No. I was going to give him a cheery smile and a thumbs-up, just to be obnoxious.”

Harper laughed. “You really have his number.”

“Well, he has mine, too. That's the problem.”

“You two will figure it out. I'm sure he's happy, deep down, that you're here.”

Allison shot her an
oh, please
look. “Doubtful.”

“Yeah, I was blowing smoke up your ass with that one, but it was worth a try to get you to stop worrying.”

Worrying
was only one of the things she needed to stop doing where Theo was concerned. Also on that list: egging him on, holding out hope that he'd decide to help her learn the business, and picturing him naked.

Late in the third period, the game was tied two-two, with Bomb Squad unable to stop the Blarney Stoners offense from sneaking two past Bomb Squad's goaltender, Gabe. On the next drop, Liam took the puck and sped the play to the goal zone. He had a perfect shot, clear of defensemen, but instead he passed it to Brandon, who was near the blue line.

Harper tipped her head back and groaned. Marlena rubbed her hands together. “Here we go, ladies.”

“Pucker up, Harper,” Presley added.

With Will applying pressure to the Blarney Stoners' forward defensemen and goalie, Brandon took a shot. It ricocheted off the goaltender's stick. Theo, who was in position near the goal crease, recovered it. He spun, evaded a defenseman's check, and fed the puck to Brandon.

Harper sank lower in her seat. “This is ridiculous. They're going to lose the game and end their unbeaten streak if they keep not taking shots when they have them. And all for what? A stupid bet.”

On the third pass to Brandon, the defensemen were starting to catch on. Brandon rushed the net and passed the puck to Theo, who bounced it right back to him. It tipped off Brandon's stick and dribbled past the goaltender. The ref signaled the score and the crowd erupted in cheers, including Allison. Even Harper rose to her feet, clapping and hooting.

Katie woke with a cry, took a look around, then let her eyes flutter shut again.

For the last three minutes of the game, Bomb Squad held the Blarney Stoners' offense in check. The crowd stayed on their feet. Everywhere, all around her, Allison felt the connection of optimism and community. Harper had been right; this was the heart of Destiny Falls. People who'd braved the early spring chill and dedicated a work night to supporting a local team of veterans who'd overcome obstacles that Allison couldn't fathom. Some of the crowd waved American flags, others held up their sodas or waved scarves.

Allison could hardly wait for next Thursday.

After the final buzzer ended the game, and after the players bumped gloves with the opposing teams, the teams headed to the locker rooms, all but Brandon. He skated to the official's table, his attention locked on Harper. His eyes smoldering, he pounded on the plexiglassss once with the side of his fist. Harper's friends twittered and cooed.

Harper sighed, exasperated, and gave a little shake of her head as if to say, “You're impossible.” Even though Allison was only looking at her in profile, she could see the affection glowing in her eyes as she watched him skate away.

“You should sleep with him,” Olivia said, tapping Harper on the shoulder. “Just once. I'd love to know if there's any skill behind the promises that body makes.”

“Why don't you?”

“Because, one, he's yours as soon as he gets his act together, and, two, Liam would kill me.”

“
Liam
Liam?” Allison asked, gesturing to the ice. “Why would he care?”

“He's my brother,” Olivia said. “We manage an apartment complex together, and even though his apartment is on the opposite side of the complex from mine, he's managed to drive away every guy I've brought around.”

If Allison hadn't just met Olivia, she would have pointed out that they were grown-ups and why did her brother get a say in her dating life? But she held her tongue and decided to ask Harper about it privately, if at all.

“You've got to find a guy who's not scared of him,” Harper said. “That's the key. You don't want a man who's going to be intimidated that easily.”

“I know, and I know Liam's doing the best he can, but it's hard sometimes, dealing with his moods. Maybe the best solution we have to our current problem of needing to know what Brandon's like in the sack is for Marlena to answer the call of duty, since Presley's off the market.”

Marlena laughed. “Call of duty? I don't think so. He's all yours, Harper. Not my type.”

Harper looked mildly affronted. “He's every woman's type.”

“Not mine,” Allison said.

Marlena held her hand out as if Allison were exhibit A in her defensive argument. “Thank you.”

“Okay, then, Allison, what's your type?”

She had to think about that. It'd been a long time since she'd given any consideration to what she wanted in any aspect of her life beyond being a mom. A look down at her chest told her Katie was asleep again. She smoothed Katie's baby-fine hair, considering the question.

She had no idea what her type was, beyond physical desire, but for her first post-divorce sexual test-drive she knew she wanted fireworks. She thought about the crew repairing the fire damage at Cloud Nine—Will, Liam, Brandon, and Duke. The ones she looked at a little too long were all thick and tall and burly.

“I like them big,” she answered.

Everyone giggled. It took her a beat to figure out what she'd said. “Oh, my God, I said that, didn't I? Not what I meant. Well, that would be nice, too. But I was talking about their bodies.”

The giggling increased. “That's what we were thinking about, too.”

She joined them in laughter again. “No, not that. For example, Brandon's too . . .”

“Scrawny?” Marlena said.

Harper huffed with mock-indignity. “He's not scrawny, he's lean. He's got an eight pack that says he's not scrawny.”

Marlena gave Harper's shoulders a squeeze. “Okay, stand down. Geez. I meant he's too lean.”

“I was going to say too handsome, but yeah. He's lean and he's gorgeous, but that's not what gets me going,” Allison said. In her mind's eye, she saw the look Theo had leveled at her from the penalty box. The sweat, the muscles, the intensity. Even now, the memory of it sent a tendril of desire through her body. Yeah, that's what got her going.

Presley pulled her face back. “There's no such thing as too gorgeous.”

Allison shrugged. Maybe not, but she knew what she liked.

“I feel the same way,” Marlena said. “I want to be squished. I want beard abrasion.”

“What would your massage clients think about seeing beard abrasion on your face and neck?” Olivia asked.

“I didn't say where the beard abrasion would be.”

Harper offered her a high five. “That's my girl.”

Allison grinned. Beard abrasion and getting squished were what she wanted, too.

Marlena added: “I want a man who's able to carry me without wincing or breathing hard.”

Marlena's body was a lot like Allison's. They were both a healthy size, and Marlena was clearly fit, being that she was a yoga instructor, but their baseline size was more like a ten than Harper, Olivia, and Presley's six. Allison loved her body type, especially now that she'd lost most of her pregnancy weight and could ditch her nursing bras and granny panties.

Theo had carried her without issue, up and down the dock stairs. No popping veins in his forehead, no hard breathing. He'd swung her into his arms as though she had Harper or Presley's body, and he'd held her so tight and sure that she was never afraid of being dropped. Afraid of being tossed into the water, sure, but that was a different story.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Marlena said.

She smiled and put the memory away. “Thinking about how impossible men are, and how much we want them anyway.”

“Our girl speaks the truth,” Harper said. She glanced at the time on her phone. “Speaking of men, I'd better get over to Locks before the crowds. That's where everyone celebrates Bomb Squad's wins. You in?” She added a friendly nudge with her elbow.

“Theo usually goes?” Allison regretted the question instantly. Harper's eyes twinkled like maybe she thought Allison was asking because she had the hots for him. Which she did, but that was beside the point.

“Of course.”

Katie gave Allison an easy excuse to decline because Theo wouldn't want her there at Locks, and her gut was telling her that invading the team's after-party would be one step too many over the line.

“I think I'll give him his space tonight, which is just as well because I've got to get Katie to bed. She's been a good sport about being out so late, but I'd better not push my luck.”

“We need to get you a babysitter. If you're up for the idea, one of my staff's teenage daughters babysits. I can get you her number, if you'd like,” Harper said.

Harper and her friends' unpretentiousness and warmth were refreshing. The women she'd socialized with in Buffalo hadn't been so altruistic. “Thank you. I think Katie liked the game, so I'll plan on bringing her next week, but a babysitter would be nice so maybe we could all go to dinner or get drinks sometime.”

“Absolutely,” Olivia said. She draped her arm across Harper's shoulders. “We're always trying to get this one to step out from behind Locks' bar to have some fun.”

With the promise that they'd meet at Locks for dinner before next Thursday's game, if they couldn't make it work to meet up sooner, everyone exchanged hugs and farewells. Allison made her way through the spectators to the restroom while the rest continued on to the parking lot.

She was an old pro at peeing while wearing a baby pouch, but Katie still woke up, so Allison took the opportunity to change her diaper on the off chance that once they reached Cloud Nine, she'd be able to carry her up to the crib without waking her.

The parking lot was mostly empty by the time she made it out of the building, and Katie had gone back to dozing. She recognized Theo's bike as the one in the second spot nearest the entrance to the rink because of the swords and maple leaf emblem on the side of the gas tank. After a look around to make sure no one she knew was around, especially Theo, she stepped up to the bike to read the writing beneath the emblem.

Vigilamus pro te
, whatever that meant. No doubt a symbol of his time as a soldier in the Canadian military. She was still having trouble reconciling the idea of him being a soldier who'd been wounded in battle with the surly mechanic she knew.