Seduced by the Game (59 page)

“Then there’s only one
thing I can do.”

“And what’s that?”

Cupping her face in his
hands, he kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose. His lips hovered over
hers as he spoke. “Make sure you smile and laugh every single day.”

She closed her eyes as he
kissed her, wrapping her arms around him to bring him closer. Tiny snowflakes
landed on her cheeks, clung to her hair, but she hardly noticed them. His
presence made her forget everything beyond the moment. She could easily see him
doing exactly as he’d promised.

And there was nothing to
stop either of them from finding out.

Chapter Five

Mid-April

Bracing his hands on
White’s and Kral’s shoulders, Tim glared at the ref standing on the ice, only a
few feet away from the bench. This was the last game of the regular season and
the Cobras hadn’t made the playoffs, but he wasn’t going to see his boys beaten
to a bloody pulp against the boards because the refs were fucking blind.

“The puck was at the other
side of the damn rink! In case you’ve forgotten, that’s called interference!”
He shoved away from his players and paced behind the bench, tugging at his tie
to loosen it. For some reason everything was pissing him off today. He threw
his arms up in the air as Callahan passed the puck rink-wide about five steps
ahead of Perron, leading to an easy interception by the Senator forward. “What
the fuck are you doing? Are you trying to hand them the fucking game?”

The men in front of him
leaned away, keeping their heads down as he continued to pace. Even Paul was
steering clear of him today. They could all tell he was at the end of his rope,
and no one wanted to be the one to set him off.

Over the past few months,
life had been pretty damn amazing. Between his schedule and Madeline’s, they
were apart more than they’d like, but they made the most of the time they had.
They went to the club, or sometimes to Dean’s house when his daughter Jami was
visiting with family. The team wouldn’t be chartering another flight until
September, which meant Madeline had to take more regular flights.

He refused to complain
about how often she was gone; he’d been away for weeks at a time during the
season, but he couldn’t help missing her. The days without her were empty.
There was no one else he could talk to about his frustration with Jami’s
mother, who’d come down to spend the day with Jami and take her shopping, on
Dean’s dime. Then disappeared for a month without a word. Or with Dean himself,
who worked so hard, who did his best as a father, but resented asking anyone
for help. He didn’t seem to understand that Jami spent more time talking to
Tim, to some of the players, simply because she knew her mother had hurt Dean
too, and tried to pretend everything was okay for him.

Madeline would know the
right thing to say, to do.

But she had enough of her
own problems to deal with. Two of her brothers had moved back home, and her
mother was in and out of the hospital after a mild heart attack. He needed to be
there on the nights she was frustrated to the point of tears because her
brothers were selfish bastards. The days she wanted to go home, but her father
asked her not to because he wanted to avoid confrontation. Which meant nothing
changed and Madeline would pace and rage until she calmed down. Then she’d let
Tim hold her.

His woman had a big heart,
and it was one of the things he loved most about her. But he hated not being
there to keep that tenderness and caring from leaving her battered and bruised.

A line change brought
Tim’s attention back to the action on the ice. He groaned as a skate-on-skate
slew foot sent Kral face-first into the boards and caused White to lose his
damn mind. The refs missed the dirty play, and White took it on himself to grab
the Senator defenseman by the back of his sweater. White shook his glove off
and nailed the defenseman with a quick uppercut.

The Senators rushed to the
aid of their teammate. The Cobras moved in to make sure White wasn’t
outnumbered.

By the end of the scrum,
half the damn bench ended up either in the box or ejected from the game. Tim
glanced up at the clock, grateful to see less than a minute remained to the
game.

To the season.

After the buzzer sounded,
he headed straight out, not bothering to stop to talk to any of the players.
Not just yet anyway. He waited outside the locker room for White to finally
trudge down the hall at the end of the line.

“What the fuck were you
thinking, boy?” Tim scowled when White shrugged and moved to step past him. He
latched on to the boy’s shoulder. “You were told to cool it out there. Your
one-year contract ends this summer, and it won’t take much for you to get
traded.”

White dropped his gaze to
his skates and bowed his shoulders. “Sorry, Coach.”

Fuck, Tim felt like he’d
just kicked a puppy. And he had no right to come down on White, no matter how
worried he was about the kid. Yet another thing to improve his
wonderful
mood.
White’s name had been going around the boardroom a lot.

Madeline would kill Dean
if she found out. Not that his potential death would change his brother’s mind
if he’d decided he could shop White around for a good deal, but life was a lot
more pleasant when the two of them got along. Especially since it was usually
Tim’s flesh bared when they had pain-inducing toys in their hands.

“Shit, White, don’t be
sorry. It’s good that you were looking out for Kral even though he’s a dick to
you.” Tim squeezed White’s shoulder, then gave him a little shake when he
didn’t look up. “Season’s over and you know I’ve got your back. Go have a beer
with the guys. On me.”

Lifting his head, White
nodded. Then his eyes widened and his lips parted in a broad smile that showed
off the spaces where he was missing a couple of teeth. “Madeline!”

Tim snorted even as he
turned. He couldn’t have gotten that reaction from White by telling him he’d be
offered a ten-year contract. Of course, his own smile wouldn’t be bigger if the
Cobras
had
made it to the Cup.

“You’re very lucky you two
made up.” Madeline winked at Tim as she hugged White. “You have to be nice to
my boy.” She tipped her head back to look up at White. “How’s your grandma
doing, sweetie?”

“Better, but the blood
thinners got her feeling cold all the time. I cut a whole lot of wood last time
I went to visit her, and paid some kid to make sure the fireplace is always
going.” White ducked his head. “I got a red-eye to go take care of her myself.”

“Good man.” Madeline held
up a package wrapped in brown paper. “I made her a shawl with nice thick wool.
In the Cobra colors. It should help.”

“Thank you, Miss Madeline.
She’ll love it.” White hugged Madeline again, blinking fast. “I gotta go
change, but…you’re an awesome lady.”

Tim couldn’t stop smiling.
He agreed.

But it was time for the
boy to go. If he shed a single tear, Madeline would be petting on him all
night. And Tim was feeling a little greedy with her time. He’d figured she’d
already be at the airport, ready to hop on the plane that would bring her to
her connecting flight in Montreal. Then nonstop to London.

Madeline patted White’s
cheek, saying goodbye before the boy disappeared into the locker room. Then she
turned to Tim, who didn’t hesitate before pulling her into his arms.

“I hope you’re not usually
as grumpy as I saw you out there, because I might regret the decision that brought
me here.” Madeline’s lips quirked, telling him she was teasing. “What are your
plans for the summer?”

Plans? He inhaled deeply,
letting it out slow so he could choose his words carefully. Summer would be
busy for her. He shrugged. “I’ll probably go see my parents. My mother’s
looking forward to meeting you when you have the time.”

“That shouldn’t be too
difficult, since this is my last flight.” She grinned at him when he stared at
her. “Are you really that surprised? I’ve been doing this for twelve years,
Tim. For the first time I have a beautiful house, a home I love. And a
different kind of family. One that’s a little easier to deal with than my own
right now.”

“You can’t be talking
about the team? I’ll admit, some of those boys need a mother in the worst way,
but—”

“Yes, I mean the team. And
you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key on a Dartmouth Cobras
keychain. “I’ll be gone for about a week. I’m hoping you’ll be waiting for me
when I come back.”

He wet his lips as he took
the key. “Waiting for you?”

“You hate your apartment,
Tim.”

“Yes.”

She bit her bottom lip.
“Was this a mistake? Maybe it’s too soon—I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“I don’t.” He laughed,
swallowing hard as he gazed into her hopeful eyes. Suddenly, all the frustration
from his crazy life, the emptiness within from missing her so damn much, faded
away. She would still leave him, but only for a little while. Then she’d be
his, in every part of his life. “I’ll be there, Madeline. Even if you decide
you want to keep flying, keep seeing the world, I will be there when you come
home.”

Her eyes glistened with
unshed tears that spilled down her cheeks when she closed her eyes as he kissed
her. “So you’ll wait for me?”

There was so much he could
say, but at that moment, only one word felt right. So he whispered it against
her lips. “Always.”

# # #

Visit the Dartmouth Cobras

www.TheDartmouthCobras.com

Also by Bianca Sommerland

The Dartmouth Cobras

Game Misconduct (The Dartmouth
Cobras #1)

Defensive Zone (The
Dartmouth Cobras #2)

Breakaway (The Dartmouth
Cobras #3)

Offside (The Dartmouth
Cobras #4)

Delayed Penalty (The
Dartmouth Cobras #5)

Iron Cross (The Dartmouth
Cobras #6) – Expected 2014

Also

Deadly Captive

Collateral Damage (Deadly
Captive 2)

The End – Coming Mid 2014

Rosemary Entwined

Rosemary & Mistletoe

The Trip

About the Author

Tell you about me? Hmm,
well, there’s not much to say. I love hockey and cars and my kids…not in that
order of course! LOL! When I’m not writing—which isn’t often—I’m usually
watching a game or a car show while networking. Going out with my kids is my
only downtime. I get to clear my head and forget everything.

As for when and why I
first started writing, I guess I thought I’d get extra cookies if I was quiet
for a while—that’s how young I was. I used to bring my grandmother barely
legible pages filled with tales of evil unicorns. She told me then that I would
be a famous author.

I hope one day to prove
her right.

For more of my work, please
visit:
Im-No-Angel.com

Captain, My Captain

© Nikki
Worrell

Also by Nikki Worrell

• Stories For Amanda October 2013
  
• The Enforcer (San Diego Scorpions
  Book #1) May 2013
  
• Goalie Interference (San Diego
  Scorpions Book #2) November 2013
  
• What Mother Doesn’t Know
  (Forbidden Love, Volume II) April 2014
  

Glossary of Hockey Terms

Five-hole:
The area right between the
goalie’s legs.

Backchecking:
Checking in the defensive
zone when the opposing team is attacking.

Boarding:
Checking a defenseless
player against the boards, usually causing their face/head to hit the boards
first.

Checking:
Using the hip or body to
knock an opponent against the boards or to the ice.

Deke:
When a player handles the
puck in a way that makes the opponent move out of position, allowing that
player to get past.

Face-off:
The method used to begin
play. One player from each team fights for the puck as the official drops it to
the ice between them.

Forechecking:
Checking in the offensive
zone in order to get the puck.

Gordie Howe Hat-Trick:
Getting a goal, an assist,
and having a fight all in one game.

Hat-Trick:
Three goals in one game.
Fans traditionally throw their hats on the ice.

Major Penalty:
Five-minute penalty.

Minor Penalty:
Two-minute penalty.

Offside:
When a player crosses the
blue line in the offensive zone before the puck.

Poke Check:
Poking the puck away with
the stick.

Power Play:
Results in the one team
losing a player for two minutes or more, giving the other team an advantage to score.

Slew Foot:
Sweeping or kicking out a
player’s skate causing them to fall backwards. Usually results in a match
penalty (removed from the game and assessed a five-minute penalty for
statistical purposes).

Trapezoid (Trap):
Area behind the goalie’s
net (behind goal line) where the goalie can play the puck. This is the only
area behind the goal line that the goalie can play the puck without receiving a
penalty.

War Room:
Office in Toronto where
video is sent to review a questionable goal.