Underneath It All (Storm Series) (21 page)

Rob desperately tried to pull air into his lungs, but the oxygen
seemed to have been sucked out of the room. He grabbed the door jamb to keep himself upright. “Holy fuck.”

Alaina looked at herself. “Do I look okay? Sarah said the dress wouldn’t be too fancy. I went overboard, didn’t I?”

“You look…” Rob took a deep breath and tried again, his addled brain struggling to form coherent words, “perfect. Damn. That dress. Not sure I want to let anybody else see you.” He was torn between wanting to hike up that pretty skirt and drive into her until she fell apart around him and wrapping her up in Bubble Wrap so nary a wrinkle could mar her look.

She bit her lip. “Are you sure
it’s okay?”

Ignoring that remark, he asked,
“How set is that lipstick?”

“Very. Why?”

Sweeping inside, he used his good arm to tug her to him then plundered her mouth, groaning at her unique taste. Her hands settled lightly on his waist as she kissed him back.

Far, far too soon, she
gently pushed him away. “We should go.”

Looking down
and gesturing at the arousal tenting his pants, he said, “Good thing I’ve got a long jacket I can button over this.”

“You’ll live.” After checking her appearance in the small mirror in her entryway, she said, “
We shouldn’t keep Sebastian and Sarah waiting.”

The
moment Alaina spied the limo, she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh my God, really? You got a limo?”

Rob grinned. Man, he freaking loved making her happy. “Yeah. It’s a special night.”

“I’m glad I don’t have to go to work tomorrow,” Alaina remarked as she walked toward the car.

He followed a few steps behind so he could shamelessly ogle her.
“Then we should celebrate. Let the champagne flow!”

She tossed
a look over her shoulder, and her smile grew wider as she caught him in the act of watching her. “I get…friendly when I drink champagne.”

The ni
ght’s looking up more and more.
“I’m completely on board with that, as long as I’m the only one you’re showing your friendly side to.”

Before she stepped into the limo, Alaina smooth
ed his tie. “You’re looking pretty handsome tonight. I can’t believe I haven’t told you that yet.”

“No problem.
Keep up a steady stream of compliments, and I’ll forgive you.”

“I’m guessing you
had the tux custom-fitted?”

He shrugged, a self-deprecating smile creeping onto his face. “Figured after the fifth or sixth time I had to wear a tuxedo for something, it was more convenient, not to mention more comfortable to get one of my own.”

The night was more fun than Rob could remember having in a long time
, and he was sad to see the evening winding down. “Come home with me,” Rob said after Sarah and Seb disappeared inside their house.

“Oh sweetie,
” she squeezed his fingers, “I’d like to, but I’m dead on my feet. Plus I need to be at my place to take care of my hair and makeup.”

Rob’s eyes narrowed. Had she just given him the “I have to wash my hair” excuse for not coming to his house that had been a joke for as long as he remembered?
Alaina didn’t look like she could be dissuaded, though, so he said, “All right. I guess I can let you get some sleep. But I want to see you soon. I know it might be hard with family time and all—”

She put a finger over his lips. “
I’ll make time for you.”

The limo took them back to her place
, and after another scorching kiss, he left, willing his erection to subside. The damn thing would not behave around Alaina, and he needed to learn how to control himself better or face an embarrassing situation someday. He didn’t see the problem going away anytime soon. The more time he spent with her, the more difficult he found it to let her go at the end of the date.

The Storm was playing the day after Thanksgiving and needed to get on the plane by mid-afternoon, so having a meal on Thanksgiving Day was difficult at best. Rob’s parents were at his sister’s house outside of Toronto and Alaina was spending the day with her folks, so he, Sebastian, and Sarah shared a quick feast of turkey breast—which Sarah said cooked faster—stuffing, potatoes, and peas. No pie for them. As much as Rob loved pie, he was finally able to work out and didn’t want to set his progress back. After they finished, Sebastian and Sarah took off for the airport and Rob returned to his house, melancholy weighing him down as he sat alone.

Never before had being
hurt dragged him into the gutter like this. True, this was the most serious injury he’d suffered in his hockey career, but normally Rob was a pretty upbeat person. Now, he increasingly feared he’d never be the player he was. What if he hurt his shoulder again? Would he be able to recover from another incident like this? He wasn’t old, but he was certainly no spring chicken, at least by hockey standards. This was his fourth year in the NHL, since he hadn’t stayed in the show on a permanent basis until twenty-three. Rob shuddered at the thought his career might be over before he’d even hit thirty.

Finally, he snorted in disgust at himself. Way more than half of the game was mental, despite the obvious physical aspects, and Rob needed to get his head straight, and pronto, if he wanted back on the ice anytime soon.
Feeling sorry for himself would get him nowhere.

But despite repeating that like a mantra, the fear and doubts continued to close in on him.

~ * ~

THIRTEEN

A couple of weeks later,
Rob seriously considered skipping the team Christmas party. He was still having a hell of a time pulling himself out of the funk that had started on Thanksgiving. He’d tried to hide his feelings from Sebastian and Sarah, and particularly Alaina, who he wasn’t seeing quite as often as she threw herself into the holiday doings around the school, but he wasn’t sure he’d succeeded. Though he felt bad about it, he was secretly relieved Alaina was so busy. It made it easier to lie about how he was feeling when they weren’t face-to-face. But when he mentioned begging off the party to Sarah, she protested.

“Oh no. You’re coming,” she said over the phone. Her tone gentling, she continued
, “You need to get out of the house more. I know you’re still doing PT and working out at the Barn every day, but other than that, when was the last time you did anything fun?” When Rob didn’t answer, Sarah asked, “The party at Scott’s house before Thanksgiving? I bet I’m right. That was over two weeks ago, hon.”

“I know.”

“Then you’re coming.”

He sighed. Sarah was formidable when she got an idea into her head. “Fine. I’m not sure how long I’ll stay, though. I’m tired.”

“We’ll pick you up so you don’t have to drive.”

And make sure I actually go.
And keep me there, since I can’t leave of my own accord.

“See you later tonight.”
They hung up and Rob stared at the ceiling. Why couldn’t he conquer this?

A
t the party, Sebastian and Sarah stayed close by, and if he hadn’t been in such a funk, he would’ve laughed at their obvious attempt to circle the wagons around him. But very little was funny these days, so he kept his mouth shut. Hopefully the time would go quickly.

No such luck, though. Scott made his appearance, and like last year, Rick and Jordan handed out presents.
A hint of a smile stole over his lips as he unwrapped his gift, an iPad. Did Scott own stock in Apple or something—iPods last year and iPads this year? After they’d opened both the iPads from Scott and their Secret Santa presents, people began to mill around, sitting or standing in small groups.

Jordan plopped down across the table from Rob
and Sebastian and Sarah, who were still sticking to Rob like glue. “Being an elf isn’t easy, you know. Those pointy shoes hurt my feet.”

Sebastian laughed and Sarah shook her head with an indulgent grin.

“Speaking of elves, you want Jordan and me to help you get a tree?” Sebastian asked Rob. “You can supervise. I know how much you love that.”

Rubbing his aching head with his good hand, Rob said, “I’m actually thinking I won’t do the whole production this year.
Me and my gimp arm live alone, so why go to all the trouble?”

He saw the twin expressions of alarm on his friends’ faces, but
they said nothing. What was there to say?

Grinning, Jordan said,
“It’s no biggie, man. You’d do the same for us.”

Rob
should’ve known Jordan would be a persistent little bugger. “Yeah.” That wasn’t the point. He hated inconveniencing anyone on his behalf. “I’ll live without the tree and trimmings this year.”

Throughout the exchange, Sarah and Sebastian hadn’t said a word, but his hopes they would leave the topic alone were dashed as they drove home.

“What was that you said to me last year?” Sarah asked. “‘You’ve gotta have a tree.’? Well, the same goes for you. You love Christmas.”

“I don’t need a keeper, so stop fucking trying to handle me,” he snapped,
instantly regretting the words.

Sebastian, who was driving, sent a look
of censure through the rearview mirror.

Rob rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I know you’re only trying to help
, and I apologize for swearing at you. You didn’t deserve that. And I appreciate the thought, but I’m not in the holiday spirit this year.”

“Whatever you say.”

Even after they’d dropped him off, he still felt like an ass. Stripping and climbing into bed, he decided he’d order some flowers for Sarah. He’d bitten her head off for no reason. But even the attempt to make amends for his harsh words didn’t diminish the fact that he’d said them to one of his closest friends—a person who’d stood by him since the day they’d met. Rob fell asleep, more depressed and angry than ever.

~
* ~

Alaina sprinted through the house, frantically searching out her ringing cell phone. Her hair was wet and dripping down her back as she clutched the towel to her equally w
et body. Who could be calling after eleven on a school night? “Hello?”

“
Mon Dieu
.”

After pulling the
phone away from her ear, she stared at the thing for a moment before returning it to her ear and saying, “Who is this?”

“I am so sorry. This is Sebastian. I did not realize the time. Did I wake you?”

“No. I was getting ready for bed but wasn’t asleep or anything.” Her eyes widened. “Is Rob all right?”

“He’s fine. Well, not fine. And that’s why I’m calling. But
, I can let you go to sleep and we can talk tomorrow.”

“You can’t
say something like that and then tell me we’ll pick up tomorrow, Sebastian. What’s going on?”

“Well, I don’t know if you are aware of this, but Rob loves Christmas. I mean, he
loves
the holiday, way more than other people do. He decorates his whole house, usually puts up more than one tree—he really goes all out. I joked with Sarah last year that our house looked like Christmas threw up in it.”

“Uh-huh…”
It was pretty adorable that Rob was so into Christmas. She’d always enjoyed it, but apparently not on Rob’s level.

“Anyway, we had our team Christmas party to
day. We have the party early in the month since we’re always playing around Christmas. It’s just for the players and staff.”

Alaina nodded then realized he couldn’t see her. “Okay
, makes sense.” The school had staff-only events as well.

“I’m rambling again, I know.” Sebastian cleared his throat
. “A bunch of us were thinking of descending on his house with the trees and decorating for him. Sarah and I wondered if you would like to be part of it.”

Geez, I thought it was something way worse. Thank God.
Still, Alaina couldn’t help but be charmed by Sebastian. He was adorable. “Of course. When?”

“We don’t play on Friday
, so we were thinking after practice. You work half days, in the morning?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be able to get there in the afternoon? We could make the time later.”

“
The afternoon works just fine. Do you need me to bring anything?”

“He’s got everything he needs, and about a million things more. And he calls me a pack
rat.” A derisive noise sounded from Sebastian, and Alaina did her best not to laugh—those two were something else. “How about his place at around three? A few of us will arrive earlier to get the trees up.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Okay then. See you Friday.”

T
hey hung up and Alaina sat on her bed, a strange feeling of warmth settling over her. Sure, she and Rob had been together for well over two months now, but Alaina still got giddy that people thought to include her on something like this.

She spent Thursday baking Christmas cookies. Originally the plan had been to wait until a week or two later, but she wanted to bring some with her to the big decorating party.
Alaina had to convert her recipes into healthier offerings for the guys, but that was a challenge she welcomed. After all, at twenty-five she wasn’t exactly young anymore—not that she was old either—and really should be watching her diet more closely than she was.

By the time she finished, she had
eight dozen each of eight different kinds of cookies. Alaina always sent care packages home with her kids, since many of their families couldn’t afford luxuries like homemade cookies. As soon as everything was packed into boxes—one to the brim for school and one with far fewer for Rob’s house, she collapsed in exhaustion, and was lucky not to oversleep her alarm the next morning.

On Friday, she
remembered to add several, small, disposable containers of cookies to her haul to Rob’s place. He had told her not all the players got to see their families over the holiday, so she figured she’d do what she could to brighten the time for them. Sebastian hadn’t said how many guys would be present, and in the end, she’d done up ten sets of cookies and thrown in a few extra empty containers in case she needed to switch things around.

As Alaina approached her closet, she wondered what one wore to a decorating party. Should she go casual
—maybe yoga pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt? Or should she dress nicer, since she was with Rob? She swallowed thickly, laughing at herself for still getting choked up that he wanted to be with her. If Rob pouncing on her every chance he could, plus all the hours he was putting in on the foundation, didn’t convince her of his sincerity, she supposed nothing would.

When she got to
his house, she frowned. Her beat-up Corolla looked like the red-headed stepchild of the BMW’s and Lexus’s crowding the street and his driveway. It took about seven tries to parallel park since she was terrified of hitting one of those expensive cars, but finally her little car shimmied into the spot. Then she gathered her cookies.

The front door swung open to
reveal Rob, a grin brightening his face. “Why am I not surprised they finagled you into doing this?”

He looked more relaxed than she’d seen him lately
, and once again, she marveled at the special friendship he, Sebastian, and Sarah shared. They’d known he was down and had arranged this whole thing. In retrospect Alaina was chagrined she hadn’t thought to do it herself.

Giving him a quick kiss
as he shut the door once more, she said, “They didn’t have to finagle anything. Sebastian called, I said yes, and here I am.” Holding up the large box, she added, “With cookies.”

Rob groaned. “Woman, you’re gonna be the death of me.”

Alaina winked. “I figured out how to make the recipes healthier.”

Pulling her to him, he whispered in her
ear, “God, I love you.” She staggered backward, her mouth open and her heart in her throat as his hand flew to cover his mouth. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know.” Was he lying? Did he really love her? How could he? There was still so much they didn’t know about each other.

Rob put his arm around her once more and said, “Let me be clear. I’m serious about us. Very serious.”

“So am I,” she
stuttered out through her shock.

“But I’m trying to take this slow.”

“Me too.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Uh-huh.”

Sarah swooped in then. “Let me take your coat. Oh, what do we have here?”

“Christmas cookies. I, um, looked up how to make them healthier, so hopefully the guys could have some.”

Rick sauntered over. “I don’t care if
they’re filled with pure lard, I want some.”

Alaina blushed, but tried to cover by shrugging out of her jacket. “I
did up one big Tupperware container full for everyone to share. And then, you know, if you guys are interested, I put some in smaller disposable containers for you to take home.”

Rick grabbed her then
dipped her, pretending to kiss her, and she squealed.

“Hands off my woman,” Rob warned, and Rick slowly let her up.

She’d nearly gone ass over teakettle, considering her weight compared to Rick’s, but as soon as she was upright, Rob reached out with his good hand and tucked her into his chest. Why did that simple gesture tickle her so much? Was Rob serious? He’d sounded it.

Sarah, rolling her eyes at the lot of them, said, “I’ll take that into the kitchen. And hide the smaller containers until they’ve done their jobs around here.”

“Meanie,” Jordan said to her back as she left the room.

Sarah gave him a one-fingered salute and Alaina barked out a laugh.
“Oh, I like her.”

Rob burrowed his nose in her hair. “So did you bring me anything special?”

Alaina turned partially toward him and whispered in his ear, “Yes, but I wrapped your present. In clothes.”

He groaned. “Sure you don’t want to, you know,” he jerked his head toward the hallway, “decorate my room with me?”

“Later, hon.” Stepping away, she asked Sebastian, who was struggling to attach an impressive swag of elaborate greenery to Rob’s mantle, “How can I help?”

“Holding the other end of this monster would be a big help, thank you.”

“I can do that.”

As she and Seb struggled,
Rob remained close for a couple of minutes until she pivoted and said, “You’re hovering and making me nervous. Go eat a cookie. I don’t want you hurting yourself when there are lots of guys around.”