Hot stuff, p.17
Hot Stuff, page 17
“Exactly.” Walker comes over and puts his hand out toward Blake. “I’ll make you a deal. If we can’t get your brothers, hell even if we can, I’ll do the ice dip with you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because you and I are a team and you put yourself out there for our team.”
She eyes him and I’m about to interject when she grabs his hand.
“Deal.” After they shake, Blake adds, “Dad is gonna love this.”
“For a chance to meet Andrew Watts, I’d gladly volunteer.”
“You’re a fan?”
“What self-respecting hockey fan or player isn’t?” Walker counters.
“True. True. So do I tell the twins I don’t need them to come here? They said something about taking me to the owner of the place they think Branton is at.”
“The owner shares an apartment with my sister.”
“Oh. Right. Gannon.” Blake glances at me and I give a hopefully subtle shake of my head. “If you can get the address, we can head to see Branton after you two get married. Are we going to Vegas for that?”
“I was thinking of seeing if Pa could organize something at home. Maybe the back garden of the house.”
“Oh, yes, that would be gorgeous and it’s a good time of year for a wedding in the south.” Blake grins.
“I’d like everyone there and I know Cami is champing at the bit to get home.”
“She hates the city. Any big city.”
I nod. “I know. I can’t work out how Pa got her here.”
“He reminded her that the four of us are in this together.”
“I don’t think she forgets.”
“No. But she does try to escape whenever she can.”
“She’s always been that way. I had to badger her into being friends when Fenton brought her home.”
Blake laughs. “I remember. I swear, you pestered her until she rolled over.”
“I’ll get her in on this too.”
“Don’t push her. She’ll come around. Once she sees the frenzy from the fans, her insatiable curiosity of human nature will make her want to study every aspect of the team, game, fans, she won’t be able to help herself.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Maybe you could play to her journalist side?” Walker offers.
“I tried that.”
“But now you actually have the team and the public knows about it, and the next few weeks, hell months, are going to ramp things up.”
“True. I wanted her to do a behind-the-scenes thing.”
“She still could,” Blake says.
“She could.” I ponder the possibilities, but I know I probably won’t get my wish until we’re closer to playing in the league. Which means I’ve got over a year to wear her down. It took me less than that to convince her to be my friend.
“C’mon, food should be arriving any minute and I need to make a call to see about our hot shot.” Walker places his hand on my lower back and urges me out of the room. “I also need to call Shelby. Let her know what we decided.”
“Oh, did we decide?” I ask.
“Yeah, I think so. I really like the idea of each of us having a piece of our parents’ happy marriage to carry forward.”
Blake side-eyes me so I say, “His parents’ rings.”
“Ah.” She nods. “I’ll call my brothers, let them know not to bother coming over.”
“They can if you want to see them while you’re here.” Walker offers as we enter the living room to find Cami and Nat facing off.
“What’s going on?”
“Dickhead rang,” Cami spits. She’s the one who least favors Nat’s husband and isn’t shy about letting everyone know.
“What did he want?” Blake asks retaking her seat on the couch.
“A job.” Nat sighs. “I know you all don’t like him. I get why.”
“I wish you’d tell us why you’re still married to him.” I don’t voice my thoughts on the man or her reluctance to divorce him but I do want to understand why.
“I won’t be after the new year.”
Cami is out of her chair. “What? You’re divorcing him?”
“Yes.” Nat rubs at her forehead. “I have the evidence I need to make sure he can’t touch any of my personal wealth and we made sure long ago that he can’t touch Rogue or the Rogues.”
“What evidence? You’ve always been so tight lipped about the two of you.”
“Because the marriage was never my idea. I did it to gain access to my trust funds.”
“Wow.” Cami sinks back into her chair. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because I knew as soon as I said I do that I’d made a mistake and it’s been easy to keep my life separate from his. Most of the time.”
“What do you need from us?” I move to her, sit beside her, and place an arm around her shoulders. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”
“Patience.”
“He’s going to be a dick, isn’t he?”
“He already is, why would he change now? Especially when Nat is taking away his money vault.” Blake slips her arm around Nat from her other side. “Can I be there when you boot him out?”
“I’m giving him the house.”
“What?” Cami is on her feet again. “Why?”
“It’s easier. Plus I never liked it. I’m moving into an apartment in our complex for now. It’ll suit me better, being close to the arena. And let’s be real, I’ve been pretty much living in the company apartment for months.”
She had. I hadn’t thought too much about it because we’ve been so busy building the new manufacturing facility as well as bidding on the franchise. I figured with all the late nights and the fact we’ve all, except for Cami, spent a number of nights in the apartment each week, it was convenient.
Now I see it was her way of moving away from Johnathon sooner than she officially could.
“When are you serving him the papers?” I ask. “Is this going to cause a problem for the Rogues?”
“Before the phone call I would have said no. Now I’m not so sure. I need to think about it, talk to him next week when he gets back from Europe.”
“When did he go to Europe?”
“Last month. He’s staying in the chalet. Skiing.”
I can’t stop the bark of laughter from bursting out. It isn’t long before the others join in.
Walker eyes us all. “Why is him skiing funny?”
“Because he’s the least coordinated man on the planet. Last summer he broke his nose surfing.”
“Yeah, about that. He wasn’t surfing when he broke it. He was hitting on his instructor and her husband didn’t take too kindly to that,” Nat explains.
“Oh my god, that just makes it funnier.” Blake puts her hands up in a prayer position. “Please tell me all the other injuries occurred the same way.”
Nat shrugs. “Don’t know. I’ve only been having him followed for the last few years.”
“Followed? You’ve been collecting evidence for years?” I ask, still confused as to why she’s waited. “That doesn’t explain why you didn’t do it before now.”
“I couldn’t do anything until after I turned thirty and all the clauses and stipulations on the family trusts became void.”
“Oh. Your grandfather tied it all up until then?”
“Yes. It’s why we never moved into the family home. I couldn’t live there until after thirty and only if I was married. I still won’t be able to live there because I won’t be married in a few months.”
“Jesus. This conversation needs wine. Got any wine, Walker?” Cami asks as she moves toward the kitchen. “Or maybe champagne? We do have a few things to celebrate.”
She’s right, we do. The Rogues contract and announcement, Nat’s impending divorce, and my engagement.
The next few years are looking bright, and I can’t wait to get started on them with four people who mean everything to me.
Walker
We make the collective decision to return to Baton Rouge together. None of us want the media to get wind of a certain hot shot and with the way photographers and reports are following, calling, and getting in our faces, it makes sense to lead them all to where we want them.
The Rogues multi-million-dollar arena.
Plus there is a wedding we want to have at some point.
Soon.
I want Shelby and Gannon to be there but that’s proving difficult to organize.
In the end, we put the wedding on hold and concentrate on the other things going on.
Like the press conference to announce my retirement.
The Knights graciously allow me to dictate where that will take place. Laken even offered to fly down to Baton Rouge to do it.
She’s proving to be a competent team owner, although I’m sure Rafe is helping her a lot.
As much as I appreciate her offer, and because I don’t want to appear as though there is any animosity between me and my old team, Oakley and I fly back to New York three days after we leave it.
The trip serves two purposes.
This morning’s announcement that was completely anticlimactic after the recent days of media attention.
Laken made the announcement, shook my hand, offered me the best for the future, and I answered a few questions about what’s next for me and that was it.
There was only one question about Oakley. We’d spoken about the possibility of that and decided to give them something to hopefully lessen their interest.
I confirmed our relationship and that we’d been friends for months before the friendship took a romantic turn. When someone asked about my knowledge of the Rogues, I chose to cut it there.
Surprisingly, we were left alone after that. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact Laken had a second announcement about the Knights that put the spotlight squarely on her and my old team.
Oakley wants to stick around for a while to make sure Laken doesn’t need anything which leads us to this afternoon.
And packing.
“What about this? Need any of it?” Oakley holds up a stack of dishes.
“Do I?” I have no idea where we’ll be living. I’m assuming it won’t be in the company apartment where we stayed the last few nights.
“Probably not. But do you want it?”
“You know…” I shut the cupboard door where my coffee mugs are. “I don’t really need anything but personal items. I’m sure you’ve got household goods.”
“I do. Although…” She looks at me uncertainly.
“What?”
“I live with Pa.”
“Okay. So, it’s already furnished.”
“As soon as we get a chance, we’ll look for somewhere to live.”
“Why? You don’t want to live there anymore?”
“I didn’t think you would want to.”
Walking over, I wrap her up in my arms. “Oak. I’ll live in a box under a bridge if I get to do it with you.”
“Well, we don’t need to go to that extreme.” She grins. “The house is big. And Pa’s room in on the ground floor, far away from my room.”
“Will he object to us living there? Together? He might be okay with his granddaughter living with him but adding me to the house could be a deal breaker for him.”
“No. He’s talking about moving out to give us the house.”
“Why would he move out of his home?”
“I don’t think he’s serious. At least I hope not. I think maybe he thought you wouldn’t want to live with him.”
“Huh. I guess I need to make it clear I’m not about to usurp his place in your life and home.”
“Funnily enough, I think he might want you to. I think he’s hoping for great grandchildren.”
“I’m ready to give him those whenever you are,” I tell her.
“You… I…” She shakes her head, and I have to smile that I’ve managed to make her speechless. It’s not something easily done.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t given kids much thought, but I do know I want them.
“I know we’ve got a lot going on. We don’t need to add to the chaos right now but when you’re ready, I’m game.”
“We’re not even married yet?” she argues. Although we’re not fighting because as I said, whenever she wants them is fine with me.
I shrug. “I’m not worried about that.”
“You’re not one of those men who needs the mother of his children to bear his name?”
“No. Do I want you to? Yes. Need you to? No. Besides, I thought you’d want to keep your maiden name.”
“James?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s your family name and I know you’re the last of your line to pass it on.”
“Right, well, it’s actually not my birth name.”
“Sorry, what?”
“My mother was Pa’s daughter. My father’s name is Doyle. When Pa came and got me, he had my last name changed to James.”
I’m so surprised by this information that I don’t speak for several seconds. But then something occurs to me that I can’t believe I haven’t noticed before now. “You don’t talk about your parents. At all.”
“No. My mother died when I was two and my father didn’t want me after that and didn’t take care of me very well. Pa and Grams came and got me when I was three. I’ve lived with them since.”
She hasn’t mentioned her grandmother before either and I have a feeling I know the answer to my next question but ask anyway. “Grams?”
“My grandmother. She died when I was twenty-two.”
Saying sorry in these situations always seems useless so I go with something else. “I wish I’d gotten to meet her. She raised an amazing woman.”
“I have no idea where I would be if they hadn’t come for me. Probably dead in a gutter like my father.”
“Wait. Your father is dead?”
“Yes, he was walking home drunk and got hit by a car. Grams said it was a blessing because after my mother died, he turned into someone she didn’t recognize, someone she didn’t like.”
I tighten my arms around her for a second before letting go and palming her face. Lowering my head, I bring our lips together in a quick kiss. “There’s so much about each other we don’t know.”
“We’ve got time.”
“We do, but I have the urge to rush through it all because I want to know every part of you.”
“I feel the same.”
“It still surprises me how much I feel for you.” I press my forehead to hers. “It’s all-consuming.”
“Glad I’m not alone in that.”
“We’re a pair.”
She grins. “Yes, we are.”
“A perfect pair.” I hate how cliché I sound but it’s how I feel. She’s perfect for me. She’s not perfect, neither am I, but together we’re a perfect fit.
“I’ve always known what a healthy marriage looks like because Pa and Grams had one but I never understood how they could fight like dogs one second and love on each other the next. But I get it now.”
“We haven’t had a fight yet.”
“No. But I can’t imagine not loving you through it.”
“My mother used to say she knew she loved my dad completely because other than her children he was the only person on the planet that could make her want to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.”
She laughs, her face still cradled in my hands, my forehead on hers. “Grams used to say something similar. She’d tell me Pa made her want to kiss and kill him in the same breath.”
“Yeah, that’s it exactly.”
“We’ll have that.”
“Yes.” Neither of us is questioning it. Which says more than anything how deep we both are.
I never saw myself falling in love. Yes, I’ve dated, screwed around too, but love has never been on my radar.
Not until a smokin’ hot woman came out from behind blinding lights and metaphorically took me to my knees.
And suddenly I can’t wait any longer to get on with our lives. Letting her go, I step back.
“Okay, let’s pack some of my clothes so we can get back home. As much as I want Shelby and Gannon there, I want to marry you more.”
“Wait, what? You’ve giving me whiplash, Walker.”
“Let’s grab a few things and leave the rest. I can have movers come in and box everything up, ship it to Baton Rouge, and worry about it then. For now, I want to get home as quick as we can so I can reassure your Pa that if he’s happy to have me living under his roof, that’s where we’ll be.”
I grab her hand and tow her toward the bedroom.
“I also want to get married as soon as we can. We can video call Shelby and Gannon if they can’t make it down.”
“Oh, well, Pa has a friend who can marry us.”
“He does? When do you think we can organize it?”
“If you don’t want anything fancy, we could probably do it as soon as Uncle Merle is available.”
“Uncle Merle?”
She shrugs. “He’s married to my Grams’ best friend.”
“Jeez, all these people, this whole life I know nothing about. I can’t wait to discover it all.” Spinning her around, I tug her against my chest and press my lips to hers. “I’ll never know enough about you to get bored.”
I back her up to the bed and when her legs hit the mattress, I give her a little shove.
Laughing as she bounces on the bed, she pushes to her elbows and asks, “What are you doing?”
“Getting to know you better.”
“I think you know me pretty well when it comes to this.”
“Maybe.” I pull my shirt out of my pants and over my head then grin at her wolfishly. “But I better check just to be sure.”
And then I’m on her. My mouth on hers, my tongue thrusting between her lips to tangle with hers.
My hands aren’t idle either. They work at her clothes until I have to break our kiss to get her naked from the waist up.
She’s not wearing a bra. Why didn’t I notice that before?
“No bra? All morning?”
“No, the shirt you just ripped off me has a built-in shelf bra.”
I shake my head. “I don’t even know what that is. And I don’t care because…” I wave a hand toward her chest.
