Deadlines & Red Lines: Fast Ice Sports Romance

by Stephanie Julian

  Sugar flashed a smile over her shoulder at the restaurant owner, who Sugar owed more than she could ever express or repay. Georgie would probably shut her down fast if she even tried.

  “Thank you, boss.”

  “Uh-huh. Of course, you’d have to get a life first.”

  Sugar heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Oh, come on, Georgie, not you too.”

  “See, I’m not the only one who thinks you need to get out more.” Anika bumped her shoulder against Sugar’s on her way out of the kitchen with her tray. “You need to ask that man out on a date.”

  Sugar felt her cheeks flame, which she could never hide because her complexion was way too fair. Luckily, she was facing away from Georgie and Anika was on her way out.

  “Order up, Shug.”

  Marquis, one of the other cooks, saved her from the question she knew Georgie would ask. Or maybe saved her from realizing that everyone in the entire diner knew she had a ridiculous crush on a man so far out of her league he might as well be on another planet. Even if he didn’t act like a famous athlete who was worth millions.

  Gathering the plates onto a platter, she realized it was RJ’s order and sighed. Because of course it was.

  Pushing through the swinging doors into the dining room, she schooled her face into a pleasant expression and headed back to his table. To the gorgeous guy who made her question every promise she’d made to herself when she’d left her parents’ farm in the middle-of-freaking-nowhere northern Pennsylvania.

  Rule Number One: No getting distracted by a guy.

  Rule Number Two: No getting distracted by a guy.

  Rule Number Three: Live your life.

  She’d barely made it a few feet from the door when he looked up. He’d had his head down over his phone, scrolling, but the man had a sixth sense. Probably because of the sport he played. He had to be aware of his surroundings at all times or he could get crushed. When she watched his games, she couldn’t believe the amount of punishment a hockey player’s body took on a weekly basis.

  Of course, the body in question was in peak physical condition—

  Shit. Shit. No. Absolutely not. Stop it.

  Dropping his gaze, which had caught and held hers as she walked across the diner, she zigzagged through the dining room to the front-corner table, which she now thought of as his. He always sat there, with his back to the wall, facing the front door and the wall of windows. He liked to people-watch. He’d told her so a few times when she’d caught him staring. He’d smiled up at her, that half-cocky grin that made her heart pound and her palms sweat. Not a good thing for a server.

  Reaching his table, she smiled at him without meeting his gaze. She’d found she didn’t drop as many plates if she didn’t look at him. Which was ridiculous. Honestly. He’d been coming here for almost a year. She should be used to him by now.

  Like that’s ever gonna happen.

  Unconsciously, she sighed as she stopped at his table to lay down his plates.

  “Hey, Sugar, you okay?”

  She didn’t have to force a smile this time because he sounded so damn sincere. Like he honestly cared about her answer. Because, damn it, he was just that nice a guy.

  Ugh. She needed to get over this crush. It was seriously screwing with her head.

  “I’m fine. Thanks for asking. You need anything else?”

  And then she made a fatal mistake. She let herself look at RJ. Really look at him. Let their eyes meet, let her smile soften as they stared at each other. And probably let her feelings for him show clear as day on her face.

  Their gazes held. She had no idea for how long. Thankfully, she’d already set his plates on the table or they’d probably have ended up on the floor. Because the way he was looking back at her…

  Her heart took off, racing like she’d run a marathon.

  Was he seriously looking at her like he was thinking the same thing she was? Like he wanted to kiss her until neither of them could breathe and then they would stumble around until they found a wall he could push her up against and—

  Blinking, she broke that connection, taking a step away from the table. Which made her feel ridiculous.

  “No. I’m good. Thanks.”

  He drew out that first word for at least three syllables, making it clear to Sugar that he thought there was something wrong with her. And there was.

  She had a big, damn crush on the man, and she needed to get the hell over it.

  “Okay then.” She nodded, still not meeting his gaze. “Just let me know if you do.”

  Turning on her heel, she forced herself to make the rounds of her other tables before heading back to the kitchen.

  And hopefully getting herself under control before she had to face him again.

  RJ watched Georgie walk to the front entrance, turn the sign from open to closed then lock the door.

  She didn’t say a word as she walked over to his table and slid into the booth. He still had a hot cup of coffee in front of him, courtesy of Sugar about two minutes ago. He should’ve left after his previous cup. Hell, he should’ve left when he’d finished dinner an hour ago. And yet, here he sat.

  Less than a year ago, he’d sat in this diner and told his best friend, Tank, he needed to get a life. Today, his sister and Tank were talking about wedding plans for next year. And his younger brother, Brody, and his girlfriend, Tara, had recently moved in together.

  Which left RJ at loose ends. Not that he wasn’t happy for them. It was just… It left him the odd man out. Again.

  Georgie stared at him from across the table, calm and relaxed. He figured she’d perfected that look for years as a sergeant in the Army.

  “So. What’s eating you? Spit it out.”

  He appreciated the fact Georgie didn’t beat around the bush. If Janine, Georgie’s partner in all things, were here, she’d roll her eyes and make sure Georgie didn’t overstep. But it was Janine’s book club night at the library and Georgie had open ice.

  RJ didn’t mind. In fact, he appreciated the fact that she looked him in the eyes and confronted him. And that she cared enough to ask.

  “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure.”

  Georgie’s eyebrows arched and he saw her lips curl up at the corners. Probably hadn’t expected him to answer at all.

  “How’s practice? I know you’ve been hitting the ice pretty hard lately. Don’t most of you hockey guys take vacation in the summer? Why aren’t you on an island somewhere chugging beer and eating all the shit you don’t eat all season long?”

  That made him laugh, because that was pretty much exactly what most of his team and the rest of the league was doing right now.

  “Good question. And one I don’t have an answer for.”

  “That shitshow in LA. seems to be blowing over.”

  Points to Georgie for describing the situation perfectly. And for not being afraid to mention it. “Probably going to have to go back to testify at some point. But the police have cleared me of doing anything wrong.”

  “Did you? Do anything wrong?”

  She said it so straightforwardly, he almost didn’t understand what she was asking at first. His family and his close friends had never once asked if he was guilty of any of the charges laid at his feet. They knew him well enough to know he wasn’t. They trusted him.

  Georgie had known him a year. And she was the only person who’d asked him flat-out if he’d done anything wrong. Except for the press. They’d hounded him with questions, most of which they phrased to get a specific response. So he’d stopped giving interviews. Until last January when he’d agreed to an interview with Sports Illustrated and laid everything on the line.

  And things had died down. Mostly.

  “No. I didn’t.”

  Georgie nodded, as if she’d already known the answer. “Okay then. So what’s on your mind? ’Cause something’s definitely on your mind.”

  Because he knew she sincerely cared, he gave his answer a decent amount of thought. “I feel like I’m stuck
in neutral.”

  Georgie leaned back into the cushion, getting more comfortable. “What are you doing to put yourself back in drive?”

  He gave the question some serious thought before answering. “Not a damn thing. I’m just putting one foot in front of the other right now.”

  “You’ve been doing that for a year now. Think maybe it’s time you veered outta that lane and found a new one?”

  “Sounds simple enough. But you know it’s not.”

  “Yes, I do. Have I told you about my first few months after I retired?”

  He shook his head.

  “I put in my twenty and thought I had the next twenty mapped out. Get a job, settle down, spend my life with the woman I loved. You know, normal shit.”

  He nodded but stayed quiet, because he was pretty sure she was going to tell him that wasn’t what happened.

  “Wasted the better part of two years trying to figure out which way I should go because when I got out, I had all these people laying their expectations on me. My brothers expected me to come home and help them with the family business. My grandfather started a Christmas tree farm in the forties and grew it into one of the biggest cut-tree producers this side of the Mississippi. They just expected I’d come home and work with them. Never took into account the fact that that’s not what I wanted to do. Then again, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I also knew that if I moved to some bumfuck Pennsylvania town as an Army vet with my girlfriend in tow, I wasn’t going to be accepted, at least not right away. And I didn’t have the patience for that shit.”

  “So what’d you do?”

  “I moved home. And I fucking hated it.”

  RJ leaned his elbows on the table. “How’d you get out?”

  “Well, first I had to realize I was miserable. And not just because Janine wasn’t there. I’d left her in Philadelphia because I knew she’d be unhappy on a farm where the nearest city was a two-and-a-half-hour drive away. But I felt I owed my family, you know? That I needed to be there to help them because they’d held down the fort while I was gone, and it was my turn.

  “But one day, my older brother told me I needed to leave. That this wasn’t my life and I didn’t owe them anything just because this was their life.”

  “I love playing hockey. That is my life.”

  “Good. But hockey’s not all there is to life.”

  “Right now, that’s all I need.”

  “What about a week from now? A month? A year? Life’s more than just work. I love cooking and I love this diner, but if I didn’t have Janine and Wounded Warriors and that damn community garden project Janine started, I wouldn’t know what I was missing. And I have a feeling you already know what you’re missing.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that because she was right. But he still didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do about it—

  “Georgie, you want me to lock up—oh! Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  His gaze snapped to Sugar, who’d just walked out of the kitchen. She’d taken off the apron she always wore and must have brushed her hair and redid her ponytail because she didn’t have little wispy curls all around her face.

  Then he remembered that Georgie was sitting directly across from him, watching his every move. He wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure Georgie could read minds. And if she’d read his, she knew how he felt about Sugar.

  And she’d tell him to take a first step in Sugar’s direction. Which was exactly what he wanted to do. And exactly what he shouldn’t do. Because Sugar didn’t need any more stress in her life and his life was constant stress.

  “No problem,” Georgie answered. “And yeah, I think I’m gonna hop outta here early. Janine’s been bugging me to go to some exhibition in Olde Town, so I think I’ll surprise her at the library and we’ll head down to that.”

  Then Georgie turned her attention back to RJ and he knew exactly what was about to come out of her mouth. His brain began to spin excuses faster than his body reacted to a cross pass from a winger.

  “RJ, you mind staying a few extra minutes, just until Sugar’s done? Don’t want her to be here all alone. Juan’s already left for the night, kids are sick, and I gotta skip out now if I’m going to make it to—”

  “Sure.” He looked straight at Sugar. “No problem.”

  Sugar’s eyes widened then she blinked and dropped her gaze to the floor. “That’s okay. Really. I’ll be fine. I don’t want to make you—”

  “I’ve got nowhere to be. It’s not a bother.”

  “Great.” Georgie slapped the table. “That’s settled. Thanks, Sugar. You’re really helping me out here. And RJ, I appreciate you not leaving Sugar alone. I’m sure there won’t be an issue, but it’ll make me feel better.”

  Knowing he’d get to spend time alone with Sugar made RJ feel instantly better. Screw the fact that just minutes ago he’d been worried Georgie would figure out he had a thing for Sugar. Right now, didn’t matter one bit.

  “Happy to help,” he said. “I don’t have anywhere to be tonight.”

  Which was the god’s honest truth. And if he was being completely honest with himself, he’d much rather spend a few minutes alone with Sugar than head back to his apartment. Alone.

  Hell, he couldn’t even adopt a dog because he wasn’t home enough to take care of one. Just one more thing he’d had to sacrifice for his career. Because he didn’t have anyone else in his life. Spending a little alone time with Sugar might actually make today less pathetic.

  “I’m gonna get out of here.” Georgie slid out of the booth. “Thanks again, kids.”

  Sugar seemed frozen for several seconds, looking like she wanted to say something. But she must have thought better of it because she simply turned and headed for the kitchen without a word. A few seconds later, Georgie yelled “Good night” from the pass-through window behind the bar, then he heard a door open and close somewhere in the back.

  A few minutes passed, but Sugar never reappeared. He heard her moving around in the kitchen, dishes clattering, glasses ringing, silverware clanging.

  Are you just going to sit here?

  No. He wasn’t.

  Two

  Sliding out of the booth, RJ walked to the swinging doors that separated the kitchen from the dining room and stepped through into the kitchen. Where he found Sugar wiping down a gleaming stainless-steel table countertop with a rag.

  “Need any help?”

  She jumped a bit, but he didn’t think he’d scared her. Hell, he hoped she wasn’t afraid of him.

  Throwing him a quick smile over her shoulder, she shook her head.

  “I’m good, thanks. I’ll just be a couple minutes. You really don’t have to wait. Georgie’s just overprotective.”

  “She cares about you. That’s not a bad thing.”

  “I know. And I’m grateful. But I really am capable of taking care of myself.”

  “It’s not an imposition. I’d just be home watching TV anyway.”

  Her hand slowed on the counter and, finally, she turned to face him. Their gazes connected and held, heat rising from his gut to spread through his body. But mainly gathering in his cock. He didn’t dare adjust himself and draw her attention to his growing hard-on.

  “Well…thank you. I don’t mean to sound like I don’t appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem.”

  And it wasn’t. Not at all.

  Even if there was no way in hell he should slake his burning lust for this woman.

  Finally, she nodded, her gaze falling away. “Okay. I’ll just be a few more minutes. You want something to drink while you wait?” She paused and flashed him a quick smile that made the heat in his lower body burn even hotter. “I could make you a quick milkshake.”

  His grin caught him off guard.

  “Although…that’s probably not allowed in your diet, is it?”

  Was she teasing him? She looked totally serious, eyes wide. But the hint of a smile at the corners of her lips gave her away.
He felt his own grin widen.

  Go ahead. Admit it. The only reason you come here so often is because of her.

  “The occasional milkshake isn’t going to kill me. Sure. I’d love one.”

  Her eyes widened a tiny bit more, like she hadn’t expected him to agree. Then her smile exploded, and he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Literally. Like someone had taken the butt end of a stick and shoved it into his stomach.

  “Okay. Mint chocolate chip, right?”

  Fuck. She knew his favorite ice cream flavor.

  And it probably didn’t mean a damn thing. She was a waitress at his favorite restaurant, where he ate more than he ate at home. But…he could count on one hand how many times he’d ordered a milkshake here. And she’d remembered.

  “Yeah. Mint chocolate chip. Sure.”

  “Okay. One milkshake coming up.”

  She turned and headed for the other side of the room, to a walk-in freezer.

  He probably should’ve headed back to the dining room, sat at the counter, and waited for her to bring the shake out to him. But a tiny part of him rebelled against leaving. That stubborn, stupid piece of him that’d kept him in L.A. longer than he should’ve stayed. When he’d refused to see the writing on the wall. He should’ve known his time with the Regents was over the second his teammates had stopped looking him in the eyes.

  He’d thought he could ride it out, that it’d blow over. Because, damn it, he hadn’t done anything wrong. But the men who’d known him and been his friends for years had turned their backs on him and treated him like a criminal. Not all of them. A few had stuck by him. But most had avoided him like he had the plague.

  Starting over in Philly had been the best thing he’d done.

  Wanting to kiss Sugar right now was the worst thing he could do to her. Because she didn’t need to get caught up in his problem. Just the fact that she was younger would start all the rumors swirling again.

  Of course, being alone with her was the complete opposite of staying away.

  Shit.

  She returned from the freezer with a carton of ice cream and headed for the counter and the blender. His hands tightened into fists because he absolutely wanted to put them around her waist and pull her against him, feel her slim curves plastered against his body.