“And you know this how?” Irritation seeped into my voice.
“I watch. I listen. I’m an observer, and I don’t miss much. I can’t believe I have to tell you that.”
“You don’t,” I conceded.
“You have something special with Delaney, something rare and worth fighting for. Her decision is whether or not putting her life in possible mortal danger is worth the risk of having all those things she’s been denied for a year.”
“What if I’m not enough?”
Steele narrowed his gaze and cocked his head at me. “What?”
“She had a good life in DC. She was following her life’s calling. Who am I to stand in her way? Even if she chooses freedom, she might not choose me.”
“Oh, I didn’t know.” His sympathetic grimace choked me up, and I looked away before I did something stupid like shed a tear or two.
“We love each other,” I blurted out.
“Star-crossed lovers are all through history.”
“We’re not star-crossed. We’re star adjacent.”
He frowned at me in confusion, and I chose not to elaborate, secretly applauding my small victory of getting one up on a guy who was usually a step ahead of everyone else.
I grinned with mock innocence, and Steele glowered at me. “Asshole,” he said.
I laughed in spite of my stomach being tied in knots. I’d gotten her back only to lose her again, at least for a few days, possibly for a lifetime, no matter her choice.
“Do you really think your idea might work?” I regarded Steele hopefully, waiting to hear words of encouragement, perhaps some hint his mother was a miracle worker.
Steele’s gray eyes met mine, and my stomach dropped to my toes. He didn’t know any more than I did. This was a shot in the dark, a gamble where the stakes were as high as Lanie’s life.
“Fuck if I know.” Steele shrugged and rubbed his eyes with his fists, then ran his hands down his face before meeting my gaze again.
“Your mom doesn’t have any secret powers that’d make me feel better about this?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’m not aware of much.”
I wondered what the hell that was supposed to mean.
Chapter Nineteen
The Right Guy?
~~Delaney~~
* * *
A few days later, I was still contemplating what to do. As agonizing as it was, I avoided Kaden, and he’d been true to his word and given me space.
Steele’s suggestion was an insanely crazy idea, so out there it just might work, or blow up in my face with fatal consequences. Maybe a life on the run was better than no life. Maybe I wasn’t brave enough to jeopardize my life in order to have a meaningful life.
Not even for Kaden. Not at this juncture. We didn’t really know each other. What if we were mistaking sex for love? God knew we had a connection, but was it only physical? Were we both deluding ourselves that we had something special? I’d had boyfriends before, and I didn’t have the best luck when it came to picking the right guy.
I wasn’t confident I was ready to alter my course. Not yet. Not with everything at stake, not just my life, but how would I ever forgive myself if something happened to Kaden because of me? Darrin had no scruples, and none of us knew how far he’d go when backed in a corner. From what I could tell, he’d gone pretty far as it was. Call me cowardly, and I’d admit I was.
Kaden would be disappointed, but I wouldn’t mislead him. On this small island, I’d found safety and peace, but the thought of leaving here and showing my face to the world terrified me as much as Kaden terrified me but in a different way. Fearing for my life every minute of every day had become instinctual to me, but protecting myself from Kaden’s magnetic personality and rocking-hot bod wasn’t part of my security plan. While I might be able to protect my body, I wouldn’t be able to protect my heart.
Mandy had that wedding coming up, and I wouldn’t leave until it was over as she needed my help.
I wasn’t ready to walk away, but I wasn’t ready to re-emerge into society. I didn’t know what I was ready for. Maybe this was a subject that I needed to bounce off another person, get another perspective.
I finished the room I was cleaning and went downstairs in search of Mandy. She was on the phone. By her stricken expression, something had gone horribly wrong.
“I understand. Yes, I do. I’m sorry this happened. Take care.” She hung up the phone and ran a hand over her face, choking back a sob and not noticing me yet. Pushing my own troubles out of the way, I approached the front desk, clearing my throat to alert her to my presence.
“Mandy, what’s wrong?”
She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue I handed her and managed a shaky smile. “It’s stupid to be crying about this, but I am.”
“Do you want to tell me?”
“The Schmidt wedding has just been cancelled.”
“Are you kidding? After all the hell they put you through?”
She nodded and sniffled.
“I hope you didn’t offer to refund their deposit.”
She met my gaze, and I knew instantly the situation might be worse than I imagined.
“They didn’t pay a deposit?” I asked.
“No. You know how difficult the bride was. I wanted this wedding so badly. They had so many wealthy and well-connected friends and relatives. It’d be good for business.”
“I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. We all had our problems. Mine were life-and-death and hers were economical. Very real and very large problems no matter how you looked at them.
“That’s not the half of it. I took out a loan to pay for all the crap they demanded. The Schmidts are one of the wealthiest old-money families in Seattle. I never in my wildest dreams imagined they wouldn’t be good for it.”
“Did you ask for them to pay for the expenses that were incurred?”
“Yes, the bride refuses and says I can take them to court.”
“How much money are we talking?”
Mandy’s face was stricken. “I’m so deep into this we might lose the inn. Brody warned me. He said something was off, and he was right. How am I going to tell him I gambled our entire livelihood on the word of one uber-bitchy bride? I should’ve known.”
“I’m so sorry. If there was something I could do—”
“I don’t expect you to take on my burdens.” Something caught her eye out the window. “There’s Brody now, off to mow the lawn. I’d better tell him and get it over with.” Reluctantly, she trudged out the door, head hanging in defeat. I racked my brain, trying to come up with something to help. In my old life, I’d have had options, but currently I had nothing of value to offer these kind and generous people. I was angry as hell at the Schmidts for taking advantage of them. I wondered if they’d ever planned on following through on the wedding, or even worse, going through with it and not paying for it.
I stared at the door long after she’d gone. Worrying about Mandy’s problems distracted me from my own mess for a while.
The door opened, and Easton strode in with a big grin on his face, followed by Axel. “Hey, I need more towels. Those kids go through them, and that dog rolled in something. We had to give her a bath. So if you have some old towels—” He stopped in mid-sentence and cocked his head to regard me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” My voice caught as I choked back a sob, suddenly overwhelmed by everything piling on at once.
“Anything I can do to help?” Easton had that uncomfortable look on his face guys got when a woman was crying and they didn’t have a clue what to do and escape wasn’t an option.
“Only if can find me a bride and groom within two weeks.”
“A bride and groom?” he repeated as if not sure he’d heard me correctly.
“Yes, a bride and groom. There was supposed to be a big, fancy wedding here in two weeks. The bride and groom split up and left Brody and Mandy holding the bag for the expenses incurred. They can’t get refunds
on most of the deposits. It’s too late.”
Easton shot a glance in Axel’s direction.
Axel held his hands up, shaking his head. “Not me. I mean, I love her and stuff, but I’m not quite ready for that step yet.”
“Not you, dumb shit. Maybe I should make it official with Caro.”
“Really? You’d do that?” I tamped down my excitement in case he wasn’t all that serious.
“Yeah, really?” Axel repeated, narrowing his eyes and regarding his friend as if he’d lost his mind.
“Yeah, really.”
“It’s short notice,” Axel said.
“Everything’s planned. You’d both have to be okay with the colors and cake and all that stuff. But I know Mandy would give you a deal.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried she’ll turn me down if I ask her.”
“Nah, she loves you. I don’t get it myself, but she’s crazy about you.”
“And I’m crazy about her. I’m asking her right now before I lose my nerve.” Easton hurried out of the inn, while Axel and I watched him go.
“He forgot the towels. I’ll take them.”
I prodded myself into action and returned with a stack of towels. Axel took them from my arms and thanked me. Once he shut the door behind him, I ran off to tell Mandy about our possible good fortune.
At least things were working out for someone in my life.
Chapter Twenty
Final Buzzer
~~Kaden~~
* * *
I walked down the country road to Easton and Caro’s cottage in search of a diversion. I’d been fretting over this hellish situation with Lanie for a few days. I was torn between my own selfish desires and what was best for Lanie. The biggest problem was that I didn’t know what was best. Steele’s idea had merit, but Lanie would be safer if she continued to hide. Yet what kind of life was that? For either of us.
I didn’t want another woman. I wanted her. All of her. I wanted her past, present, and future. The only way I’d have that would be if she quit hiding. What if doing so was fatal? How would I feel? Would I ever forgive myself?
I plodded up the porch steps and reached for the doorknob only to be almost slammed to the ground by two excited women. They were so busy jabbering they barely noticed me, let alone the fact that I’d plastered myself against the railing to avoid colliding with them.
“Hi, Kaden,” they said in unison as they almost skipped down the path to the inn. I stared after them, puzzled by their behavior.
With a shake of my head, I let myself into the cottage and followed the sound of Axel, Steele, and Easton’s voices out on the deck. Beers in hand, my buddies lounged on the deck chairs. I helped myself to an IPA from the cooler by the door and joined them. Mona the Newfie sprawled on her back while Easton scratched her belly with the toe of his shoe.
“Took you long enough,” Easton grumbled.
“Huh?”
“Don’t you ever check your messages?”
“Oh, I forgot my phone. What’s going on? Where are the kids?”
“The kids are at a day camp at the whale museum,” Easton said.
“And the women? They tore out of here like two fillies out of the starting gate at Churchill Downs.”
The three guys exchanged glances. I hated it when they did that because it gave me a serious case of FOMO.
I narrowed my gaze and regarded each one of them. Steele and Axel deferred to Easton, who was trying hard not to grin. I focused on him and waited. I didn’t wait long.
“I’m getting married in two weeks,” Easton blurted out, barely containing his excitement. The dude was seriously about to wet his pants.
“You are? Congratulations, dude! Where?” I hadn’t expected this announcement, but I was happy for the lucky bastard.
“Here. At the inn. They had a last-minute wedding cancellation. Mandy and Brody were left in the lurch, so I proposed, and we’re taking the date. We’ll have the ceremony on the lawn overlooking the cove. It’ll be epic.”
“So the women went off to plan?”
“Oh, yeah. Most of the stuff is bought and paid for. I guess the former couple had some odd taste. The ladies are trying to figure out how to make everything work.” Easton took a long drag on his beer, smacked his lips in satisfaction, and lit up like the light on a net signaling a goal. I guess in a way he had just scored. Damn, but I envied him.
“The colors are pink and orange.” Steele made a face. I guess such a combination affronted his sense of style. Hell, I didn’t know. Sounded awful, but I’d seen some awful color schemes work.
“I’m sure they’ll come up with something, and I’m guessing you’re on your own, my man, from now until the wedding.” Easton slapped him on the back. “And by the way, you never paid your penance for breaking the Puck Brother Pact.”
When we were in training camp last fall, the first in our group who partook in a monogamous relationship had to accept his punishment decided upon by the other bros. As the first to fall, Easton had polished our skates and blades. I personally thought that penalty had been lame.
“Oh, no, we never said anything about any guy other than the first one,” Axel said.
“Well, I just changed the rules.” Easton smirked at his buddy. “I’m sure we can come up with something fun for you to do during the festivities.”
“Flower girl?” I suggested helpfully and ducked the empty beer can whizzing past my head. I tossed it back at Axel and hit him in the shoulder. Easton snatched the beer can from Axel as he raised his arm to throw it back.
“Morons,” Axel muttered, gifting us both with scathing glares. “Caro would kill me if we messed up her wedding, but I’m sure if we put our heads together, we’ll find something appropriate.”
“Oh, we will.”
Every head swiveled toward Steele, who rarely got involved in our “childish” pranks. Axel squirmed, knowing as I did, if Steele got involved, the punishment would be major. Steele smirked with that annoying air of mystery he liked to adopt. He already had an idea. Since I wasn’t the focus of Steele’s ruthless planning, I didn’t find it the least bit annoying. Axel, on the other hand, pinned Steele with the kick-ass scowl he reserved for face-offs. Steele grinned at him, completely unaffected.
“Dickhead,” Axel muttered.
“Chickenshit,” Steele shot back.
Easton and I threw back our heads with uproarious laughter; soon Steele joined us. I laughed so hard I doubled over and held my stomach. Damn, but that felt good. I’d need that since Lanie had put our relationship on hold and my heart in the deep freeze.
“Fuck you all.” Axel stood and stomped into the cottage.
The rest of us shrugged with indifference. If you can’t take the heat, don’t be a professional hockey player.
A few minutes later, Axel returned. He bent down over the cooler and grabbed another beer, then sprawled into a patio chair. He narrowed his eyes at Easton. “I’ll handle your bachelor party.”
“Like hell you will. I’m choosing Steele.”
“Steele? What kind of party would he throw? No strippers, no drunken orgies, nothing fun.” Axel thrust out his lower lip in an exaggerated pout.
“I…don’t know about organizing a bachelor party.” Steele frowned, clearly disturbed by this latest development.
“You’re the most organized of all of us. No strippers, though; Caro would have my balls.”
“I wouldn’t hire strippers. We don’t need any more negative publicity regarding the team.”
Ouch. I cringed a little, even though Steele spoke the truth. I was on thin ice with the team, as were Cave and Ziggy. We weren’t getting another chance. “Yeah, let’s keep it under wraps.”
“Of course. I have an idea.” Steele’s wheels were turning, making us a little nervous as to what kind of dull night he had planned. Hopefully, alcohol and good buddies would dull the pain of boredom.
“There’s still the matter of Axel’s penance,” Easton reminded
Steele with a wink.
“I haven’t forgotten that.”
“And don’t do anything that’ll get me in hot water with Caro.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” That same remark coming from any one of us but him would’ve been sarcastic and a warning of things to come. Steele spoke the straightforward truth. He’d keep everything aboveboard, clean, and acceptable to our respective ladies. I guess playing it safe was a good thing.
Our respective ladies?
I prayed like hell I had one. I hadn’t heard a word from her in a few days, and I was on the verge of doing something I’d curbed back in my childhood—nail-biting. I’d even called my mom this morning and whined to her. She’d given me the usual Mom advice, telling me to be patient; if it was meant to be, it would be. I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to know now. The waiting was killing me.
Lanie is killing me.
I couldn’t find her only to lose her again. There had to be a way to make us work. A text message popped up on my phone from her, and I blinked, glancing around to be sure she hadn’t been hiding in the bushes, waiting for the right moment. I checked the message, and my heart soared followed by a deep dive.
Meet me on the dock if you can.
What did that mean? Was it good or bad?
I scrambled to my feet, drawing curious stares from my bros.
“Gotta go.”
I blew off the teasing remarks they tossed my way as I hurried down the deck steps and across the lawn, down to the waterfront. I took a path along the rocky shoreline and around a curve to where the dock was. A lone figure sat on the bench at the end of the dock. Yes, that bench. Our bench.
Playmaker Page 12
