Offside

by Bianca Sommerland

  Her office door opened and she quickly shot out of her chair, facing the window and drying her tears with her fingertips. Damn it, the last thing she needed was for Mr. Keane to see her like this. Bad enough that she’d taken off for three weeks. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d let her absence slide because of Landon. Keeping her around might motivate her brother to return to the team, but if she didn’t pull herself together, Mr. Keane could decide she was more trouble than she was worth.

  “Becky?”

  Oh God. Scott saying her name, his tone rough with concern, smashed through the dam on her emotions like high tide in a storm. Her knees folded and she braced to hit the floor. But he was there before she could fall. His arms came around her and he made a soft, hushing sound, kissing her cheeks a few times before tipping her chin up.

  She expected him to claim her lips, but instead he stroked her bottom lip with his thumb and shook his head.

  “My tough little woman. I hate seeing you like this. Makes me want to hunt Zach down and drop the fucking gloves.”

  A watery laugh escaped her. “You’re not wearing any gloves.”

  “You know what I mean.” Scott scowled. “He went too far.”

  “No, he didn’t. I did. He’s earned my trust and respect, and I gave him neither. You can’t expect him to be okay with that.” She put a finger over Scott’s lips before he could argue with her, but it was sweet to see he wanted to. “I’ll just have to take your example and prove that I can do better.”

  “Oh boy.” Scott drew her toward her desk, dropping onto her chair and pulling her into his lap. He nuzzled his face into the mess of her hair. “If you’re following my example for anything, we’re all in trouble.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder, knowing cuddling with him in her office was inappropriate, but not really giving a damn. She hooked her fingers into the collar of his white T-shirt. “And why’s that?”

  “You know why. I’m a bad, bad man.” He ran his hand up and down her arm. “You gonna be okay, sweetie? You know this isn’t over, right?”

  “What Zach and I had before is over.” She pressed her eyes shut, grateful that the cotton of his shirt soaked in her tears. And that his arms around her made her feel less broken. She let out a weary sigh. “It will never be the same.”

  “It will be even better. You’ve got me now too.” Scott laughed and gave her a little squeeze. “Come on, Becky. He’s pissed, but he’ll get over it. And you’re not dealing with this alone. If you really need someone to spank you in the meantime, I’m sure I can manage.” He took a deep breath, shifting uncomfortably as he hardened against her hip. “Time to change the subject. You done here?”

  “Yes.” There was no point trying to work anymore, and she wanted to get back to her daughter. Find out how her day went. She might be a horrible girlfriend, and a lousy sub, but at least she could be a decent mother. She checked her watch. Landon had texted her about two hours earlier to let her know he had Casey and she was fine. Made sure to remind her that Dean was expecting her for supper. A few minutes more with Scott wouldn’t hurt though. “Don’t move please. I’m enjoying this.”

  “Yeah?” Scott continued running his hand along her arm. Then he snorted. “Carter is such a dumbass.”

  Random much? She peeked up at him. “Why?”

  “He’s always going on about flowers and candy. His go-to whenever he gets on Jami’s bad side.” Scott pressed her head back down to his shoulder. “Sometimes a woman just needs to be held.”

  Who is this man? She sighed as her phone buzzed. Dean wouldn’t be happy if she let her food get cold. He was constantly reminding her not to work too much. To eat properly. She had a feeling Landon had hinted that she sometimes made meals for her daughter and worked at the dinner table while finishing up paperwork. Sometimes her own supper ended up being the next day’s lunch.

  Easing off Scott’s lap, she stood and checked her phone. A message from Dean. And from Zach.

  Zach: I shouldn’t have left the way I did. But I meant the last thing I said.

  She felt Scott come up behind her and leaned back against him as she typed in her reply.

  Me: So did I.

  Zach: Are you okay?

  Me: Yes… She hit send. Then figured if she was going to prove herself, she should let him know she wasn’t alone. Scott’s here.

  Zach: Good. Give him a kiss for me. I’ll call you both tonight.

  Her face heated. Such a casual response. If it was going to be the three of them, Zach’s request shouldn’t be a big deal, but kissing Scott could lead to a whole lot more. And she couldn’t do that here.

  “What is it?” Scott took a step back, watching her face in a way that made it clear he hadn’t read the message. “He’s not still being a dick, is he?”

  “No, I was just thinking . . .” She tongued her bottom lip, thinking of a way to distract him from coming down on Zach without sharing the details of their texts. She gathered her suit jacket, her briefcase, and their conversation about Luke came back to her. Glancing over her shoulder, she smirked. “For future reference, blue hydrangeas are my favorite.”

  Scott blinked, “Blue what?” He swiped a pen off her desk and held it to his palm. “Spell it? This is gonna be important.”

  She shook her head and laughed. “If you don’t remember, I’ll know you aren’t that sorry.”

  “Aw, come on!” He grinned, joining her in the hall and waiting as she locked her office door. “Does it count if the flowers are blue?”

  “Depends how bad you’ve messed up.” She headed for the elevator, then held her breath most of the way down. Zach wanted her to kiss Scott. Which she couldn’t do without throwing herself at him. Which would give him the wrong impression. Besides, Scott would eventually make a move. Actually, she almost wanted him to. Until he did, she wouldn’t know how to handle it. Their first kiss had made an impact, but hadn’t been anything life-changing. This one would be.

  But she ended up standing by her car, pressing her lips together to keep from asking what he was waiting for. Even without knowing what Zach’s message said, Scott had to have seen at least one opening. All those times he’d hit on her, and now he needed an invitation?

  His lips twitched with amusement when she faced him, hands on her hips. He spoke as her lips parted. “Mind giving me a lift? Zach kinda left me stranded.”

  She frowned at him. “No, I don’t mind, but—”

  “Want me to drive?”

  “No!” She made an exasperated sound when he went around the car to wait by the passenger side. “Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He gave her an innocent look. Then slapped his forehead. “Oh, damn. You’re right. Sorry.” Coming back to her side, he took her keys from her hand, unlocked the door, then held it open for her. “Chivalry ain’t dead, babe. It’s just slow.”

  He was too cute, with his helmet hair and his mischievous smile. And he was most definitely messing with her. For a split second, she considered the two years she had on him, and the decades of maturity, and wondered if maybe he wouldn’t be better off with a younger woman.

  Someone like Sahara.

  A little, nasty green thing that reminded her a lot of Gollum hissing about the one ring reared its ugly head. She got in behind the wheel and tried to sound blasé as Scott sat in the passenger seat. “So how’s your girlfriend? Don’t you think you should run this by her before you commit to anything?”

  Scott smirked. “Nope. Her, Jami, and Akira just found a new place together. I’ve reclaimed my bachelor abode. It’s awesome. I can be a total slob again.”

  She really didn’t like the idea of his living in a messy house. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and glanced over at him at a red light. “I don’t have time today, but maybe tomorrow—” Not tomorrow, the Cobra’s staff had another meeting. “—or the day after, I can come over and help you—”

  “Oh, hell no! When you come to my place, it’s gonna look nice. And I’
m cooking you dinner.” He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I hope you like lasagna. It’s one of the few foods I can brag about making pretty good.”

  “I love pasta. It’s a date.” She focused on the road as he gave her directions to his condo. When she pulled up in front of it, she watched him get out, nodding and muttering “goodbye” as he collected his bag from the backseat. She was looking forward to their date, but who knew when that would happen? Preparing for the season would monopolize most of their time. She wasn’t sure why it mattered that he still hadn’t kissed her. Was she really that insecure that she needed big displays of affection? Hadn’t he done enough? Hell, the way he’d held her—and even before that, the way he’d listened to her problems . . . he was doing everything right.

  But there was that one final line they hadn’t crossed. Not in any way that counted. And she had to go there with him Had to do it just to convince herself this was real. She could get out and tell him Zach had asked her to, but that wouldn’t be the same—

  She jumped when he rapped his knuckled on her window.

  “Open the door,” he said.

  Hand on the door latch, she unbuckled her seatbelt as she opened the door, staring at him as he slid close to her, his hand on her cheek, leaning down with a soft smile on his lips. She swallowed and put her hand over his, trapped in the intensity of his level gaze. Scott didn’t look at her like this. Like she was everything. Like she was the only one that mattered to him. When he undressed her with his eyes, it was down to the skin, not down to her soul.

  He’d changed.

  “Our first kiss. This is it, Becky. The one before doesn’t count.” He brushed his lips over hers, the brief touch like a lick of flame. “This is ours. It’s not proving anything. It’s not a way to get you naked or to show you can have any man you want. It’s me showing you exactly what you mean to me. For the first time. But not the last.”

  A bit of pressure, the slight press of his tongue, and she was his. He pulled her to her feet, held her against him, slanting his mouth and dipping in a little deeper, teasing her tongue with his, smiling against her lips as he tasted her. His teeth tugged at her bottom lip. He explored her mouth as though he could find everything he was looking for in kissing her. Holding her. And that little stopwatch inside her, the one that measured every event, every passing second for its worth, shattered. All that had passed between them from the moment they’d met had come to this. It was like a puzzle piece made of steel, welded into place, fitting just right. Too hot to touch, but already secure. Strengthening as it cooled.

  The kiss, however, didn’t cool. He had her standing on the street, her door open wide, stealing her breath and restraint, not letting up even when she whimpered, needing more. She fisted her hand in his shirt, refusing to let him go as the intensity of the kiss lessened. It wasn’t enough.

  It would never be enough.

  He pressed his eyes shut as his lips left hers, breathing hard. “I don’t want to be good. Responsible. Tell me I don’t have to be. Tell me we can both tell the rest of the world to go to hell and just be together.”

  Her brain somehow found its way back into her skull. Fully functional. She could practically see Landon lifting Casey up onto her booster seat and pushing her chair close to the table as Dean fixed her plate, giving her a small helping of the vegetables she hated. She could hear Casey asking about training camp, about how each player had performed like she was a miniature authority on the game. Dean and Landon would nod as she quoted all the sports blogs she looked up every morning, trying to humor her as she took every words as gospel.

  And then she would ask “Where’s Mommy?” Becky refused to leave Landon and Dean to make excuses for her. She touched Scott’s cheek. “You are good. And you know ‘the rest of the world’ includes my daughter. I can’t—”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to.” He bit the tip of his tongue and shook his head. “Sorry. Me being selfish. Go be a mommy. Her birthday is in two Fridays, right?”

  “Yes.” Becky managed to compose herself and settle down behind the wheel. “So you’ll be there Thursday night?”

  “I’ll be there.” He held on to her door, bowing his head and letting out a rough laugh. “Cold shower time. Damn, I want to kidnap you—with a blindfold so you won’t notice the mess. I’ll behave when I come to your place. I can’t wait to see what you think of the gift.”

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll see.” He winked. “Gotta make sure it’s perfect before I bring it over. But I think you’ll like it.” He scratched his scruffy jaw. “I hope she does.”

  “She will. One thing I can say about my daughter is she appreciates everything she gets. She’s not one of those kids who unwraps a gift and tosses it aside to get to the next one.” Some of her friends had kids like that. She’d been amazed when Casey was three and she spent so much time admiring a pair of socks with cow print that Becky had to take them away and give her another gift to open. Her grandmother had tears in her eyes as Casey stared, open-mouthed, at the little gold cross she’d been given. Casey was the one who’d privately told Becky later that night to put it away until she was a “big girl.”

  “I’ll break it, Mommy. I don’t want to break it,” Casey said.

  A gift from one of her heroes would be even more precious. She was happy Scott would be there to see Casey’s reaction. Unless . . .

  “You’re not coming early because you can’t be there for her birthday, are you?”

  “No way. I wouldn’t miss it.” His eyes gleamed as he gave her a secretive look. “Not a single man on our team will miss her birthday. But don’t tell her. It’s a surprise.”

  Becky pursed her lips. What did the men have planned? And why was this the first she’d heard of it? “It’s not my surprise, so why don’t you—?”

  Scott shook his head and placed his finger over her lips to quiet her. “I was asked not to. So I won’t. But trust me, she’ll love it.”

  “Scott—”

  “Hey, you wanna keep pushing, deal with Richter.” He cocked his head. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. If Zach won’t play with you—”

  “Dean is involved with my to-be sister-in-law. Playing with him would be weird.” She wrinkled her nose as she considered exactly how weird. The man shared a bed with her brother. She shuddered. “Don’t even joke about that.”

  “All right, got it.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Thursday, latest. We’ll do the text, email, phone call thing until then unless we get some free time.”

  “Sounds good.” Actually, it sounded horrible. But their schedules didn’t leave room for more. She planted a smile on her lips. “Get some rest. And if you want a snack, stick to fruit.”

  Scott snorted, trailing his fingers down her throat before backing away with obvious effort. “So many ways I could misinterpret that. But I’ll be good.” He stood on the sidewalk, hands in his pockets as she settled behind the wheel. As she pulled out, she glanced at her rearview mirror, and spotted him mouthing something like, “I’ll miss you.”

  When she got to Dean’s house, she took her phone out of her purse and texted Scott before going inside.

  Me: I’ll miss you too.

  Scott: You caught that, huh? Have a great night, babe.

  Me: I will. And thank you for being there. It really helped.

  Scott: I’ll always be there. <3

  Me: Awww

  Dinner was wonderful, as always. Dean cooked better than any man—or woman—she knew. She felt much better about having shown up late when Casey drew her into the conversation about a prospect she’d heard Landon mention without missing a beat. Becky didn’t know much about the young man, but she shared the little she’d read about in the papers. She glanced over at the door a few times as she polished off her spaghetti, not sure whether or not she should ask why Silver wasn’t with them. Amia was fast asleep in her swing close to where Landon sat at the head of the table. He fussed with her light, pale pin
k baby blanket a few times, but other than that, ate and spoke with the adults in a relaxed way that told Becky he had gotten comfortable with parenting. He didn’t smother his daughter, but she would know he’d never be far.

  Him and Dean. She knows their voices, responds to them. But what about Silver? Amia didn’t share the same bond with her mother as she did with her fathers. But now wasn’t the time to bring that up. Not in front of Casey.

  But soon.

  Finally, talk turned to Casey’s birthday. She gave both Landon and Dean level looks, her tone very serious. “I want a hockey theme for my party, but—and you have to promise not to laugh—everything has to be purple.” She pursed her lips and turned to Becky. “Can we do that, Mommy?”

  Becky hesitated, glancing over at the men, not sure what to say. She was fairly certain a local party store would carry Dartmouth Cobra-themed party decorations, but in purple? “I’ll see what I can do, poupée, but—”

  “Consider it done, sweetheart,” Dean said, winking at Casey. “I can make a few calls. Your mother and I will discuss the details.”

  God, I love this man! Becky smiled at Dean and he inclined his head. He was like the older brother she’d always wanted, perfect for Landon, amazing with Amia, with Casey, and always there for her family. He took everything in stride and handled every situation, with the team, and in his personal life, with dignity and compassion. As she helped Casey tie her shoes by the door, she studied him. He was in the dining room, arguing quietly with Landon about the dishes. She ducked her head to hide a smile as he told Landon he didn’t want him putting too much pressure on his leg.

  “But you bitch about me not spending enough time with the physical therapist?” Landon snorted. “You cook. I clean. It’s not up for discussion.”

  “Really? I beg to differ,” Dean said, taking a pile of plates off the table.

  Landon held his hands out for the plates. “Beg all you want. I don’t reward obstinacy.”

  Dean’s lips thinned. “Big word, goalie. You sure you know what it means?”