“I’ll show you where it is,” Phoebe volunteered.
After a few seconds, Jack walked back into the living room with the monstrous dish. “All right. I’ve got the food. You two ready?” If he was nervous about the evening, he didn’t show it.
“Yes!” Phoebe darted past him and ran down the front steps.
Our eyes met. This would probably be the only moment of quiet we’d have for the rest of the night. I wished I had something cute or witty to say to him, but all I could think about was how he kissed me. How it felt when he pressed me against the wall. I didn’t think I’d be able to look at him ever again and not remember the burn of his mouth on mine. Right now, I desperately wanted to feel it again. I’d willingly trade the hours I’d spent preparing for Dad’s party for another blistering minute in Jack’s arms.
“We should probably go,” I whispered. I carried the velvet cake under his nose and out the door.
* * *
“Okay. Do you think you can remember the rundown?” We parked in the grass at Dad’s house. I had given him the basic guest list on the drive over. It wasn’t as if I had flashcards prepared, but I thought he needed a crash course on the people in our lives.
There was Dad and Natalie. Cal, Daniel, Alana.
“I can get by.” Jack smiled. With a smile like that he would charm everyone. They wouldn’t care if he forgot their names or how they knew my dad.
“When in doubt, just assume they are somehow related to the family business.”
“Furniture. Got it.”
I cautioned him. “It’s not just any furniture. It’s everything to my dad. It was his dad’s company before him.”
“Maybe I should buy a piece this week. I’ll stop by the store. My apartment could use something that stands out.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to do that. Just…” I exhaled as Jack wound his fingers around mine.
“If you don’t want me to go in with you, I won’t. I can come back and pick you up in a few hours.” His eyes bore into mine. “I don’t want to ruin your dad’s party.”
“You won’t. You can’t.” I smiled.
“For the record, this is not me backing out.”
“I know,” I whispered. I was falling for him so hard and fast I didn’t recognize myself.
“Can we go in now?” Phoebe whined from the back seat.
I nodded. She had a way of reminding me I was grounded in reality. “Yes. Go. Go. Be careful with Grandpa’s present.” It was if someone had released the latch on the stall gates of a horse race. Phoebe escaped the seatbelt and hurled herself toward the house.
“She runs as fast as she skates,” Jack noted.
“She likes everything at high speed.” I was careful to balance the cake stand as I extracted myself from the car. Jack ducked into the backseat for the lasagna.
“I’ve noticed her mom isn’t a fan of things that move fast.” There was a huskiness in his voice that made me tremble. “I’m learning how to work around that.”
I stumbled over my words. It seemed like a weighted observation. I wanted certain parts of Jack and me to move quickly. I wanted to spend a night in his apartment uninterrupted by babysitter curfews and family obligation. I wanted to feel the quiver between my legs and the fire on my lips. I couldn’t have intense sex and keep an emotional distance. I needed a slow steady pace that built something sustainable over time. The truth was a wanted a serving of red velvet cake that I could eat without an ounce of remorse.
“Oh no. We already have a welcoming committee.” I spotted my brothers on the front porch. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see them.
Cal and Daniel stood with their arms crossed in wide stances. If they weren’t trying to look like assholes, they were doing a horrible job.
I heard them mumble as we approached. “Holy shit. That’s Jack Novak.”
I stared at Cal. “You know Jack?”
“How do you know Jack Novak?” he countered.
“You did not mention you knew a Dires player.” Daniel looked at me as if I had betrayed his trust.
“You must be Cal and Daniel,” Jack interrupted. He ignored the fact that they were talking about him.
“Oh yes. Sorry. Jack these are my brothers.”
There wasn’t room to shake hands. We were loaded with lasagna and cake. Cal and Daniel exchanged a confused look.
“Cal and Daniel, this is my date for the night, Jack Novak. Yes, he plays for the Dires. Yes, we’ve been out. Yes, Phoebe likes him.
They blinked without budging. I couldn’t tell if it was disbelief or if they were trying to establish male dominance.
“Oh, just let us in the house. Please,” I complained. “It’s freezing out here. We have food for the party that I’m going to drop.”
With that, my brothers parted to allow Jack and me to march past them.
“Thanks for having me. Nice to meet you both. I’ll see you inside,” Jack spoke over his shoulder just before we stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
16
Jack
Dating a woman with a kid was out of my wheelhouse. Dating a woman with a family was even more of a stretch. It was like trying to cast me in a rock band and throw me on a stage with an open mic to perform. I couldn’t hold a note. Could I do this?
I’d never done it before. Maxim and I had a policy about women when we played for the Ice. We’d seen teammates get burned by relationships that ended in lawsuits or paternity battles. The rules were simple and easy to implement. Don’t get attached. No more than three dates with the same girl. No sex with clingy women. It had worked for five years. It was a safe way to coast. I didn’t have to be vulnerable. I didn’t have to risk an emotional ounce. But I wasn’t an idiot. I knew there was a price to pay for having lived with a philosophy like that for years.
I hadn’t navigated relationship ups and downs. There were no family experiences. I didn’t get introduced to friends. I missed out on more sex than I wanted.
I was alone. I didn’t need a shrink to tell me I substituted hockey for love. I filled empty hours in the gym or on the ice. I trained like no one else on the team. I was rewarded with All-Star honors and a multi-million-dollar salary. But since my accident, I had wondered if any of it mattered if there wasn’t someone to share it with.
Noelle made me wonder that too.
A sea of strangers greeted us when we walked inside her dad’s house. People I’d never seen before planted kisses on Noelle’s cheeks as we tried to move into the next room, presumably to dump the food. I was carrying ten pounds of lasagna.
“Just put it there.” Noelle placed the cake in the center of the dining room table and cleared a spot for the lasagna pan. “Thank you for doing that.”
“No problem.” I helped her out of her coat. Someone grabbed hers and mine out of my hands before I had a chance to see where they disappeared.
“Sorry about the porch,” she apologized.
I shrugged. “They’re just looking out for you. I’d do the same thing if I had a little sister.”
“Would you?” She leaned into me and I was mesmerized by her pink lips. They were rosy and glossy tonight.
She was wearing a gray sweater that was slung off her shoulder with a pair of fitted jeans. It would be hard to keep my eyes off her perfect ass all night. I ran my thumb along her exposed collarbone. Her eyes widened in a warning.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “It’s hard not to touch you when you’re so damn beautiful.”
She cleared her throat abruptly and pointed over my shoulder.
When I turned around Cal was holding a beer for me. “Thought you could use one of these.”
“Is it cold?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Thanks, man.”
“How long have you and my sister been dating?” He eyed me. “She hasn’t mentioned you. Not once. Is this serious between you two? She has a kid.”
Noelle smacked him on the shoulder. “Cal, he’s here as
a guest. Don’t harass him. That’s not an appropriate question, or comment,” she added.
I expected to take a few hits tonight. I was prepared. “It’s all—”
But Noelle was dragged out of the room by a woman asking about where the extra paper towels were kept. Someone had spilled half a bottle of wine in the kitchen.
“So how long?” Cal made no apologies. His sister was out of the way. There was no one to stop him from asking questions now.
“We met at Ice Puppies camp.” I wanted to reassure him and somehow not aggravate Noelle in the process in case she popped back in.
“Oh right. That was this week. Kind of soon to show up at a big family event like this, don’t you think?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t have plans tonight. I haven’t been in town long. It sounded like fun.”
“You must have it bad for my sister if you’d go to an old man’s birthday party over beers with the guys.”
“I am having beers with the guys.” I lifted the bottle in his direction.
He grinned. “How was the camp? What do you think about Phoebe? How did she do?”
“She can skate. She’s quick and learning how to handle the puck. It takes a while. The little ones start out using softballs on the ice just to get the hang of it.”
“There’s nothing that girl loves more than hockey.” Cal took a swig of beer.
“I noticed. Something I can relate to at least.” Although, I felt like Phoebe and I had an easy connection that just existed. I didn’t have to try hard with her.
“She definitely got that from her dad. Poor kid can’t help it.” Damn, I wanted to dig into it more, but I struggled with how many questions I could ask where Phoebe was concerned. “Do you have any kids?” His question caught me off guard.
“Oh God, no. I mean, not that I know of.” I inhaled. “No. I like kids. I just haven’t gotten to that point.”
Cal’s eyebrows were parked high on his forehead. “Me either.”
Noelle rushed into the room. “The wine is mopped up. Come on. I found Dad. Finally. I want you to meet him before we sing happy birthday.” She wrested me away from her brother. “He’s distracted, which is perfect.”
“Distracted how?”
“Just come with me.” She might have been graceful and lean, but the girl had a surprisingly strong grip. I was out of one room and being dragged down a dark hallway. She showed me a study tucked away off the kitchen.
“He’s in here,” she explained. “We’ll duck in and out. Two seconds. I promise it will be painless.”
“You seem nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” she disputed what was obvious.
I eyed her.
“Okay. I am. It’s only because I haven’t brought any guys home in…” It looked like she was thinking of a timeline. “At least since college. Before Phoebe was born.”
“Was Phoebe’s dad the last guy you brought here?” My voice was low. If that was the case, I could understand why she was having second thoughts.
She shook her head. “He never met him.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know how to take the information. People had been dropping clues about him and I was no closer to figuring out what happened.
“My brothers are already giving me a hard time. I don’t want to hear it from Dad. We’ll make this quick.”
My hand practically sizzled as it palmed the skin on her shoulder. “I’ve got this. Don’t worry so much.”
She exhaled. “Thank you.”
I followed her into the study. The walls and furniture were dark. Big mahogany pieces cluttered the space. I tried to read the awards and plaques on the walls, but Noelle zipped me into the center of the Oriental rug with no warning.
I didn’t have to guess which of the men in the room was Noelle’s father. He was surrounded by friends, puffing on cigars. She had thrown me directly into the lion’s den.
“Dad, this is my friend, Jack.” Her eyes lit up. “Jack, this is my dad, Bonner Basham.”
“Happy birthday, sir. Thanks for having me.” I stood forward to shake his hand in the middle of the boys’ club. His friends ranged from a man with a full head of white hair to a short man with a salt and peppered bowl cut. They were clearly the back office, hiding from their wives.
“Jack?” He chewed the end of the cigar. His grip was firm, maybe more so than Cal’s. He looked good for sixty. His skin was clear, and he had more hair than his friends. His pale blue eyes weren’t as vibrant as Noelle’s, but I could tell it was a family trait.
“Yes, sir.” I’d spent a lot of time being sized up on the ice, but this was unnerving. “Jack Novak.” I wondered when he would let go of my palm. “Great party.”
“We’ll let you get back to your drinks and cigars,” Noelle turned for the door. “I’m going to see if Natalie needs my help with anything. Just wanted to pop in and introduce you to Jack.” She wrapped a hand around my elbow. Her delicate fingers wound against my shirt.
“You’re that new defenseman the Dires picked up,” one of the other men intervened. “Heard you were going to do great things for the team. Good to have you here.”
“Yes, sir. I hope so. I practice next week.”
“My wife and I have season tickets. We try to make all the games.”
I nodded. “I’m glad there’s a good fan base here. It’s why I loved playing in Milwaukee so much. Good fans make all the difference.”
“I’ve always wanted to know to know if players on the ice can hear the crowd chants. Seems with the glass it would be hard to hear.”
I shook head. “We can hear it. It’s loud.”
The men chuckled. They liked my answer.
“Okay, we’ll see you for dinner,” Noelle announced. “Just a quick hi and… ”
“Why don’t you stay and have a drink? Do you like bourbon?” Bonner Basham asked.
I saw the fear in Noelle’s eyes. I had to accept his offer, even if she didn’t understand it at first. It was the man’s birthday.
“Actually, I love bourbon,” I replied.
They laughed. “Come on. Sit down with us. We never get a good take on hockey around here. We’ve got more questions.”
“Let’s hear them.”
I shrugged at Noelle when they poured a drink for me. She stood in the doorway helpless to change the course of events. I took my place in one of the oversized leather chairs as she disappeared through the study door.
I discovered Noelle an hour later, but by the sound of her voice, it wasn’t a conversation I could interrupt. I stood in the hallway outside the guest bedroom, stuck between a line of woman talking about the dessert table and the wine that was spilled, or walking in on her.
“No, Daniel. No. No. No. I don’t want the check. Take it back.” She was adamant. “I just went through this with Cal. I don’t want money. If you want to help you can spend time with your niece or mow the grass every once in a while. That’s all I need.”
“You should have told me you quit Millers.” Her brother spoke with a serious tone.
“How did you find out?” She was annoyed.
“Alana told me. You should have been the one to tell me. That job was important. I thought you made a lot of money there. Isn’t that how you pay for Phoebe to play hockey?”
“It did. But I couldn’t stay. Not after my last appointment with Charlie Babcock.”
My ribs vibrated. What was she talking about? Who the hell was Charlie Babcock? I knew I was intruding, but I couldn’t move. I was glued to the wall like a statue.
“What did Charlie Babcock do?” he pressed. There was pain in his voice when he asked.
“He’s a dick. Okay? I want to leave it at that and pray I never see him again. There’s no reason to ever see that man again.”
Daniel exhaled. “That’s unlikely. He owns half the city. You can’t pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“Oh, I can. And I will.”
“Do you need my help with him? Did he do something to you? Wha
tever it is, I’m here. I’m always here. It doesn’t matter what you need.”
“You can back down. He didn’t do anything criminal. And in his twisted head, he didn’t do anything wrong at all. I just hate him. I’ve always hated him. I’m not going to work for a company as long as they let men like that think they own the people who work there. I was treated better when I waited tables.”
Daniel’s voice dropped. “Would you tell me if he hurt you?”
There was a second where I couldn’t tell if Noelle had answered her brother. It was a second where I thought I had lost my damn mind. Had someone hurt her?
“I think I’d tell you, Danny. I told you when I found out I was pregnant, didn’t I?”
Daniel blew a long gust of air from his lungs. I felt the same kind of relief he did. “I’m glad he didn’t physically hurt you. You know you can tell me if it’s something else.”
“I just want to forget it. Honestly, it’s over and I’m not going back.”
“Understood. While we’re going there. Have you told Jack about Phoebe’s dad?”
“No,” she groaned. “Alana asked me the same thing. She’s floating around the party somewhere. Maybe she’s already told him. I think pregnancy has made her less trust-worthy.”
“I know you don’t keep up with the schedule, but he’s going to in town in two weeks. The Seattle Score will be here playing the Dires. It’s going to be a three-day series before the playoffs start. More than likely, Jack’s going to play him.”
I thought half the air had left my body. This is why I should have joined the ladies and talked about fucking birthday cakes. Damn it, I wanted answers, but not like this. I almost stormed away then, but the hall was still blocked.
“He is? I didn’t know.”
“Have you thought about trying to reach out to him again?”
“No. I’m not going to. But thanks for the heads up. Maybe Phoebe and I can take a trip that weekend.”
“Don’t you think you need to tell Jack Alexi is going to be on the ice with him?”
I thought I heard her stomp her foot. “What difference does it make, Danny? Alexi has never admitted that we were together. Not once. And he’s never acknowledged Phoebe’s existence. Why drag Jack into that?”
Cold As Ice Page 8
