Hot on Ice: A Hockey Romance Anthology

by Avery Flynn

  “Isn’t that what today is all about, big brother? Trying to start fresh with Liz? Make a new start and let her know what a mistake you made before?” She giggled. “I have to say, that poem really did it for me.”

  “Oh, for god’s sake,” he chuffed. “I’m no poet. I just did the best I could. I tried to put what I felt into it.”

  “That you did.” Brenna nodded. “I think it was a lot better than if you’d tried to polish it more.”

  “I just hope this all works.”

  “You have a good program laid out here, and we’ve done the best we could to put it together. The rest is up to you.”

  “I know.” He rubbed his jaw. “That’s what worries me.” He looked at his watch for the tenth time. “I hope he doesn’t damage the Cup.”

  “Damn, Mattie.” Brenna smacked his arm. “If I didn’t know how important that trophy is to the team, I’d tell you to forget about it. Chasing after it was what got you into this situation in the first place.”

  “Don’t remind me,” he groaned.

  Brenna sat up straighter as a familiar figure strode through the door and headed toward them. “Oh, good. Here’s Chad. Let’s get a progress report.”

  Chad Hallowell carried the Cup to their booth in the corner and set it on the table.

  “Not even a scratch,” he told Matt.

  “What did she say?” Matt did his best to put a leash on his impatience.

  “I’d say she was duly impressed. And totally stunned.”

  “Stunned as in good or stunned as in what an idiot I am?”

  Chad laughed softly. “Maybe a little bit of both. But I’d say more on the good side. I think it made an impression on her.”

  Matt grunted. “Let’s hope she doesn’t think I’m a total nutcase.”

  “I have to say, this is the first time I’ve been asked for a signed photo to help move a romance along.” He winked at Brenna. “Maybe I should start a new sideline business.”

  “I want you to know how much we appreciate this,” she told him. “I know how busy you are, and you were under no obligation to take time to help us out.”

  “Are you kidding? My curiosity gene was going full tilt. And I guarantee you my wife is waiting for a detailed report.”

  “What was her reaction?” Matt persisted.

  “She actually seemed a little stunned by the whole thing,” Chad told him. “But she didn’t throw me out.”

  “Well, you have my undying thanks,” Brenna said. “Really. I hope my bosses don’t think I was abusing the privilege with one of our clients.”

  “If they give you any trouble, send them along to me.” He glanced at his watch. “Listen, I’ve got to run, but I’d love to hear what all else goes on today. Brenna, can you send me an email tomorrow?”

  “Sure.” She nodded. “But if everything works out the way my brother hopes, you and the whole world may find out at the same time.”

  He grinned. “I’m not sure I want to know what that’s about. Just email or text me if I need to see something.” He rose from the chair and shook hands with both of them.

  “Thanks so much for doing this,” Matt said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. “

  “Hey! I’m excited I have a fan who likes my character so much that getting my autograph is one of her special wishes. Good luck, guys And, Brenna? Don’t forget to keep me posted.”

  Brenna turned to Matt as soon as Chad left. “Okay, what’s next?”

  “I’m waiting for my agent to call back. He was getting in touch with the Rage public relations people to coordinate with them.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure they still want to do this after the way I blew it off.”

  “That’s what you have an agent for,” she reminded him. “We need to find out what time you have to be at the television station, or if maybe they want to do it at a remote location. Then we can work on the other stuff on the schedule.”

  “But you made those two calls, right?” He was so on edge about everything. It all had to be perfect. If he blew it this time, he was done for.

  “I did. We’re just waiting for—”

  Matt’s cell phone rang at that moment, and he looked at the screen. “It’s my agent.” He blew out a breath before answering the call.

  “Okay, Mattie,” Jeff Bentsen said. “The television people figured you were blowing them off so they were ready to bag it. I did some fast talking, and we’re back on.”

  “Because you have a golden tongue and a smooth style,” Matt joked.

  “And don’t you forget it. They are running a teaser at noon from some video they have of the final Cup game. Then you need to be at the studio by four o’clock. They’ll do some prep work with you, get you comfortable, ask all the background questions.”

  “You told them what I want to do?” Matt asked. “And they agreed to it?”

  “I did. At first they thought we were both crazy.”

  “But they agreed to it,” Matt persisted.

  Jeff’s laugh boomed across the connection. “Oh, yeah. They decided it would be a great ratings coup. In fact, they plan to run it again at ten o’clock.”

  Matt let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, Jeff. I owe you for this one.”

  “And don’t you forget it. Oh, and they all want their picture taken with you and the Cup, so be prepared to do a lot of smiling.”

  “Gotcha.” Relief washed over him.

  “On another note,” Jeff went on, “I’ve still got a lot of people clamoring for you, Mattie. Foundations that want you to be their spokesman. Companies that think you’d make a great icon for them. Organizations that support the rehab of people with career-ending injuries. A whole list. So you call me tomorrow, and we’ll set up a time to meet.”

  “Whatever you want,” he promised.

  “You call me first thing tomorrow,” Jeff insisted. “We’ll start to work out the details.” He chuckled. “And I want to know how the great marriage proposal scheme works out.”

  “I’ll do it, and that’s a promise.” He disconnected the call and looked at his sister. “Okay, now I have to call Dara and tell her to do her part.”

  “You think she can handle it?” Brenna wanted to know. “Rumor has it Liz is a major workaholic.”

  “This was her suggestion to prep Liz for later, so I’m assuming the answer is yes. Right now we need to hit a jewelry store before we make the rest of the arrangements.” He looked at his watch. “And somewhere in the middle of everything I have to go home, shower, and change.”

  “Don’t worry, little brother,” Brenna teased. “I’ll make sure you get everything done when you are supposed to.”

  He blew out a breath. “I don’t know how to thank you for all of this. I can’t believe you’d give up your day to help me after the shitty way I behaved.”

  Brenna reached across the table and took one of his hands in hers.

  “Listen to me. No matter what, you’re my brother. I love you no matter how much of an ass or a pain in the neck you are. It’s obvious to me you’ve had a real epiphany here. Maybe that injury to your knee knocked some sense into your head.” She paused. “Two things are obvious to me. You have a lot of regrets to deal with, and you still love Liz. You want to make amends to everyone. I believe you are sincere.” Then she grinned. “Besides, my boss is one of your biggest fans and practically ordered me to do it, right?”

  His mouth curved in a half-grin. “So he did. Okay, then. Let’s get to it.”

  I should just close up my computer and bag it for the rest of the day.

  The thought had been running through Liz’s mind for the past half hour, especially when she realized she’d had the same blank page up on her screen all that time. She figured she’d read the really awful but touching poem at least a hundred times. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Matt had been a lot of things she really loved, but a romantic had never been one of them. Yet he’d gone to all this trouble to send her a message.

  Could she trus
t it? Had he really changed, or was he just trying to resurrect the past because his future had been torpedoed. Of course, he had gotten Chad Hallowell to sign that photo and deliver everything here to her.

  God! She was such an idiot. All these years, and he could still push her buttons. She should be strong, hold her ground, tell him it was too late. The damage had already been done. But her treacherous heart was sending her messages she didn’t seem to be able to ignore. Not to mention snippets of her recent erotic dream that kept popping up.

  “Are you planning to stare at that all day?” Dana’s amused voice cut into her thoughts.

  She jerked and knocked the sheet of paper sideways. She bent down to pick it up, taking the time to compose herself. It wouldn’t do to let Dara get a look at her face. The woman could read her like a book.

  “Uh, sorry.” She folded up the poem and stuck it in her desk drawer. “I was just working up an idea for the Coulter party.

  “Sure you were.” Dara’s voice was laced with amusement. “That’s why there’s nothing on the screen.”

  “I, um, was thinking. I do my best thinking with a blank screen.”

  Dara laughed out loud. “Sounds good, but I’m not buying.”

  “No. Really,” she insisted.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me another tall tale.” She swept her arm across the desk, accidentally knocking Liz’s coffee over, spilling it on her desk and her lap. “Oh, shit. Damn and shit.”

  Liz jumped up. “Damn and shit is right. Holy crap, Dara. Now look.”

  Dara hurried into the back room and returned with a handful of paper towels. She used some of them to mop the desk and gave the rest to Liz to blot the moisture on her new dress slacks.

  “Crap, crap, crap,” Liz muttered again. “See what you did to me? Now I’ll have to go home and change. If someone comes in, I can’t let them see me like this.”

  “Someone like Matt Vorchak?” Dara teased. “Who knows, but he might show up again today.”

  “With his damn Cup and who knows what else.” She wadded the towels, threw them in her wastebasket, and looked down at the coffee stains on her clothing. “Hell.”

  “Okay.” Dara threw away the rest of the towels. “That’s it. We’re done working for the day. Your brain is in outer space anyway.”

  “Is not,” Liz protested. Damn that Matt Vorchak.

  “Is, too.”

  “Are you crazy?” Liz stared at her. “We can’t just leave the office in the middle of a work day.”

  “Why not? We’re the bosses. We can do anything we want.”

  “B-but people might come to see us, and we won’t be here. How will that look?”

  “For the number of walk-ins we get, I’m not worried. Listen. We worked our asses off yesterday, and there’s nothing on the calendar today except for follow-up work. That can wait. So I’ve got an idea. Hopefully, it will make up for my dumping coffee all over you.”

  “Oh god.” Liz groaned. “What? Your ideas can be kind of crazy.”

  “But fun,” Dara reminded her. “Remember that gift certificate we got to the spa from Shelley Morrison?”

  “Sure. Her extra thank you for making her party so special.”

  “I remind you it’s for Queen for a Day, a place we are a good ways from being able to afford ourselves. I’m going to call and see if they can take us. It’s the middle of the week so hopefully no problem.”

  “And what will we do there? I mean besides hair and nails?”

  Dara laughed. “Anything we want. Hot stone massages, hand massages, the works. They order in lunch if you want, and”—she grinned at Liz—“they have a little boutique attached. We can find you something chic to replace the outfit I drenched with coffee.”

  “A little boutique where everything probably costs an arm and a leg,” Liz grumped. “It’s cheaper if I just go home and change. Although, maybe I should get you to pay for the outfit as part of your atonement.”

  “Oh, can it, Lizzie. I’m happy to cover the cost of something new. We haven’t done anything for ourselves since we opened a year ago. And maybe it will get your mind off Matt Vorchak.”

  “My mind’s not on him,” she insisted. Liar. “And don’t call me Lizzie.” She narrowed her eyes at Dara. “I’m not sure I trust you. Have you got something up your sleeve?”

  Dara laughed and lifted her arms, looking down the length of each one. “Nope. Nothing but some very special treatment for two hardworking career women.” She reached around Liz and closed the empty document on her screen. “Come on. We owe it to ourselves. We’ve had really good luck lately but it left us with no free time. We deserve to play hooky for an afternoon. And spend a few bucks on ourselves.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing.” She reached around Liz again and shut down her computer. “Come on. I’m going to forward all the calls to my cell. No, not yours,” she added, when Liz opened her mouth. “Your mind’s not on work today.”

  Liz listened while her partner called the spa and set up their appointments then forwarded their office phone to her cell. Before she could find something else to object to, she was hustled out of the office and seated in Dara’s sporty little convertible, heading toward Queen for a Day.

  Why do I have this feeling someone’s pulling my strings? I think my day is exploding beyond my control.

  And somehow I’m convinced it’s all Matt’s fault.

  8

  “Mattie.” Brenna sighed. “Please stop shredding the napkins.”

  “I can’t. I’m too nervous.” He crumpled up the debris and wadded it into a ball. There hadn’t been enough time for them to get to either her place or his or even his parents’ house in time to watch the noon news, so she’d dragged him into a bar down the block from the jewelry shop. The little bag with the box containing the diamond ring he’d just bought was burning a hole in his pocket. He’d take it out and look at it except he didn’t want to flash it so the whole bar could see it.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” she told him.

  “I think I’m driving myself crazy,” he muttered. “What if Dara can’t get her to watch the broadcast? What if she thinks it’s a dorky idea? Or what if —”

  “Will you stop with the what ifs? She didn’t throw Chad out of her office. And Dara would have called if she’d gotten really angry about it.”

  “I know, I know.” He shook his head. “God. I can’t believe I fucked this thing between us up so badly.”

  “Listen. We all make mistakes. You’re doing everything you can to fix this one. If I were Liz, I’d be thrilled a man went to this much trouble for me.”

  “A man who’d treated her the way I did?”

  Brenna chuffed a laugh. “Okay, you’ve got me there. But let’s not buy trouble until we have to. Drink your beer.”

  He moved the bottle around making wet circles on the bar. “I don’t drink this early in the day.”

  “Then why didn’t you order something else?”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know. Seemed the easiest thing to do.”

  Brenna burst out laughing. “Are you afraid you’ll lose your Man Card if you order a soft drink?”

  “Yes. Maybe. No.” He scratched his neck. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, the good news is they’re about to do the sports report on the noon broadcast.” She pointed to the television over one corner of the bar then motioned to the bartender who wasn’t doing a whole hell of a lot at the moment. “Could we ask you to turn that up a little, please?”

  “Sure. Hardly anyone ever wants to hear the news. We leave it on, though, just in case.” He pointed a remote at the television, and the sound increased just as the logo for the sports came on. Then the screen was filled with a huge picture of the last game of the championship series, the shot taken as Matt scored the winning goal.

  “Before I give you the latest on the Spurs,” the sports reporter said, “I have a hot tip for you. Matt Vorchak, premier defenseman for the Cajun Rage and a San Ant
onio native, is in town. He’ll be here at five o’clock with the Cup, the trophy the team received for winning the league championship. It’s customary for each team member to have the Cup for one twenty-four hour period. They each have something special planned, and we understand Matt’s plan is really special. Tune in at five to see Matt and the Cup and hear all about some exciting plans in his personal life.”

  Matt had noticed others in the bar looking up at the television as soon as the volume was raised. Now he could hear the murmur of conversation, people who were no doubt wondering what he was going to say. He didn’t care about them. He only wanted to know if Liz had seen it. If Dara had managed to get her to the spa, and if she’d persuaded someone to turn on a television there. And what her reaction was.

  He sat hunched over his still full beer, his cell phone in front of him, hoping no one here would notice him. It wasn’t as if he was a well-known face in San Antonio. Oh, they covered him plenty in the sports section. Hometown star and all that. But he figured no one in this bar could tell you what he looked like or would recognize him.

  Brenna had signaled for the check when his phone chimed with a text.

  She saw it. Wants to know what the hell is going on. *grin

  Matt typed his answer.

  Did she think I was doing something stupid?

  Ha ha. She’s thought everything you did was stupid for a long time.

  Come on, Dara.

  OK. She’s intrigued. More to come.

  Everything going okay?

  So far so good. Later.

  He stuck the phone in his pocket, slapped a twenty on the bar, and slid off the barstool.

  Brenna caught his arm. “Aren’t you going to wait for your change?”

  “Nope. We weren’t real customers. Let the bartender get something for as often as he asked if we needed anything. Besides, I want to get the hell out of here. We have stuff to do. Come on.”

  She hurried to keep up with him.

  “Take a breath for a minute, okay? This isn’t a race.”