Face-Off

by Nancy Warren

After dinner, the limo returned and he dropped her off properly at home. Outside her place, he walked her to her door and kissed her cheek when they reached it.

  “Thanks for a great evening,” he said. He actually sounded as if he meant it, but then she had to remember that he was new to this celebrity business. After a few years, he’d probably find it a little irksome. Of course, if he really did become the next Michael Bublé, he was going to have a lot more heat than she ever would. “You’re welcome.”

  He shifted from foot to foot. “So, are you okay to go to the Grammys with me?”

  “If you’re sure?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Why wouldn’t I be? Okay. I’ll call you.”

  And he was gone.

  She knew the piece was airing the next day, but didn’t bother to watch. She’d long ago lost the thrill of seeing herself in the media.

  She’d have assumed her mother had also, so when she called, saying, “Did you see the piece on TV?” Becky was surprised.

  “No. I—”

  “Well, you’d better take a look at it, young lady, and call me right back.” And her mother slammed down the phone. It had been some time since she’d been called young lady in that tone of voice. Something seriously strange must have happened. eChat Canada would repeat in an hour, but in the meantime she turned on her computer and checked Google. She typed in her name and Cory’s and, to her horror, a whole pile of hits showed up. She clicked the headline of a gossip blog: Skating Star in Love Triangle with Crooner and Hockey Jock.

  “Oh, no,” she moaned as she clicked the link. A photo came up of her and Cory looking pretty cozy, and he was quoted in the eChat interview as saying she was his muse and that he was writing a song for her. Oh, gag.

  But below that was a less professional but distressingly clear photo of her and Taylor taken while they were playing pool. No way they could claim “just friends” when the photographer had caught them locked in each other’s arms, kissing. And then a second photo that clearly showed their faces. She frantically thought back to that night, but all she remembered were the couple they’d played against. If they’d recognized either of them, they hadn’t said anything. Had they then rushed out to call the media? But no, she and Taylor had left first.

  Only then did she remember the students playing darts.

  And every one of them probably had a cell phone equipped with a camera.

  Covering her face with her hands didn’t really help. Her palms became a kind of screen on which played the pool evening. Her secret night out with her lover. Which had nothing to do with her so carefully orchestrated dating life.

  She picked up the phone. Dialed.

  “Hey, sexy,” Taylor’s voice was laid-back, as though nothing was worth getting in too much of a bother over.

  “Have you seen the news?”

  “If there’s another oil spill, don’t even tell me. I swear—”

  “It’s not an environmental disaster,” she snapped. “It’s a personal one.”

  The sleepy sexy voice changed in a heartbeat. “Becky, what is it?” He sounded so adult, so concerned, so much like a man she could lean on, that for a second she wished he were here so she could press her head against his shoulder where she’d hear his heart beating and indulge in a hearty bout of tears. “Watch eChat Canada and call me back.”

  “I hate that stuff.”

  “Well, then look up you and me and Cory Slater on Google.”

  “That weedy little singer? That is not a trio I want to be part of.”

  “Too late. You already are.”

  “Hang on.” Then she heard him say, “Jarrad. Lend me that fancy phone of yours, will you?”

  And after a few minutes he was back. “Well, shit. You couldn’t have picked a real man as my rival?”

  “Taylor, it’s not funny.”

  “I know it’s not. I am seriously pissed that you would think that pretty-boy singer is better for your publicity than me.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t you have people for this sort of thing?”

  “I guess. I don’t think they’re really talking to me right now.”

  “Well, get hold of them. Don’t say anything to anybody. I’ll talk to Jarrad. He’s good at this kind of stuff. He kind of got used to it after being married to that stuffed bikini. I’ll call you later.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No biggie.” And he was gone.

  HER PHONE STARTED TO RING. She didn’t even bother to check her call display. Her mom, Cory, Cory’s people, media, friends, skating people. She didn’t want to talk to any of them.

  She dropped her cell phone on the table. Wrapped up warmly and got into her car. The day was cold, the sky leaden and a light drizzle sent the damp right into her bones.

  She drove aimlessly for a while, wondering how somebody who’d always tried to do the right thing, to be as close to perfect as hard training, discipline and an iron will would let her, had blown everything up.

  Canada’s Skating Sweetheart had become Canada’s Skating Slut.

  For maybe an hour she drove without any destination through North Vancouver, over the bridge and into Burnaby, and after a while, she found herself at the rink.

  It wasn’t her normal practice time, but she needed to be here for some reason.

  “Hi, Frank,” she said, checking in at reception.

  “Hi, Becky.”

  “Any chance of a free rink?”

  “Sure. Number three’s open. You’ve got a couple of hours.”

  “Thanks.”

  She laced up, stepped onto the smooth ice. She was all alone. No coach, no audience, no music. Nothing but her and the ice.

  Her blades carving ice was the most familiar sound in her world. The shushing sounds soothed her. She skated faster, letting warmth build in her muscles, feeling her lungs begin to accommodate to the motion.

  All her greatest moments had happened in rinks, and some of her worst.

  Even as she had the thought, she realized that a couple of her greatest moments ever hadn’t been at the rink. They’d been in Taylor’s arms.

  With a groan she realized she’d gone and fallen in love with a big, hairy hockey player. And that her actions would have lasting consequences on her career.

  She was flying around the ice. This was her medium and she owned it. If her rising star was about to plummet, would she really care?

  She already had a silver medal. Nobody could take that away, or the person she’d become while she’d trained so hard and worked so tirelessly.

  But somewhere in all of that she’d lost who Becky Haines really was.

  Maybe it took Taylor shaking her out of her comfort zone to make her see that she wasn’t Canada’s Skating Sweetheart. She was a woman, with a woman’s needs and feelings.

  She also happened to be a damn good figure skater.

  She set herself up for a triple lutz/double toe, landed it like a champ. Threw in a double axel/double toe at the end because she felt like it.

  Then suddenly, she wasn’t alone on the ice. Taylor was there.

  He skated up to her. “I thought I’d find you here.” He lifted her chin so he could look at her. The knowledge that she loved him made her suddenly shy, but still she couldn’t resist gazing into his eyes, seeing the man she’d come to care for so deeply in such a short time.

  “You look different,” he said. “What is it?”

  She could continue to play a part or she could stand up and be the woman she’d only discovered.

  She decided she had enough guts to be honest.

  “I figured out I’m in love with you.”

  Shock wiped his face clean of expression as though she’d pushed a button and turned off a computer screen. Then a slow smile began to build, spreading from his lips to his cheeks, crinkling his eyes.

  He picked her up and swung her around, and they were both laughing and panting when he finished.

  As he gazed at her, he said, �
��I knew when I first met you that you were going to be trouble.”

  “Does that mean you love me too?”

  He scratched the side of his face. “I guess so.”

  Naturally, such truth-telling involved a lot more kissing. Finally, she came up for air.

  “Did Jarrad have anything to say?”

  “A whole lot. Most of it older-brother bull. But he had a pretty good solution.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Something that’s pretty close to the truth. That we fell in love during this skating thing and you didn’t want to hurt Cory’s feelings.”

  “So I was two-timing him?” She didn’t like that notion at all.

  “No. In Jarrad’s version, that night you two went out for dinner you told him that you were in love with someone else. And because the interview with Cory had already taken place, it aired. Big J’s already got hold of Cory. He thinks that if Slater’s willing to play it our way that everybody can win on this one. And you’ll get to be Canada’s Skating Sweetheart again.”

  A smile began to bloom. “I don’t care about that.”

  He kissed her. “You don’t?”

  “No.”

  “How would you like to be Taylor McBride’s sweetheart instead?”

  She grabbed his hands and skated in a circle, pulling him with her. Then she threw back her head and laughed in sheer joy.

  “I love that plan!”

  Epilogue

  “I HAVEN’T BEEN THIS nervous since… Oh, hell, since you were a rookie,” Samantha said to Jarrad. They were in the VIP box with plush seats offering a perfect view of the ice where Taylor McBride was about to make his debut appearance as an NHL rookie. None of them were sitting in those plush seats.

  And the delectable array of food and drink set out was going untouched.

  “I don’t think I was this nervous when I was a rookie,” Jarrad agreed.

  “I’m not nervous,” Becky said. To her shock, she wasn’t, either. “Taylor was born to do this, just like you were. He’s been training and dreaming of this day since he first stole a pair of your old skates and toddled onto the frozen pond and fell on his face.”

  Jarrad laughed. “He told you that story, huh?” He leaned his forearms against the rail and stared out at the blank white ice the way a sea captain stares out into the sea. “You’re right, Becky. Even if he falls flat on his face tonight, he’s still living the dream.”

  Sierra put a hand on his shoulder, the diamond from her engagement ring sparkling in the light, and Jarrad’s much bigger hand automatically settled atop hers. “I know how much you both wanted to play in the league together. I’m sorry.”

  Jarrad turned to her and kissed her swiftly. “Honestly, I’m not. He’s spent enough of his life in my shadow. This is his time. Soon nobody will be referring to Taylor as my little brother. They’ll be talking about me as the brother of Taylor McBride.”

  Becky knew that the two brothers had spent some hours the night before talking about the game and reminiscing about their childhood on the ice. Taylor had told her that Jarrad had given him the best advice a former NHL star could give a rookie. “Everybody’s going to be watching you. Don’t try to be a hero on your first time out there, don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine.”

  “Five minutes to game. I need something to pass the time. Anybody got a deck of cards?” Jarrad asked.

  Samantha and Greg exchanged glances. She spoke up. “No, but I’ve got some news that should take your mind off Taylor.”

  “I doubt it,” but he turned and gave his sister his full attention anyway.

  So did Becky and Sierra. Greg pretty much always gave Sam his full attention so that didn’t count. With a flick of her long, dark hair, Sam said, “We’re inviting you all to our wedding.”

  Even though they’d declared their love in public, Sam and Greg had been pretty tight-lipped about their engagement. Greg refused even to call it an engagement and though he continued to wear Sam’s school ring on his finger, she didn’t have a diamond of her own. Becky had noticed and had hoped that everything would work out okay for these two strong-willed, stubborn people.

  Seemed as if she’d worried for nothing.

  “’Bout time,” Jarrad said, echoing her thoughts. “And don’t forget Sierra and I are getting married next spring. Don’t mess that up, will you?”

  “Not at all,” Greg said. “We’re getting married next month. In Hawaii. We booked everything. A great resort, a minister and we’re keeping the guest list to family and a few really close friends. All you guys have to do is show up.”

  “Hawaii? Wow. But what about Taylor?” Becky had to ask.

  “Don’t worry. We’ve worked the wedding dates around his schedule.”

  “But Sam doesn’t even have an engagement ring.” Becky felt she should bring it up. She liked traditions and Greg and Samantha seemed to be messing with a lot of them.

  Greg made a rude sound. “This woman’s only getting one more ring from me. Last time I gave her an engagement ring it didn’t go so well.”

  “Oh, shush up,” Sam said to her beloved. Then she turned to Becky. “I’m having one ring, but it’s gorgeous. We designed it ourselves.” She shrugged. “Seemed appropriate.”

  “Two McBride weddings in a year.” Jarrad glanced at Becky with one of his way too good-looking smiles. “What would be totally cool is a hat trick.”

  Every eye in the VIP box turned her way, but luckily she could hear a commotion behind her. “Shhh,” Becky said. “The players are coming on the ice.” And she couldn’t have been happier for the interruption. Then she turned, her heart in her mouth as she watched the players skate onto the frozen surface. When Taylor made his entrance, their VIP box cheered loudly, and they weren’t alone. He was already a popular rookie; between the family connection with Jarrad and his own charm, people wanted him to do well. No one more than Becky.

  He acknowledged the crowd as though he’d been doing it forever, then turned and faced their box. He raised a hand to his family, palm flat and fingers slightly spread, and Becky felt her heart turn over. She lifted her hand and mirrored the gesture.

  They weren’t ready to share their love with the world—or their families—quite yet. But they were talking already about their futures, fitting their careers around their personal life, where they’d live, how many kids they wanted. She’d even caught Taylor eyeing trays of engagement rings when he thought she wasn’t looking. Becky liked the sound of a wedding hat trick.

  She liked it very much.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8782-6

  FACE-OFF

  Copyright © 2011 by Nancy Warren

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