Crossing the Line (The Baltimore Banners Book 1)
Page 19
AJ leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, effectively silencing him. His arms wrapped more tightly around her, pulling her so close that the chill of his flesh seeped through the sweater she was wearing. She broke the kiss with a sigh and pulled away only slightly, keeping her arms wrapped around his neck. "How can I not love someone who goes to such a drastic extreme to say he's sorry?"
His eyes darkened as he gazed down at her, and she could see him swallowing hard. "I'm really hoping that means you love me. You have no idea how much I'm hoping that."
She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him again, just the barest brushing of their lips. "I love you Alec. With all of me."
His arms tightened around her, lifting her off the ice as his mouth closed over hers in a searing kiss. It was too easy to get lost in his touch, too easy to get lost in the raw emotion swirling around them. AJ pulled back, motioning for him to let her down, then smiled up at the confused look in his eyes.
"So, Kolchak, how about a bet?"
He stared at her, his brows raised in surprise. "A bet?"
"Yeah, a bet. Kinda like the last one."
"A bet?" He repeated. He loosened his hold around her and stepped back, his mouth twitching upwards in a small grin. "Okay. What's the bet?"
AJ looked behind her, not surprised to see they still had company. She motioned for Ian to come closer, then grabbed the stick from his hand when he stopped next to her. She looked back at Alec and smiled. "I score, and you have to put up with me for 24/7."
Alec watched her, heat simmering in his eyes, then shook his head. "That doesn't work for me. How about...if you score, you get my heart. Forever."
Her heart stuttered then kick-started into overdrive at the emotion in Alec's voice. She blinked, hard, against the sudden burning in her eyes and opened her mouth to say something when a puck was dropped on the ice in front of her. She looked down at the rubber slab, then up to see Alec drifting back to the net.
And suddenly, what had seemed like a light-hearted joke just minutes ago turned into a serious challenge that filled her with anxiety and desperation. "Alec, I love you. I was only joking. This is silly—"
"One shot, AJ. Cross the line and you win. My heart. Forever."
"Alec..." She paused and cleared her throat, surprised at the nervousness that made her tremble.
"C'mon AJ, one shot. Cross the line."
She glanced down at the puck, then up at Alec standing in the net just a few feet away. Wearing nothing but shorts, skates, and his catching glove. She could do this. She could.
Biting back a nervous laugh, she placed the blade of the stick against the puck and pushed off with her skates, then pulled back and shot. She was less than three feet away, there was no way she could miss.
She watched the puck lob toward the net, biting back a smile as it prepared to sail past Alec...who leaned to the side and caught it with almost no effort.
AJ sucked in her breath with a hiss, her heart literally stopping as she Alec pulled the glove closer to his chest. What had just happened? Did this mean...but it couldn't! She loved him. And he told her he loved her. How could he—
"AJ!"
She looked up, startled at her name being called so loudly, and realized that Alec had been trying to get her attention before. He raised one brow at her, then crooked his finger in a motion for her to come closer. She hung her head and drifted forward, willing the burning in her eyes to stop.
"AJ, look at me. No, don't shake your head. Look at me."
She swallowed and blinked, then raised her head, refusing to do anything that would make this worse. Alec's warm gaze drifted over her, searching, before a smile broke across his face. She watched, stunned, as he tossed the puck behind him into the net before reaching for her and wrapping her tightly in his hold.
"You always had it, AJ. My heart. You had it from the minute you made that first bet. I just didn't realize it, and when I did, I didn't know how to tell you. But I'm telling you now—I love you. No matter what happens. Forever."
"Oh, Alec." She paused, blinking again, but not really caring if he saw the tears this time, because they were tears of happiness. "I love you, Alec. I always will. Even if you are going to get frostbite from being stubborn and half-naked—"
He stopped her with a kiss, a deep one that left her breathless when he pulled away. "Say it again."
She looked into his eyes, at the clear emotion in their dark depths, and felt heat blossom through her. "I love you Alec."
He smiled, then claimed her mouth in a searing kiss that had the other players wondering how long it would be before the couple melted the ice under them.
But the two of them didn't care, because they had both made the biggest bet of their lives.
And came out winners in the most important game of all.
*****
Other titles by this author:
Emeralds and Gold: A Treasury of Irish Short Stories (anthology)
Finding Dr. Right
Silhouette Special Edition
Crossing the Line
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 1)
Game Over
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 2)
Blue Ribbon Summer
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 3)
Time To Heal
Body Check
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 4)
Coming Soon:
Break Away
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 5)
Delay of Game
(The Baltimore Banners, Book 6)
About the Author:
Lisa grew up with an overactive imagination, strong encouragement from her parents, and an insatiable infatuation with the Peanuts gang. That infatuation—along with an impatience she has yet to outgrow—jump-started her love of writing. After all, why should she be forced to wait a whole week to read the stories of her favorite characters when she could create stories for them whenever she wanted?
That love of writing continued to grow, along with all those voices in her head, even during her assorted careers: first as a firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department, then a very brief (and not very successful) stint at bartending in east Baltimore, and finally as the Director of Retail Operations for a busy Civil War non-profit.
Lisa currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two sons, one very spoiled Border Collie, two cats with major attitude, several head of cattle, and entirely too many chickens to count.
Interested in reaching out to Lisa? She'd love to hear from you, and there are several ways to contact her:
Website: www.LisaBKamps.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaBKamps
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LBKamps
Email: LisaBKamps@gmail.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/LBKamps
Want to keep up with Lisa and see what's coming next? Subscribe to her newsletter by clicking here: http://eepurl.com/bs20G5