“Yeah, you have bedhead.”
“Great.”
“Don’t worry, you still look cute.”
She nearly choked on the water, coming close to spitting it all over the place. And wouldn’t that just be perfect? Bedhead and water shooting out of her nose. What a lovely combination.
Kenny chuckled again then stood and made his way to the small dining area. Lauren noticed the bag on the table, nothing more than a large overnight duffle, a garment bag draped over it.
She stood up, quickly folding the blanket and placing it over the back of the sofa. “Let me grab my stuff—”
“Why?”
“So you can drop me off.” Drop her off where, she had no idea. The arena, probably, since that was closer than her condo. She’d just have to call Dale to come pick her up. Scratch that. Dale was working. It didn’t matter, she’d think of something.
“Lauren, I didn’t wake you up to kick you out. Stay here until you get in touch with your sister.”
“But—”
“No buts. Seriously, just stay here.” He grabbed the duffel and garment bag then made his way back to the sofa, his dark eyes focused on her with an intensity she didn’t understand.
“I left my cell number next to the phone. Just call me to let me know what’s going on so I don’t worry.”
“Kenny—”
“I’ll check after the game and if I don’t have any messages from you by then, I’ll call here. So if the phone rings, don’t be afraid to answer it.”
“Your phone?”
“Of course my phone. I doubt if yours will be working by then.”
“I can’t just stay here.”
“Yes you can. It’s not like I’m going to be here. And it’s not like you can walk anywhere, not in this weather. Okay?”
“But—”
“I have to get going. There’s plenty of food in the fridge, and you know where everything else is. Make yourself at home.” He nodded, like he was reiterating his point, then moved to the door. “And if you need to spend the night, just use my bed. It’ll be more comfortable.”
“Kenny, I am not—”
Her mouth snapped closed when he advanced on her, an expression of steely determination on his face.
“Are you always so damn stubborn?”
She lifted her chin a notch and narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”
Lauren didn’t see it coming, had no way to prepare for it. Kenny stepped closer and cupped her chin in his large hand then pressed his mouth against hers. She gasped, completely off-guard and unable to move when he deepened the kiss and swept his tongue inside. He tasted like mint and spice. Warm, heady. Dangerous and determined. She moaned again and leaned closer, reaching for him, but he stepped away. A grin teased his moist lips but it was the look in his eyes that sent shivers dancing along her skin. Need. Desire.
“I like the idea of you in my bed. I’ll call you later.” He pressed another kiss against her mouth, this one just a quick peck, then turned and walked out the door.
Lauren stood there for a few minutes, maybe longer. She couldn’t move, was too stunned to do anything except stare at the closed door.
“I am in so much trouble.”
Chapter Twelve
“Tell me again where you are.”
Lauren let out a heavy sigh and rested her head against her knees. “I already told you.”
“So you’re at some guy’s house that you don’t really know because your sister took off with your car. Because you were stupid enough to let her use it even after the stunt she pulled last week.”
“She’s your sister, too. And I don’t need a lecture again.”
Her brother’s short laugh sounded too loud, his irritation clear even through the phone. “You need to stop feeling sorry for her. She’s using you.”
“Dale, not now, okay? I don’t need to hear it. Now can you pick me up in the morning or not?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up after I get relieved. Just text me the address.”
“I can’t. My phone’s shot, remember?” She glanced in the direction of the kitchen, visualizing her phone sitting in a bag of rice on the counter. Lauren had checked it fifteen minutes ago, just before calling her brother, and it was still dead.
“Fine, let me grab a piece of paper.” There was shuffling in the background, the faint noise of a squawking radio and other voices, louder then drifting off. “Okay, what’s the address?”
Lauren opened her mouth to tell him, then just as quickly closed it. She didn’t know the address. At least, not the building number. Not even the apartment number. She hadn’t been paying attention. “Uh, I’ll just meet you on the corner. At Charles and Lombard.”
Silence greeted her, followed by an exasperated sigh. “You don’t know where you are.”
It was a statement, not a question. Lauren rolled her eyes and glanced at the television, frowning as the analysts discussed tonight’s game and tried to explain the Banners’ loss to Tampa. She reached for the remote and turned it off.
“I know where I am. I just don’t know the building number.”
“For shit’s sake, Lauren. What would you do if you needed to call for help? How would you be able to tell anyone where you’re at?”
“You know, you should have been a cop instead of a fireman. You’re too suspicious. Besides, I know they can trace the call. And there’s nothing to worry about anyway.”
“You don’t know that. For all you know, this guy could be a serial killer.”
“Really? Do you ever stop to listen to yourself? Dale, he’s a hockey player. A defenseman for the Banners. You had no problem with him Friday night when you met him and I really don’t think he’s a serial kisser.” Lauren winced, wondering how she could have slipped up so bad. She only hoped her brother didn’t notice.
“A what?”
“A serial killer.”
“That’s not what you said.”
“Yes it is.” Damn Dale. Did he miss nothing?
“No, it’s not. You said kisser. Is there something else I need to be worried about now?”
“So have you talked to Tammy lately?”
Silence greeted her, just like she knew it would. Tammy was her brother’s ex-girlfriend, a vapid self-centered woman that Lauren had disliked from the very beginning. It had taken four months before her brother came to his senses and broke things off with her, but apparently it hadn’t been a clean break.
“I’m not in the mood, Lauren. We’ve been running our asses off all night and I’m tired so let it go.”
“Sorry.” And she was. She knew it was a sore subject with him but she didn’t need him prying into things that weren’t his business.
“So about this guy…”
Lauren rolled her eyes, knowing her brother knew exactly what she was doing. “We can talk tomorrow.”
“Hm. Is this his number? The one that showed up on my cell?”
“Yup.”
“Alright. I’ll call you in the morning before I get there so you can meet me.” An alarm sounded in the background, loud and shrill. “I have to run, we got another call. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He ended the call before she could say anything, which was probably a good thing because there was no doubt in her mind he’d start grilling her again. She shouldn’t be surprised. Dale was her big brother, that’s what he did. And it was better than getting into a discussion about their sister. A hundred times better. But Lauren knew that discussion was coming, too. She’d blown him off Friday night, refusing to get into it with him, refusing to talk about Lindsay and everything she’d done. She knew she wasn’t going to be so lucky in the morning when Dale picked her up, not this time. Yes, they needed to have the discussion. Yes, it was time she did something.
That didn’t mean she wanted to think about it, let alone admit it.
The phone rang, startling her enough that she nearly dropped it. She took a deep breath, let it ring one more time, then answered it.
“I guess that means you haven’t heard from your sister yet.” Kenny’s voice was warm and soft and entirely too welcome, despite the irritation that edged it.
“Uh, no. Not a word.”
“Does she do that a lot? Just take off without worrying about anyone else?”
Lauren leaned forward and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was the conversation she had been expecting to have with her brother, not with Kenny. And if Dale had said the same thing, she would have responded with something short and sarcastic, telling him she didn’t want to talk about it.
She couldn’t do that with Kenny, though. For one thing, she detected more curiosity than censure in his voice. Yes, there was an underlying irritation there as well. But she got the impression it was more irritation on her behalf instead of directed toward Lindsay.
No, maybe that didn’t make sense. And maybe it ended up being the same thing when you got right down to it. But for some reason she was more willing to discuss it with Kenny than her brother. At least for now.
“More than she should, yeah.” Lauren waited for his comment but all she heard was silence, broken only by whatever background noise was echoing around him. Deep voices, laughter. Someone shouting. “Where are you?”
“In the locker room, getting ready to head out to the bus to the airport.”
“You didn’t have to call, you know.”
“Yeah I did. I would have worried if I hadn’t. Are you staying there tonight?”
“Yeah. My brother’s picking me up in the morning.”
“And your phone?”
“I’ll be making funeral arrangements for it tomorrow, I’m sure.”
Kenny laughed, the sound wrapping around her, warming her. She rolled her eyes, mostly at herself since nobody else was there to see her.
Because yeah, she was definitely in trouble.
“Did you watch the game?”
“Yeah. Tough loss. You lucked out, though.”
“Lucked out?”
“Yeah. For that hit in the third. I would’ve given you five minutes.”
“It was a clean hit.”
Lauren laughed then curled her legs under her. “Not even close.”
“Then I would have argued with you.”
“And I would have tossed your ass.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”
This time it was Lauren who laughed, remembering the youth hockey game where she had done just that. “No, it wouldn’t.”
She heard a muffled scratching noise, like Kenny was covering his phone, then the muted rumble of his voice. A few seconds went by before he spoke again. “I need to get going in a few minutes, we’re getting ready to leave.”
“Have a safe trip. Bring back some of that warm west coast weather, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” He cleared his throat then lowered his voice. “I, uh, I didn’t mean to surprise you earlier. When I left, I mean.”
She knew exactly what he meant. In fact, she’d been doing her best to not remember. Not because she hadn’t enjoyed it but because she was driving herself crazy every time she thought about it. It was only a kiss. Not even a full-blown, toe-curling, stomach-dropping kiss.
Yeah, sure it wasn’t. That’s why her lips tingled and her stomach dipped every time she thought about it.
“Uh oh. Silence. That’s not good.”
“No. No, it’s good. I was just—” She cleared her throat. “Maybe you caught me a little off guard.”
“You okay with it?”
Was she okay with it? What kind of question was that? Was she okay with him kissing her? Okay with him surprising her like that? Okay with what, exactly? Lauren finally laughed, the sound too breathy, too low.
“I don’t know. You might have to try again so I can decide.”
“I think I can make that happen.” There was a muffled sound again, followed by some shouting. “I have to run. I’ll call you later.”
“Sounds good.” And oh God, could she sound any lamer?
“Lauren?”
“Yeah?”
“Sweet dreams.”
She was still trying to figure out how to respond when he disconnected the call. She stared at the phone for a few seconds then leaned over and placed it on the coffee table.
Sweet dreams? Lauren was certain she’d be having dreams tonight. She just wasn’t sure anyone would be able to call them sweet.
Chapter Thirteen
“Why do you keep looking at your watch? You act like you have someplace you need to be.”
Kenny glanced at Harland then frowned—and not just because Harland had actually noticed him checking the time. His teammate had been annoying the hell out of him all week. Asking stupid questions. Making stupid comments.
Who are you talking to?
Why are you checking your phone?
Why are you smiling like that?
Kenny didn’t think he would have been quite so annoyed if the Banners had played a little better than they had. The trip out west had resulted in two losses, one win, and one overtime tie—not exactly what any of them had hoped for. This afternoon’s game had been especially brutal, their hard-fought win coming at a physical cost nobody had expected. Alec Kolchak, the team’s goalie, had taken a hard hit that ended with him leaving in the middle of the second period with a knee injury.
The Vancouver player had been given a shitty two-minute penalty, that was it. Kenny took care of that in the third period, making sure the asshole got the message to leave their goalie alone. Yes, he’d been ejected from the game but it had been worth it, worth seeing the small nod from both Coach LeBlanc and Coach Reyes as he made his way to the tunnel with blood pouring from his broken nose and his left eye already starting to swell.
He took satisfaction in knowing the other guy looked worse.
So yeah, his mood wasn’t the greatest and Harland wasn’t helping any. He was tired, sore, and his fucking face was throbbing in places he didn’t even know could throb. The only thing that was keeping him from turning in his seat and throttling Harland was the fact that he’d be able to talk to Lauren tonight when he got home without worrying about waking her up.
Maybe.
He glanced at his watch again then cursed under his breath when he realized it was later than he thought. By the time they landed and he grabbed his gear and got home, it would definitely be too late to call.
Or maybe too early. If he managed to keep his sorry ass awake for an hour when he got home, he might be able to call her and say good morning.
Maybe. If she happened to be an early riser.
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat, weighing the odds of staying awake long enough to call her at a reasonable hour. What time did she usually get up for work? He knew Lauren was an early riser on the weekends. She had to be for the early games she refereed. He didn’t have a clue about during the week, though. He’d never thought to ask during their phone calls this past week.
Calls he hadn’t expected to really make. Calls he hadn’t expected to enjoy as much as he did.
Lauren wasn’t what he expected, not after that first encounter at the rink more than a month ago. She was funny, sarcastic, not afraid to speak her mind. And she didn’t try to stroke his ego, either. In fact, she was just as likely to give him hell about a play as she was to compliment him. A smile tugged at his mouth and he fought it, figuring Harland might see and question him again. And he wasn’t about to tell Harland that he was smiling because Lauren tended to call him by his last name whenever she was giving him hell about a play she saw as questionable.
Which meant she was only calling him by his first name about half the time. Thank God the coaching staff didn’t have the problems she did with some of his playing. If they did, there was no doubt in his mind that he’d back in York, playing in the minors for the Bombers instead of the Banners.
A tiny prickle of doubt crept into his mind and he pushed it away, cursing himself for letting it back in to be
gin with. They may not have won every road game this past trip but his play had been solid enough that Sonny moved him up to the second line and increased his ice time. If Kenny wanted to stay there, he needed to focus on his game instead of doubting his ability.
Harland nudged him in the side, completely oblivious to the fact that he wanted to be left alone.
“What are you doing today?”
Kenny scowled at him but he didn’t even notice. “Sleeping. Why?”
“Just wondering if you wanted to grab lunch later.”
“Hell no. I’m not doing anything today except sleeping and getting friendly with some ice.”
Harland laughed, the sound too loud. “Yeah, only you would think it was fine to get friendly with some ice. You should come out with me later tonight. I’m meeting up with a girl, I’m sure she could find a friend for you.”
“Not interested.” Unless it was Lauren, of course. And no way in hell was he going to tell Harland that. A sudden thought came to him and he turned in his seat, frowning. “Which girl? It’s not the one you left the Casino Night with, is it?”
Harland finally looked at him, frowning. “I didn’t leave with anyone that night.”
“Yeah you did. The short blonde? The one who was hanging all over you?”
“No way. Not me.”
“Bullshit.”
“No bullshit. Yeah, she was hanging all over me but I didn’t leave with her.”
Kenny studied him for a long minute. Lowered brows, clenched jaw…and only a hint of confusion in his light eyes. Why would Harland lie about leaving with Lauren’s sister? Especially since he bragged about everyone else. He wouldn’t, not for any reason that Kenny could think of.
“You really didn’t leave with her?”
“Really, man. There was something—I don’t know—off about her. Or something. Besides, she was too wasted for me. I’m not taking those kinds of chances. I’m not that desperate. Or that big of a dick.”
“So you really didn’t leave with her?”
On Thin Ice (The Baltimore Banners Book 8) Page 10
