Love on Ice (Cannon City Series Book 2)

by Lauren Marie

  She looked at the clock by her bed and she saw it was only ten. “Great, I have an hour and a half to go insane. Just peachy.” She went out to the living room, sat on the couch and picked up her book.

  ****

  Jay felt excited that Kate accepted his invite. In the past, if someone lied to him, it was difficult for him to forgive. There was something about this woman, though, that made him want to know more. She held a mystery in her eyes, which he found so beautiful. He still wondered if she wore contacts, though. And she’d caught his cashier stealing the cash from his till. That felt like a good way to reprieve herself in his eyes. Her lie wasn’t much compared to what she’d done for him.

  After the kids finished their practice, he raced up to his office and got cleaned up. There was a black flannel shirt that hung from a coat stand and he decided, after he dusted it off, to put it on. He tucked it in and grabbed his coat.

  He went back down the stairs and over to the rental counter. “Hey, Jerry. Thanks for covering today. I’ll get the job posted first thing. Can you come in tomorrow for a few hours?”

  “Sure, coach, no problem. I can always use the extra bucks,” Jerry said. He was a great seventeen-year-old high school kid, who worked off and on at the rink. He’d played on one of the peewee teams a few years back and Jay knew he could trust the kid. It was a relief to know the till wouldn’t be robbed anymore.

  Jay turned around and looked out at the rink. When he started to turn back to the counter, he saw Kate walk in through the front doors. He almost didn’t recognize her with her hair down. She looked beautiful and he felt himself pump up a little with excitement. He waved and met her half way by the benches.

  “Hi, you look great,” he said and smiled.

  “Thank you.”

  He could tell she was a bit nervous and thought that was good since he was, too. “Have you decided where you’d like to have lunch?”

  “I’ve only been in Canon City about a month. Other than McDonald’s and the diner I don’t know any other restaurants.”

  “What kind of food do you like?” He moved toward the door and watched her walk next to him.

  “I’ll eat pretty much anything. I’m not big on over-stuffed sandwiches, though.”

  Jay felt a hand on his arm and stopped. He looked to his right and saw Monica, the woman who kept leaving him messages and was a known pain-in-the-ass liar.

  “Excuse me, Jay. Do you have a minute?”

  “Actually, we’re just heading out. Can we talk later?” Jay pulled his arm away from her and almost started to laugh when his mind turned to cooties. It was good to know that even though he was twenty-nine years old he could still think like a kid.

  “This will only take a minute. I’m sure your friend won’t mind.”

  He saw Monica give Kate a look and didn’t like it. He turned to Kate and sighed. “I’ll be right back.” She nodded and he saw her eyes squint at Monica.

  They moved away and she turned to look up at him. “Who’s your new friend, Jay?”

  He didn’t like the tone of her voice. “Doesn’t Shelby have a lesson this morning?” he asked and tried to keep it light.

  “Yes, she’s on the ice now. I’m just wondering if you got any of my messages?” She moved closer to him.

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Why didn’t you call back?”

  “Look, Monica, if I gave you the wrong impression at that dinner, when I said I wasn’t interested, then I apologize.” Jay took a step back from her. “I’m not interested in dating you and can only think of you as someone I went with to high school. It has nothing to do with Shelby. She’s a great kid and I think you should focus on her.” He tried to move away from her, but she stepped in front of him and put her hand on his chest.

  “Are you saying I’m a bad mother?” She frowned.

  “No, I didn’t say that. I just don’t think we have very much in common and you’d get pretty bored with me.” He moved around her and smiled at Kate. He appreciated her patience.

  “Jay, how can you say that when you won’t even give me a chance?” She grabbed his arm again.

  He turned to her and wrapped his free hand around her wrist. He held it tight and felt like pushing her away. “Monica, you bamboozled me into thinking I’m going to a group dinner and tried very unsuccessfully to seduce me. I’m not interested and think we should put that night behind us.” He pushed her hand away and took a step back.

  “So, I suppose you’re sleeping with her.” She turned her angry gaze to Kate. “I can offer you so much more, Jay. Please, just give me a chance,” Monica begged.

  “Yeah, you can lie with the best of them. The answer is no, Monica. You have nothing I’m interested in getting to know.” Jay walked over to Kate. “Sorry about that, let’s get out of here.” He looked over his shoulder at Monica, who wore a deep frown on her face. He hoped that would be the end of it with her.

  Chapter Five

  They walked out of the ice rink building and Kate followed him to a dark blue Jeep. Jay opened the door for her and helped her up to the seat. While she closed the door, he ran around the vehicle and plunked himself into the driver’s seat. “There’s a place that serves all kinds of burgers, soups and salads. That kind of stuff. It’s up at the Gorge. It’s a brewing company and they have their own beers. Do you like beer?” He started the engine.

  “Beer is fine, but since I have to work tonight I’ll probably just have coffee.”

  Jay pulled out onto the highway. He noticed her fingers were laced together tightly and her knuckles turned white. He needed to think of a way to get her to relax. “Where are you from, Kate?”

  She turned her head to look at him. “I’m pretty much from all over the place.”

  “Was your family military?”

  “No, not military.” She stared ahead out the front window. “I was born in Portland, Oregon. Are you from Canon City?”

  “Yep, born and raised. A long time ago, I was with a junior hockey team up in Washington State. We played a few times down in Portland. It seemed like a nice town.”

  “How come you don’t play anymore?”

  “I banged my knee up pretty bad when I was nineteen. A few surgeries later the team released me and no matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t get the strength back.”

  “How long have you owned the rink?”

  “About five years.”

  “It looks like good, hard ice. You’ve done a good job with it.”

  “Hard ice? How do you know about types of ice?”

  “I don’t know, I must have read it somewhere,” she said.

  He nodded and watched the road. “Well, hopefully, now, since you busted my thief, I’ll have a little more money on the books. Lunch isn’t really enough to thank you. You said you skate. How about some free ice time.” He smiled at her.

  “That’s not necessary. I haven’t skated for a long time, but thank you. How long have you coached the kid’s team?”

  Jay did most of the talking on their way to the brewery. He thought it was funny how she kept the focus of the conversation on him, but at least she talked.

  ****

  They ordered their meals and Kate sipped her coffee. She thought Jay worked very hard to make her feel comfortable and it did give her a relaxed moment but she flipped that switch off quickly. She didn’t know how long she would stay in Canon City and didn’t want to hurt anyone along the way.

  “So, Kate, if your family wasn’t military, why did you move ‘round so much?” he asked.

  Kate felt frozen for a second, unsure how to answer him. “It was jobs, mostly.” She looked into her coffee cup. “I mean, it wasn’t my family that moved, it was me and I moved to find jobs.”

  “Why?”

  She looked at him and didn’t
know what to say that didn’t make her sound like an idiot. “I know you don’t like lying and I don’t want to lie to you, but...I’d rather not talk about it.”

  She watched him sit back in his chair and take a sip of his beer. The litany about her being nuts for accepting his lunch invite, started in her head again. Jay seemed really nice and, of course, he wanted her information, but there was so much she wouldn’t ever talk about. It became difficult to tell him anything.

  “Where do I know you from? It’s going to drive me crazy, but I’ve seen you before,” he said.

  “I don’t think we’ve ever met. I’ve never been to a hockey game and this is my first time in Canon City. Maybe it was in another life or something.”

  He laughed. “Okay, why do you hang out at skating rinks? You’re not watching the kids for some evil reason?” He grinned at her.

  She knew he was teasing, but felt her eyebrows pull down. “No, no perverted reason, I promise. It’s just fun to watch them learn new moves. There are times I want to strangle the coaches and parents, but it’s none of my business, so I just watch.”

  “I hear you on that parent thing. They can be a pain. Have you ever taught skating?”

  She looked at him. “No. You’re a good coach with your hockey team.”

  “You think so?” He smiled.

  “Yeah, you’re very patient with the kids and don’t make them feel like they’re stupid. There are two boys that seem to always be fighting, though.”

  “Sam and Tommy. They’re brothers and haven’t accepted each other yet. It’s high competition time around those two. Next year Sam, he’s the older boy, may move up to the squirt division and I think it will help.”

  They ate lunch and when they were finished went out to the Jeep. Jay pulled the vehicle onto the highway heading into the mountains.

  “I should get back soon. I have to get ready for work,” Kate said and felt a little uneasy about the direction they were headed.

  “We’re not going far. I want to show you something incredible, since you’re new to the area and all. I’d like to give you a little tour,” he said.

  They drove for about ten minutes and came to a large public parking lot. When they got out of the Jeep, Jay held his hand out with a smile.

  “I’d ask you to close your eyes, but it might be a little soon for that.”

  They walked side by side on a dirt path. Kate felt uneasy to hold his hand and couldn’t think about or see anything around her. Jay’s fingers were very warm and for some crazy reason she couldn’t define, it made her feel safe, but she knew it was wrong. She didn’t want to give him any ideas about any involvement. It couldn’t happen with them and she hoped he could understand that.

  They walked around a corner and Kate’s jaw dropped open. “Oh my God...”

  “This is a tourist trap, but I love the view of the gorge. During the week when people are at work it can be really quiet out here. Do you want to walk out on the bridge?” He pointed to his right.

  Kate followed his finger. She made a funny squeak sound and found she couldn’t form words. She looked up at him and nodded.

  They followed another path and walked out onto a pedestrian-only bridge. The sign said they were over a thousand feet up and it was the highest bridge in the United States. She looked over both sides and when they were about a third of the way out, she stopped. She moved to the rail and looked over the side. Other people moved across the bridge and kids charged around making a lot of noise.

  “Is that the Arkansas River?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  “I’ve seen the ads for river rafting,” she said and looked straight down at the river.

  “Have you ever been rafting?”

  “No, but it looks fun.”

  “It can be. They have zip-lines, too. That can be a kick.”

  Kate straightened up and looked up at the sky. She realized that Jay had put his arm around her waist and she stepped away from him. It would have been nice to feel his arms around her, but her head kept telling her it was all wrong. She glanced up and saw he looked down at her with a bit of a frown on his lips. Their eyes locked and Kate became tongue-tied again.

  “Kate, you have no reason to be afraid of me,” he said and touched her cheek.

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Why did you just start to shake like a leaf?” He ran his thumb over her lips and moved a step closer to her.

  “Fear of heights?” She closed her eyes as his lips came down and gently touched hers. He moved his tongue along her lip line and she felt him adjust his body around so they were face to face. He put his other arm around her and his lips pressed down harder. His tongue slowly traced around the inside of her mouth. She felt a warm passion flow into her and it slid down to her pelvis and legs. For a moment, all the voices in her head went quiet and she liked the way his kiss made her feel.

  Kate moved her hand up his side and put her palm on his chest. She’d every intention of stepping back, but found her hand gripped his jacket. She did finally pull back and kept her head down for a moment and when she looked up at him, she smiled.

  “Thank you, that was nice.”

  Jay ran his hand through her hair. “Don’t be afraid of me. I promise not to hurt you.”

  Kate pulled out of his arms and started back the way they’d come. She crossed her arms and looked back at him. “I do have to get ready for work. We need to go back.”

  She wished she didn’t feel as though she needed to run back, pack up her duffle bag and hit the road. It wasn’t that he scared her. She knew what the main fear in her heart told her. If he figured out who she really was, would he even want to be with her anymore. She’d spent all her life with this fear and she could still hear her mother’s voice, No one will ever want you. If you think otherwise then you’re still the stupid kid you’ve always been. Her mother said things like that to her over and over until she was seventeen and Kate couldn’t get it to stop repeating in her head. It was like a recording that ran in circles. She held a lot of baggage in her head and didn’t want to unload it on him.

  They drove back to Canon City in silence. She looked out the side window and kept her hands clasped together. She gave Jay the directions to the neighborhood where she lived and he pulled up to the sidewalk outside of the house.

  “Thank you for lunch,” she said and started to open the door, but he reached across her and held it closed. He looked into her eyes.

  “I’m not sure what happened up on the bridge. For a second there I thought maybe I might have a chance with you. I would like to see you again. What time do you get off work tonight?”

  “It’s usually really late, midnight or one o’clock and I’m pretty tired after a shift.” Part of her wanted to meet him and the other part said no, bad idea, don’t go there. It made her want to scream at the voices to shut up and leave her alone for once. But that was her problem; she didn’t want to be alone anymore. She felt so confused.

  “That’s not too late. Why don’t you come over to the rink? I’ll get some good skates out and we’ll have a skate around. You said you do know how to skate, right? It will be just us on the ice, so if you fall I’ll be the only one there to see you and I’ll be more than happy to give you a hand to get back up. What size do you wear?”

  “Yeah, I do know how and I have my own skates, but it’s not...I’m...” She took in a breath and let it out slowly and tried to calm down. “I just...” She looked at his brown eyes and saw something she didn’t recognize.

  She felt his hand on her cheek and warmth spread through her again. She felt safe and couldn’t decide if it was good or not.

  “Kate, I have no expectations. I’ll leave the front door open and if you want to skate, let yourself in and bring your skates. No one but you and I will be there. If you aren�
��t there by two o’clock, I’ll figure I struck out and that will be okay.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she whispered.

  He brushed his lips over hers and she could feel his warm breath on her face. She turned away and opened the door. She nearly killed herself when she got out and tripped over the sidewalk. She walked with quick steps to the side of the house and didn’t look back.

  Chapter Six

  Jay worked behind the rental counter during the evening. He tried not to think about Kate, but found it difficult. He felt something haunted her and hoped he could find a way around it. He wanted to spend more time with her. Jay couldn’t say what it was he found attractive about the woman, but knew her eyes killed him. The bluish-purple mesmerized him and whenever she looked at him, he wanted to melt.

  He asked his security guard, Zack, who doubled as the Zamboni driver, to clean the ice after Jay closed the rink and then gave him the night off.

  If Kate didn’t show up Jay didn’t relish the idea of staying overnight at the rink, but he’d done it in the past and could do it again. He started to think that maybe a bottle of wine and some flowers would be nice and would maybe impress her a little, but scratched the idea in case she didn’t show up or drink wine.

  The time crawled slowly by and at eleven o’clock he heard the engine on the Zamboni fire up. He watched Zack steer the machine out onto the rink and begin the circle. Jay cleaned up the locker rooms and carried the garbage out to the dumpsters behind the building. He walked to the front of the rink carrying a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Zack finished and drove the huge machine out the gate at the other end of the ice.

  Jay sat down at one of the tables and thought about looking at the paper, but couldn’t concentrate. He wanted to be excited about Kate maybe coming over to the rink, but felt nervous. A couple of times this afternoon when they were at lunch and at the bridge, she’d gotten a frightened look on her face and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. That kiss out on the bridge rang his bell and he hoped he could convince her to give him a chance.