Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 74956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74956 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
* * *
By the time we break for lunch, I’m riding high on endorphins and optimism, which always makes me hungry. I’m shoveling it in, already halfway through my chicken and rice, when Remy walks into the cafeteria.
My fork freezes inches from my mouth.
She never eats here. The admin staff has their own break room upstairs, and she usually works through lunch anyway.
But there she is, looking like every fantasy I’ve ever had about sexy office managers come to life.
She must have hit the clothes stash in her office. Gone is this morning’s casual wear. In its place is a pencil skirt and my favorite green silk blouse, the one that makes her eyes pop like nobody’s business. Her hair is swept up in one of those twisty things that make me want to pull out all the pins and watch it tumble down.
While I fuck her.
Hard.
“Damn,” Bellamy mutters beside me, his voice thick with the kind of appreciation that makes my jaw clench. “Those long legs go all the way to heaven? Because I’d love to—”
“Choose your next words carefully.” My voice is quiet but sharp enough to make him flinch. “That’s Coach’s daughter you’re talking about. Show some respect.”
Tank kicks me under the table, a warning to dial it back, but I can’t help it. Other men talking about Remy like she’s a piece of ass makes my blood boil.
“Sorry, man.” Bellamy holds up his hands in surrender, his brown eyes wide. “Didn’t mean anything by it. I swear.”
“We’re cool.” I will myself to relax, to remember that I have no right to get territorial. Remy and I aren’t public. Hell, we aren’t even technically together. And getting into it with Bellamy would only draw attention we don’t need.
As she approaches our table, I concentrate very hard on looking casual. Like I wasn’t just thinking about fucking her. Like I haven’t memorized exactly how that silk blouse feels beneath my fingertips as I slide it off her shoulders.
“There you are, Stone.” Her voice is pure professionalism, but there’s a hint of warmth in her gaze that only I would notice. “Could you stop by my office after practice today? I have some paperwork for a potential endorsement deal I need to go over with you. And some paperwork for you to sign if you’re interested.”
“Sure thing,” I say, proud of how steady my voice sounds. “What time?”
“Just a few minutes before five? If you can hang around a while?” She glances at her watch. “I know camp dismisses at four, but I have a call until then.”
“Yeah, no problem. That’s fine.” I give her a polite nod, like we didn’t spend all weekend tangled up in my sheets. “See you then.”
She moves on to another table, and I return to my lunch, very aware of Tank’s knowing look. The look that says I’m getting sloppy, lazy, and that, if I’m not careful, I’m going to get caught red-handed with the coach’s daughter.
He’s right.
Remy and I are playing way too fast and loose lately. This is the kind of risky behavior that leads to a man being separated from his balls and hung on a meat hook in Lauder’s basement.
The smart thing to do would be to take a step back. Insist on caution from here on out. Remember all the reasons why getting caught would be a disaster.
But as I watch Remy leave the cafeteria, her hips swaying in that damn pencil skirt, I’m not sure I care about any of that anymore.
Not when every moment with her feels better than the last. Not when I’m falling so hard, I’m not sure I could walk away, even if I wanted to.
Which I definitely don’t.
I just hope she feels the same way. Because after this weekend, after feeling so at home with her in every sense of the word… After the way she opened up and let me in, making me want to protect the little girl she once was as much as the woman she is now, I can’t go back to pretending this is casual.
The only question that remains is—where do we go from here?
I hope it’s forward.
Together.
Chapter 11
Remy
From the texts of Artemis “Remy” Lauder
and Florio “Flo” Barone
Flo: Hello, my darling, so…a little birdie at the arena tells me both you AND a certain NHL forward were mysteriously late to work this morning... Is this why you missed disco night with Cecelia and the team last night? Too busy riding that golden stallion “friend” of yours into the sunset?
Remy: How do you already know about what happened this morning?!
Flo: A queen never reveals his sources But just FYI, you should be aware that the members of the Badger maintenance staff are the biggest gossips in the industry. Not to mention superstitious as shit. I heard something about a haunted storage room and a potential curse on your firstborn? But don’t worry, the simple folk seem to think you and Stone were actually trapped in there. Innocently, and completely by accident. They have no clue you two were fornicating amongst the Bucky the Badger merch like a pair of kinky little freaks.