Zack (Cold Fury Hockey 3)

Just before I raise my foot to place it on the first stair step, I'm struck with brilliance. Rounding on the two of them, I dramatically slap my palm to my forehead. "Oh, crap, Zack...I forgot to tell you. I seemed to have lost my house key."

Both of their gazes swivel toward me, Michelle looking extremely irritated I've disrupted her invitation to Zack to go out.

He just stares at me blankly. When Michelle turns her face back to him, I mime behind her back with my hands the action of putting a key in a door lock, and I can see when understanding dawns on him.

"Oh, well, that's not good," he says calmly, "since you're going to be out running errands today while we're gone. Can't leave the house unlocked."

"Hmmm," I say as if a bright idea just came to mind. "Michelle...how about letting me borrow your key today so I can get back in the house when I return? I'm sure I'll be back well before Zack and Ben today."

Michelle huffs in annoyance but starts to pull Zack's house key off her ring. "Honestly, Zack...if she loses a house key, how do you know she won't lose Ben at some point?"

I wince, because damn, that was harsh, but then I smooth my face out when she turns to hand me the key. "I'll expect to get that back once you have another key made. In fact, you should have a copy made when you're out today."

Fat chance of that, lady.

Zack covers his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. I just give Michelle a grateful look and say, "Thanks, Michelle. I'll do that."

Figuring Zack can handle the rest of the work of getting her out of the house, I bound up the stairs to get Ben ready to go out for the day with his daddy.

And then I'm struck with another semi-brilliant idea. I've been mulling over Zack's words to me that I didn't have anyone I should be hiding myself from. I really didn't have any errands to run today, but now I think I do.

To the mall.

I got my first paycheck yesterday, and let me just say...Zack pays me well.

For the first time ever, I'm going to buy myself something nice.

Chapter 11

Zack

"And tonight's most valuable player," the Cold Fury announcer says with a long drawl, "is number fifty-seven, Zack Grantham."

The arena erupts and I step back out onto the ice to make a small lap with my stick raised high. The fact that my son is here to watch this makes it that much better. The game MVP title is sweet. As a second-line left winger, those opportunities don't come as frequently as they do for guys like Alex and Garrett who play on the first line, and for a damned good reason. They are phenomenal players who are graced with amazing natural talent. I have to work twice as hard to play as good as they do, so that makes this even sweeter.

Tonight I scored my third career hat trick--three goals in a game. The first came just about fifty seconds into the game when I was on my first shift. I stepped out onto the ice during the shift change and luckily intercepted a bad pass from one of the Toronto Blazers players.

Then it was a full-on breakaway as I shot down the ice, one on one against the goalie.

Tap, tap, tap--back and forth--puck to blade of stick.

I closed in on the goalie and juked left.

He went left and I juked right.

He kept going left, so I kept going right and flipped the puck up and over his shoulder into the back of the net. The red light burned bright behind the net and the fans went wild.

I scored my last two goals in the third period. One off a dump pass from one of my mates and the other into an empty net when the Blazers pulled their goalie to put an extra man on the ice with the hope of tying the score. There were only fifteen seconds left in the game when I scored that third goal, and since the game was being televised, they had to go to a TV timeout because of all the hats that were being thrown onto the ice.

I had gotten tickets for Kate and Ben right beside the Cold Fury bench, first row. I skated by and tapped the glass with my stick right in front of Ben's little face as he was screaming his head off. He then took his Cold Fury hat off his head, Kate lifted him up, and he tossed it over the glass at me. I swear I almost broke down and started crying over his gesture, because he loves that fucking hat.

I went and scooped it up and threw it toward one of our trainers on the bench to hold for safekeeping so Ben could get it back.

And watching Kate with Ben?

Not a shred of jealousy from the way she picked him up and helped him to cheer on his dad. That would have definitely been Gina there if circumstances were different, and yet...it was okay with me that she did that. It was okay with me that she seemed to know what to do, and she helped Ben to have a sweet-ass bonding moment with me during an important part of my hockey career.

And fuck...the way Kate looks tonight.

When I was ready to leave for the game, I had to yell up the stairs twice at her to hurry up and get her ass down there. We were close to running late and I couldn't imagine what was taking her so long. I figured she was probably trying to pin up all that glorious hair and finding super-frumpy clothing to wear. But when she came down the stairs and her feet hit the hardwood floors of the kitchen, I know my jaw dropped open when I took in her appearance.

Kate had apparently taken me at my word that she didn't have reason to hide that beautiful body anymore.

It's not that she was wearing anything revealing. It's just that her clothes actually fit her...very nicely...in all the right places.

She was wearing a ribbed cream-colored turtleneck that molded to her body and accentuated the curve of her breasts. Her dark jeans weren't skintight, but they were sculpted to her hips and ass superbly. She completed the ensemble with a black scarf shot through with silver threading around her neck and a pair of knee-high black boots with shiny silver buckles at the ankles. Her hair was loose and floating around her shoulders and down her back. Her glasses were firmly in place, but again, they only make her sexier, in my opinion.

"Jesus," I muttered under my breath when my eyes went down to her toes and back up to her head.

Her face was red, but she held her chin up. "I went shopping today."

I swallowed hard, sweeping my gaze over her again. "You did good," I murmured.

She lowered her eyes for a moment and pretended to fiddle with her purse. "Well, it's a good thing you pay me well."

And that was that. Kate strode across the kitchen and took Ben by the shoulders, leading him toward the garage door. "Are you excited about the game tonight?" she asked him.

While Ben babbled back at Kate, I walked behind them and got an unfettered look at her ass in those jeans, and I knew in that moment I was going to have a very serious problem on my hands. I knew in that moment that it was going to be hard to fight my increasing attraction to Kate.

As the fans continue to cheer, I head back toward th

e gate that leads under the arena and step off the ice. I walk down the short hall, slapping hands of fans leaning over the railing edge, and then turn left toward the locker room.

Several members of the Cold Fury family are milling about, heading toward the family lounge to wait for their loved ones to finish showering. I immediately spot Kate holding Ben as she stands up against the wall, taking in all of the activity. I had one of the ushers specifically tasked with bringing them to this area after the game was over, and it's just perfect seeing Ben's face as I walk toward them.

His eyes are bright and shining and his hat's back on his head. As I near him, he squirms out of Kate's embrace and holds his arms out to me. I drop my stick and gloves right there and grab my boy, hefting him in my arms.

"You got a hat trick, Daddy," he yells, and yeah...it's starting to sound even more adorable when he calls me "Daddy."

My eyes flick to Kate, who is leaning against the wall and watching us with gentle, happy eyes. I give her a small smile and turn back to Ben. "Sure did, buddy. I think we should celebrate tomorrow. What do you think?"

"Can we go to the zoo?" he asks excitedly.

Fuck...that's a huge day out, since the zoo is more than an hour and a half away, but I have tomorrow off, so it's doable. "Sure thing."

"Can Kate come too?" he asks, his head turning back to look at her over his shoulder.

"Of course she can," I say, thankful that Ben extended the invitation and not me. I'm still unsure about how much to include Kate in my time with Ben, and I'm ashamed to admit I really kind of want her to go. But as long as Ben is the one doing the inviting, I don't feel like I'm crossing any lines.

"Mr. Grantham," I hear from behind me, and turn to see Eliza Hardwick, a sports reporter from the local news station standing there with a cameraman. "Can I get a short interview with you?"

Anxiety cramps my gut because I never did like the limelight all that much and this would be my first time dealing with it since returning to the ice. But unfortunately...it's not like I can just say no. It's sort of expected after the game, especially when you've been named MVP.

I give her a half-smile and say, "Sure."

Turning back to Kate, I bend over, since I really tower above her in my skates, and hand Ben back into her arms. "This will just take a moment."