Hot Puck (Rough Riders Hockey 2)

“You do now.”

“Hardly. We met thirty minutes ago.”

“Not only did we meet, but we’ve had our first fight and made up—all in half an hour. The next step is always makeup sex. Imagine where we could take this given a couple of uninterrupted hours.”

She was smiling, her pretty eyes holding his with the first flicker of real interest when Gabe opened the back doors. The movement broke the momentary trance, and Beckett tried to think of a way to get it back while she and Gabe lowered him to the ground.

“Why don’t you give me your number,” Beckett said, “and we can finish talking about this another time?”

“Thanks, but I’m going to pass.” Kennedy looked at Gabe over Beckett’s head. “I’ll let you take him in while I straighten up the back.” She lowered her gaze to Beckett’s and reached out to squeeze his lower leg with a quick, sincere “Good luck to you, Beckett Croft” before disappearing into the ambulance.

Beckett exhaled heavily as Gabe pulled him across the parking lot. “I can’t remember the last time a woman wouldn’t give me her number.”

“Eden’s definitely not most women,” Gabe said. “She’s better. Way better.”

He lifted his gaze to the man at t

he head of the gurney. “You got a thing for her, man?”

“Nah, we’re just friends. But she’s really an awesome chick. She’d be worth the trouble if you wanted to make the effort.”

Beckett looked up at the night sky and thought of Lily. He instantly realized the logistics of hooking up with the feisty EMT would be as impossible as finding job security in the NHL. So he kept his mouth shut, relaxed into the gurney, and absorbed the disappointment the same way he sucked up a bad game.

Once Gabe transferred Beckett to the nurse on duty, he shook Beckett’s hand.

“Hey, thanks,” Beckett said. “When they unhook me, I’ll sign this jersey and send it to your work.”

“Wow.” Gabe’s face lit up. “That would be beyond awesome.”

“Least I can do. Thank Kennedy for me, would you?”

“You bet. Her first name is Eden, by the way. Stay safe.”

Gabe retreated from the room. Beckett was still thinking about Eden—and what a perfectly fitting name that was for the first woman who’d tempted him in quite a while—when the doctor came in for a quick assessment and ordered a CAT scan. While Beckett waited to be transported to Radiology, the nurse gave him a phone to call home.

His sister answered on the second ring with a cautious “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“What number are you calling from?”

“The ER. They took me from the rink before I could grab my phone.”

Sarah’s exhale sounded relieved. “Are you trying to knock all your brains out of your head? You know you can’t have all that many left after twenty-five years in hockey.”

“Yeah, pretty sure I’m running on empty.” He closed his eyes as the thump-thump-thump radiated through his skull. “I’m at Georgetown. Going to be home late.”

“Do you need me to pick you up? I can have Mom come watch Lily—”

“No, no. I’ll have one of the guys get me. I’m sorry. I know you have to work in the morning. I’ll do what I can to hurry this along.” He craved the sound of his daughter’s sweet voice. “Lily’s probably passed out, isn’t she?”

His sister laughed. “Barely stayed awake through dinner.”

Beckett grinned. “So she liked dance class?”

“Well, she pirouetted to bed and fell asleep in her leotard, so, yeah, I’d say she’s hooked.”

The image of his five-year-old twirling herself into bed, her blonde head of corkscrew curls flying, made him laugh. The pressure hurt his head, but his heart still swelled, and he sighed. That kid was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Yeah, his social life had hit a wall when Lily’s mother had abandoned their daughter almost a year ago now and Beckett had taken over full-time care. But for every hour he missed out on with a woman like Eden, he only had to think of every moment with Lily to quell his disappointment.