Hot Puck (Rough Riders Hockey 2)

“Yep.”

“Can I come?”

Crap. He kissed her forehead. “Sorry, baby. No family on work trips.”

“How long will you be gone?”

God. Would this ever get easier? He brushed more curly fuzz off her forehead. “I’ve got five games. They’re all on the West Coast. I’ll tell you the team, and you tell me where they’re from.”

Her face lit up a little. “’Kay.”

“Let’s see.” He covered her legs with his hands and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I’ll give you an easy one to start out. Ducks.”

“Anaheim,” she responded immediately. Not surprising. They played this game a lot.

“And where is Anaheim?”

She threw her arms overhead, her adorable little face scrunched in a furious smile. “Disneyland.”

Beckett, Sarah, and their dad laughed.

“And where is Disneyland?” Beckett asked.

“California.”

He went through the other four teams, and she got every one right.

“Okay,” he said. “Grab me a brush and a hair tie. I’ll rebraid this mess.”

She pushed off his lap. “Can you do a fishtail today, Daddy?”

He winced a little. “You know they’re not my best.”

“Yeah. Okay. How about a waterfall? They’re soooooo pretty.”

“A what? I’ve never heard of a waterfall.” And Beckett knew every braid in existence. Because Lily’s curly hair often knotted, braids had eliminated tears early on, and Beckett had stuck with them. He was a master braider and usually ended up braiding not only Lily’s hair, but Amy’s and Rachel’s too.

“We found it on YouTube. It looks super easy.”

His brows shot up. “YouTube?” He cut a look at his sister. “YouTube?”

She grinned. “Supervised YouTube.”

“Oh my God.” Beckett leaned forward, pressed his elbows to his knees, and ran a hand down his face. The weight of everything yet to come with his daughter sometimes terrified him.

Luckily, Lily didn’t give him time to think about where YouTube could lead. She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on, Daddy. We got new nail polish too. All different colors. We’ll find one for you that won’t match the Ducks or the Coyotes or the…”

While his daughter recited the names of the teams he would play over the next five days, Beckett stood and looked over his shoulder at his sister.

She met his gaze and nodded. “I’ll have it ready for you.”

Relieved Sarah would have nail polish remover and cotton balls waiting for him at the door when it was time for him to catch his plane, Beckett relaxed and followed his daughter into the room his mother had decorated for Lily.

Then he settled on the floor with her in his lap and a brush in his hand. And he soaked in the feel of his baby warm and safe in the circle of his arms, her silky hair slipping through his fingers as he attempted this waterfall thing and listened to her chipper voice as Lily chattered on and on about her night with her cousins while sorting through a box of nail polish.

His life was so fucking awesome.

“What about red, Daddy? Are any of the teams you’re playing red? ’Cause then we won’t use red.”