Hot Puck (Rough Riders Hockey 2)

A sound choked out of Beckett’s throat, and tears stung his eyes. “Goddammit.” He took a breath. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He hung up, rattled by his fury. An entire year of consistency and finesse and patience and therapy ground to dust in minutes simply because Kim wasn’t getting her way.

Beckett really had to work to collect all his rage before he dialed Eden. She didn’t answer, which didn’t surprise him. He knew she was working tonight. When her voice mail picked up, he soaked in the sound of her voice. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed he

r support until right now. How badly he wanted to hear her tell him it would all work out, that he wouldn’t lose Lily or his contract or the respect of his team over this out-of-the-blue, unsubstantiated lie until he’d heard her voice.

“Hey, it’s me,” he told the recorder. “I know you’re probably busy as hell, but if you get a few minutes free, could you call me? I could really use to hear your voice tonight, and I need to talk something over with you. It doesn’t matter how late. Thanks. Bye.”

Then he lowered his phone, took a breath, and dialed Fred with a murmured, “Time to let the dogs out.”

Eden sat on the corner of her bed with her phone in her hands. She was still in her uniform and really wanted to drop back and fall asleep. Work had given her two hours of rest, and she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Beckett and this damn scandal since she’d heard of it in the ER. She’d heard his message around eleven p.m. the night before but hadn’t felt ready to return the call without more information, which, of course, she hadn’t had time to dig up. Until this morning.

And she still found herself caught in limbo. Because from what she’d been able to find out about the situation, both Kim’s version of the story and Beckett’s version of the story were credible. As a woman who’d been abused and been made to feel like it had been her fault, Eden felt a certain obligation to take every woman’s abuse allegation at face value.

Only, in this case, that meant doubting a man she’d fallen in love with at some point over the last few weeks. A man who’d given her the safety and belief she’d needed to take another chance at life.

She pressed one palm to her forehead and closed her eyes. God, she was so confused.

A knock on her door brought her head up. “Eden?”

Beckett’s voice shot a jolt of fear through her. Then she immediately felt guilty over the knee-jerk response. Still, her belly tightened as she stood and moved to the door—and not in the excited way it usually did in anticipation of seeing Beckett.

She opened the door, and he turned from staring at the street. The look on his face broke her heart. His eyes were dull and pained. His handsome features etched with fatigue and misery. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt under a hooded sweat jacket, and his shoulders were hunched against the cold.

“Oh, Beckett…” She stepped out and gripped handfuls of his jacket. “Are you okay?”

He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his face to her hair. “What a fucking mess.”

His voice was heavy and rough and turned Eden inside out. He smelled clean and male and familiar, and the thought of losing him tore her apart.

“Where’s Lily?” Eden asked.

“My parents’.” He loosened his arms and looked down at her. “The media is everywhere, even at her school. I couldn’t send her even if she wanted to go, which she doesn’t because she’s scared Kim’s going to take her away.”

Eden’s gut twisted, and she pressed a hand to the pain. “Do you want to come in?”

He shook his head. “I need to get back to Lily. I just wanted to see you. You didn’t call me back. You must have had a busy night.”

Eden nodded, and Beckett pulled her close again, holding her as if drawing energy from her. God, her heart ached. And her mind warred, one side trying to convince her she could love him even if Kim’s story was true, because he really was a different man now. But another side told her she was being stupid and weak and opening herself up to being a victim again.

“Is it true?” The forces battling inside her pushed the words from her mouth.

He pulled back, his eyes clouded with confusion. “What?”

“Any of what Kim is saying?”

A flash of disbelief traveled through his eyes a split second before an indefinable sharpness hardened his expression. His hands tightened on her arms. “Are you asking me if I tried to buy Lily from her? Or are you asking me if I hit her?” He paused only a second. “Or are you asking both?”

The anger in his eyes unnerved her. “It was a long time ago. You were a different man, you said so yourself. People have different ways of seeing things. Maybe you don’t even remember it happening that way—”

He dropped his hands from her arms. “Because it didn’t happen that way.”

His bark made her flinch, and he took one big, deliberate step away.

Panic flared in Eden’s gut. “Beckett—”

“You know me,” he said, pained, serious, and angry. “You know who I am, Eden. I opened my entire life up to you. You met my family. You’ve seen me with my daughter.”