Page 14 of My One & Goalie
I nod. “Mm-hmm, I do too. And yes, he’s very nice.”
Maybe too nice.I fell for a guy like that once. His name was Charles and look how that turned out.
As great as Xander Kovac seems, I should definitely keep my distance. I have to protect my child—and my heart.
CHAPTER 7
XANDER
For a suspended professional athlete, I sleep great. Better than I have in a long time, in fact, with visions of a certain doe-eyed blonde running through my dreams all night long.
I get that she probably kissed me last night just to stick it to her ex. And I happily played along with her little charade.
But the chemistry we have isn’t fake. It’s very, very real. It vibrates between us, like the stick against my palm after I slap the puck across the ice.
What started as her act of vengeance turned into something so much better. Sinfully sweet, and I want to lap it up, savor it for as long as I can.
I rap on her door, a cold breeze whipping at my face. Being so close to the coast, the constant wind is almost worse here than in the city. I knock again, wondering if Rachel went ahead and called an Uber instead.
“Hey.” The door swings open and my breath hitches.
She’s fucking stunning. Prettier than any puck bunny who’s ever thrown herself at me. Dressed casually in a loose sweater and ripped jeans, long, loose waves cascade around her shoulders. Her cheeks are rosy and a light gloss coats her lips. Iwant to rush into her apartment and slam the door behind me, toss her onto the couch and strip her out of those clothes.
Stay out of trouble. No women.
Coach’s words echo through my mind. The couch thing probably wouldn’t be the best idea.
“You ready?” I shove my hand in my pocket to keep from reaching out and touching her.
“Yes. Thanks for taking me.” She locks the door behind her and we head to the parking lot. “I appreciate you handling the mechanic—you really didn’t have to go to all that trouble.”
I shrug. “It’s fine, not a big deal. You had Jett to deal with.”
Her small hand flies to my forearm. “It is a big deal. To me. No one’s taken care of me in a very long time.”
My chest tightens as I gaze into her hazel eyes, serious and sincere. Something unlocks inside me and for the first time—possibly ever—I’m worried about more than hockey. More than myself and the next game, and the game after that.
I want to protect this woman, take care of her.
The feeling’s strong and urgent, gripping me. I clear my throat, swallow hard.
“Happy to help.”
Taking her hand, I guide her into the passenger seat. I hustle around the car and inhale a deep breath, trying to get a handle on my wild emotions.
I hit the ignition button and the grungy voices of Stone Temple Pilots blare out of the speakers.
“Sorry, that’s kind of loud.” I lower the volume as quickly as I can and Rachel laughs.
“Is that your training music?”
“It’s in the rotation, yeah.”
I flick on my blinker and pull into traffic, heading toward the garage on Main Street.
“Tell me about your exciting pro athlete life.” She flutters those long lashes at me and waits.
“I don’t know about exciting?—”