Page 44 of If You Love Me

“Not what I’m referring to, and you know it.”

The second I find her, I’m utterly transfixed. She’s a fuckingvision. Her hair has been braided and weaved into an intricate knot at the base of her elegant neck. Her dress is a pale, blush pink with a matching lace overlay that drapes across one shoulder and frames her cleavage, dipping low enough to be seductive, but still modest. The slit in the side shows off her toned leg from long days on the ice. It’s very reminiscent of the dress I had delivered to our room during our weekend in New York. I took her out for dinner and dancing, and then brought her back to the hotel, peeled her out of the dress, and kept her in bliss for hours. The next morning I woke alone.

“Dude, you’re as subtle as a fart in an elevator.” Hollis pats me on the shoulder and walks away.

I barely spare him a glance, though it’s highly problematic that he’s noticed the way I look at Lexi. I don’t know what she was thinking, bringing her dad to the Watering Hole last week with the whole team there. Hollis asked about it the next morning on the way to practice. I pretended I had no idea what he was talking about and switched the subject to holiday plans, all the while feeling like a hypocrite for doing exactly what he and Peggy did last season. I wonder if this is how he felt when he was hiding what was going on with Peggy at the start of their relationship. I’m not sure how I missed his caginess, or the way he looked at her. Maybe I didn’t want to see it.

Lexi crosses the room, heading for the bar, so I do the same. I need to be in her orbit for a minute. Her head turns, as if she can sense my approach. Her throat bobs with a nervous swallow, and her tongue sweeps across her bottom lip.

“Hi, Coach Forrester.” I prop my elbows on the bar top and try not to look directly at her.

“Hello, Goalie.” Her gaze locks with mine in the reflection behind the mirrored bar. Her fingers flutter around her collarbones before she drops them and clasps her hands.

I order a scotch, neat. I need something stronger than beer with her looking the way she does. “Where’s your date?”

“He’s not available tonight. Yours?”

“Can’t have her.”

Just because we’ve acknowledged our mutual attraction doesn’t mean she sees what we could be the same way I do. How I could be the one she spends her nights and mornings with. Though I can’t imagine she’s had time to date anyone since she arrived in Toronto. Not with an eight-year-old and a seventeen-year-old to take care of, on top of coaching a professional hockey team.

The bartender passes her a glass of ginger ale. Lexi isn’t much for the taste of alcohol. We move away from the bar, and she turns to face me. “You can’t look at me like that, Roman.”

“We’re not on the ice. You can’t tell me what to do, Alexandria.” I sip my scotch to hide my smile at her frustrated expression.

“Seriously, this needs to stop. I feel like I’m wearing a scarlet letter whenever you’re around.” She keeps looking to the side, clearly nervous to be seen talking to me.

“As far as anyone knows, we’re just two people who work for the same team having a conversation. Unless you’ve told someone,” I press.

“I haven’t told a soul.” Her emphasis is offensive.

“Why? Are you embarrassed?”

She rolls her eyes. “You players are all the same. Egos like eggshells. That has nothing to do with it. This is my job, Roman, and I’ve worked hard to be here. We can’t keep dancing around each other like this. Someone will notice.”

I don’t tell her someone already has. I’ve considered confiding in Hollis, but he’s dating my daughter, and I don’t know if he’d be able to keep this from her.

“Whoa, this looks heated. You two debating the merits of Ash and Grace playing on the same line?” Flip asks. “Perhaps recognizing the error of your ways, Coach?”

I don’t know where he came from, but the fact that we’re having this discussion in the middle of a public place speaks tohow fired up we are. I shift my attention to him. “It seems you have feelings about that.”

Flip shrugs, attempting nonchalance. “Ash plays best when he’s on the same line as Dallas. So yeah, maybe Grace is better behaved for the time being, but it’s dragging Ash down.”

I'm a second away from telling him to watch his mouth, but Lexi beats me to it.

“First of all, regardless of the casual setting, I’m still your coach. You don’t get to tell me how to do my job. And secondly, it’s your behavior that’s problematic. Your negativity toward your teammate directly affects everyone’s performance on the ice.”

“But he?—”

“I don’t want excuses. You and Grace need to deal with your decade old grudge and get over it. This isn’t high school, this is the pros, and I expect more from you. Especially since you’ll be one of the more seasoned players on the ice after your goalie retires. What is the legacy you want to leave behind?”

Flip opens and closes his mouth. “I just want to keep the team intact.”

Lexi’s expression softens and her defensive posture relaxes slightly. “I get it. There’s been a lot of change, professionally and personally for you. But we can’t fight change. It happens whether we want it to or not. You can be part of the solution or part of the problem, Flip.”

“I’m not the only problem, though,” Flip states.

“No, you’re not. But someone has to be the bigger man. And wouldn’t you rather it be you?” Lexi arches a sexy, expectant brow.

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