Page 43 of An Irresistible Force (Vancouver Vice)

Then when long, tall Josie walked into the suite, Amanda got fired up pretty quick. Apparently, competition yanked her chain. I grinned and popped another ginger root tab to ease the warmth in my chest.

I noticed Josie’s Grade-A ass when she was holding up the kid so he could wave at the Vice’s leading scorer. But anyone with two eyes could tell it wasn’t little Zach that Fairburn was really throwing the puck to. I’d done that myself; you toss a puck to a cute kid who was attached to an even cuter mom. There was clearly something going on between those two—otherwise why would a dime like Josie even be at a Vice game? The team wasn’t exactly drawing prime meat. And Cynthia and Josie weren’t hockey fans.

A hot woman who was already taken would be exactly what I needed to prove something to Amanda. I slid into the seat beside the frosty Josie.

Then I fingered the giant horseshoe that was attached to her crazy necklace. “Is this going to bring the Vice good luck tonight?”

She didn’t even look my way as she answered. “You’re sitting beside me, so clearly the lucky part isn’t working.”

James began explaining to his son who I was. It was a long story about some big playoff game they had watched where I scored an overtime goal. The kid looked as bored as I felt. All my accomplishments were in the past, like those washed-up actors on reality TV. But I noticed that Josie was listening too.

Zach looked over at me. “Are you going to play for the Vice?” He made it sound like a big promotion.

“I’m in management now. So watching games is my work.”

The kid nodded at that explanation. “Did you see the puck that my Uncle Eric gave to me?” He shoved it in my face and the rubbery smell made me feel weirdly nostalgic.

“I saw that. You’re one lucky dude. I thought you were going to have to fight some of those girls for the puck.”

He nodded. “One girl wanted to keep it. But Auntie JoJo said something to her.”

I laughed. It was all too easy to imagine what that tiger might have said.

“So, it’s not only me you’re mean to,” I said to her.

“I’m mean to anyone who tries to take something that belongs to someone else,” she replied.

I spoke right into her ear. “You’d be the last person I’d figure who would see herself as a possession. But I’m not completely clueless.”

She finally turned and stared at me then looked around the suite. Something clicked, and she shook her head. She leaned closer and muttered, “Don’t involve me in your head games. Amanda’s a nice person.”

“Hey, I might be retired, but I’m still connected. Maybe NHL connections are something your boyfriend needs.”

She shook her head as she watched him skate up the ice. “He doesn’t need your help.”

“But maybe you do. Unless you want to live in Columbus, Ohio.”

Her eyes widened, but her voice remained normal. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay. Be that way.” Now I knew where Amanda got her scoop from, and also that Fairburn hadn’t signed yet. I wondered what the hold-up was. “But wouldn’t staying in Vancouver be a better option?”

She hesitated for a long time and then smiled. “You’re not as dumb as you act.”

“That’s my strategy. Get ’em underestimating me and then go for the kill.”

Josie threw back her head and laughed. I snuck a look over my shoulder, and Amanda seemed to have steam coming out of both ears. Oh, yes.

Tonight, the Vice were painful to watch. They spent way too much time in their own zone, and their breakouts were pitiful. Thanks to Killer’s insights, I tried to sort out which players were being under-utilized and how a change in systems might help them. Speed seemed to be their biggest issue, but maybe that was only their hesitation in making plays. Having an asshole coach could do that to you—you worried about messing up and that slowed you down. And Coach Panner had no hesitation in scratching players for screw-ups. But since Panner’s contract was up at the end of the season, he wasn’t going to be a problem much longer.

“Damn,” Josie muttered. Fairburn had been taken down as he drove towards the net, with no penalty called.

Then I realized that I might have a source to the team right here. “You and Fairburn talk hockey a lot?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Never.”

“Too bad. So no team insights then.” I wasn’t really expecting any. Most of the women I had dated got bored if I talked shop too long. They got off on watching me play hard, not analyzing power plays.

Josie turned and focused her dark eyes on me, like she was trying to size me up. She was extremely hot, and Fairburn was a lucky sonovabitch. “What exactly is your job at the Vice?”

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