Page 33 of Puck Love

“Areyou sure this isgoing to work?” I stare dubiously at the ball cap in my hands. As far as disguises go, it isn’t much ofone.

“Works forme.”

“Yeah, but you’re aguy.”

Van smirks as he looks from me to the Saddledome. It’s hard to believe that just a week ago I ran away from this very stadium. “Yes, I am. Thanks for notingthat.”

“It’s different for men, but girls have hair, andboobs.”

“You noticed that too,eh?”

“Oh my god, you’re like a dog with abone.”

He chuckles. “Woof.”

I sigh and shake my head. “Are we sure about the glasses,though?”

I slip them on and turn to him with a serious expression. Van starts to squirm, and a six-foot-four, two-hundred-pound man squirming in the front seat of his equally large Hummer is a sight to behold. “Yeah, we’re definitely sure aboutthose.”

“Van likes to spank his monkey to women with glasses,” Emmett pipes up for the first time since we picked him up from thehospital.

Van slams his head against the steering wheel. “Buddy, remember how we talked aboutoversharing?”

I grin at Emmett, who holds his fist out so that I can bump it with mine, and when Van glances at me I push them farther down my nose and look over the rim with my best sexy librarian face. “Then we can’t very well leave them behind, can we? Now come on, we’re going to belate.”

“You two go ahead. I may have to wait a little bit for the blood to drain from mycock.”

I chuckle, but heat claws at my face and neck as I put the ballcap on, tucking as much of my long hair underneath it as I can. “How do Ilook?”

“Like every wet dream I ever had,” he murmurs, releasing a loudbreath.

“This better work, Van. I’m not ready to have everyone know where I am yet.” I’m not ready to leave. The longer I stay, the more I wonder why I spent so long working hard for a life of emptiness, a lifealone.

“It’ll work.” Van opens his door and climbs out. Emmett does the same, but I shoot Van a worried look through the windshield as he rounds the Hummer to open my door. “Comeon.”

“Okay.” I take his hand. He tries to pull away once I’m out of the vehicle, but I keep a hold of him by squeezing tightly, and I don’t let him go until we’re inside therink.

I take the back seatfor the drive home, and even though both men protest, I scramble in and shut the door before either one can do anything about it. Van is freshly showered, wearing jeans, a grey Henley and a hoodie. His hair is damp, and he smells amazing. He looks perfectly edible, which is why I don’t trust myself to sit beside him. The more distance I can put between us, the better. I can’t fall for this man. What would that even look like with our conflicting schedules? Besides, I’m pretty sure Van Ross prefers women with a whole lot moreexperience.

The boys climb into the car, and Van turns on the heat. Within seconds, the whole cab is filled with the scent of dry amber, ginger, and a hint of ocean.Oh god. I could just lick him from head to toe right now. I lean back against the headrest and close my eyes before I do something stupid like climb through the gap between the seats and curl up in his lap.What in the dickens is wrong with me? For the last two days, I’ve been staring at this man like a starving mutt at a barbeque. And seeing him on the ice with his brother, and the sweet way he had with Emmett’s friends, made me wanna lay down in the middle of that rink and declare that I was ready for him to make good on his promise to show me how amazing sex could be. After the way he held that one girl’s hand as he gently eased her out on the ice, I was fully prepared to give this man a whole hockey team worth of babies, and that’s not something I ever saw in myfuture.

She seemed like a sweet girl. Of course, I didn’t talk to her. I didn’t talk to anyone, but sat far enough away in the stands so that no one could make a positive ID. I saw the way she looked at Emmett, though. She stole glances at him from the time she arrived to when we left. She tried to talk to him at one point, but I could see how nervous she was because she balled her hands into fists. I don’t know what he said to her, because I wasn’t close enough, but it was brief, and the exchange looked a little terse. She skated away to the boards not that far from me, and I had to resist the urge to go talk to her. I don’t know their history. I don’t really know the first thing about Emmett, other than that he loves his brother, my music, watching moose in the Canadian wilds, and Count Chocula. Oh, andhockey.

“Hey Em, who was thatgirl?”

He shifts in his seat, facing me. “Whatgirl?”

“You know, pretty, blonde hair in a bob? She tried to talk toyou.”

“That’sSadie.”

“Sadie, huh?” I try for nonchalance, but I can tell by the way Van’s eyes glare at me in the rear-view mirror that I’m about as subtle as a sledgehammer. “What did shesay?”

“She wanted me to skate withher.”

“So why didn’tyou?”

He shrugs. “I don’tknow.”

---