Page 22 of Puck King
Her face turned as red as the vinyl seat behind her. “H-Hollie,” she stammered – something she never did, and looked lost for words.
“Hollie is my assistant. She’s going to be taking notes and doing the billing for the team as long as we are contractors.”
“Ah, the invaluable assistant.” He smiled. I hadn’t noticed it before, but his teeth were perfect – too perfect to be real. “So what are you doing here?” He sipped his coffee, but his eyes were on the action on the sidewalk.
“It’s a coffee shop. And it’s right next to the arena. I think that we’re doing the same thing as you – getting a coffee before work.” I couldn’t hide the annoyance in my voice, and it seemed to catch his attention.
“Right.” He shook his head and sighed. “Of course. It’s just, I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Do you come here often?” I regretted the words instantly. How had the world’s cheesiest pickup line just come out of my mouth?
Instead of rolling his eyes, Colton let out a surprised laugh.
My cheeks burned. “I mean…”
“Every day. I come here every day. Travis makes the best coffee on this side of town.” There was a glint in his eyes as he smiled. His smile wasn’t condescending, though. Instead, he looked entertained.
Hollie had been nervously drinking her coffee. “Are you hiding out from the press?” she asked.
“Nah.” He shrugged. “I saw my acupuncturist here and wanted to wish her a good morning.”
She nudged my toe under the table, but I pulled my foot away in response. “Do you have a bodyguard to take care of that?” She gestured to the door with her empty mug.
Colton smiled. “I’ve never needed a bodyguard. But truthfully, they’ve never been this aggressive.”
“I know a back way out of here,” Hollie whispered.
I raised my eyebrows at her and she gave me a coy look. “Let’s go.” Colton grabbed his insulated New York Thunder mug. “That is, if you’re finished.” He paused with his hands on the table, realizing that I was still drinking my coffee.
I had no desire to start our façade this soon and was happy to get away from the press. I gulped back the rest of my coffee and set the mug on the table. “Let’s duck out of here.”
Hollie slid out of the booth and nodded to Travis. They seemed to be able to speak to each other without words. Travis stopped steaming milk and met us at the door beside the register to punch in a code.
“Thanks, T.” Hollie squeezed his arm and gestured for us to get moving.
In the alley behind the coffee shop, we regrouped and were able to slip down a side street undetected.
Colton chuckled. “I’m going to have to have a talk with Travis about this VIP treatment.”
My shoulders hunched from the biting cold and the three of us walked to the arena. Colton opened the door for us, but didn’t follow us inside. “See you later.”
“Aren’t you coming in?” I asked.
“I have to go home first. But don’t worry, I won’t miss my appointment so long as you promise not to stick me too hard.”
He turned and walked back the way we had come. Hollie furrowed her brow. “He wasn’t coming this way? So, he just…walked us here?”
“I guess.” I shrugged.
“Alison.” Hollie crossed her arms. “I hope that I’m not out of line here, but there’s a weird energy between the two of you.”
She didn’t know the half of it. “Really?” I strode across the lobby and motioned for Hollie to follow us to our new treatment space.
“And Alison, you were kind of…”
I stopped with the door open. The buzz of the stadium lights hummed as I waited for her to catch up. “I was kind of what?”
Hollie did an awkward half run to follow me into the cavernous main part of the building. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” She fell into step beside me as the Zamboni slowly circled the ice surface far below.
