Page 35 of Pipe Dreams
“I didn’t like Tad either.”
He smiled suddenly.That makes two of us. “You don’t have to like him. But you can’t be rude to him, and you can’t blame him for what happened. I mean it—be polite toLauren. She’s important to me, and she doesn’t deserve any scorn from anyone.”
Elsa scowled. “Okay. Whatever.”
That was the best he was going to get from her tonight. That was obvious. So he kissed her on the forehead and told her to sleep tight.
Then he went up to bed alone, the way he always did.
ELEVEN
BAL HARBOUR, FLORIDA
APRIL 2016
Lauren flew to Florida with an extra suitcase full of dresses and accessories. Not only had she promised Ari some wardrobe assistance, but she was having a fashion crisis of her own, too.
Waiting at the baggage claim, she felt eyes on her back. When she turned around, Mike Beacon was watching her from across the room.
Damn it. That was not what she needed. When she pulled her two suitcases off the carousel at the same time, a hand reached out to help her with one of them. She stiffened, but it was only Jimbo, the youngest member of the travel team.
“Is that all of your bags, Miss Lauren?” he asked politely.
“That’s all. Thank you.”
“I’ll grab this one,” he said helpfully, adding one of her bags to the rolling trolley he was assembling.
“Thanks,” she said again, pulling the other one after her toward the door. She walked right past Mike, feeling his eyes following her out the door and into the Florida sunshine toward the bus.
Hell, they were still at the airport and she already felt butterflies in her stomach. This party made her nervous.Reallynervous. Not only would Mike be there, but the Atlantic coast of Florida hadwaytoo much history for her. There was no way to feel the sunshine on her face and ignore the ghosts of her own happiness swirling around her.
On the bus, she busied herself with planning tasks for the next series of games. There would be two games in Tampa, followed by two games in Brooklyn. Only through constant alternation of host sites could home ice advantage be shared. The winner of the Stanley Cup would be the team who could perform at its peak forfourbest-of-seven series in a row.
Play-offs season was exhausting. The end.
Her phone rang. Checking it, she saw her father’s face on the screen.Yikes. She and her dad weren’t close, and she didn’t often enjoy their phone calls. On the other hand, taking his call on the bus gave her a perfect reason to cut it short.
“Dad? Is everything okay?”
He grunted an acknowledgment. “Your mother was expecting you this weekend for your cousin’s christening.”
No hello. No preamble. And Lauren knew beyond a doubt that family christenings weren’t usually her father’s concerns. He only wanted gossip about the team that had fired him. And this was his subtle way of asking.
“I’m in Florida,” she said quietly. “I told Mom already. There’s a benefit in Bal Harbour before the series starts in Tampa.”
He made a disgusted noise. “What owner parades his players around in tuxes before round two? They should have noses to the grindstone. It’s not party time, it’s work time. Fucking amateur.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. Their relationship had never been great. And when Nate fired her father but promoted Lauren, it deteriorated even further. “I’m sorry to miss the christening,” Lauren said. She wouldn’t rise to the bait.
“When are you coming home?” he asked. “Isn’t your graduation soon? You should let us take you out to dinner.”
“Good idea,” she said with false cheer. If he wouldn’t pay for NYU, he could at least buy her an overpriced meal for graduating from it. “I’ll send you and Mom the date. Got to go,” she said. “We’re pulling up at the hotel.” It wasn’t even a white lie. The sign for the Dorsal Club in Bal Harbour had swung into view.
Her father managed a civil good-bye, and they hung up.
Lauren got off the bus and eyed the sleek hotel. Under different circumstances, she would have enjoyed a trip to a luxury resort on the beach. But she and Mike had once been here together for the wedding of one of his teammates. They’d stayed at the adjacent resort.
It had been the most magical weekend of her entire life. The wedding was both elegant and fun. And afterward she and Mike had attacked one another in a partially secluded spot outdoors. It was risky and reckless. She’d loved every second of it.
