Page 27 of Hot Puck
Setting everything up on the dining room table, I head back to the kitchen for a couple of waters. It’s too late in the day for coffee. Although I’m down at least three cups on my normal daily intake, I never drink it after five.
While I’m in the kitchen I get Chase some dinner. The chicken has gone cold, but I can slice it up and make him a bowl of chicken salad instead of a plate of hot chicken and salad.
There hasn’t been any noise for upstairs in a while and I can only assume Candace went straight to sleep. She was tired before I took her upstairs to change her diaper. And the twins might have said they weren’t tired, but I saw the yawns they tried to hide behind their hands.
I smile thinking about the three girls. Much to my surprise, I had a good time hanging out with them today. Candace is cute and seeing her eyes widen when she focuses on something is a joy to watch.
The twins are mature for their age, and I have to wonder if that’s a result of seeing their mom slowly slip away over the last few months.
Being told a parent is sick and going to die, on the heels of finding out you’re going to have another sibling has to have affected each of the three older Hawkins children in different ways.
I can see the influence from Chase on the twins, but I can also see—and heard in the things the girls told me—that their parents did a good job of preparing them for Sienna’s death.
Of course, no one was prepared or expecting Mitch’s.
Which is why I plan to get all the Hawkins siblings into counseling as soon as possible.
The creak of a floorboard above my head tells me Chase is on the move, and I quickly put his dinner together.
I’m not one to wait on people. Sure, I do my bit when we all get together, and now that our group of four has grown to add a couple of husbands and children, I do my best to be involved.
Even when the sight of Oakley and Walker, and Blake and Branton, has me envious in a way I’ve never been.
I have—had—a husband. Icouldbe a mother. Except the thought of having a child with Johnathon Whitman turns my stomach in a way I’ve only ever felt when being down with stomach flu.
The man was a means to an end, and he’s served his purpose. And in the last few years he’s become a liability. It’s not public knowledge that I’m married. Although it’s not really a secret either.
I’ve gone to great effort to keep him out of my life other than on paper, which he’s been more than okay with. But now that KAW owns the Rogues, the four of us are under more scrutiny from the media, and with Johnathon’s extra-marital activities becoming more and more troublesome, I can no longer remain in the marriage.
Plus, I no longer need it to access my numerous trusts. And with my grandfather dead, the only resistance to my control of the family fortune has vanished.
“Hey.”
I glance up to see Chase enter the kitchen. He’s pulled a t-shirt on and I’m ashamed to admit, a stab of disappointment hits me.
I don’t remember the last time I ogled a man and enjoyed it the way I am with Chase. He’s over a decade my junior, that alone should dampen my attraction.
And yet, it’s no less than it was first thing this morning. If anything, it’s getting stronger. I’ll need to keep it under wraps. I can’t let my libido get in the way of what’s best for him and his sisters.
What’s best for the Rogues.
I’m here to do a job. And that job is getting Chase Hawkins to sign on to play for the Rogues, not wish the man would walk around shirtless.
“Are they asleep?” I ask.
“Candace is. Cass and Stell are reading for another ten minutes.” He walks closer and my gaze is drawn to the thickness of the thighs his sweatpants cling to.
Yeah, going to need to work on my ogling. “Will you need to check on them? Maybe you can eat first then listen to what the Rogues organization is offering.”
“I could eat. And no. They’re good. They’ll keep reading for ten minutes then turn their light out.”
“I noticed they were well behaved, but I wasn’t sure if that was because there was a stranger in their house.”
“No. They’ve always been good.” He grins. “Except to me. They’re your typical younger sisters most of the time.”
“That hasn’t changed now you’re in charge?” I ask as I hand him the bowl of salad.
The frown he directs at his food is ripe with confusion. “I haven’t noticed. But now you point it out, they are different.”
