Page 54 of Hot Damn
“You won’t regret doing it. Now go call the detective back before he arrests my head of security.”
“Shit. Sorry.” I bobble my phone for a second before I pull up the recent calls and hit the last one that came in. Lifting a hand, Iwave to Whit who’s paying me no attention as I move toward a quiet corner to take this call.
“Mr. Higgison?”
“This is Beckett.”
“I understand you have given permission for Ray Denim and his man to break into your house to test for weak spots in your security.”
“Yes.”
“All right then, now that you’ve confirmed that, I’ll let you get on with your night. I know it’s a big one for the Rogues.”
“Okay, thanks.”
He hangs up without a goodbye and when I turn to look for Whit to give her a kiss goodnight she’s already gone. With a huff, I head back inside to do my duty as captain of the team. I want to check on some of the younger guys, make sure the attention isn’t too overwhelming or they’re not getting themselves into trouble.
I didn’t notice any puck bunnies, but you can never tell who’s on the lookout for a hook up.
Kallan is the first one I spot and the color of his face tells me the women surrounding him are either embarrassing him or he has no idea what they’re saying.
Picking up my pace, I make a beeline straight for him. The relief in his eyes as I draw closer says I probably should have sought him out sooner.
“Hey, Kallan, ladies.” I force a friendly smile when I’m not at all in my comfort zone in this type of situation. I’m even more uncomfortable when one of the women steps closer and puts her hand on my chest, purring my name as she looks up at me.
Shit. Looks like Kallan isn’t the only one who needs rescuing from this.
And just as I think that, the woman who has proven to be on the spot for me and Whit walks up. Slipping her arm through mine, she leans her head on my biceps and looks at the group around us.
“Well, isn’t this cozy? Are you all enjoying your night?”
She doesn’t take them to task, just gives of subtle vibes and body language that has the women murmuring their answers before dispersing with words about needing food or the restroom.
I grin down at Cami. “You woman, are a life saver.”
“You both looked like deer caught in headlights. How are you doing, Kallan? Do you need a break from all this?”
His nod is enough to get her moving away from me and to him. Hooking her arm in his the same as she did me, she motions me to follow as she soothes him with words too quiet for me to hear.
And like some kind of sap, I trail behind her.
Cami
Rescuing Beckett and Kallan from the clutches of the lust-dazed women is easy. And once I have them surrounded by a group of elderly men who’ve been hockey fans all their lives, I look for Oakley.
I spot her across the other side of the rink with Walker and Mikey. Mikey is in Walker’s arms, his head resting on his uncle’s shoulder and even from here, I can see he’s almost asleep.
“Hey.”
I turn to face Beckett. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Just wanted to say thanks for back there. Kallan was out of his depth, and honestly, so was I.”
“You’d have been fine.” And he would have. My need to interrupt their conversation had nothing to do with either man being out of their depth and everything to do with the emotion that rose up in me when I saw that woman put her hand on Beckett. “Kallan’s young though, he’d have needed a life preserver.”
I try to make light of it because I’m still struggling with what I did. I’d marched over there and basically plastered myself to Beckett’s side before my brain had registered what I was doing.
“Either way, thanks.”
