Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Leia

"Crap." I grab Elysa’s arm, dragging her into the cramped breakroom as a familiar set of broad shoulders steps out of Daniel Clifford’s office. The stench of burnt coffee and old banana peels clogs my nose as my heart slams against my ribcage. A curious mix of excitement and existential dread rushes through me. "What is he doing here?"

Surely hockey players have more important things to do than harass reporters?

"Who?" Elysa shuffles me to the side to peer out of the narrow doorway. "Oh. Hello, daddy."

"Shh!" I haul her back into the room by her belt loops. "Don’t let him see you."

"Okay, okay. Jeez, girl." She blinks inquisitive eyes at me before blowing strands of raven hair out of her face. "Care to tell me who he is and why we’re hiding from him?"

"We aren’t hiding. We’re taking a break." We never take breaks in here, for obvious reasons. It’s tiny, it stinks like Lawson’s bananas, and there are no windows. It’s just a wooden table, a fridge, and two benches. We prefer sunlight.

"Okay, then I’ll just go out there and say hello." Elysa turns like she’s going to make good on her threat. The flirty hem of her shirt flows around her as she spins.

Oh, she’s good.

"Fine. We’re hiding!" I squeak, grabbing her before she steps into the hallway and reveals my hiding place to the big jerk. I don’t want to see him right now. Or maybe I do. Either way, I am so not going out there.

"I knew it! Who is he? Why are we hiding?" Her excited gaze flits across my face. "Is he the reason you’ve been acting weird all day?"

"I have not been acting weird." It’s a total lie. I’ve been off my game all day. I didn’t even hear Daniel calling my name at the staff meeting this morning. Copyediting sent my piece on Mina’s Place, the new women’s shelter opened by Autumn and Zane Montoya, back twice. And don’t even get me started on the nine thousand times I’ve thought about the big jerk currently standing outside Daniel’s office.

He did something to me last night, worked some sort of magic on me or cursed me. I don’t know. But I can’t keep him off my mind. I tossed and turned all night, thinking about his hard body pressed to mine.

It’s infuriating. Truly. He’s the last person I should be thinking about, considering what he thinks about me. The arrogant, bossy, ridiculously hot, grumpy jerk.

"Spill, Leia."

She’s more tenacious than my five sisters combined.

"His name is Colter Bayliss. He plays for the Falcons. I met him last night when I snuck into their locker room. He was naked. And a jerk. It was a whole thing. The end," I relay as quickly and succinctly as possible.

Elysa’s eyes nearly fall out of her head. "He was naked?"

"Can we please focus on what’s important here?" I groan.

"Um…I don’t know why that isn’t your most important detail. Have you seen him?"

I shoot her a dirty scowl. "Did you miss the part where I said he was a jerk?"

"No, but I also heard the part where you said he was naked."

"I hate you."

"No, you don’t. You hate that I’m right."

She’s right. He’s freaking hot…and even hotter naked, dang it.

"Why is he here?" Her brows furrow. "Oh my gosh. Is he trying to get you fired because you snuck into the locker room and saw him naked?"

"What? No, of course not. He’s here because he’s a crazy person. Obviously." I’m not sure why I think she’s going to buy that non-explanation. She really is worse than my sisters when it comes to ferreting out the truth. Maybe she should be the one tailing Gavin while I answer the phones around here.

"Leia Marsh," she gasps. "Is he here looking for you because you snuck out on him?"

"No." His shouted promise that this isn’t over echoes through my head. I’m guessing that’s why he’s here.

She crosses her arms, hitting me with a patented Elysa look that screams she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying.

"I didn’t sneak. I stormed out after he basically accused me of being a puck bunny," I sniff. "Like I said, he’s a jerk."

"Oh." Her lips twitch. "You like him."

"I can’t stand him."

"Mmhmm. Then why are we hiding in the breakroom?"

"I’m avoiding another prickly interaction with the grouch," I finally say. Oh, I’m a genius! I smile, pleased with myself for thinking that one up. For a minute there, I wasn’t sure I had a reasonable explanation that didn’t involve confessing to the rest of the humiliating night. I love Elysa, but I’m not ready to discuss the fact that Colter had his hands on my body. I do not want to dissect why I liked it. And I am taking the part about the security guard to my grave.

Elysa peeks her head out the door and then jumps back a step. "Um, you know how you said you’re avoiding him? I think you should have chosen a room with another exit."

"What? Why?" I poke my head out into the hall…and come face to face with Colter’s broad chest. I gulp, jumping back a step. Crap. I’m busted.

"Ah, there she is," Daniel says, smiling pleasantly.

"Indeed," Colter murmurs, his hazel eyes running up and down my body.

I try to scowl at him, but I’m pretty sure I just shiver and whimper instead. He looks far too delicious in his faded black t-shirt and blue jeans. Both fit him perfectly. I can see the way his muscles move every time he breathes. It’s really unfair that God has favorites. Heaven needs a complaint department.

"Colter explained that he’s helping you with your story," Daniel says, beaming at me. "Smart thinking, getting someone on the inside to help you look into whether there’s illegal betting going on."

Colter’s eyebrows fly upward.

Crap. Now he knows what I was doing there last night.

Before he can say anything, Elysa pops out into the hallway beside me. She throws a bright smile Colter’s way before thrusting a hand in his direction. "It’s nice to meet you. I’m Elysa," she says. "Leia’s best friend. She was just telling me about you."

"Oh, really?" He glances from her to me, a smirk dancing at his lips. "Good things, I presume."

"Nope." Elysa smiles brighter. "But that’s going to change by the end of the day, isn’t it, Colter?"

I bite my lip, fighting laughter as his smirk slips. I love Elysa. She’s ride or die, no matter what. I’m so glad she’s the first friend I met in Silver Spoon Falls.

"Yes?" Colter says, sounding unsure.

"Of course it is." She pats him on the chest and then releases his hand to loop her arm through Daniel’s. "We should let them get to work."

"Well, I…" Daniel huffs, frowning like he’s not entirely sure he’s on board with this plan. But Daniel is Daniel, and Elysa is Elysa. She’s nothing if not determined.

She leads our boss away, chattering about needing his help with the fax machine.

As soon as they’re out of earshot, I whip around to face Colter again. I think about letting him have it right here in the hallway but grab his shirt instead and drag him down the hall.

"Damn, Trouble. You that excited to get me alone?" he asks, amusement in his voice.

"Only so I can kill you," I growl, dragging him into my office. As soon as the door closes behind us, I whirl to face him. "You told my boss that you’re helping me with my story? Are you insane?"

He leans back against the door, smirking. "Missed you too, goddess. How’d you sleep last night? I slept like shit, thanks for asking."

"You…I…you…" I trail off with a muffled growl, which he seems to think is hilarious. His smirk only grows. "You are such a freaking pain in my—"

He moves like lightning striking. One minute, he’s leaning against the door. The next, I’m pressed against the wall with his knee wedged between mine and his lips inches from mine. The gold flecks in his eyes threaten to drag me under his spell. Or maybe that’s his scent. Or the feel of his body pressed against mine. Or the warmth rushing through me in waves. Or all of it. I don’t know. But good grief, it hurts in places it shouldn’t.

"That’s not pain, Trouble," he murmurs. "That’s desire."

For a minute, I think he read my mind, and then I realize he’s talking about what I was saying before he interrupted.

"You feel me right here." He grinds his knee against my center.

A blast of pleasure rips through me. I jolt upward, shocked. "Colter!"

"Told you, goddess." His mouth touches mine. "So how about you stop pretending you don’t feel anything when we both know I light you up like a livewire?"

"In your dreams," I lie.

He bites my bottom lip. "No, in my dreams, you’re on your hands and knees with that ass in the air."

I guess his weren’t so different from mine then. Not that I’m telling him that. "How unoriginal," I mutter, feinting boredom even though my entire system threatens to overheat at any moment. "I slept like a baby. Didn’t dream at all."

"Liar. I bet I rode you hard in your dreams, didn’t I? Did I leave an ache between your thighs, pretty baby?" He licks into my mouth, kissing me as if he’s trying to steal my soul. I melt beneath him, melt for him. My God, this man can kiss. "Did you hate waking up without me?" He teases my tongue into an erotic dance before backing off. "I fucking hated waking up without you, Leia."

I’m all twisted around him like a blanket, clinging to him. My mind commands my body to let him go, but my body refuses to cooperate. It’s firmly on board with whatever sexual voodoo he’s working on me. I think my heart may even be working in his favor.

My head, though? Well, it’s a little slower to forgive.

"You were at the arena last night for your story," he says after a moment, perhaps realizing I’m not ready to have the conversation he’s pushing for. Not yet.

"I told you that’s why I was there."

"Thought you were trying to meet Gordon," he mutters.

And there it is. The reason my head is not on board with the rest of me. A scowl overtakes my expression. I drop my hands from around his neck and push against his chest, trying to force him back a step. "Back up, Colter," I demand, my voice shaking.

He steps back, eyeing me like he thinks I might bite.

"I’m not a puck bunny," I growl.

"I never said you were."

"This is the second time you’ve accused me of being there to hook up with a player." I cross my arms, glaring at him. "Contrary to popular opinion, not every woman on the planet wants to sleep with every hockey player she comes across."

"I wasn’t accusing," he says, his voice soft.

I snort.

"I was conjuring up worst-case scenarios because I was jealous as hell, Leia." Those hazel eyes burn me with sincerity. "Contrary to popular belief, not every hockey player sleeps with every woman he comes across." He flashes that smirk at me again. "I don’t fuck around either, but that mouth has been driving me crazy since you broke into the locker room last night."

I roll my eyes, softening incrementally. He means it. I’m not sure how I know he does, I just know. He doesn’t think I’m a puck bunny. He isn’t trying to sleep with me because he thinks that’s what I do. And I don’t think this is something he does regularly, either.

"I didn’t break into the locker room. I had a press pass."

"You were looking for the Stingrays’ locker room," he growls, eyes narrowed. "Why? What do they have to do with illegal betting?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe something. I don’t know yet."

"Care to explain?"

"Care to explain why you told my boss you were working on this story with me?" I ask instead of answering.

"Because I am working on it with you." He holds his arms out. "You need an inside man. You got it, Trouble."

"Nope. No way."

He lets his arms fall. "Why the fuck not?"

"I’m trying to fly under the radar, Colter. Having a giant hockey player tagging along is the exact opposite of flying under the radar."

"You think there’s illegal betting going on at the arena, right?"

"Something like that," I mutter, eyeing him sideways. And then I huff. "Why would hockey players from other teams meet with a bookie here?"

"Who the fuck was meeting with a bookie?"

"I’m not sure I should say."

"Gordon," he guesses, reading my expression.

"Maybe." I chew on my bottom lip. "Your team has played two games here. I’ve seen players from both teams meeting with the same bookie before the games. Why would they do that?"

"Gambling addictions? Illegal betting? Match throwing? Could be any number of reasons they’d meet with a bookie." Colter scowls, pacing around my office. It’s cramped to begin with thanks to the eight filing cabinets Daniel insists on keeping in here, but it feels even smaller with Colter in here. "You’re sure they were meeting with a bookie?"

"They met in an alley behind the arena. I got photos of them exchanging money. And the bookie is Elysa’s situationship, Gavin. They were definitely meeting a bookie."

"Situationship?" A ghost of a smile touches Colter’s lips.

"She’s avoiding him because he’s a bookie but hasn’t broken up with him. It’s a whole complicated thing." I wave away the question. "It doesn’t even matter."

"Fuck, you’re cute when you ramble."

"Colter!"

He blinks and then rapidly shakes his head like he’s trying to clear cobwebs from his brain. Or, knowing what I know about him, it’s more like he’s trying to clear dirty thoughts from it. "Sorry, Trouble. You start rambling, and I hear the goddamn angels sing."

He’s shameless. Truly.

"Oh my God. Please, leave my office." Before I fall in love with you, and you break my heart.

"What about our story?"

"My story, Bossy. It’s my story." I step behind him, plant my hands in the center of his back—an hello, muscles—and gently push him across my office.

He balks at the door, spinning around to grab me at the last minute. My plan to kick him out goes up in smoke as his mouth slants down on mine.

"You love kissing me." He breaks away from my mouth to gloat.

"Shut up, Colter." I drag his mouth back down to mine like the greedy, crazy woman he’s turned me into.

We end up making out for five full minutes before he pulls back with a groan. His wild hazel eyes meet mine. "That goddamn mouth is dangerous, Trouble." He swipes a thumb along my bottom lip, shaking his head. "You better finish kicking me out before I do something you regret, or we get caught again."

My stomach twists itself into knots at the reminder of what happened last night. We can’t do that again. Gossip runs rampant in small towns, especially ones like Silver Spoon Falls. I don’t want to be the next victim for the mill when I just moved here. Charlie and Adalynn have already been fodder. The whole town probably thinks our family is crazy. It’s my job to protect us. It’s what I’ve always done. Protect my sisters.

I slip out of Colter’s arms and instantly wish I was back in them.

I am so confused. I desperately need to talk to Adalynn and Heidi. Maybe they can help me sort out why Colter gives me butterflies and scares me simultaneously.

"Go home, Colter," I whisper.

"I’m not giving up," he warns me, leaning down to press his lips to my forehead. "I’m going to keep chasing until you’re ready to quit running, and then I’m making you mine, Leia."

He straightens and strides from my office, closing the door behind him.