Head Games (18 page)

“Don’t take too long. It’s not healthy. And hey, I’m sure you’re mad at Leo, but he reacted like he did because he loves you. That’s plain to see, it has been for a long time now, you just weren’t looking for it, so you didn’t see it. But I did. Both of those guys adore you. Don’t let them get away. Most of all, don’t let that asshole reporter drive a wedge between you guys.” She paused and squeezed Kelly’s shoulder. “Now that I’ve given my lecture, I’m gonna go. I want to hear from you every few hours or I’m coming back over. And don’t think I’ll let you wallow forever, either.”

“Thanks, Bonnie. You’re a good friend and an awesome person to work with.”

“Back atcha, boss.”

Bonnie winked and sauntered out of the room. Kelly forced herself to make some breakfast and then sat down to try to take her mind off her own situation by watching a movie. Her doorbell rang numerous times, but she refused to answer it, knowing it was people in the media wanting interviews and comments. Then she heard some noise outside and peeked out of her front curtain. The crowd of media who’d been camped in front of her house were now gathered around someone she couldn’t see.

“Oh God, please let that not be Leo or Scott.”

Her cell phone rang and Kelly picked it up off the coffee table where she’d dropped it last night. Not many people had her cell number, and when she looked at the display, she saw it was Bonnie.

“Hey. The legal counsel for the Intimidators was here a little while ago, according to Jeff. He told him you weren’t here and the guy said he’d try you at home.”

“Ah, I’m guessing that’s who’s out front, then. He’s surrounded, and I didn’t recognize him.”

“Probably. Anyway, just wanted to let you know. On my way out of your house, I told them they were all assholes and to leave you alone. One of them asked me if he could put that on the record, so I told him where he could shove his ‘record.’”

Kelly barked out a laugh. “You’re too good to me. Better go let the suit in before he gets eaten alive out there.” She shut her phone and approached the door, cracking it just a bit. “Hey!” The man saw her and began to charge in her direction, with various members of the press trailing behind, trying to vie for his attention. He pushed his way through the front door, and she slammed it on the rest of the crowd with a satisfying thump. “You’re the legal counsel for the Intimidators.”

“I see my reputation has preceded me.”

“My friend called from the restaurant.”

“Ah. Anyway, my name is Patrick, and yes, I represent the Intimidators in various legal matters. First of all, I want you to know you have my deepest sympathies about all this. Sometimes, especially in a hockey-crazed town like Buffalo, the media can get a little…aggressive.”

“Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Patrick’s lips. “I was being polite. Now then, would you mind if we sat down and talked about what happened? I think I’ve convinced Roger that suing either Leo or the team is not in his best journalistic interests, but I still want to hear your side of the story, just in case.”

“Sure, as long as you don’t mind waiting while I take a quick shower. I’d rather not talk in my robe.”

“Not a problem. I’ll just have a seat and wait for you.”

“Thank you. There’s coffee in the freezer if you want to make some.”

Kelly hurried through her morning routine and then sat down at the kitchen table to relay the entire scenario to Patrick. When she finished, he just nodded.

“All right then, everything you’ve said exactly matches what Leo told me.”

“You’ve already spoken to him?”

“Things happen fast in times like these.”

“I guess so…”

“Thank you for your time and for the coffee. If I need anything, I’ll be in touch. Oh, and I told the media if they didn’t stay more than a thousand feet away from your property, I’d have them arrested for trespassing. There are laws about that stuff now.”

“I appreciate that.”

She showed Patrick to the door and then sat down to contemplate. What was more important, her work or her guys? Being able to live her life as she pleased? She wasn’t sure, but she wanted to stop worrying about what everybody else thought and do whatever made her happy. She just had no idea if she possessed the strength to pull that off.

Chapter Fifteen

Kelly spent the next couple of days holed up in her house, thinking about the future and obsessively watching the social networking sites on the Internet. The story flew all over for the first forty-eight hours or so, and then seemed to die down some. She had no idea what would happen when she actually showed her face in public again, but she wasn’t relishing it.

She had just polished off the last piece of the chocolate cake she’d baked a few days beforehand when the doorbell rang. Licking the frosting off her finger, she went to look in the peephole. Bonnie was standing on the other side. When Kelly didn’t immediately open the door, Bonnie rang the bell again and called out, “I know you’re in there, Kel. Open up!”

Shaking her head, Kelly swung the door open and ushered her friend inside. She hadn’t seen any reporters since last night, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still hanging around, hoping for a juicy quote. “What are you doing here?”

“Get dressed. You’re going in to work today.”

“Am I now?” Kelly asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yes. I let you wallow, but now it’s time to rejoin the rest of us. The world didn’t end when people found out about your relationship with the guys, and it’s not going to end now. So you need to get up off your butt, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and come back to work. You have a business to run.”

Kelly couldn’t help but laugh. “Has anyone ever said that you’d make an excellent drill sergeant?”

“A couple of people. Now go take a shower.” She pointed in the direction of the bathroom. “Go!”

“Fine,” Kelly grumbled. “Who’s the boss here, anyway?”

“For right now, I am. Now go!”

“I’m going!” It didn’t seem like she had any other choice. She’d been thinking about returning to work in a day or two anyway, but Bonnie had taken the choice out of her hands, which was probably for the best. She showered, and when she pulled the Kelly’s T-shirt over her head, she realized how much she’d missed working. No matter what, she always had her work. Even if she didn’t have her own restaurant, she still had her skills, and she would land on her feet. Of course, Bonnie hadn’t said anything about how business had been at the restaurant.

Padding out to the living room, she found Bonnie leafing through a magazine. She looked up at Kelly and said, “Ready?”

“Not quite. So tell me. How’s business been?”

“Good. If anything, this has increased our business. So stop worrying.”

Kelly bit her lip. “I don’t want people gawking at me.”

“So stay in the back for the next few days. I’m telling you, it’s not bad. And if any of us hears a bad word said about you, we’ll take care of it. We love you, Kelly, and we love working for you. Now go finish getting ready. We have dinner to prep, girl!”

“God, that sounds good. I can’t wait to sink my hands into all that stuff again.”

She turned to go into the bathroom and heard Bonnie call out, “That’s the Kelly we know and love!” Several moments later, Kelly was ready. When she reached for her keys, though, she swore. “What’s wrong?”

“My car is still at the arena. Well, that is, if it hasn’t been towed by now.”

“No, it’s not. The guys had it moved to the restaurant. It’s in the back lot. They said they didn’t know if you would be up to seeing them, so they decided to leave it in the lot instead of bringing it here.”

“I love them, Bonnie. But I’m not sure I can do this.”

“Only one way to find out…”

Blowing out a loud breath, Kelly said, “Now or never.”

“Let’s go.”

Once at the restaurant, Kelly threw herself into the prep work for the evening. All the while, her employees rallied around her, coming up to give her hugs and say encouraging words. She was touched, and she wiped a tear from her eye more than once during the afternoon. She’d decided she liked Bonnie’s idea of staying in the back for now. Maybe in a few days or a week she would be able to move about freely within the dining area, but for now, discretion seemed to be the better part of valor.

She sent Bonnie home and took the dinner shift herself, surprised at how easy it was to slip into the mundane task of cooking and plating meals. Before she knew it, ten o’clock had rolled around. Some stragglers remained in the bistro, but most of the customers had long since left. Getting out a rag and the bleach solution, she set about cleaning off the prep tables while her staff took care of breaking down the various stations in the kitchen.

The door swung open so fast it hit the wall, and Kelly gasped, spinning around.

It was Leo, looking every inch like a charging bull. “I knew you were in here.” Turning, he ushered Scott through the door. “Yeah, her staff was lying.”

Scott came over to stand in front of her. “You can’t keep avoiding us, sweetie. We’re not going anywhere.”

“I figured as much,” Kelly muttered.

“Can we talk? Maybe in your office?”

She wasn’t sure this was the time or the place, but after looking each of them in the eye, it became obvious they weren’t going to take no for an answer. “Sure.”

The guys followed her into the tiny office, and when she turned to face them, she couldn’t believe how crowded in and yet safe she felt. She waited for them to speak.

Leo began, “First of all, you should know that we told Patrick to make it known that anyone who printed anything negative or inflammatory about you or our relationship would never get a quote from either one of us again.”

“That explains why the television stations and newspaper have been quiet…”

“Yep,” Leo continued. “Scott and I have been doing a lot of talking over the past couple of days.” He glanced at Scott and then said, “We asked you to move in with us, and we still want that.”

“But there’s more,” Scott replied, smiling.

Kelly shook her head, smiling. “I don’t trust that smile for a minute.”

Scott dug into his pocket and extracted a ring. Kelly gasped, one hand flying up to cover her mouth and the other clutching at the desk behind her. It was a beautiful four-diamond ring with a large center stone and three smaller stones surrounding it. Now his smile turned a little shy. “We had this made for you. The smaller stones are Leo, you, and me. The bigger stone represents all of us together.” He picked up Kelly’s hand and said, “Will you marry us, Kelly?”

“Marry you?”

“Well, marry me, if you want to be technical. We want you to be protected and we want to be bound to you. We flipped a coin to see which of us would legally marry you.” When she shot him an incredulous look, he shrugged. “We couldn’t come up with a better way.”

“I think Scott rigged it, but he won.”

“I did not rig it,” Scott answered, shaking his head with a wry smile on his face.

She cocked her head to the side. “But how would that work?”

“You’d legally marry me, and then we’d do a commitment ceremony, binding all three of us together. We’d all live together, and you would belong to both of us.”

Kelly bit her lip. “I don’t know. Does that kind of thing work in the real world?”

“Why not?” Leo asked. “When it comes down to it, who cares what we do? It’s our lives. Come on, Kel. Put us out of our misery. Marry us.”