OneManAdvantage (16 page)

“I’m ready,” she said, sounding a little breathless. Ha.
Just wait.

“Let’s go.” He jingled his car keys and she locked the door
behind them.

The night was clear and cold, the air sharp in his lungs
when he inhaled. The snow crunched beneath their boots as they walked to his
Jeep, their breath creating puffs of white. A far cry from California, but
there were tradeoffs that weren’t so bad.

“Where are we going?” she asked, buckling her seat belt.

“You’ll see.”

“Mr. Mysterious tonight.”

He laughed.

“How was practice today?”

“Meh.”

“That good, huh.”

“I’m sure you saw the game. Or some of it.”

“I did. You win some, you lose some.”

“Hah. Time for more clichés. They caught us on an off
night.”

“Turnovers killed you.”

He winced. “Ouch. We didn’t get the big breaks today.”

“You didn’t get the job done.”

“The best team won.”

“You weren’t mentally prepared.”

“That one’s true,” he said, glancing at her. “
I
wasn’t
mentally prepared. I fully admitted that.”

“Logan…”

“I’m not blaming you,” he said. “But yes, I was distracted
by what happened. That is in no way your fault. I’m the one who has to focus. I
know how to do that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“I’m not apologizing. I’m just…sorry.”

He chuckled. “Okay. I get it.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the practice facility. She
looked at him questioningly.

“I arranged it with Florian. Nobody’s here but us.”

“Seriously?”

He laid a hand on his chest. “Serious as a concussion.”

She laughed. “Don’t even say that word.”

“I know. Come on.”

He led the way into the facility using the security pass
he’d obtained. He put the lights on, the fluorescents taking a few minutes to
come to life. “We can put our skates on over on the bench.”

“It’s been a while since I sat on a players’ bench.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

They laced their skates and then Logan opened the gate and
stepped onto the ice. The air in the big arena was chilly, but not as cold as
outside. The only sound was the hum of the ventilation equipment. He held out a
hand to Nicole as she too stepped onto the ice.

She took his hand and he gave her a tug, bringing her up
against him. He looked down at her face, her blonde hair peeking out from
beneath her knit hat, her cheeks pink, eyes sparkling. He wanted to kiss her.
But not yet.

“Okay go,” he said. “Show me what you’ve got.”

She laughed and backed away from him. With easy, graceful
strokes, she skated backward, then pivoted on one blade to skate forward. She
lifted her arms in the air and laughed. “I remember how to skate!”

“Was there any doubt?” He caught up to her easily, passing
her and pivoting himself to face her and skate backward. She grinned, put on
some speed and darted around him. Laughing, they played a game of tag, picking
up speed, flying around the ice. Damn, she was good. He knew she would be, but
seeing her move on the ice made his chest swell. And sadly, turned him on. More
than other girls he’d dated who wore short skirts or sexy designer dresses and
heels and jewelry, seeing Nicole on skates, soaring over the ice, made him hot
as hell.

“Want to shoot a puck around?” he asked her a while later.

“Yes!” She gazed back at him with so much joy in her face he
almost went to his knees on the ice. He grabbed the sticks and puck he’d tucked
away at the bench earlier and handed her one.

“Feels weird with these mitts,” she said, laughing. She
pressed the blade of the stick on the ice to test its give and he watched her,
a hot softness expanding in his chest. Then she caught the puck neatly and
started skating, moving the puck from side to side with her stick. He shook his
head and started after her. He took the puck away from her easily and she
yelled at him. “Hey!”

He laughed and headed to the other end. She pursued him, and
with a grin, he passed the puck to her lightly. They had no gear on, so he
wasn’t going all out, just playing around, like he had as a kid at the
community center only two blocks from where he’d lived.

She flicked the puck into the empty net and pumped a fist,
and he grinned. “Nice goal.”

“It’s easy when the net is empty.” She rolled her eyes but
smiled and fished the puck out. She snapped it to him and he caught it on his
blade with gentle ease. “Damn, you have skills,” she said with a sigh.

“So do you, babe.”

“I used to be better.”

He forgot about the puck and let himself glide across the
ice toward her, slowing to a halt right in front of her. Now he kissed her. Her
cheeks and nose were cold but her lips were warm, clinging to his in a sexy
smooch that had his groin tightening and his blood racing. She drew back and
smiled. “Thank you. This was so much fun.”

“I thought you might like it. Better than hip-hop dancing?”

She laughed. “I haven’t tried hip-hop dancing yet. But I
loved this.” She swallowed, her eyes glowing as she gazed up at him.

“You’re so beautiful.” He reached out with a gloved hand to
pull a strand of hair off her face. She dropped her gaze as she always did when
he complimented her. He hated that. Once more, he lifted her chin with his
fingers. “You’re beautiful, Nicole.”

“Thank you.”

He wanted to say more, words springing to his lips that he
had to restrain himself from saying. His feelings for her were growing. He was
probably headed for trouble, getting involved with a woman who insisted they
were no more than fuck buddies. But life was a risk and he had a feeling she
was worth it.

Chapter Sixteen

He’d softened her up enough to let him spend the night with
her. When she’d brought up the fact that Fedor and Taylor would know he hadn’t
been home, he offered to tell them he was with someone else. She hadn’t really
liked that idea, nor had she liked the idea of lying to her best friend. “Tell
them,” she’d said reluctantly. “I’ll talk to Taylor about it. I trust them.”

And they’d spent as much time as they could together since
then, when she wasn’t working or he wasn’t practicing, on the road or working
with the charity he’d selected to get involved with in Minneapolis. It was all
under the radar, and he really would have liked to take her out somewhere nice
for dinner or do something in public like go to a movie or a bar, but there was
nothing wrong with hanging out at her place, either, especially in her bedroom.

Speaking of hanging, he really had to get into his new place
so he could set up that suspension bondage system. He was dying to try it out
with Nicole. She got off on being bound, floating away on a beautiful, erotic
high. Christ, it made him hard just thinking about it.

He was at her place when he got the call from Jase that
Brianne had had the baby. A little girl. Both were doing fine. Jase sounded
surprisingly steady and calm. Brianne hadn’t wanted him there for the delivery,
but he’d been to visit the baby. Logan felt more freaked out about it than Jase
apparently did.

He talked to Nicole about it, kind of glad she was there to
share that with. He was getting in deeper with her, really deep, but damn, he
couldn’t resist it and he just kept hoping if he was around enough, she might
get used to the idea of them being a couple.

One morning, Scott called Logan into his office. Unsure what
this was about, he was ready to man up and take what Scott dished out. They’d
won the night before on the road, but it hadn’t been pretty and they’d made
some mistakes. Scott closed the door. That was bad.

“Have a seat,” Scott told him.

Logan sat. Scott sat behind his desk, his laptop computer
where he watched endless game videos sitting open on his desk. His office was a
bit of a mess, with books, papers and DVDs everywhere, a big whiteboard on the
wall with colored marker all over it where he planned out plays.

He smiled calmly at Scott.

“We got bad news about Ron today,” Scott began. “Looks like
he’s out for the season.” Their captain, Ron Jacoby, had been struggling with a
series of injuries.

“Holy shit. Really?” That sucked. Logan rubbed the back of
his neck. They’d juggled the lines and called up Chris Frame from their farm
team, and he was working out pretty good, but hell, losing their captain for
basically the whole season was going to be rough.

“Yeah.” Scott sighed. “We have to deal with it. And we are.
But I needed to talk to you about something. I’m really happy with how you’re
working with the team. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Logan nodded. “Thanks. That game the other night—”

Scott interrupted him. “I know. You played like shit. It was
a bad night.”

“Yeah. I don’t have an excuse, but…”

“I heard you in the dressing room. I heard you taking
ownership. I heard the other guys stepping up and admitting their own mistakes.
It’s never one person’s fault. You gotta play for each other.”

“I know that,” Logan murmured, watching Scott talk. Where was
he going with this?”

“The thing is, you demonstrate a lot of leadership. Every
day. Good or bad. I’ve heard you encouraging the guys and I’ve heard you
holding them accountable when they don’t work hard.”

Logan just nodded.

“You make them want to play better,” he said. “You lead by
example. And when you have a bad night, you admit it and apologize for letting
the others down and move on.”

“Uh…yeah.”

“We want you to wear the C for the rest of the season.”

Logan’s eyes widened. Holy shit. “Me?”

“Yeah. You. Not just for this season. Indefinitely. You’re a
leader, Logan. You’ve been doing it unofficially ever since you got here. We
want to make it official.”

Holy shit. “Uh. Wow. Okay. Thanks.”

Scott smiled. “We’re still having our ups and downs.
Consistency is going to be the key to making the playoffs. I’m confident we can
do it, but we have a lot of hard work ahead of us.”

“Yeah. We can do it.” He felt it too. They had the talent.
They had the guts. They were finding some chemistry. They weren’t perfect, but
nobody was. He wanted it, wanted to win, wanted to be the best. And suddenly he
realized he hadn’t felt that hunger for a while.

He left Scott’s office. The news burned inside him, the need
to tell someone compelling. And the person he wanted to tell was just through
the tunnel in the office across the street.

Without thinking much, he nearly broke into a run, passing
the silent Zambonis, the delivery trucks unloading supplies, the security
office, the noise of the ventilation equipment a dull roar in his ears. He
strode through the tunnel, up the elevator, and emerged into the hockey club’s
offices. He remembered that first day when Nicole had showed him around, how
attracted he’d been to her. Now he was…more…so much more than attracted to her.
She was important to him.

She sat behind her desk, tapping on her computer, and looked
up when he walked in. Her eyes flickered and her smile held warmth, but she
reined it in and made it coolly professional for the sake of the others in the
office. “Hello, Logan,” she said. “What can we do for you?”

“I need to talk to you.” He couldn’t restrain the smile that
broke free, excitement buzzing inside him.

“Um. Sure.” She sat there, listening. Waiting.

“In private.”

She blinked and her eyes shifted. “Um…”

She was all worried about the others overhearing this. He
needed a reason to get her out of the office and alone for a few minutes.
“Let’s go get a coffee or something.”

“I…”

“Go ahead, Nicole,” Emily said. “You haven’t had a coffee
break yet.”

She pressed her lips together. “I really need to finish
archiving these photos…”

He gave her an intense look. “This will just take a few
minutes.”

She shot him a slitty-eyed look that normally would have
made his nuts shrivel, but he was so giddy about what he had to tell her it was
easy to disregard. She rose from her desk. “Fine,” she said.

They walked out of the office and down the hall. In front of
the elevator doors, she said to him in a low and tight voice, “What are you
doing, Logan?”

“I need to talk to you.”

The elevator doors opened and a couple of guys got off. They
were the owners of the team. They shot him a look. “Hey, Logan.”

“Mr. Ehrlich, Mr. Thorley.” He smiled.

The other people in the elevator rode down with them and got
off at the street level. Then they were alone as the elevator continued its
descent to the tunnel level.

“Okay, what is it?” she asked, turning to him.

He didn’t want to tell her there. Where the hell were they
going to go for some privacy for a few minutes? He’d find somewhere. “Hold on.”

They set off through along the corridor lined with painted
concrete blocks, the air chilly. The area was busy with staff unloading things,
pushing dollies with cardboard boxes of merchandise into the storage area. They
passed by Travis sharpening skates, sparks flying. Logan spied the door of the
media room. Nobody would be in there now. He used his pass and opened the door.
Sure enough, the room was dark. He flicked on the lights and let the heavy door
lock behind them.

“
What
are you doing?” she cried with exasperation.

He grinned, grabbed her and hauled her up against him for a
big kiss.

“Mmph.” She shoved at him and tried to twist away. “Not
here, for god’s sake.”

“Wait, listen.”

“What has gotten into you?” She wrenched out of his arms and
straightened her clothing, glaring at him.

“I have some news. Good news. I had to tell you.”

“What?” she snapped, frowning.

“They’re making me captain.”

She still frowned. “Of the team?”

“No, captain of the fire department.” He snorted. “Yes,
captain of the team. Me!” He beamed at her.

She closed her eyes, sucked briefly on her bottom lip, then
let out a breath. “Jesus, Logan. You had to drag me all the way over here to
tell me that?”

His mouth fell open a little. Not the reaction he’d been
expecting. She of all people should know what a huge deal this was.

“I work for the team,” she said. “I would’ve found out.”

His stomach bottomed out and his chest felt like a knife
blade slowly turned in it. “I wanted to tell you myself,” he said slowly.

“You should have waited until tonight! Not here, like this.
Jesus, someone could have seen us.”

He shook his head. “For Chrissakes, Nicole. That doesn’t
matter. People aren’t going to jump to the conclusion that we’re banging each
other’s brains out just because we talk or have coffee together or something.”

“They might. I have to get back to work.” She yanked open
the door, then paused. “Congratulations.”

“Don’t say anything about it to anyone,” he snapped as she
walked out. “Nobody else knows yet.” Her footsteps slowed, already out in the
hall, and she started to look at him over her shoulder. Her mouth opened as if
to say something. And then Cody Burrell walked out of the training room,
through the door directly opposite the media room. His gaze fell on Nicole
leaving the media room and then lifted to Logan standing there in the door
watching her. His eyebrows lifted.

Nicole hesitated again, then kept walking, her spine stiff.

Cody met Logan’s eyes. Shit.

Nicole nearly ran back to her office. Shit, shit, shit, of
all people to have seen them together, it had to be Cody.
Tabarnac de
câlisse
!

Along with fury and fear, though, guilt settled in her
stomach, hard and heavy. Logan had wanted to share his good news with her. She
hadn’t realized he hadn’t told anyone else yet, or that it wasn’t public. He must
have just found out. Jesus. She pressed a hand to her belly.

She was happy for him. She was. She let the bubble of joy
expand inside her for a moment, trying to set aside everything else. He was
going to be a great captain, and this was so good for him. She’d seen him
fitting in with the team in the weeks he’d been there, how hard he’d worked,
how he made the other guys want to work hard too. It hadn’t been his choice to
be there, but he’d made the best of it and this was such a great reward for all
that.

Tears burned the corners of her eyes and she blinked them
back as she hurried back to the office. She resumed her place at her desk and
tried to focus on what she’d been doing before Logan had showed up. Thankfully,
everyone else was busy and nobody said anything or asked any questions about
what he’d wanted.

Worry made her jumpy and unfocused. What if Cody said
something to Logan? Or to others? Maybe Logan was right. There was no way he’d
assume she and Logan were sleeping together just because of seeing them like
that. Although there had been a lot of tension between them at that moment. But
still. God, she did
not
want to go through that again!

What
had Logan been thinking, coming to see her like
that! She’d been so stupid to get involved with him. He’d lulled her into
thinking he could be trusted to keep this all discreet, but dammit, that had
just been stupid doing that. Sure, he’d likely been excited about the news, but
like she’d said, he could have waited to tell her.

It didn’t take long for the news to get out and Breck called
her into his office to discuss the communications plan for releasing the news
to the media about the new team captain. She’d need to set up a press
conference, arrange for new photos of Logan wearing his jersey with the C on
it, update the website and a dozen other things. She was happy to be busy, even
though her stomach still churned with nerves. Nerves about Cody. Anger at
Logan.

Then some sort of commotion took place where Scott and
Assistant Coach Brad Laasch came running in to talk to Matt, the closed-door
meeting going on the rest of the afternoon, even the two owners of the team
heading in there at one point. What was going on? Then she shrugged. She’d find
out if they needed her to do something.

Logan was supposed to come for dinner at her place that
night. They’d fallen into this routine where he spent a lot of time at her
place, since that night he’d taken her skating. How could she resist him after
that? That had been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, and the way
he’d looked at her when they’d been skating had made her feel so great, the
admiration and affection and acceptance on his face completely melting away her
defenses.

Taylor had been concerned about her spending so much time
with Logan, but surprisingly hadn’t tried to talk her out of it, nor had she
made her feel guilty about breaking her own vow to herself. She beat herself up
enough over that.

Anyway, she would let him know how pissed she was about him
taking a chance like that. And find out if Cody had said anything. She nibbled
on her bottom lip as she worked on the media release at her computer.

But Logan didn’t come to her place that evening. She broiled
a couple of salmon fillets, steamed some broccoli and cooked rice, but she sat
there and ate it alone when he still hadn’t shown up by seven o’clock. She
pulled out her phone as she considered calling him. Instead she texted him.
“Still coming over tonight?”

But he never replied.

* * * * *

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

Once again, Logan sat in Scott’s office, and this time it
wasn’t such a pleasant experience. His knuckles still throbbed and he rubbed
them discreetly. He eyed his coach. “I apologize,” he said stiffly. “I lost my
temper.”