Worth The Shot (The Bannister Brothers #2) (7 page)

The game. The effing game. This was what it would always come down to.

She’d thought he was different. But he wasn’t. He was just like the rest. Just like she was afraid he would be.

This was why she didn’t date freaking hockey players.

This is why she made The Rule.

To protect herself. Protect her heart. The heart that he was breaking.

Not just breaking, but ripping from her chest and tossing it to the ground. And whacking it with a hockey stick.

She reached for her chest. Her heart felt like it was shattering. She could actually feel an electrical buzz in her heart.

Wait. That was a real buzz. This time combined with the chiming notes of her cell phone.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Not now. She couldn’t deal with this right now.

She pulled the phone from her bra and checked the display. It was the magazine.

“Take it,” Bane said. “It’s what you’ve always wanted. Forget about me. I’m leaving anyway. Take the call.” He slid into his car and slammed the door.

She answered the phone as she watched him drive away. “Hello, this is Addison.”

Chapter Five

Bane ran down the airport terminal. He couldn’t miss this flight.

It was the only one heading to Denver that day. So she had to be on it.

Nothing in St. Louis had turned out like he’d planned. In fact, everything that happened had been what he
hadn’t
planned. He hadn’t planned to piss off his new coach or get in a fistfight with one of his team members. And he hadn’t planned to get kicked off the team and sent home.

And he sure as hell hadn’t planned to meet a girl who stole his heart and turned his world upside down.

Nothing made sense anymore. It was as if somewhere during that plane ride, everything that he knew to be true had changed. Had flipped sideways.

All he could think about was her. He hadn’t slept at all the night before—he tossed and turned—his mind racing with what he should have said. What he should have done.

And what he should have done was grabbed Addison by the hand and pulled her into the car with him. Not left her standing in the driveway, bewildered and brokenhearted.

He was an idiot.

He’d figured that out somewhere around the time the sun was coming up. He’d been an idiot to drive away. Hockey was important. It was his job, and it paid his bills, and he loved it. But it wasn’t everything. It wasn’t everything important.

He had a feeling that he’d driven away from the one thing that
could
end up being his everything.

And he’d gotten out of bed that morning knowing that the only thing he wanted—the only thing he needed—was to find her and win that one thing back.

But he’d been too late.

He’d gone to her apartment, and her roommate had told him that she’d already left. That she got the job, and they wanted her to start right away. She said Addie had booked a flight for today and spent the night packing her bags.

He’d raced to the airport, turned in the rental car, bought a last-minute ticket, and ran through the terminal.

His life had turned the night before on a series of moments. The moment that Addison walked down the stairs. The moment that he punched Trent in the nose. The moment that the coach noticed Addison holding his hand. The moment that he had driven away.

One moment had changed everything. One moment—one loss of control—one decision to let her go.

And now he had one chance—one chance to win her back.

***

Addison peered out the window of the plane. Took a last look at St. Louis and silently said goodbye. Goodbye to her old life.

The call from the magazine last night should have been a cause for celebration—should have had her jumping for joy.

But all she could think about was Bane. And how he’d driven away. How she’d lost something important.

She sighed and shook her head, as if to clear him from her thoughts. She’d spent the night thinking about him, going back and forth from anger to despair.

One minute she was pissed as hell—pissed that she had let herself fall for another hockey player—let herself break The Rule. The next she was crying, her heart broken, grieving for what could have been.

This morning, she had moved past mad and sad and moved on to resolved. She made up her mind to put him behind her. To go to Denver, to take this amazing job, to move forward and have a wonderful adventure.

And to be happy.

She needed to put her brief, but incredible, time with Bane in a box and stick it high on a shelf at the back of the closet.

Let him go and move on.

Speaking of which, it seemed like it was about time for this plane to be moving on. She checked her watch and noted they only had about five minutes before takeoff. The seat next to her was empty, and she sighed in relief.

This trip was going to be painful enough—with the memories of Bane and their flight the night before keeping her company—and she didn’t need an annoying seatmate that wanted to chat about the weather for the next several hours.

A commotion at the front of the plane caught her attention. Must be a last-minute passenger sneaking his way on to the flight.

She could see the flight attendant smile and touch her hair. Must be a handsome passenger.

That passenger stepped into the plane, and her heart froze.

Bane?

She’d thought he would have taken the red-eye out the night before. Was this just some crazy coincidence? The cosmos playing a trick on her?

Bane looked around, searching the seats. Then his gaze locked on hers.

And he smiled.

A heartbreaking, panty-melting smile. That was all for her.

Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t think—couldn’t move—as she watched him walk down the aisle and drop into the seat next to hers.

“What are you—I mean, how are you—” Her words stuck in her throat.

He seemed slightly out of breath, nervous even. He picked up her hand. She swore she felt a slight tremble in his fingers.

“Addison, I’m so sorry.” He ran a hand over his hair and shook his head. “Shit. I’ve been running for the last thirty minutes—praying I would get here on time—and now I’m here, and I made it—and I can’t think of what I want to say.”

“Slow down. I don’t get it. Why were you praying you would get here on time?”

He took a deep breath. “I knew I had to make this flight. Had to catch you. I felt like it was my only chance to make things right. To make up for the way I acted last night.”

What was he saying? She was afraid to wish. Afraid to hope that he wanted them to have another chance. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I was an idiot. I did everything wrong last night.” He stopped and gave her a slight grin. A grin filled with naughty implications. “Well, not
everything
wrong.” He paused, like he was waiting to see if he had earned even the smallest smile from her.

He had. The corners of her mouth tipped up the tiniest bit. He was right. He had done that one thing right. Very right.

He squeezed her hand. “But the time that really counted, when the clock was ticking, and it was sudden death in overtime, I blew it. I missed the shot. And I think I may have blown my chance at the one thing that could be more important to me than the game.”

She held her breath, afraid to speak, willing him to say the words she wanted to hear.

“Addison, I may have screwed up my career, but I realized last night that there are some things more important than hockey. That this thing with you could be more important. I’m not saying I’m giving up the game. I’m going back to Denver to talk to my coach and to work my ass off to regain my spot on my team. But I don’t want hockey to be my whole life—because I feel like my life will be empty without you.”

He smiled, a shy smile. “I know I probably sound like a lovesick teenager, but that’s kind of how I feel. Like you came in to my life, and I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t know where we’re going, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I know is that I’m not ready to let you go. I feel like there is something between us. Something real. Something worth the shot.”

She didn’t know what to say—could barely think—so she just kissed him instead. A mind-blowing, toe-curling—
I like you a lot, too
—kind of kiss.

Pulling back, she held his face in her hands. She looked into his eyes, his gorgeous blue eyes. “This
is
real. As real as anything I’ve ever felt before. And I don’t want to let you go, either.”

The captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker instructing them to fasten their seatbelts and prepare for takeoff.

She leaned back in her seat, her heart still racing, as she clicked her seatbelt.

Bane did the same then picked up her hand and squeezed it tight. “We’re in this together now. You and me. We’re our own team now.”

She grinned as the engines rumbled, and the plane taxied down the runway. Toward her new life.
Their
new life. As a team. She liked the sound of that.

But what about The Rule?

Screw The Rule.

Rules were meant to be broken anyway, right?

This was a new game. And this time she was playing without rules. Risking it all.

Risking it all for that one shot.

Because this time, that one shot just might win the whole game.

**THE END**

If you enjoyed this story, click
HERE
to get
Icing On The Date
—the next Bannister Brothers book. Bane’s brother, Owen, meets Gabby Davis—the sexy caterer who is about to change his entire game. She’s cooking up romance and their passion is hot enough to melt the ice. Owen learns that love is the ultimate game changer and he’s about to get checked.

***

Keep Reading for an excerpt to
ICING ON THE DATE
:

ICING ON THE DATE

She scrolled through the contacts. Had he said Bane or Ben? Her eyes caught the word Bane, and she pressed the contact and held the phone to her ear.

A sleepy male voice answered. “Dammit, Owen. I told you I’m not coming out tonight.”

“Um. Hello. Is this Owen’s brother?”

“Who’s this?” The voice went instantly alert. “Where’s my brother?”

“This is Gabby Davis. I’m a caterer, and I’m working a party at the Crown Hotel downtown. I’m in the women’s bathroom on the first floor, and your brother appears to be very drunk and passed out on my lap. He asked me to call you. He seems to think he’s in some kind of trouble.”

“Oh, he’s in a whole hell of a lot of trouble. Listen, Gabby, thank you for calling me. I can be there in fifteen minutes. Can you stay with him until I get there?”

“Sure, I guess.” She wasn’t in charge of the whole catering job tonight—only the desserts—and no one would notice she was missing as the party wound down.

“I’m on my way. Keep him out of sight and in the bathroom if you can.”

Out of sight of whom?
What kind of trouble was this guy mixed up in?

“I can try.”

“I’d really appreciate it, Gabby. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Tell him I’m on my way.” He hung up.

Gabby set the phone down. “Your brother’s on his way. How about if I just sit here with you until he gets here?” The guy was big and his brother had said he was in trouble, but she wasn’t afraid. He didn’t seem dangerous, even with the bruised black eye.

He snuggled into her chest, smearing remnants of chocolate frosting across his cheek. “Are you an angel? ‘Cause you smell like heaven,” he slurred. “Seriously, why do you smell so damned good? Like cookies and cake and chocolate?” 

He opened his eyes and squinted at her chest. He ran a finger along the top edge of her breast, sending a wave of tingles darting down her spine, and came away with a dab of frosting on the end of his finger tip. Popping his finger into his mouth, he groaned in pleasure. “God, you even taste like chocolate. I just want to frickin’ lick you.”

Wow. Wildly inappropriate to say, but the words still sent a prickle of desire through her. This crazy hot guy just told her he wanted to
lick
her. Granted, it was a drunken statement and he most likely meant the chocolate frosting spread across the front of her shirt, but it had been a long time since she’d had a man tell her anything half as remotely sexy as that statement had been.

Spending all of her time working, saving money, and taking care of her miscreant brother didn’t leave a lot of time for dating, and she didn’t want to think about how long it had been since anything of hers had been licked.

** To keep reading
Icing On The Date
—click
HERE
**