“I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye. It was a dick move and something you didn’t deserve.” He didn’t want to dwell on the message he’d received in the early hours of the morning while he’d held her close, marveling at the way her perfectly rounded body fit against his own.
That message from Ellie, saying their estranged mother was in the hospital, was the kickoff to a disastrous several months. He didn’t want to play the sympathy card or get into all of it, telling her that he’d needed to be there for his sister who finalized her divorce shortly after their mom’s swift and unexpected death. He also couldn’t tell her in this moment that thinking about her, the beautiful, funny, charming woman he’d met at a friend’s wedding, had helped him surface; helped him fucking breathe.
It was too much to drop in her lap right this second, especially when he didn’t have the words yet. Emotions were high for both of them—his just from the actual delight of seeing her and hers from the anger she had every right to feel.
She sniffed and the sound hit him in the gut. “Right. You’re just saying that because what else do you say when you run into a random hookup you never wanted to see again?”
Both his brows arched and though there was nothing funny about the moment, his lips twitched as he rested back on his heels. The media did a great job of painting exaggerated lifestyles andsometimes they even got it right. But Nick was known for being tight-lipped and notoriously closed off with reporters. That was one of the reasons there’d been so much shock and outrage when he’d mangled a reporter’s camera on a particularly bad day after being asked some invasive questions. One thing hewasn’tknown for, however, was being a player. “Exactly how many random hookups do you think I’m out there having?”
He didn’t care what others did but growing up with a bitter, single mom and helping raise his sister, his brain cycled through too many what-ifs to let go and lose himself in some random chick. Until Maisie. Except, she wasn’tjustanyone. She’d pushed past his gruff demeanor not once, not twice, but three times in the same day. She’d made him laugh and live in the moment. She’d been a breath of completely unjaded air.
Sitting up straighter, her brown gaze reached into his chest like a fist and squeezed his heart. “I don’t know! I read hockey romance. I know about puck bunnies,” she said, her pitch a little squeaky, her hand gesturing toward him. “But I wasn’t one. I didn’t even know who you were and I thought there was something more between us even though, duh, I shouldn’t have, because that’s the whole point of a one-night stand. But I did and then you were gone and I found out who you are and realized what an idiot I was.”
She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them.
Hockey romance? What the hell? He didn’t want to know. Still reeling from just seeing her, from being away from everything else in a place where he could catch his breath and regroup, he didn’t have it all figured out, but he wouldn’t let her believe she was anythingbutspecial. She was fucking amazing. “Look at me, Maisie,” he said, emotion roughening his voice.
Her gaze drifted up.
Nick leaned in, enough to catch the shouldn’t-be-familiar-but-damn-it-was scent of her body soap. Or lotion. Or maybe it was justpure Maisie but it made his mouth water, made his heart expand. “You were and youarespecial. What we shared mattered. I don’t make a habit of sleeping around not just because it’s not my style or I don’t usually have the time but because that’snot who I am. What I did to you, leaving without a word, was shitty and I’m sorry. Sorrier than you know.”Tread softly.“We’re both here for the week to enjoy the holidays and time with our families. I know it’s easy for me to say this now but I truly meant to reach out to you after that night. A lot… a lot of shit went down, and I didn’t. That’s on me. But it wasn’t because you didn’t matter.”
There. That was enough for now. Her gaze was still watery but she looked less like she wanted to throw a puck at his head.
One side of his mouth tipped up as he narrowed his gaze at her, teasingly, hoping to see a hint of the smile that visited him some nights in his dreams. “If you’re planning to poison my snickerdoodles, it might take away from the festivities.”
Maisie didn’t give him that gorgeous grin but he saw her fighting a laugh, and that, in itself, felt like a victory.
“I wouldn’t waste perfectly good snickerdoodles on you.”
“That’s fair,” he said, standing up, wishing he had the right to pull her into a hug, to sweep her hair back from her pretty face.
There were too many emotions twisting inside him right now; all of them going in different directions.
He did his best to tamp down on all of them. “Can we just get through this week? I don’t know, maybe even—”
She stood up, bringing their fronts too close together to pay full attention to anything other than how it felt to be that near her. “Donotsay we can be friends. We’ll get through the week and then we’ll never see each other again.”
She pulled in a deep breath like she was filling herself with fortitude. She was every bit as magnificent as he’d remembered but her words tasted bitter and wrong.
“Hard to say what will happen once the week is up,” he said, watching her closely, noting the way her breath hitched when he dipped his chin to bring his lips closer to her ear. “Maybe we’ll get a holiday miracle and you’ll end up liking me by the end.”
“In your dreams, King,” she whispered with very little conviction.
Nick backed away.You have no idea, Smart. No idea.
NICK HEADED DOWNSTAIRS WITHhis head full of Maisie. He’d never been a romantic guy. He’d sure as hell never been one to fixate on the past. Becoming a professional athlete required a grueling determination to be the best. And lots of times, even that wasn’t enough. It didn’t leave a lot of time for dating and relationships, especially for a guy who had had a narrow-minded focus from the time he was seven.
When he was focused, like he was before he skated out onto the ice, or during his routine before a game, nothing messed with his head. Could he apply that single-minded focus to earn a second chance with the only woman who’d made him want one? Was he just looking for a distraction from the things weighing him down?No.Maisie wasn’t a distraction. She was a rainbow; vibrant, breathtaking color when he’d least expected it. Twice now.
Asher’s and Ellie’s laughter floated into the kitchen from the dining room, soft over the sound of male voices. The scent of pizza reminded him he hadn’t eaten in too many hours.
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly before going through the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room, unsure how many people had arrived. Lately, being around large groups of people he didn’t know made his skin feel too tight. Taking stock of his body, he recognized the increased pulse, the feel of it in his extremities, the heated flush of discomfort washing over him. He breathed through it, let it fade. He knew how to do this; how to socialize andbe charming. This wasn’t a random group of fans wanting something from him. It was family.
“Uncle Nick.” Asher came bounding over to him, jumping on him before Nick had a chance to brace but he caught him, hauled him up. “Hey, kid. You sound like you’re entertaining everyone.”
Nick’s gaze scanned the room, happy it was just his own family, a guy he recognized as Colt’s husband and Colton, who smiled so wide, all of his apprehension went away. “Give me a sec, Ash.”
Setting his nephew on his feet, Nick met Colton halfway around the large, wood-planked dining table for a hard hug. Growing up, Colton’s family had looked out for the Kingston kids. That’s what the neighbors called Nick and Ellie, who were, more often than not, on their own.
