Simmering Ice
by Veronica Forand and Susan Scott Shelley
Copyright © 2015 by Veronica Forand and Susan Scott Shelley. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Chapter One
Jab him in the ribs with the end of a hockey stick or check him into the boards, head first. Alec could take any amount of roughness on the ice, but a crying little girl destroyed him. He’d walked into her hospital room, teddy bear under his arm, to visit at the insistence of the floor nurse. And then he woke up the girl.
Probably scared the hell out of her.
“Please don’t cry. It’s okay. I’ll tell the nurse you want your mom.” Where did she go? Damn, he felt like an ass. He tried to soothe the girl’s emotions, but tears in women always made him uncomfortable and awkward. He twisted around to head to the desk and slammed into someone. A very feminine someone. He reached out and grabbed her before she hit the floor. His body was always the biggest in the room and on the ice was also the fastest.
“Tam-?” He spoke without thinking and almost called her Tamara. It had been two years since his wife died and still the red hair reminded him of her. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”
He released her as soon as she had her footing. The warmth of her skin remained in the palms of his hands for a few moments.
The woman straightened up to her full height and then smiled. She was breathtaking, the attraction hitting him like a punch in the gut.
Jesus. He hadn’t felt anything like that in a long time.
“No problem. I heard Emily crying and thought I’d help you out.”
He glanced back and waved. The little girl sat in silence staring at the scene outside her doorway.
“I think I scared her. Could you give her the bear I brought for her?”
“A three-year-old girl takes on the biggest hockey player in the league and wins.” She laughed and took the bear from him.
“Not a fair fight. Tears are my kryptonite.” The tension in his chest eased when she walked away and spoke with Emily.
Mikael, the goalie for the team, ambled up next to him. “I see you’ve met Annie. The nicest woman ever. I eat with her now and then at the diner near my house. She gives me quality dating advice, and I ignore it and fall for the gold diggers and puck bunnies of the world.”
“She’s not your type?” Alec stared at the red hair and the confident attitude of the woman working with the little girl.
“She’s too intelligent to fall for a guy like me. You, however, may be perfect for her.”
Perhaps it was because the red hair reminded him of Tamara. Another glance at her revealed a petite nose, long limbs, and a booming laugh. No, she wasn’t anything like his deceased wife. Okay, he was curious about her. Nothing more. Mikael and Alec remained standing in silence for a few moments until the little patient cuddled up to the brown bear in her bed, and the woman returned to the hallway.
Mikael called out to her. “Annie, this is the great Sequoia, also known as Alec.”
She lifted one very perfect eyebrow higher than the other. That breathtaking smile emerged again. “We’ve met. And I’d love to introduce him to the little girl with his bear in her arms.”
Return to the crying little girl? Uh. Nope. But Annie didn’t budge, and Mikael took off down the hallway. He’d pay for this.
“Emily loves teddy bears, and her family loves the Hustlers,” she continued. “She’s watched both games you’ve played since arriving here a few days ago with a leg fracture. Come on. I’ll introduce you.” She smiled, and something weird twisted in his gut.
He didn’t want to be rude, so he followed her back into the room, trying to hide his huge frame behind Annie’s trim figure so he didn’t scare the girl again. Instead of tears, however, he was greeted by a smile. The little girl was in bed, her leg encased in a large brace. A few bruises marked her face, and she had a scratch on her chin. The injuries didn’t take away from a wonderful gap-toothed smile and big expressive eyes.
“Hi.” She waved. “You came back.”
“I wanted to make sure you liked the bear.” He approached the bed, but didn’t crowd it.
“Thanks.” She glanced between him and the physical therapist. “You play hockey for the Hustlers? My brother plays hockey. He’s a goalie. Are you a goalie?”
“I’m a forward. I score goals. The goalie tries to stop them. Do you play a sport?”
“Ballet.” Her arms lifted over her head in some ballet move, the bear clutched in one of her hands.
“Great sport.” He lifted his arms over his head and pliéd. A move he’d learned in camp one year when a college coach thought learning to be graceful would help score goals. It was one of the hardest classes he’d ever taken. He’d never admit it, however, especially to his teammates or either of his brothers, who also played professional hockey.
Emily smiled and clapped.
A sexy laugh echoed across the room. Annie had probably never seen a hockey player do ballet before.
“I wish I had my camera out for this,” she said.
He dropped his arms immediately and glanced at the door, in case Mikael had returned.
“I only perform for little girls named Emily.” He winked at the two females laughing at his dance moves.
“Your secret is safe with us. Thank you so much for visiting her.” Annie approached Emily and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Time for you to rest, little one.”
She was a cute kid.
“It’s really nice meeting you, Emily. You’ve made my day, so I’d like to give you something else. The next goal I score is for you.” He leaned down and touched her nose.
“Me?”
“Absolutely. I’ll try to find Zac, the captain of the team, and see if he can come and visit you too.”
“Maybe he can dance with me, too.” Her arms lifted up into another ballet pose.
“If he does, call me over, I’d love to watch.”
He waved to Emily, nodded to her physical therapist, and left.
“Thank you,” Annie called after him.
“Any time.” And he meant it.
An hour and fifty patients later, he and Zac were the last two to leave. They tended to remain longer than the other guys. They enjoyed talking to the kids and giving them hockey advice. He saw the red ponytail a few more times moving in and out of rooms. She seemed sweet. Okay, sweet wasn’t the word. Sexy and fun. After a few minutes with her, his gut—which he almost always trusted—told him Annie was a forever kind of woman. But he wasn’t looking for another forever.
No matter how pretty she was, she wasn’t the one for him.
…
Two weeks after the Hustlers’ visit to the hospital, Annie’s patients were still talking about meeting their favorite players. She hoped that visit, and the upcoming excursion to watch the team play this weekend, would keep them motivated to stick with their rehab programs. She helped Emily back into her bed. “You did a great job with your exercises today.”
“I wanted to make Sequoia proud. He said I inspired him.” Her pigtails bobbed from side to side.
Alec “Sequoia” O’Meara, star right winger, had become Emily’s favorite topic of conversation. She never spoke about the bad fall out of a tree that had landed her in the hospital anymore. Annie smiled at the hero worship shining in the kid’s eyes and fought the wave of warmth that crested every time she thought about how his hands had felt on her shoulders and the flash of interest she’d seen in his eyes. A flash quickly quelled before he’d walked away. So quick that maybe she’d imagined it.
His wife’s very public battle with cancer had endeared both her and Alec to the entire community. The image of the stoic hockey player, felled by grief, was ingrained in her memory. In the two years since Tamara’s passing, the gentle giant had worked his way into the hearts of all the fans. Annie cheered harder for his every on-ice success, feeling vested in it, willing it for him. If anyone deserved happiness, it was him.
Rolling her shoulders, she focused on the chart in her hand. No use thinking about Alec when she’d probably never see him again. She made a notation. “You’ve improved so much that you get to go home tomorrow. The doctor talked to your mom. She’ll be here soon.”
Emily’s smile lit up her face. “I get to go home?”
Annie placed her hand on the child’s shoulder. “I’ll see you on an out-patient basis for the next two months. You’ll be back in your ballet shoes before you know it.”
“Maybe I’ll play hockey like my brother and Sequoia.”
Annie glanced at the side of the bed, where Alec had entertained Emily with his attempt at a grand plié and ignored the flutter of disappointment that he hadn’t stayed longer. “Sure, and tell him to give ballet a try. It’s good for flexibility. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She was working with Tim, one of her long-term rehab patients when Hustlers’ goalie Mikael Larrson walked in. The dark-haired Swede had become a friend and frequent dinner buddy in the months since he’d began weekly visits with Tim.
“How’s the leg today?” He wrapped Annie in a quick hug and then fist-bumped Tim.
The sixteen-year-old shrugged. “Getting better. Watching my teammates play without me sucks. I wanna be back on the ice.”
“You’ll get back there, as long as you keep doing what Annie says.” His eyes twinkled when he smiled at her. A hopeless flirt as harmless as a puppy and a good friend who’d given her a shoulder to cry on after she’d learned of her ex’s cheating, Mikael was like the brother she’d never had.
She grabbed a bag of ice and patted the side of Tim’s chair. “I wish they all listened as well as you do. Keep this on for ten minutes, then you’re done for today.” Leaving Tim and Mikael chatting about his team’s latest game, she set up equipment for her next patient.
Mikael approached her. “I thought I’d stop by the diner tonight around six. Want to meet me there?”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Not if you want me to play wingman while you flirt with the new waitress.”
He held his hands over his heart, the mock hurt on his features dissolving as his lips twitched into a smile. “I don’t need a wingman, but I’d be happy to play one for you.”
“Maybe I’ll take you up on that.” She’d spent enough time licking her wounds over Corey’s cheating. It would be nice to have someone in her life again. She felt ready. Alec’s face flashed into her mind. Rugged, handsome, and framed by long blond hair she wanted to touch.
“Yeah? You’re finally taking my advice?” His eyes brightened. “Who’s the guy?”
Asking him about Alec caught in her throat. Why would a star hockey player be interested in her? And if he wasn’t, the rejection would be humiliating and might mess up her friendship with Mikael. “No one in particular. I’d better get back to work. My next patient will be here soon.”
“All right. See you tonight.”
Ignoring the pull of imagining herself with Alec, she waved good-bye, then walked over to Tim.
After eight hours of non-stop action and a missed meal, she was more than ready for the promise of friendship and hot food ten blocks away.
She shrugged into her coat and strode past the nurses’ station. They no longer whispered as she went by. No longer a need to, now that Corey was her ex-boyfriend, and the gossip over his affair with a medical assistant, the ink barely dry on her certification, was old news. He’d tried to hide the affair, but everyone had known about it…except for Annie.
Shaking her head, she checked her purse for bus fare. Seeing them together, day after day had been too much. Thank God he’d moved to a different hospital and the assistant to a different floor. The occasional spotting of the other woman, sporting a diamond on her left hand, was a stark reminder that, once again, she hadn’t measured up.
After her second bumpy bus ride of the day, Annie stepped onto the curb outside The Blue Dog Diner. Its neon lights glowed with promises of food, a home away from home. Stomach rumbling, she tugged the heavy door open. The bells over the door chimed, and a blast of warmth and scents of fresh coffee and fried food rushed into the cold February night. People lined the counter and filled the booths. She smiled at some of the regulars, wove a path over the blue and red-checkered floor, and placed her usual order of a grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup with Stella, the waitress at the counter.
“Hey, Annie. How’s your car?” Stella, a grandmother of five, worked the dinner shift six days a week.
“It’s still in the shop. I might have it back next week. Busy night in here.” She ducked under an oversized shiny red heart. Valentine’s Day decorations hung from the ceiling and dotted the counters and windows.
The bells chimed again. Annie glanced over her shoulder.
Him.
Alec walked in, followed by Mikael. He waved, motioned to Alec, and headed in her direction, then caught her in an eager hug. “Vouch for me. This place has killer sandwiches.”
Alec caught Annie’s gaze. She attributed the flutter in her stomach to the lack of food and coffee. His brows lifted, and then he smiled. “That true? No one beats Basker’s.”
“Until it burned down last week.” Mikael slapped him on the back. “Annie, you’ve met Alec, my misguided friend.”
Alec’s gaze journeyed from her eyes to her feet, then back again. A warm buzz of awareness dimmed the surrounding sounds. She stared at him and slowly rocked back on her heels. On one level, she barely knew him, other than watching games and catching a few player interviews. But on another, she felt strangely close to him—his grief over his wife was similar to what she’d experienced losing her grandmother to the same disease.
“It’s nice to see you again.” His hand closed over hers, large, warm, and firm.
She raised her gaze from his hand, to his chest, over the thick neck and square jaw and into gray-blue eyes intent on hers. “Yes, you too.”
At her words, his grip tightened, then eased.
“I forgot to ask you earlier. How’s the kid he scared?” Mikael nudged him.
Alec’s hand dropped to his side. The scent of leather stung her nose. He pushed up his jacket sleeves, and his lips curved into a smile. “Yeah. How’s Emily?”
“She’s going home tomorrow. And…she carries the bear you gave her everywhere.” She smiled over the memory of Alec going through ballet positions with her pint-sized patient. “She’s telling everyone that you’re her boyfriend.”
“Sequoia’s a heartbreaker.” Mikael smirked and thumped him on the shoulder, then turned and placed orders for Alec and himself.
“A table just opened up in the back.” Stella pointed to the corner of the room. “You better grab it before someone else comes in.”
“Thanks.” Mikael winked at Stella then turned to Annie. “Did you already order?”
She nodded.
“Cool. Then let’s go.” Mikael gestured for her to walk ahead.
Her gaze slid to Alec. Eating with Mikael was always entertaining, but what if Alec didn’t want her there? “I can get mine to-go, if you two would rather be alone.”
Mikael burst out laughing. “When you say it that way, I picture flowers and candles. Hell no. Sorry, Sequoia, you’re not my type.”
Alec’s rich chuckle sent tingles up her spine. “I need to erase that image from my mind. You have to join us now, Annie.”
Heat pulsed into her cheeks. She liked the way her name sounded coming from his lips. “All right.”
Mikael led the way. He dropped into the opposite side of the booth from Alec, taking up the entire space, leaving her no choice but to sit next to the hulking blond. His arm brushed hers, heat pumping like a furnace. She fought the urge to keep the connection and slid further away.
Mikael glanced at them and grinned as if enjoying his own private joke. “I’ve been telling Alec for months that this place is better.”
She turned to Alec, and her question about the other diner died on her tongue.
His gaze was fixed on her face. “I’m realizing now that I was missing out.”
Heat crept into her cheeks. Was he flirting? With her? Before her disaster with Corey, she wouldn’t have been so unsure. “I’ve never been disappointed.”
Mikael stood. “Well kids, I’m off.”
“What about dinner?” Alec’s question echoed her own.
“I’m getting it to go. I forgot I have a date tonight.” With a grin and raised brows directed first at Annie, then at Alec, he left.
The grin and the brows were so obvious. She knew Mikael well enough to know he’d never forget about a date. He lived for romance. Fresh heat flushed her cheeks. From Alec’s expression, he’d realized the setup too. But she couldn’t tell how he felt about it. She cleared her throat, wishing for water, tea, coffee, anything to cure her suddenly parched throat. “Maybe I should go, too.”
He raised a brow. “Why?”
“Well…” She fingered a button on her coat. Setups were so awkward, especially ones spontaneously sprung.
For a moment, a glimpse of vulnerability appeared in his eyes. The same thing she recognized in herself. “How about it, Annie? Stay and eat with me?”
The deep timbre of his voice pulled at her resolve. Was he just being nice? But if he didn’t want her company, he wouldn’t have asked, would he? “All right.”
His grin slid back into place. If he were taking this change of plans in stride, she could too.
She moved to the other side of the booth, shrugged out of her coat and tossed it on the seat. “I’m here at least five times a week after work.”
“Then Mikael wasn’t lying, this place must be good.” Alec’s large frame dwarfed the booth. “I can’t cook. At all.”
She tilted her head to the side, studying him. He looked far more tempting than anything on the menu. “Really? I bet I can top your cooking horror stories. Burned pancakes, ruined roasts, and gummy pasta.” Being the daughter of a chef, and the sister of one, made her screwups a million times worse. Laughing eased the sting in her stomach.
“My excuse is I was always too busy with hockey practice to spend time in a kitchen.”
“Basketball, soccer, and lacrosse kept me busy growing up.”
“I knew you’d be an athlete.”
What did he mean? Threads of critical comments made over the years by her mother kept her sensitive about her height, her features, and her frame. But his words hadn’t been delivered in derision, more like approval.
Before she could think too much about it, Stella arrived. She poured coffee into their cups, and then left the pot in the center of the table. “Here you go, Annie. A fresh pot just for you.”
Annie added creamer to her cup and laughed at Alec’s quirked brow. “Maybe I do come here too often. But it’s close by and the food’s awesome.”
“I’m pretty close, too. I hardly ever eat at home.” He didn’t elaborate, but she guessed he lived near Mikael’s million-dollar neighborhood.
The waitress dropped off their orders. Annie stared at the roast turkey triple-decker sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries in front of Alec. It looked better than what she’d ordered, but maybe that was due to the man sitting behind it. She swallowed a mouthful of the creamy tomato broth. “Growing up in Maryland, I was always a fan of Washington’s team. I still follow them but since moving to Atlantic City, I’ve adopted the Hustlers as my favorite.”
“So you’re rooting for two teams in the same division? That’s not allowed.” He shook his head and hefted his sandwich to his lips.
She shrugged. “I’m a rebel.”
His bark of laughter pleased her. He shifted his plate forward and motioned for her to take some of his fries. A casual gesture not shared with a stranger. Annie blinked and slowly reached for a handful.
“My brothers play for two teams on the West Coast, but my parents are die-hard Chicago fans, regardless of whether any of us kids are playing against them or not.”
“Your dad played professionally too, didn’t he?” She broke a fry in half. A wisp of steam escaped. “I imagine following in someone’s shadow wasn’t easy.”
“My parents just wanted us to be happy. My dad taught me everything I know.”
He sat tall in his seat, wide shoulders relaxed, his voice calm and happy. What would it have been like to grow up in that kind of family environment?
They finished their meal and then lingered over coffee while swapping stories of his on-ice experiences and her interactions with the kids she treated in physical therapy every day. For being a giant nearly as large as the trees who shared his name, his quiet demeanor and gentle humor were a pleasant surprise.
She leaned closer. “Mikael gave me some videos of the team working out in the weight room and on the ice. It really helped motivate the kids in our rehab program. I’m taking a group of them to your game tomorrow.”
“Really? What section?”
“One-fifteen. Right behind the bench. The kids are really excited.”
“Coach mentioned some groups would be stopping by after the game for a meet-and-greet.” His eyes focused on her hands, then her face. “I’m glad you’ll be there.”
“Me too. I love being at the rink, seeing a game live. Mikael’s always offering me tickets, with the stipulation that I bring a friend, preferably female, and preferably blonde. I don’t think he appreciated it when I brought my landlady. She’s blonde, but about seventy-five.”
He smirked and downed his coffee. “You see Mik a lot?”
“He stops by to visit one of the kids in the rehab program once a week. We usually grab dinner afterwards.” Why did he care? She studied his features. “He mentions you a lot.”
He didn’t say anything. She assumed Mikael hadn’t mentioned her to Alec at all, but why would he? Mikael and she were friends, nothing more, and as much as he’d urged her to date, it wasn’t like Alec needed Mikael to fix him up. Not that she was his type. She peered at him through lowered lashes. What was his type?
When the waitress put the bill on the table, Alec swiped it up and then handed her a wad of cash. He glanced at Annie. “Ready to go?”
“You didn’t have to pay for me. But thank you for dinner.”
“Anytime.” He led the way outside. “Where’d you park?”
“I took the bus today. My car’s in the shop. It needs a new radiator.”
“I’ll drive you home.”
“I only live a few blocks away. I’m fine with walking.”
“It’s cold and dark. Come on.” He nodded in the direction of a large, black SUV. His Escalade was a far cry from her ten-year-old Ford.
“I’m fine, really.”
“I insist. You can call Mikael and let him know I’m taking you home, if that makes you feel safer.” He held out his phone.
“I should call him, just to see if he’s really on a date. It would serve him right if my call interrupted him during a crucial moment.”
Alec’s eyes gleamed. “Let’s do it.” His fingers swiped across the phone, then angled it so they could both listen.
Within seconds, Mikael’s voice came through the speaker. “How’d it go with Annie?”
“Well…”
“Don’t tell me you’re not interested. I saw how you were looking at her.”
Annie’s mouth dropped open. Her eyes darted from the phone to Alec’s face. She should speak and alert Mikael to her presence, but curiosity to hear Alec’s response held her back.
His lips quirked in a smile. “She’s great. But she’s—”
“Hold up there, buddy.” Mikael’s voice sharpened and grew louder. “She’s special. And you have a hell of a lot in common with her. Don’t go writing her off like you’ve done to every other woman you’ve met since Tamara.”
A stricken expression overtook Alec’s smile.
Giddiness faded in a flash. Heat rushed over her limbs. She opened her mouth to speak, but Alec pressed the phone to his ear and turned away. “She’s standing right here…Yeah… It’s fine.”
But it wasn’t fine. His voice had gone hard.
Awkwardness and embarrassment clawed at her stomach. His face had paled when Mikael mentioned Tamara’s name. She brushed at imaginary lint on her coat while Alec ended the call.
He turned back to her. The light in his eyes faded. “I’ll take you home.”
Her heart broke for him. “Thanks.”
She sank into the soft leather seat and directed him to her house. The car rode much smoother than the bumps and stops and starts of the city bus.
When they pulled up in front of the duplex, he sat back against the door and watched her for a moment. “Dinner was fun, thanks.”
Part of her wanted to hug him, to take away the pain. “I know it probably doesn’t mean much coming from me, but I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” He nodded, the words as wooden as his expression. His gaze shifted to her hair.
His wife had been a redhead. Oh God, did she remind him of her? Caught between the temptation to tuck the strands into her coat and fear of calling more attention to her locks by touching them, she took a deep breath, her pulse pounding in her neck. “I know what it’s like to have painful memories sprung on you. I’m sorry if I remind you of her.”
He looked at her, just looked at her. The air grew hot, and the small space seemed to shrink. There wasn’t anything left to say. The urge to cry for him welled until tears stung the backs of her eyes. She reached across the seat and touched the back of his hand, willing some comfort to seep into him. “Thanks for dinner.”
He nodded again. “I’ll see you around.”
She trekked across the front walk and up the stairs to her apartment. His engine idling in the street filled the air. Inserting the key in the lock, she glanced toward him. He sat, arm thrown over the back of the seat, watching her.
Of course, he would be the type to wait and make sure she went safely inside before driving away. With a small wave, she stepped inside the darkened living room and then crossed to the window.
The Escalade drove away.
She sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. No matter if he was technically available. One mention of his wife and he’d looked sad, guilty, and angry. She hadn’t missed Mikael’s words, don’t go writing her off like you’ve done to every other woman. What did that mean? It didn’t even matter. She looked like his wife, and he wouldn’t want a constant reminder of what he had lost. Her red hair was her favorite feature. Vicious irony twisted her stomach. Alec was the first man in a long time who’d made her want, who’d made her feel, and she couldn’t have him.
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