Game On Box Set: Time Out\Her Man Advantage\Face-Off\Body Check Read online

Kyle Murphy had recently become involved with a professional matchmaker whose mother was a former pop star. And, apparently the right winger was falling for the gift shop girl.

  All in all, the documentary was about more than sports. It would capture a moment in time, a tough season full of gifted athletes trying to be a team in spite of the distractions. There would be something transcendent here, a human drama beneath the fierce action of the game. But Jennifer would be damned before she’d throw Chelsea Durant under the bus just to serve the commercial hook and a cameraman’s ego. If she wouldn’t agree to her increased role in the series, the tender footage of her squeezing Vinny Girard’s hand over the dinner table would have to go.

  Jen’s new relationship made her more sensitive to a person’s desire to protect their privacy. She just hoped she could manage the feat with Axel. An on-screen romance with him would be much more than personally awkward.

  It would be downright dangerous.

  * * *

  A TEAM FLIGHT FROM NEW YORK to Philadelphia wouldn’t have been a good spot to find privacy even on a regular day. But with two cameras rolling through the Boeing jet’s main aisle, Vinny Girard figured there was little chance that any conversation with Chelsea wouldn’t be overheard or recorded.

  He’d have to content himself with his other small victory for the day—convincing Chelsea to take the team flight home. She’d let Misty drive her car back to Philly so her friend could stop and see some family in New York.

  All around them, his teammates hammed it up for the camera crews, reenacting a particularly rough play when Axel Rankin got a penalty for slashing and the Phantoms on the ice went nuts. Vinny hadn’t been skating at the time, so he felt no need to chime in. Plus it was obvious Ax wanted no part of the extra attention. Normally, the guy was as boisterous as the rest of the team, but he’d dialed it down ever since the camera crews had joined them.

  “I can’t believe I’m here.” Chelsea sat beside Vinny in the last row of seats after another Phantoms win. They were two rows back from their nearest neighbors. “I hope it wasn’t totally presumptuous of me to get on board.”

  She tugged at the knit cuffs of her long-sleeved shirt with the Conference Champions logo from two years ago. He’d noticed she owned almost every piece of team clothing the gift shop sold, which was probably in part because she got a discount but also because fan gear happened to be her uniform when she was on duty.

  “You belong here,” he reminded Chelsea, thinking about what it would be like to lean over and kiss away the worried frown from lips that were pink and plump without a trace of makeup. “Remember? The Phantoms pay your salary because you’re the best team supporter we have.”

  Wrapping her arms around herself against the blast of cool air blowing from the overhead vents, she rolled her eyes at him.

  “I think they just figured I practically lived at the rink anyhow, so why not put me to work?” She straightened as the attendant closed the plane door and asked the camera crew to have a seat. “Are we taking off?”

  “Yes. Looks like we’re all set.” He turned down the vent and shifted the nozzle away from her while she leaned closer for a better view over the seat rests.

  For a moment, he wondered if she was a nervous flyer. Then he realized the truth.

  “You’ve never flown before, have you?”

  “Not unless you count a vicarious drug trip I took sitting beside an older woman doped up on mushrooms.” She said it matter-of-factly, still watching the flight attendant prepare the cabin for takeoff. “I held her hand while she screamed that giant mosquitoes were coming to get her and described flying around on one of them.”

  “My God.” He could picture Chelsea, unfazed and strong, talking the woman down from her high. “If I stop to think about the things you must have seen during those days…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  Chelsea turned toward him, eyes wide with genuine surprise. “I never minded nights like that. And the old lady wasn’t an addict, she just had a lot of health problems and occasionally when she tried to buy something for the pain, the dealers would sell her whatever they had leftover at the end of the night.” Her jaw tightened, chin lifting. “If I ever run my own shelter, I’m going to make sure my guests have access to health care. Or aspirin, at the very least.”

  Hearing the fierce note in her voice, Vincent reminded himself never to stand between her and the aspirin counter. What a strong advocate underprivileged people would have in someone like Chelsea. Her lean figure and delicate features belied the drive and determination inside her.

  “I think you’ll find this kind of flying is less eventful.” He wanted to take her hand and hold it this whole trip. Feel her pulse throb under his thumb. Connect with her in that small way that wouldn’t attract attention and wouldn’t advertise a wealth of intense attraction on his part.

  Memories of the kiss he’d placed in the center of her palm were more powerful—more sensually vivid—than the recollections of a handful of one-night stands he’d had since leaving his junior year in college. He’d broken up with his high school girlfriend that year, a girl from back home who’d never understood his need to pursue his dream of playing hockey.

  He’d learned then that love didn’t grow when you stifled each other, which was why he was going to try not to push Chelsea for too much, too soon.

  Now, as the plane picked up speed on the runway, he looked over at her in the seat beside him. She gripped the armrests with both hands, her shoulders tense. Her cheeks seemed pale as she worried her lower lip, yet she’d never told him she was nervous. Never let on the idea of flying scared her.

  That’s when he knew, ready or not, he had to touch her.

  “Hold my hand,” he told her by way of warning, sliding his fingers under her forearm to pry her loose from the armrest. “It’ll be easier.”

  She didn’t say anything one way or the other, but she locked gazes with him for a moment. Nodded.

  His heartbeat stuttered for a second as he took her left hand in his and—God help him—wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. She thought she was scared of takeoff?

  She’d know exactly how terrified he was of scaring her off when she got a load of his heart banging the hell out of his chest where she settled her cheek. The scent of her hair wafted up, teasing him with something clean and floral.

  After months of watching her and wanting her, having her curled against him felt better than a winning season. His last girlfriend had given him an ultimatum—hockey or her. And Vinny had chosen to pursue his dream.

  But right now, with Chelsea in his arms, he knew he could set down his stick and not think twice about it. She was it for him. The One. He liked everything about her, from how easily she loaned her car to a friend to how she pulled people into her circle, from homeless women to hockey players. She had a natural warmth that people gravitated toward.

  Him included.

  He would have been content to spend the whole flight home like that. No, more than that, he would have felt privileged to touch her that whole time.

  But they’d barely leveled out at flying altitude when the director lady made her way down the aisle, her eye on the two of them. Her red curls fought a ponytail, with kinky pieces sliding free along her cheek. She held a clipboard under her arm, a large silver bracelet clanking against it with each step. A sense of foreboding clanged nearer along with her.

  Vinny couldn’t have said why he felt like trouble was on the way, beyond the fact that a visitor would surely make Chelsea sit up and let go of his hand. But he did.

  “Hi!” Jennifer Hunter slid into the seat beside him, her long skirt brushing his knee as it swirled to settle after her. “So sorry to bother you, but I wanted to speak to you both about the series.”

  Chelsea must have heard her despite the engine noise, which was loudest in these seats at the back of the plane. Releasing his hand, she straightened.

  “It’s no bother,” Chelsea a