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

  “I, uh…” She forced herself to stick to the subject and not be too forward. No more uncensored comments, like calling him a sex god, damn it. “I tried to be patient and persistent. It’s impossible to get ahead very quickly because when you’re on the streets you’re so far behind it’s overwhelming to think about acquiring everything you need to build a life again. So you can’t dwell on it. You just have to take small steps toward it. Build your resources slowly and try to stay healthy and safe.”

  Her last word seemed to echo in the truck cab. But maybe it was just her ears. Her perspective. Safety had consumed her thoughts every second she wasn’t working at a job to get ahead.

  Outside the truck, the nighttime residents of the streets claimed their territory. An old man pushing a grocery cart, his layers of clothes flapping around him like bat wings. A middle-aged woman in a short skirt and ripped stockings, probably between clients, as she plied her dangerous trade. A teenager who walked as if he owned the city strode past them both, flicking a discarded cigarette on the old man as he brushed past.

  “I wish I’d been there to protect you.” Vinny’s words called her back from the scene outside.

  “Me, too,” she whispered, blindly reaching for his hand as she met his gaze. “I like being here with you. No one hurt me—you know, seriously hurt me. But I woke up once with a knee in my back and—”

  She hesitated.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.” He closed his fingers around her hand, his warmth filtering through to her, enveloping her.

  “It was a long time ago.” Besides, she trusted Vinny. “I made the mistake of sleeping in an alley in a good neighborhood. I’d cased it for days, checking out what kind of people went through there at night and it seemed quiet. But the first time I let myself fall asleep there, I got jumped by some rich kid who’d come home late and high as a kite.”

  Vinny swallowed hard and tried not to let his anger show in his eyes. Because he would have gutted the guy if he’d been there. But obviously, no one would have ever tried to touch Chelsea if he’d been there in the first place.

  It was more important that he be here for her in this moment, reassuring her tonight rather than wishing he’d been there to protect her in the past.

  “Thank God you got away.” He owed the Almighty big-time for that one, and he wouldn’t forget to pay back.

  He double-checked the lots to make sure he was taking good care of Chelsea. Thankfully, tinted windows gave them some privacy from the handful of people who’d drifted past the vehicle.

  “I lost a year’s worth of savings in the knapsack I left behind, but I was fast and I fought dirty. I don’t think I would have escaped if I hadn’t scoped the place out for so long ahead of time, but I found my way around in the dark.” She took a deep breath and flexed her fingers between his, squeezing. “I hid in a neighbor’s pool house until the guy got tired of shouting for me and lights started popping on around the neighborhood.”

  “Damn.” He shook his head, glad he’d been able to hold back worse curses. “You must have been so scared. I’m all tense just listening to you tell me about it.” Partly because he itched to strangle any man who would lift a hand to her. “Would it be okay if I held you? I don’t know if it would help you, but after hearing that, it would sure as hell help me feel better.”

  Her hand still squeezed his, but she nodded.

  Relief shot through him because he wasn’t lying. He needed to have his arms around her. Reassure himself she was okay.

  Untwining his fingers from hers, he slid closer to her on the big bench seat. But before he could slip an arm behind her shoulders, she ducked her head to his chest and looped her hands around his waist, relaxing against him.

  He realized then that he hadn’t exhaled since she’d started her story. Only now could he let out his breath. Resting his chin on top of her head, he stroked her back.

  “I’m so glad you fought dirty,” he whispered. “And that you were so much smarter than that piece of crap who came after you. Because I don’t know what I would have done this year without you, Chelsea.”

  She stirred, edging back to peer up at him in the cab.

  “What are you talking about?” Her brow crinkled in confusion.

  “Looking forward to seeing you every day—that’s what got me through the first half of this season when I was playing like crap and the hockey bloggers all said I should pack my bags and go home.” He smoothed a thumb over the creamy softness of her cheek. “I didn’t settle in with the team right away, but you were always there in the stands, cheering me on. I figured I’d stick with it long enough for a chance to ask you out.”

  “Thank goodness it took you a long time to ask me because now you’re playing like a super stud.” She blinked up at him from under her long bangs, her lips so full and kissable that he had to take deep breaths to rein himself in.

  No way would he scare her off by moving too fast.

  “By now, they’ll have to throw me out of Philadelphia to get me to leave.” In fact, he wasn’t sure how he’d be able to let her walk into that apartment building without him. She felt so good in his arms. So right.

  “But what if I want to see Minnesota sometime?” she asked, surprising him.

  Did she know how badly he wanted a future with her? How much it would mean to him to be able to take her home?

  “You’ve got a ride to Cloquet right here.” He patted the truck’s dashboard, then returned his hand to her waist, careful to stay closer to her rib cage than the subtle swell of her hip.

  She’d told him she’d been patient during those years on the streets. So he’d damn well be patient however long it took for her to let him touch her the way he wanted.

  “Vinny?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I think I’d like cows.”

  “You do?” He grinned and felt her snag another piece of his heart.

  “They sound very nonjudgmental.” She reached toward him, her hand alighting on his chest, right above his heart.

  She’d never taken the initiative to touch him before, since he didn’t count her falling asleep on him during the flight home. So having her fingers sketch ever so softly along his shirt seemed like the hottest foreplay he’d ever known.

  “I don’t know if I can get back to introduce you to them until the season’s over.” He tried to focus on the conversation instead of how good it felt to have her hand on him. “But if I can’t bring you to Cloquet, I can bring a little Cloquet to you. My parents are coming to town next week. Maybe you can meet them.”

  His first clue that he’d done something wrong came when her touch evaporated like dew on a hot day. In an instant, she retreated in so many ways his brain could barely calculate them all, but her shuttered gaze was the one that spoke the loudest.

  “Your parents?”

  He realized she edged backward on the seat so that he’d have to stretch if he wanted to keep his hands on her. Carefully, he released her and tried to soothe her worries.

  “Yes. I sent them tickets for our first home game in the playoffs. They’ll only be here for three days, but maybe we could have dinner together.”

  She’d already agreed to dinner with him tonight, after all. And he hadn’t even asked to come upstairs with her, so it wasn’t as if he was pushing any kind of physical relationship. Still, she’d backed up so much she bumped the power-lock button with her elbow.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” She gave him a halfhearted smile. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t realize how late it was and I have to work at the gift shop tomorrow. I really should—”

  “Wait.” What had he done wrong? “I don’t want to pressure you—”

  “You’re not,” she assured him, snagging her purse and levering open the door.

  “I want to at least walk you into the building.” He reached out to keep her there.

  She tensed at his touch.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go.” She fumbled for her keys.