Hockey Holidays Read online

  Her mouth twisted a little. “You’re driven.”

  He was. “But I can also be an ass. And I was being an ass that day. The team was in Cleveland, and Rob lives in some tiny town in the middle of nowhere Ohio. He grew up there. Moved back with his parents after the accident. Married his childhood sweetheart.”

  Leah’s smile brightened. “Sounds sweet.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not how I saw it. I figured his life was over, you know? No more hockey. What the hell else is there in life?”

  Her brows arched.

  “Yeah, I know.” He huffed out a laugh. “There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t revolve around hockey. But then, at that moment, it kinda felt like my world had collapsed in on itself.”

  He paused before continuing, shaking his head at the memory.

  “So when he asked me how life was, I spewed all this shit. Christ, I was an ass. I whined about how few games I was getting to play, how the coaches had no faith in me, how I was never going to make it to the NHL. And one of the nicest guys I have ever known stood there and listened to me bitch for twenty minutes. When I finally shut up about myself and asked him how he was doing, he told me the doctors had told him any sort of exercise where he could potentially hit his head was a no-go but that was okay because he loved to swim and golf so now he had an excuse to do both.”

  “Sounds like he’s got the right outlook on life.”

  “Yeah. And it showed me what an ass I was.”

  Leah shook her head. “You’re not an ass, Kyle.”

  He didn’t bother to respond to that. “After Rob left, I took a hard look at myself. I didn’t like what I saw.”

  “Kyle—”

  “So I decided to make some changes. I decided there were things I wanted that had nothing to do with hockey. And that I needed to make changes for that to happen.”

  One of those things was a relationship with her. He wanted her in his life and if that meant learning to love decorating Christmas trees then, damn it, he’d decorate the shit out of Christmas trees.

  The look in her eyes told him she knew exactly what he was thinking. He forced himself to breathe normally when his natural instinct was to hold his breath waiting for her response.

  After several long seconds, she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbled on it then shifted her gaze to the pizza box.

  “We should probably eat before it gets cold.”

  He stifled a sigh. He’d known it was going to take more than her favorite pizza and a sob story to get back in her good graces. But he’d had to give it a shot.

  So tonight, he’d—

  Leah cupped his cheeks in her hands and sealed her mouth over his.

  Okay, she might’ve just blown every caution light out of the sky but, damn it, a girl could only take so much.

  Leah had listened to Kyle bare his soul and felt her heart crack open just a little farther with every word.

  She’d considered not answering the door when he’d knocked. It’d been a long day at the studio, creating schedules and catching up with paperwork and covering classes. Charlotte had left earlier in the day to visit her in-laws for the holidays.

  She was still learning the ropes from Charlotte, trying to decide whether she wanted to become a partner. She had five years of financial reports in her bag she’d planned to look over tonight. And she had to make up her mind about the small business course at Reading Area Community College starting in January.

  If she was going to become part owner of a small business, she figured she needed to at least know the basics of what she was doing. That had never been her plan, owning a business, but plans changed all the time and you needed to learn to roll with them or be crushed by them.

  But when Kyle had shown up at her door tonight, her first instinct was to throw herself into his arms and spill every one of her concerns at his feet.

  And then he’d started to talk and all she wanted to do was kiss him.

  Okay, maybe she wanted to do more than kiss him.

  Because now that she was, now that she had her mouth on his and had tasted him again, she wasn’t sure kissing him was going to be enough.

  Liar.

  Yep, she was. She was pretty damn sure kissing him was not going to be enough.

  But for right now, she’d take what she could get and worry about the rest later.

  Tilting her head, she kissed him with her lips closed at first, getting to know the feel of him again. This close, his scent infused her every breath. It worked like a drug on her body, like the sweet rush of alcohol. Her every nerve ending tingled with desire, immediate and demanding.

  Her lips moved over his, her body knowing instinctively how to get the perfect fit. Kyle must’ve had the same response because he angled his head and the months they’d been apart slipped away as if they’d never happened.

  Without thought, she swung her leg over his thighs to straddle his lap, kneeling over him until her head was above his.

  His hands went to her waist, clasping her tight and holding her steady. Not trapped, but she felt the way his fingers clenched then loosened, as if he wanted to tug her closer but thought better of it.

  Before, he wouldn’t have hesitated to pull her against him and take over. She’d never said no, because she’d wanted him just as much as he’d wanted her. But he’d also never let her take control.

  Now, she sensed his patience. His restraint.

  Not that he didn’t participate. He kissed her back with a heat so fierce she nearly combusted. It felt like it’d been forever since she’d kissed him, and every ounce of pent-up, desperate desire crashed over her in a rush.

  She couldn’t get enough of his mouth, kissed him like he was her favorite drug. And he had been. She just hadn’t realized how much of an addict she’d been until she’d tasted him again.

  Soon, though, kissing him wasn’t enough.

  In the back of her head, she knew she should slow down, that she was heading down a path she’d sworn she’d never take again. And yet it felt so good, so right. And Kyle was giving her everything.

  He let her control the kiss, but that didn’t mean he didn’t participate. Far from it. He licked at her lips and demanded entry to her mouth, then slid his tongue inside.

  His flavor hit her like a shock to the system, throwing her into a chasm of memories she’d tried so hard to forget since he’d left. Now they all came crashing back, pushing her toward a decision she’d already thought she’d made.

  Screw it.

  Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she scooted closer, until their bodies were locked together in an embrace so tight, she almost couldn’t breathe.

  Her breasts flattened against his chest, so hard and muscular he felt like a wall. A living, breathing, heated wall of flesh that made her want to strip him down so she could run her hands all over him.

  Before she could stop herself, she’d grabbed his t-shirt in her hands and began pulling it up.

  Wait. Maybe—

  No. No waiting. She’d waited for this since he’d walked away. She wasn’t going to lie to herself. Tomorrow, she’d tell him no more, they were finished. Tonight… She’d get what she wanted.

  Which was him.

  Pulling away, she ripped his shirt over his head, getting little resistance from him. Not that she expected any.

  So when he grabbed her hands after she dropped his shirt on the cushion beside him, her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Hey, Leah. Maybe we should slow down.”

  Blinking, she tried to hide her shock but obviously not fast enough because he shook his head.

  “No. Wait. Don’t misunderstand me. I want you. Hell, I want you more than I want to breathe right now. But I need you to know this isn’t just sex for me.”

  Her expression must have showed her disbelief because his beautiful mouth tightened for a few seconds before he shook his head.

  “I’m serious. You gotta know that I’m not just looking for a one-night stand