In the Crease (Assassins Book 11) Read online

With that, he took his wife’s mouth with his, and as he kissed her, Jensen knew that no Cup, no award, no nothing could ever add to his life the way Wren did. It hadn’t been easy, and he knew it never would be. But the best things in life, he had always fought and worked for.

  And Wren was the ultimate prize.

  “I am entirely too pregnant to be here.”

  Her husband looked down at her as he held his hand out to her before she took it, pulling herself out of the limo. “I don’t understand why they pushed this back so damn far.”

  Jensen placed a kiss to the side of her mouth. “Venue conflicts, from what I was told.”

  She shot him a dry look, completely annoyed with the whole thing. She was supposed to be home, getting ready for Gunner’s debut the following month. The last few weeks had been so busy for them that she didn’t have everything done. Between going back to Canada, this time with Wells, Matty—whom she was still on the fence about but tolerated because her brother loved him so much—Brie, and Vaughn, and then the little vacation to Cancun Jensen had surprised her with, it was easy to say that nothing was done. Then there was the baby shower Elli had thrown for her, the birth of Benji and Lucy’s baby girl, Charlotte, and the retirement party for Tate that Jensen had put on for him. Things were nuts.

  Honestly, nuts.

  “Don’t they plan this shit out? Like, when you know you want to have the NHL Awards on said date, plan it, jeez. Now we’re in Vegas in August when it’s hotter than Satan’s asshole,” she complained as he waved to some of the fans who were calling out for him. He smiled shyly as he looked back down at her. She hoped she didn’t look like a whale in her sparkly silver body-hugging dress that Jensen had picked out, but his eyes seemed to darken as he looked her over. Her hair was down, big curls to the side, trailing over her shoulder with a silver barrette holding it back. Her makeup was, of course, dramatic, as was the cut of the front of her dress. She was a little worried when the stylist busted out the tape, but her boobs were in their assigned seats and she was ready to go.

  She just hoped Jensen liked it.

  Which he had told her he did.

  A million times since leaving the hotel.

  “Vivid image, thanks,” he muttered as he took her in his arms, holding her close as they started up the stairs of the venue. “By the way, I can’t wait to slide this dress down those sexy, dangerous curves of yours.”

  Giggling, she leaned into him as they climbed the stairs. “Well, thank you.”

  “Hmmm,” he muttered against her lips. “Think I can slide this over and get a peek at your boob?”

  She laughed. “It’s taped down.” A challenge flashed in his eyes, and she smacked his moving hand. “Don’t you dare.”

  He laughed, kissing her lips hard. “I love you.”

  “I love you.”

  “Good, be right back,” he said with a wink before he kissed her hand and went to sign stuff for the fans. As she stood there, watching as he gushed over the kids, was great with the adults, and signed as much as he could, she couldn’t help but think she couldn’t love anyone more than him. He had been wonderful the last couple months. They were great and so happy. She still couldn’t believe she had tried to keep her heart hidden from him. It was useless.

  He owned it.

  Her hand slid down the front of her belly where her son struggled inside of her for room, and her eyes drifted shut. She hadn’t heard from Bradley since Wells’s non-wedding. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, so Jensen made sure to hire a wonderful lawyer just in case. Since she had the texts from Bradley telling her to abort their child, her lawyer was confident they would be able to terminate his rights to Gunner if need be or if he ever tried to take her to court. Meanwhile, though, the plan was to have Jensen sign the birth certificate because Gunner was his, and that was that.

  Coming toward her, Jensen wrapped her up in his arms as he kissed her. “Ready?”

  “Ready,” she said, leaning into him, and he grinned over at her.

  “I love you.”

  “I know,” she teased, and he kissed her once more as they headed into the theater that was full of all of hockey’s best. Seated in the front by the greats of Jensen’s generation, Wren leaned back in the seat, happy to be able to stretch her legs out in front of her. Her knees had been hurting, along with her hips. She wished the seats were bigger, but Jensen had already said they could leave after the Vezina Trophy.

  She was praying it was the first award.

  But Wren wasn’t that lucky.

  Nope, it was toward the end, and as they went through the nominees, she squeezed Jensen’s hand when the nerves took over. But as always, Jensen was cool as a cucumber, laughing at her. But she couldn’t help it. She knew that Emma and Antoine were watching, as were her parents, Vaughn, Brie, Wells, and probably Matty. She wanted so badly for Jensen to win. He deserved it. He was the best!

  “You’re insane,” he muttered, and she stuck her tongue out at him as the guy on the stage opened the envelope.

  “From the Nashville Assassins, Jensen Monroe.”

  Letting out a squeal, she somehow hopped up, clapping loudly, unlike the ladylike way hockey wives were supposed to do it, but she didn’t care. She was proud of her man. Laughing, he stood, taking her face in his hands before kissing her hard on the lips. Parting, he kissed her nose as the room erupted, his stats and his highlights showing on the screen on stage. Pride shook her from her core as she watched everything while he climbed the stairs, accepting his award. She hadn’t realized how big the Vezina Trophy was.

  She had no clue where that was going in their apartment.

  They really needed to buy a house.

  She knew she was supposed to sit, but she didn’t. She kept standing, that is until she felt a pain in her side that had her dropping into her seat.

  Shit, that hurt.

  “Wow, um, I’m very honored and very humbled. I love this sport, I love my job, and everything tied to it. I work for the best owner in the NHL, one who makes me feel like I’m part of a family instead of just someone on the payroll. I play every night with my brothers, a game we all love and have worked our butts off to get into.” Everyone hooted and hollered, cheering him on, but Wren was hurting. Something wasn’t right, and when warmth ran down her legs, her eyes widened.

  Did her water just break?

  Oh. Fuck.

  “First, I’d like to thank my wife,” he said then, and she directed her eyes up to the stage, meeting his. She knew damn well a camera was on her, so she didn’t move. “I wouldn’t be who I am today without her. Which is complete. I’ve known her for over fifteen years, and she made me chase her for fourteen years and nine months of that, but now, she’s having my son, and she loves me. So it’s okay that she made me wait because it was worth it. I love you, Wren Monroe.”

  “I love you,” she somehow got out as everyone aww’d around them.

  “Next, I want to dedicate this to my dad,” he said, and she exhaled hard before she stood slowly, which of course, made Jensen pause, but she waved him off, trying to get the hell out of there so she could text him to meet her out front. But she only got two steps before a shooting pain hit her in the gut.

  “Shit.”

  She didn’t even know how it happened. She thought some other hockey player was holding her up, but it was actually her hockey player as people started to gather around them.

  “Whoa, baby, what’s wrong?”

  She laughed through the pain to keep from crying. “My water broke.”

  People who heard her gasped as he shook his head, laughing as everyone started to fuss over her to get her out of there. But she was in pain and freaking the fuck out. How did this happen? She had a month! Was Gunner okay? Holy crap! She was having her kid in Vegas! Dammit! But then her husband’s arms wrapped around her, not letting her go far. A much-needed wave of calm rushed over her before he muttered, “And you say you never get attention.”

  “You’re lucky I love yo