Page 98 of Hockey Wife

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”

30

As she pulled up alongside Banks’s SUV, the front door opened, and the man himself appeared with Cheddar in his arms, looking stormy. (Both Banks and her cat.)

She had barely opened the car door and he was launching into a critique. “You’re supposed to be resting, not gallivanting around town. You shouldn’t even be driving.”

“I’m here now!” The Nordstrom shopping bag on the back seat would stay exactly where it was. Like she could resist a Marc Jacobs dress on sale.

She took Cheddar from him and gave him a rub. “Has Daddy been taking care of you when he should be leaving you the hell alone?”

“He’s not bothering me.” Followed by a sneeze.

Men. “Let’s take you back to the west wing,” she said to Cheddar. When she opened the laundry room, she got the shock of her life.

“What happened here?”

A new cat bed sat in the corner, along with three scratching posts, cushions placed on shelves at different heights, and new toys dotted about the room.

She looked at Banks, who shrugged.

“If he’s stuck in the laundry room, we may as well make it more comfortable for him.”

Banks getting sweet on Cheddar was not on her bingo card.

She placed her kitty down and watched as he lapped at his water, which was now dispensed into one of those pet fountains that started the water flowing when Cheddar approached. Fancy.

Leaving him to his new playground, she returned to the kitchen. She picked up the kettle and started to fill it, only for Banks to do a dispossession move that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a rink: take it out of her hand, push her gently to a seat at the counter, and take over.

With her internal organs turning squishy, she watched as he went through the motions of making her tea.

“Did anyone give you a hard time about missing the rest of the game?”

He scowled. “Why would they?”

“Because you abandoned your teammates.”

“With good reason.”

“I just don’t want you to get into trouble. Because of me.”

He squinted at her. “Placing my wife above the needs of a game? They get it. They’re all loved up, so they know exactly what it’s like.”

Loved up? Was he comparing himself to his teammates?

Before she could question that, he pulled open the cupboard. “Lemon ginger?”

“Perfect Peach.”

“That she is,” he murmured. He set up the mug and turned, his arms threaded across his substantial chest. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you changing the subject. You told my family you’d rest up and a friend was coming over.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I called them the minute I got home after I’d left you several messages. They texted back during the intermission.”

“Right. They had tickets to a matinee so they shouldn’t be expected to change their plans because of me.”

---