Page 26 of Penalty Shots

Keelan looks around the treatment room, confused. "You just said we need to knock out a plan."

"Yeah, we do," I say, looking up from my phone.

"Ok, and you need to relax, no?"

I glower at him. "Yes. Which meansyoucan't be around. You quite literally make me feel the opposite of relaxed."

And that's true on so many levels. With Keelan around, my neurons don't seem to connect the same way they do when he's out of my hair.

"It's late, Rina. I'm tired. Are we going to do this or not?" He waits for my response, still holding the sauna door open as the humid air wafts into the room.

With a sigh, I reach for the hem of my top and pull it over my head. He doesn't move from his spot. It's like Keelan Landry has suddenly figured out how to shut his mouth and stop moving.

The Adam's apple at his throat bobs as he swallows. And even though I know I'm playing with fire, there's somethingabout having one of hockey's most notorious players completely silenced at the sight of me in a bra that does something to me.

He's still watching. Even as I reach for the zipper at the back of my skirt and tug it down slowly, letting the material float down to my ankles so that I can step out of them and kick them away.

Now, I'm standing there, just a few feet away from him, but I might as well be chest to chest with the way his body reacts at the sight of me in nothing but my underwear and heels.

He takes a deep breath before dropping his hand down to his growing erection, and he watches me as he palms himself.

I feel a jolt of electricity run down my spine. It's that feeling knowing we're on the verge of doing something very, very wrong.

I gulp. And turn away from him. I reach behind me and unhook my bra, letting it fall to the floor just as I hook my fingers onto the waistband of my panties and let them fall, too. I step out of my heels and kick them to the side.

Grabbing the white towel I brought in, I wrap it around my body and secure it in place, then gather my hair and tie it on top of my head before turning to face Keelan again.

I open my mouth, the words "We shouldn't do this"on the tip of my tongue when he crosses the room, snakes an arm behind my back, and hauls me to him. His hard body presses against my curves. He drags his other hand up to my neck and forces me to look up at him.

"Rina," he growls out. "Tell me that's not how you undress to get in your sauna. Because if it is…" He shakes his head in disapproval.

My voice is thick with need. "Oh, yeah? And what would you do about it, Landry?"

He brushes his lips gently over mine. The tingling sensation of the softness of our lips just barely brushing against each other ignites my desire for him even more.

"I'll break anyone who so much as looks in your direction," he whispers against my lips.

The words come out harsh. But they're not just a threat—they're a promise. One I've seen him make good on.

I swallow hard, battling with myself. The part of me that wants this more than anything in the world—against the part that knows Keelan Landry is off-limits. And now, thanks to our current predicament, he might always be.

"Let's just… get to work," I whisper onto his lips with all the restraint I can muster.

The half-lidded look in his eyes vanishes and he quickly drops his arms and takes a step back from me like I'm a snake that might bite him at any moment.

"Is that what you want?" he asks, voice still husky. “Towork?”

No. I want to be bad. I want to do what everyone assumes I'm doing anyway—Redmond included.

I want to forget about the stresses. Forget about the messes. And just be, in this moment, with him.

"Yes," I say instead. Cooler heads prevail.

He nods and takes another step back, motioning toward the sauna. "Fine. We’ll talk aboutwork. You first."

Ten minutes in, and we're getting nowhere fast.

He thinks he should lean into the whole protective team captain thing. Be a spokesperson for standing up to bullies.

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