Page 14 of Rookie Move

Luckily the guys were busy with practice and their first preseason game, so she hadn’t run into him—or his lips—since her father’s party.

Not that she hadn’t watched him during that first game. Or watched a few clips of him at practice on the team’s Instagram stories.

Hey. It was part of her job.

Ugh. She was a mess. She needed to focus on getting through her emails. She needed to be working and not daydreaming about Desmond and his stupid, pillowy-soft lips.

“It’s puppy day,” Brenda said, standing at Rylie’s desk and startling her out of her thoughts.

A weird gasp-squawk laugh spilled out of her and Brenda quirked her brow in question.

“Yeah. Puppy day,” Rylie echoed. “Edwin should be in soon with our bundle of fluff.”

“I’m so excited. We were a strict cat household growing up, and I don’t have the time to raise a dog on my own right now in my small apartment, so I can’t wait to have a puppy running around the office.”

Rylie laughed. “Well, not every day or we’d get nothing done.” They’d been lucky that one of the guys in the office, Edwin, had completed a completed a certification course and volunteered to take the puppy in while they were socializing him with the team. As much as Rylie wanted to bring the puppy home with her, she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. She’d read all about how demanding young, energetic puppies could be, and she wasn’t ready to sacrifice her shoes. No matter how cute he or she was.

She was excited that her first suggestion was already being put into action, and she hoped everything would go well with their new team addition. Westie had put her in contact with the children’s hospital and they had a few options for kids who they could eventually place the dog with.

If it worked out, she hoped that they would continue to socialize other dogs with the team until they were ready to be placed with their forever homes as service dogs.

They heard barking coming from down the hall.

“Guess he’s here,” Rylie said, pushing back from her desk. Her emails could wait. She had a puppy to greet.

“Perfect. The guys have an early morning practice, so I think you should bring him down to meet everyone. We have the full campaign set up with Chloe for social media, and the press release and contest promos are ready to go,” Brenda said as Edwin came around the corner.

Rylie laughed. She wasn’t sure who was leading who, the leash pulled taut as Edwin came into view with the ten-week-old yellow Lab.

“Oh my god, he’s so cute,” Brenda said, dropping down to pet the puppy who promptly licked her face.

“He’s cute, but he’s feisty. Got personality, this one,” Edwin said, tugging on the leash.

“That he does,” Brenda said, laughing as she ruffled the dog’s ears. “Shall we take him down to the ice?”

“Absolutely,” Rylie said. “Edwin, you’re coming, right? I’ve never had a dog, and this one looks like he’d be controlling me.”

Edwin grinned. “Lead the way.”

“Lachley, Dom, Westie.Work on two-on-ones,” Bugsy called out halfway through their morning on-ice practice. They were scheduled to watch a bunch of video and do some cardio in the gym next. The ramp-up to the season was going well and they had their third preseason game tomorrow night against Vegas.

His eyes darted between Dom and Westie as Dom passed the puck to his linemate. Desmond skated backward, shifting to match their moves as they tracked toward Gally in the net.

Dom went to fire the shot, but Desmond stretched out his stick and snagged the puck.

They continued running drills and Desmond’s legs were starting to feel like rubber.

“Gather round,” Bugsy yelled out, and they all skated toward their coach.

“Looking good, Nessie,” Finn said, stopping next to his defense partner. Not that the lines were set in stone, but Desmond was pretty sure he’d be paired up with Finn most of the time and their chemistry was growing every day.

“We have a temporary teammate I want to introduce to you,” Bugsy said, drawing Desmond’s attention toward the man as Rylie walked to the edge of the ice with some guy and a puppy.

“My amazing daughter thought the team should get a puppy,” Bugsy said. A smile that Desmond had never witnessed graced the man’s face.

“Dad, please,” she said.

But he barely spared his coach a thought as he turned to stare at Rylie. He knew the moment she spotted him and he enjoyed how she shifted on her feet before breaking eye contact.

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