Page 24 of Tropical Inferno

“He’s your brother!” he spat out. “It’s not the same.”

“But if you’re mine and I’m yours, then he’s your brother now too.”

“Maddie, come on.” He wouldn’t look at her. “That romantic nonsense works in the middle of the night but in the light of day, we’ve known each other three days. Your family doesn’t give a damn about me and, frankly, neither should you.”

Her jaw clenched angrily through the tears that sprung to her eyes. “Really. So last night was romantic nonsense? I was already putting out—why the hell did we need to pretend? I seduced you! I wanted to get laid as much as you did, so why was all of that romantic bullshit necessary?”

“Because women like it!” he shot back, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I like you—I adore you—but you want something I can’t give you. This is what I was afraid of. I didn’t want to hurt you, but today and tomorrow are all I have. Take it or leave it.”

She met his gaze defiantly and held out her hand. “I want your keys.”

“What?” Caught off guard, he could only stare at her in confusion.

“Keys. To your rental. Please.” She was still holding out her hand, a thunderous look on her face.

He hesitated but then moved to the counter, picked them up and handed them to her. “The rental agreement with my legal name isn’t in the glove compartment.”

She laughed derisively. “I never even thought about that—my bad. No, I’m going back to that beach we went to on the north shore. I saw running trails up there and I need to be alone for a while. Can I take the car and go, please?”

“By yourself?”

She rolled her eyes. “Can I take the SUV or not?”

He made an impatient gesture. “I already handed you the keys. Just take your phone and answer if I call—after what happened at the motel, I don’t want to worry about you.”

“Fine.” She grabbed socks and sneakers off the floor of her room, put them on, stuck her ID and phone in an armband designed specifically for runners to hold those things and headed towards the door. On impulse, she turned back to her room, dug around for her earplugs and then walked out the door without looking back.

* * *

Watching her go, Hawk felt a moment of discomfiture. Not because of their fight—he’d known this was coming—but because she was going off alone to a place she wasn’t familiar with. He desperately wanted to follow but that would piss her off even more. He’d call Jim and ask if anyone they knew up there who could watch out for her. If she wasn’t back in two hours, he’d go after her. For now, he needed to think about damage control. He’d avoided doing anything since Maddie had stumbled into his life, but he probably had an hour or two alone and needed to see what was going on with the team and his career. He loved hockey—it was all he’d ever wanted to do—but didn’t know how he’d go back after this. He’d have to apologize for something he hadn’t done. He’d have to publicly humiliate himself to protect a teammate he didn’t even like.

The bigger problem was that the alternative was equally distasteful. If he ratted the guy out, he wouldn’t have a career. This was the final year on his contract with the team, the Ottawa Generals. If he told the truth about what had happened, he’d be clear of one indiscretion but would be guilty of being disloyal, a terrible teammate, and worse. The bond guys shared in the locker room was directly linked to what they did on the ice and they would turn their back on him. Once word got out, no other team would want him either. Chances were the Generals wouldn’t re-sign him either way and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

13

Maddie ran until her lungs burned, her muscles screamed for mercy and sweat poured off of her like rain. When she finally collapsed on a tree stump that seemed to be calling out to her, she could barely breathe. She’d foolishly left without water and silently cursed her stubbornness. She was just so damn mad at Garrett. Or whatever his name was. Had he lied about that too, even though he’d sworn it was? Replaying their fight in her mind got her mad all over again. What was wrong with him? Could he actually be a murderer or rapist, something that as much as she cared for and believed in him, she couldn’t sweep under the rug? It didn’t feel that way; her gut told her he wasn’t that kind of man. He wasn’t capable of that kind of violence. Something unethical, maybe—but he had to have done it for a reason. Not knowing was driving her crazy. Not because she didn’t trust him but because she wanted to help. Why wouldn’t he let her?

On impulse, she pulled out her phone. She stared at it a long time before pressing the button for the first number on her speed dial. Jamie.

“Maddie?” His sleepy voice startled her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, I just—shit! You worked late at the club last night and I woke you. I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong?” He was whispering, probably so he wouldn’t wake up his husband, Viggo.

“I met a guy and…” She blurted out the whole story, including being shot at. “I need to know who he is and what he did but I don’t know how to figure it out.”

“How can I help?”

“He said when I leave, I’m definitely going to find out about it, so that means he’s some kind of celebrity.”

“Or a hockey player, if you mentioned my name.”

She cringed just thinking about it. “He swore to me his real first name is Garrett. Can you dig around online and see if you can find a celebrity or athlete in a recent scandal named Garrett?”

Jamie hesitated for what seemed like a long time.

“Jamie?”

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