Page 13 of Netting the Goalie

But I’d loosen the reins a little if it meant she came home with me.

“Or,” she continued, “we can wait—”

“I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”Damn but her smile slayed me.“Do you want to follow me?”

“Sure.That’d be great.”

I wanted to pump my fist in the air.“Great.Just let me say goodbye to Lori.”

She put her hand on my arm and my pulse thumped through my veins.“We can do that together.Let me get my coat and purse.Be right back.”

Ten minutes later, she followed behind my truck in her little red Jeep Renegade and I had to keep from speeding the entire way.The drive wasn’t long but I kept looking in the rearview mirror to make sure she was still there.

By the time we parked in the lot behind my building, I had clenched my jaw so tight, I was afraid it’d crack.

With my roommate home in Ottawa for the holidays, we’d have the place to themselves.Luckily, CJ was anal about everything and I had learned to be a little less of a mess while we’d been living together this season.So, the apartment wasn’t in bad shape.

And I’d actually changed the sheets on my bed yesterday.How was that for blind dumb luck?

Stepping out of her car, Bliss shivered a little as she put her hand on my arm as we walked to the building’s entrance.

“My car didn’t even have time to warm up on the drive,” she said.“You’re probably used to the cold, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much.When you spend as much time on the ice as we do, this is nothing.”

“When did you start playing hockey?”

I opened the door to the building and waved her in ahead of me.“Honestly, I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t on skates.My mom says I was born with them strapped to my feet.Where I grew up, you either skated or you spent a hell of a lot of time cooped up inside from November ’til April.”

“So you’ve played all your life?”

A short walk down the hall to my apartment and I had the door open as I answered.

“Never wanted to do anything else.I love the game.”

She slipped by me as I reached inside to turn on the light.“I don’t know much about the game.”

“I’ll teach you whatever you want to know.”

She stopped just inside the door as I continued into the living room, shrugging out of my coat so I could put it in the small closet next to the kitchen.

“My own personal player.Hmm, I think I’d like that.”

The husky tone in her voice made my head snap around to her.

“What do you want to know?Ask me anything.”

“Well, now.”Her eyes widened.“That’s almost too good to pass up.”

The teasing note in her voice, combined with that private little grin, made another shiver run up my spine.

“What do you want to know?”

Her head tipped to the side, as if she were thinking.“Do you enjoy what you do?”

Too easy.“Love it.It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

“That’s amazing.So many people have jobs they hate just so they can eat.But you get to do what you love.”

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