Page 139 of Full Mountie

“There might be a time when the PM and his wife-to-be want to play discreetly. And it’ll be our job to protect their right to do that.”

“Understood.”

“I’d have told you eventually.”

I know he would have. But we’ve arrived at the rink, so we don’t need to re-hash the hostility of my return to his life and how that sent him into a tailspin.

What matters is he pulled up, hard, and now we’re here. In more ways than one.

Ihaven’t playedsince leaving Toronto and it feels like it.

It’s not like I’m out of shape. I still managed to work out regularly in that time, but my stick handling isn’t as elegant as I’d like to believe it usually is.

Lachlan, on the other hand, doesn’t look like he’s skipped a game ever.

I spend a little too long watching his sexy legs glide down the ice and I miss an easy pass.

Fortunately, Tate manages to snag the puck and race toward the other team’s goal. The goalie blocks the shot, but Gavin scores on the rebound.

My error didn’t hurt us, but I spend the rest of the game trying to keep my eye on the puck instead of my lover. Mostly, I succeed.

At the end of the game, I skate up to Lachlan and jerk my head towards the stands where Ellie and Violet are packing up ready to leave. “Maybe Beth should come to the next game,” I tell him.

It’s just a passing thought, but his reaction surprises me. He just grunts and heads off to the locker room.

I know we’re still in the early days of our relationship, but at some point… Looking back up at the stands, my chest gets tight. Ellie and Violet are wearing dorky beaver hats, an unofficial uniform of their cheering squad. Beth would look adorable in a matching toque.

I give my head a small shake, then follow Lachlan off the ice.

After the game, most of the team meets up at a nearby pub.

Lachlan claps Max on the shoulder as we walk in. “I figured you’d have gone straight home.”

“Not tonight. Violet told me she’ll be going to sleep early anyway, so I may as well enjoy an evening at the pub while I still can, because once baby Donovan shows up, it’ll be all hands on deck. So, Gavin and Ellie dropped her off home and here I am.”

His face lights up when he mentions the baby. Impending parenthood looks good on him.

We sprawl out around two tables pushed together and order a disgusting amount of food. Nachos, poutine, wings. The conversation is light and easy. Sports and weather, home renovation and travel. For a group of pretty diverse income levels—Max and Tate at one extreme, and the public servants at the other—they’ve got a lot in common.

And then there’s the one thing they all share, but don’t talk about in a pub. So really, this is just like any kink munch I’ve attended in the past.

By the time my belly is full of poutine, I feel like I’m fitting right in.

While we’re waiting at the bar for another round of drinks, Corinne walks up to Lachlan. “Pool table’s free. How about a rematch?”

Lachlan smiles. “Sure, I’ll be right there.”

“Rematch?” I ask after she heads to the back corner.

“Yeah. She challenges me to one every time we’re somewhere with a table. She’s convinced one day she’ll beat me.”

Once we have our drinks, we join her. I sit on a tall stool against the wall that gives me a good vantage point of both Lachlan in action, and the balls on the table.

Ha. Balls.

I blame that dirty thought for the inappropriate chain reaction that follows as I watch Lachlan bend over the pool table to take his next shot—one leg on the ground, the other along the edge. The view is mouthwatering. He banks the shot, and the cue ball ends up kissing the fourteen between the cushion and the ten ball. While Corrine walks around the table, figuring out her shot, Lachlan settles against the wall a few feet from me.

I want him to lean against me while he waits for his next turn. I want to kiss him and tell him what a great shot he made.

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