Page 5 of Puck You Very Much

…If they get the feeling you’re afraid of them or, worse, crushing on them, you might as well pack your bags,Leslie Forth’s voice echoed in her mind.

Oh, she wasn’t afraid of Dax Temple. And she had no problem proving that to him.

“My own number is eleven, Mr. Temple, but I feel no need to tell a journalist,” she replied coolly.

Dax choked on his mouthful of water and spit it onto the treadmill display.

Lucy smiled pleasantly. His reaction was more satisfying than her fictional number eleven.

“Eleven?” Stunned, he coughed.

“A shocked response from Mr. Fifty-Five?” she responded calmly. “Are you certain that number hasn’t been embellished and you’re not actually down to minus two sexual partners?”

“Minus two?” He narrowed his eyes. “How is that supposed to work?"

“Well, if someone performs badly in bed, I always deduct a few points. Seems that might be the case, here. A braggart can only be trying to compensate.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t reveal that voluntarily. So, let’s agree that neither of us will give our list of sexual partners to another soul, okay? That would be great.” She nodded happily and crossed off the first item on the list.

He laughed dryly. “Did you just imply that I’m bad in bed?”

“I didn’t imply anything. If anything, I stated it outright,” she replied flatly. “Let’s move on to point two: You will absolutely never use the wordpussy,even if a member of the opposing team behaves like a female cat. And you’re not going to show up at the conference half-naked just to pick up a journalist who likes your muscles. And under no circumstances are you allowed to say the name Jack West in combination with your middle finger or the wordmotherfuckerorsonofabitch—understood?”

“So, I’m forbidden from telling the truth?” Dax concluded, cocking his head thoughtfully. “So, everything my mother ever taught me was bullshit?”

“I hope not. But everything you’ve said in the last ten minutesisbullshit,” she replied tersely.

He smiled broadly. “Thank you. I was afraid that wasn’t coming across.”

She groaned loudly and tilted her head back. “Jeez, do you take anything seriously?” she snapped. “I, for one, do, so let me give you a tip: Get over your Jack West problem. I know you two have a stupid rivalry.” Anyone interested in hockey knew that! Ever since Dax Temple joined the NHL several years ago as an arrogant rookie and loudly announced that Jack West was “an overpaid ice troll with a face to match”—and since Jack had shown him up in front of the entire stadium during his first game, the two no longer held back on the ice. “But Jack West is extremely popular and the fact you don’t like him is bad for your image. Okay, so during your very first game, you proved to the whole world that you weren’t ready to compete with a proven great like him. But that was years ago and there’s no point in holding grudges. You did, after all, start the fight back then. Jack West is a nice guy—and no one understands why you still hate him! Why he hates you, on the other hand…” She shrugged. “I can think of one or two reasons right off the bat.”

The smile slid off Dax Temple’s face. “You don’t know anything about me and Jack West,” he said, his voice suddenly dangerously soft. “So, stop talking about things you don’t understand. And yes, I take some things seriously. That’s why I won’t let you, a miniature PR lackey who’s new on the job, stop me from speaking up. Tell Leslie that if she wants me to hold a press conference on my fucking birthday, I’ll say what I want and how I want. And it doesn’t matter how high your heels are, how high you lift your chin, or how boldly you speak to me, we both know you don’t belong here. If you want to hang out with hockey players, I recommend the Ice Lounge—it’s the bar where all the other groupies go.”

Lucy’s stomach clenched, but she put on a sweet smile and took a step back. “As you yourself implied, you know nothing about me or where I belong. So, I think that’s all for today. I’m looking forward to the next meeting, Dax. You’re just as charming as the press makes you out to be.”

With that, she turned and headed toward the door.

“Thank you very much, Luna!” he called after her. “I give you two weeks before you quit.”

She stopped abruptly and spun around. “I meant to say congratulations,” she said solemnly, strolling back to the treadmill where his feet were still working.

“Didn’t I forbid you from wishing me a happy birthday?” he growled.

“Oh, I didn’t say happy birthday,” she clarified, stopping in front of him. “I meant congratulations on being the biggest asshole in the entire organization. That’s what you wanted to prove to me, right? So, congratulations. You may have never won a Stanley Cup, unlike Jack West, but at least you have a title now… Oh, yeah, one more thing…” She raised her hand and slammed her palm down on the treadmill’s red stop button.

It came to an abrupt standstill. Dax Temple did not.

With a loud “Oof!” he ran into the terminal and stumbled backward from the sudden impact, ending up on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

She stared down at him, smiling. “It’s rude to appear at a business meeting half-naked and unfocused. Perhaps you didn’t know that before, since you’re still new on the job, but now you do.”

Without another word, she turned on her heels and stalked out of the room.

This was her damn dream job. She would stay. She would be successful. She would prove to everyone that she was worthy of respect. And she wasn’t going to let an arrogant dick like Dax Temple ruin it for her.

She pushed the door open and slammed it shut again. Where the hell was Matthew Payne? He owed her a fucking drink!

Chapter 1

One year later…

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