Page 63 of The Puck Stops Here

‘I date, I’m not a monk.’

‘Anyone serious?’

‘So you really are going there?’

‘It’s important that any profile piece gives a balanced view of its subject.’

He studied her steadily, then, ‘No, nobody serious.’

‘But there was?’ Because she swore she could see Sissi in his eyes, the past, the regret…

‘Nobody that needs bringing into this,’ he ground out. ‘Next question.’

She hesitated. The desire to call him out on it, to name Sienna and put him on the spot burned inside her, begging to be voiced. But how could she do that without letting slip what she already knew and how she knew it. Unless she could get Blake to name Sienna… nowthathad potential.

Then there could be no stopping her.

In the meantime…

‘So if there’s no serious relationship, and you don’t have any hobbies to distract you, how do you balance your personal life with the professional?’

‘What’s balance?’

She shook her head with a twisted smile. Time to wrap it up.

‘I reckon we’re pretty much done for today, but how about some rapid-fire questions to finish?’

‘Go for it.’

‘Favourite place to compete?’

‘Easy. Home ice. With our fans in the stadium, it’s like truly coming home.’

And as far from Ashbury Falls as he could get, she sensed.

‘If you weren’t a professional athlete, what career would you have pursued?’

‘I thought you said these were rapid-fire?’

‘They are. The trick is not to over think it.’

He smiled. ‘Yeah, okay. As a boy, I wanted to be a builder. I liked working with my hands. I would sit in the yard for hours nailing shit together. I could be happy with that.’

‘Good answer.’

‘I didn’t know I was being judged with every question.’

Always.

‘Don’t worry, if there was a scoring system at play your answers would be considered top shelf.’

Top shelf and restricted to what he was comfortable with off-loading. She recalled Paige’s edgy laugh at the airport, her friend’s delay before she’d spilled the beans on Horrible Harvey… Aiden clearly didn’t trust her with Sissi yet, but she’d get there.

‘You throwing hockey lingo at me?’

‘Trying.’

He laughed and her own smile grew against her will.

---