Page 84 of The Puck Stops Here

‘Sorry.’ Stella gave a tiny laugh. ‘My dad calls it my Rottweiler streak. It comes out when I need it.’

‘No apology necessary,’ Astrid assured her, admiration swelling despite the threat of being potential dog fodder. ‘It’s good to know you care about them that much.’

‘I do. Both professionally and personally. It’s hard not to.’

Astrid placed her glass down and took up her notepad. Every question was crossed off save for the last.

‘So to round off the interview, do you have any last words to sum them up?’

She smiled. ‘Well Aiden’s Aiden. I mean, look at the guy. All charm and professionalism. A true figurehead for the franchise. He keeps the team in line and leads by example both on and off the ice.’

‘And Blake?’

‘Bad boy rep aside, that man’s passion outshines the rest. Whether it’s making game-changing plays or mentoring our younger players, he’s an all-round all-star.’

No hesitation. No publicity spiel. Just her honest truth and it tallied with everything Astrid had heard that day, with Coach, with Ezra… It had been one thing to hear the respect Coach had for them, another to hear it from Ezra. She knew some guys could be real arseholes to those ‘lower down the ranks’ but the twins were anything but.

And now she was in conversation with Stella, a woman who would sooner claw her eyes out than let her print a bad word in their name.

‘Do you think it’s Blake’s passion that gets him into trouble?’

‘Are we talking on or off the rink now?’

‘That depends, are we talking about sport in both cases?’

Stella pursed her lips, her blue eyes sparkling as she leaned in close…

‘Between you and me, and off the record?’

Astrid cleared her throat, feeling distinctly uncomfortable as she paused her recording. ‘Okay.’

‘Blake has a way with women, you know. Well, they both do. Though I can’t speak from personal experience when it comes to his brother…’

‘But you can with Blake?’ And why did that stick in her throat so much? Stella was an attractive woman. Blake was an attractive man. It shouldn’t be a surprise.

But from a professional standpoint…Like you have any right to judge her, almost-kissy-wissy-karma-seeking-hypocrite!

‘Don’t get me wrong though, it never means anything more than what it is, a bit of fun, you know. He’s honest about it. Brutally so. And I respect that.’

And how the hell was the woman spinning this into a positive?

‘Isn’t it a conflict of interest, sleeping with a player?’

‘Not the way he does it. No strings, just fun. No one can get hurt, right?’

Her tummy twisted. ‘Right… well, I think that’s us done.’

She closed her notebook and popped her phone on top, all too keen to get out of there and give herself a slap.

‘Already?’

‘I think you’ve given me plenty to work with.’

‘Are you sure? I can knock up a few more quotes for you, give you some extra juice to work with…’

‘It’s fine but thank you.’

‘No problem.’ She rose to her feet, her smile relentless. ‘If you’re done for the day, how about we hit a bar? We can debrief over a drink or two – my treat.’

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