Page 119 of The Puck Stops Here

Saturday morning, Astrid arrived at the rink just before seven and Joey, the security guard, let her in. He was a sweetheart, always ready with an eye-crinkling smile.

‘Good morning, Ms Sinclair. Ready for your lesson?’

It didn’t surprise her that he already knew; Aiden would have added her to the visitors’ list.

‘My head is. My body not so much.’

‘Ah, you’ll get there, give it time.’

She smiled. ‘I appreciate the vote of confidence, Joey. Am I okay to go on down?’

‘Sure are, he’s already down there.’

‘Heis?’

She shouldn’t be surprised at that either. Aiden was nothing if not punctual… save for the photoshoot morning when she really could’ve done with him sticking to form.

‘He’s been here an hour already; you’re his second lesson of the morning.’

‘I am? I didn’t realise he made a habit of it…’

‘Sure. He’s been bringing little Leo here for a couple of years now. The kid’s a huge fan.’

Leo?The kid in the photo? Aiden was teaching him too!

And if that was the case, why hadn’t he just said that to her when she’d asked?

Unless… was there more to the connection? More than a simple case of tutoring a local kid… And why put it on Blake to explain?

‘Thanks, Joey!’

She hurried off, yanking open the heavy doors to the rink and diving in…

‘I did it, Mom!’ a kid’s shout echoed through the empty arena. ‘I did it, Blake!’

Astrid froze mid-step.Blake?

The door swung shut, smacking her on the arse and propelling her forth. Ouch!

‘Did you see?’ the kid said.

Astrid could see nothing yet, they were hidden by the seats, but she heard a man chuckle. Awareness pulsed, warm and fuzzy, through her veins. Blake.

‘I saw,’ she heard him say over the gentle hiss of their skates. ‘You aced it, buddy.’

She edged closer, eyes following the cones laid on the ice until the people weaving between them came into view. The blond kid from the photos and Blake. Her heart erupted with a thousand flutters – nerves and something else at work. She tugged her sleeves into her fists and wrapped her arms around her body.

Yes, she had watched the game against the Dallas Stars that week. Yes, she had devoured the postgame press conference he must have been coerced into attending after he’d delivered a record-scoring match. Butnothingcould beat seeing him in the flesh.

He wore his trademark black. From his jeans to the woollen beanie on his head to the same aviator jacket he’d wrapped around her just a few weeks ago. His cheeks were pink, and his stubble was back. God, how she’d missed him!

‘That was amazing, Leo!’

Astrid followed the female voice to see a young blonde woman spectating off to the left, her red bobble hat as bright as her smile. She clapped her hands, her red mitts muffling the sound as the kid skated up to her and hopped out of the rink, straight into her arms.

‘I’m so proud of you.’

‘I’m getting good, ain’t I, Mom?’

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