Page 31 of Here Be Dragons
Shane gave her a wistful smile and pulled away, his hand slowly drifting from her body. She felt cold without him next to her and tried to convince herself that she needed to feel cold. This was the way it had to be. And he seemed to feel the same way as he took a deliberate step back from her like he was desperate to put some distance between them.
Then Shane stuck his hand out towards her and gave her an awkward lopsided smile. "Ms. Foster, it was a pleasure working with you."
"A pleasure?"
"OK, maybe 'interesting' is a better word."
She smiled and shook his hand. "It was interesting working with you as well, Mr. Taylor."
His hand squeezed hers but just for a moment. It sent shivers up her spine and she desperately wished she could just hold on and not let go. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions and her own rules. It didn't have to be like this if she didn't want it to be like this. It wouldn't have to be like this if only he would accept that they didn't have to live by whatever rules they thought existed that they couldn't control. Because really, Ava had control of the rules, right? She always had control of the rules. She was a lawyer after all.
But then Shane slowly took a step back, his fingers slipping out of her grasp. There were still rules no matter how much either of them wished there weren't. The demands of their lives would still be calling for them.
Shane stared at Ava and she felt like he could see her, really see her. But then he took another step back and another. He turned his back to her and headed for his suitcase by the door before pausing with his hand lingering on the handle.
"I really liked being with you, Ava."
Liked?She would have to take what she could get and that was all she would ever get from him. It was all he would ever get from her anyway. They knew the rules.
"I liked our time together too."
He looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes smoldering but sad.
"Bye, Ava."
"Goodbye."
Shane reached for the door, taking an instinctive look in the hallway to make sure no one saw him, and then slipped out. The lock quietly clicked behind him.
Ava let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding on to. This sucked, it really did. But she was a lawyer and he was a hockey player. He was the captain of her brother's biggest rival. It just wouldn't work.
She finally walked over to her suitcase and looked down, the black lace panties sitting right on top of her pile of clothes. Then she dropped the top and zipped it shut. Her work in the Hamptons was done. It was time to get back to her job and her friends and the reality that she had left behind.
It was time to get back to Detroit.
Chapter Eleven
"Another win, boys! Another win!"
Shane bumped his hockey gloves with each player as they got off the ice as the sweat dripped down his face from that last shift. The coach left him out there to kill Seattle's power play in the final two minutes of the game, and Shane was more than happy to go along with it.
He was finally on the ice again. The season had started later than it should have after that stupid lockout, but it started. The Hamptons was now a distant memory from a month ago. So was Ava.
There was no doubt that Shane missed her, he could admit that to himself. He missed the way her skin felt against his fingers. He missed the way she laughed and her voice. He just missed her in a way that he had never missed any other woman. He could barely remember the name of that stupid model who had moved in with him and used his credit card to buy those red-soled shoes.
As Shane made his way down the hallway to the team's locker room, he could hear the opening notes of "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. He had no idea why their goalie had such an affection for '80s new wave music, but if that's how he wanted to celebrate then Shane wouldn't object. It was their fourth win in a row and they were working on one of the best starts in the franchise's history.
He immediately stripped off his gross smelly jersey and tossed it in the laundry bin for the equipment managers to handle. Then he headed to his locker and unstrapped the shoulder pads to hang up before stripping off his athletic shirt. He slid his guards on his blades and sat down to look around the room. This was his team, these were his guys. They chose him to be their leader for a reason, and he was going to do his best to never let them down. And to be fair, they were fighting hard to make him proud as well. Their pair of goalies had the best save percentage in the league right now. They were converting plenty of power plays. Two of the guys had already scored hat tricks this season. Things were just clicking on the ice.
Shane wished he could say the same for his personal life. His locker room was full of happiness, his bed would be empty again tonight. It just wasn't meant to be.
"Taylor!"
Shane turned to see his coach standing in the doorway looking over at him.
"What's up?"
"You have a visitor."
