Page 105 of Mine For The Winter

Kris laughed. “I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, well I don’t want him to take advantage, that’s all.”

“Kris!” Cole’s shout was louder this time. “Come on!”

His eyes flickered to hers. “I’ll see you later, beautiful.” Then he walked toward her, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. And she felt his kiss – as soft as it was – all the way down to her toes.

And she was still smiling when he walked out of the door, covering the distance between her house and his car in a few easy strides, pulling the driver’s door open before he climbed inside.

And as the engine started up, she realized that most of her heart was in that car. The child she adored and the man she’d loved since she’d been a child herself.

“Good luck!” she shouted and Kris put his arm out of the driver’s window, giving her a thumb’s up.

And as they drove away she felt her chest tighten. Her son was growing up and she couldn’t stop it. She shouldn’t want to.

But it was getting harder and harder to protect him the way she wanted to.

27

“Okay, this is your locker room,” Cole said, pointing at the away team room. “All the dads are in there.”

Kris shifted his rucksack from his arm to his hand, curling his fingers around the handle. “I’ll wait here until you’re in your locker room.”

Cole shot him a strange look. “You don’t need to do that.”

“I know. But your mom will kill me if I don’t keep an eye on you.” He shrugged. “I promised.” And he’d learned from experience that if he promised Kelly something, then she was damn sure going to get it. Not because he was scared of her but because he had something to prove.

A lot of things.

“Okay then. But don’t follow me. We’ll be talking tactics and the dads can’t know our plans.”

Kris bit down a smile. Cole had been so excited on the drive over here. Not just because Kelly had allowed him to go in Kris’ car alone, but because they’d be on the ice together for an hour. He’d made Kris promise not to take it easy on him, and yeah, Kris may have curled one finger over the other for that.

Cole’s team was full of kids. There was no way he was going in like he used to when he played in school.

Once Cole had disappeared inside his own locker room, Kris pushed the dads’ door open. Inside, there were at least fifteen dads, all in various states of undress. Some of them looked less than enthusiastic about climbing into their compression shorts and jockstraps.

“You made it.”

Kris looked up to see the guy he’d met in the coffee shop walking toward him. “Hey, Greg.”

“Let me introduce you to my brother–in-law,” he said. “The one I told you about. He’s stepping in for Daniel’s dad. He had to drop out, some kind of work emergency. Ian, this is Kris. He’s just arrived in town, too.”

Ian reached his hand out. And Kris shook it, but he wasn’t exactly feeling ecstatic about it. The man was well built, smooth, with one of those jaw lines he could remember his GI Joe toy having back when he was a kid.

“Good to meet you,” Ian said. “I hear you’re a center. Me too.”

Excellent. They wouldn’t be playing at the same time then. “I was. Once. Now I’m just going to try to keep upright on the ice.”

Ian laughed. “Yeah, I feel that. I pull a muscle getting the milk out of the refrigerator.”

“I was telling Ian about Kelly,” Greg continued. “I know she’s busy all the way up through Christmas, but Ian’s staying until the new year so hopefully we can all get together then.” Greg smiled at Kris. “You’re invited, too, of course.” He glanced at Ian. “Kris is kind of like Cole’s uncle.”

“I hear he and Reece are good friends,” Ian said.

“I’ve no idea.” Kris lifted his bag. “I gotta get ready. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“We’re on in ten minutes,” Greg reminded him. “And don’t worry, you and Ian can catch up at the diner. He’s coming, too.”

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