“Just butterfly it. It’ll keep the wound closed. You’ve already made sure it’s cleaner than a surgery bay.”
Jacey glanced up at him, eyes narrowed, and he laughed. But she didn’t question his expertise. He got wounds dressed all the time. Hazard of the job. Jacey found the small bandages and taped a row of them across his gash, drawing the edges together for quick healing. He made a fist then flexed his fingers a few times. “Feels good.”
“I should do your back too.” He opened his mouth to protest, but Jacey put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.
He shook his head. “Are you always so pushy?”
“Only when I need to be.” He felt her dabbing at his back, and he clenched his teeth. He heard her grab the Bactine again, and he squeezed his eyes closed in preparation. It didn’t help. She sprayed him up and down like it was sunscreen. This time he did flinch and sucked air through his teeth before swearing under his breath. He heard a few, quick, quiet puffs of breath before he turned around. Was she laughing at him?
Footsteps sounded around the corner, bare feet on polished tile. “Hey Jace … ” Madden entered the kitchen in surf trunks, a towel draped over his arm, cell phone in hand. He paused, taking in the situation. “What’s … goin’ on?”
Carter shifted uncomfortably. Jacey cleared her throat. “It turns out Phlynn lives in Diamond Cove. I was skating on the trail, and he was running, and we … collided.”
“She ran me over like a possum.”
Madden barked with laughter, and Jacey swatted Carter on the bicep. He laughed too. She slid a hand from her forehead back over her ponytail. “There were strollers and walkers and cyclists … ”
“Oh, my.” Madden completed the fractured quote.
“
Any
way, I offered to bring him back here and clean up his scrapes.”
“Least you can do, Sis.” Madden picked up an apple from the basket on the island and took a bite. “I was just headed for a swim. Wanted to tell you I’m going out later. Might not see you until Monday morning. Ish.”
“No ‘ish.’ Monday morning, nine
A.M.
”
“Sure, sure, whatever you say.” He smiled amicably, winked, and dropped a kiss on his sister’s cheek as he strode past, out the French doors to the pool. Jacey released a slow breath.
Carter smiled and lifted his brows. “Everything going okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Madden, he’s great. He just gets distracted sometimes. It’s like that phone is anatomically attached, and he almost never leaves the house. But he’s been a big help. For the most part.”
His smile widened into a grin then faded. He remembered how much of a big help he was after the staff meeting a few weeks ago. He’d seen her around since but avoided her. “Hey … I wanted to apologize. For how I acted after the meeting. I was surprised. I didn’t mean to make things worse for you.”
“Thank you. I know it was a shock for everybody. But I knew Nealy would be a good coach. I’ve never met anyone who knew the sport better. Not even my dad.”
He bit the inside of his cheek, stared at the marble countertop, and lifted a shoulder. “She does know hockey, but … honestly, the practices have been rough. The guys listen on ice, but after she leaves the locker room … ”
“I’ve watched a few of the practices. It looks like everyone’s game is improving.” Her voice held an edge, and it got under his skin.
“That’s what practice does. They improved under Peabo’s watch too.”
“Somebody is going to be telling you what to do. Why don’t you just say it? You don’t like having a woman for a boss.”
“I don’t like having a woman for a coach. You … ” There was no good way to end that sentence. She … what? Infuriated him. Frustrated him. Invaded his dreams. Made him ache.
Silence stretched between them. Standing only about a foot apart, he could feel her even though they weren’t touching. Tension crackled around them like a live wire spitting sparks. Changing the subject would be easiest. “Thanks for patching me up. You do good work. Your hands are a lot softer than Bill’s.” The Sinners’ athletic trainer would probably be happy to hear that. Bill came through in the trenches, but anywhere outside the locker room, Carter preferred Jacey’s hands on him. Come to think of it, in the locker room would be hot, too …
Jacey appeared to fight a grin. She lost and shook her head. “Yeah … well. I’ve always had a you-break-it-you-buy-it policy.”
That snapped him back to the present, and he smiled mischievously. “Is that so? Does that mean you own me now?”
“In a manner of speaking. And don’t you forget it.” Jacey poked his chest playfully.
He sobered a little but kept his tone playful. “I wouldn’t dare.” Another beat of heavy silence. If one of them didn’t say something soon, they’d be rolling on the ground again, but this time on purpose. “I should get going. I guess I’ll … see you around.”
“Yes.” Jacey smiled. “At — at work.”
He laughed and nodded. “Yeah. At work. Let’s try not to repeat this.” He lifted his arm, and her blush tightened his chest. “Bye, boss.”
Monday, September 26
Nine fifteen. Nine sixteen. Nine seventeen … by the time the clock hit nine twenty, Jacey growled and leaned back in her chair, staring at her office door. Any second, her brother would walk through — she hoped — and have a damn good excuse. She hoped. She’d already been there for two and a half hours, returning phone calls, setting up interviews and organizing the press conference Madden was supposed to deal with. It was exactly why their father had left her the team. And why she regretted the positions she’d given her brother.
“Hey, Jace.” The jerk in question breezed in and dropped into the seat opposite her desk. He set a to-go coffee cup in front of her then leaned back, nursing one himself. As he crossed an ankle over his knee, she noted his current fashion statement: old band T-shirt under a pinstripe blazer, dark denim pants, leather flip-flops, and sunglasses.
Jacey didn’t touch the coffee, and after a minute, Madden shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I know. I know I’m late. I’m really sorry. I stopped for coffee, and the line was out the door. But I’m here and ready to work.” He didn’t move the shades.
“Are you hung over?”
“Wha’? Jace. You know I wouldn’t do that. I do my heavy drinking on Saturday nights.”
She put some saccharine in her smile. “Then can I see your pretty, blue, non-bloodshot eyes?”
“Sis … ”
“Mad … ”
He sighed and hesitated a minute before pulling the sunglasses down. His eyes were not red. They were black and blue. Her lips parted, but he beat her to the punch. “Okay, yeah, I went out to have a few drinks last night, but I didn’t get drunk. This other guy, however, he did. He said something stupid, I put him in his place … things happened.”
“Things happened.”
“Look, I’m not proud of it, okay? But nobody knew who I was, no flashing cameras. The great Vaughn name is safe.”
Feeling generous, she let the snide tone slide and kept her voice level. “You weren’t in a casino?”
“That again?” He glanced away and pushed a hand back through his hair. “Come on. I don’t do that anymore.”
If she pushed, he’d get defensive and shut down. “All right. But if you do get in trouble, you need to tell me. I mean it, Maddie.”
“
Ah
.” He held up a finger in reminder of her promise. “Jace, I swear. If I find myself in trouble, you’re the first one I go to. But I won’t, so it’s not a problem.” He must have sensed she wasn’t about to let it go, because he followed that up with, “So what’s with you and Phlynn?”
The non sequitur gave her pause, and her mouth dropped open as she tried to connect the dots. “Carter? Nothing.”
“Carter.” An impish grin transformed his bruised face into the lady-killer she knew him to be. “If you want people to believe that, you really gotta stop calling him by his first name, Sis. Dead giveaway. Oh, and you brought him to our house.”
Jacey could feel the color in her cheeks and willed it away, shaking her head. “That … I didn’t plan that. I knocked him down, and he was bleeding, and I felt responsible. I was responsible.”
“Mmmhmm. I felt a vibe.”
“Vibe? There was no
vibe
. He’s the captain of my team. I have a vested interest in his health.” Jacey huffed, and Madden laughed. She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not that stupid.”
“Oh, you’re the smartest person I know. This is pretty out of character. That’s why I’m concerned. You really must like this guy.”
“I don’t like him. I barely know him.”
“Okay.” He smiled. “Just be careful, huh? My occasional bar fights won’t even make the media radar if you start dating the captain of our team.”
Jacey crumpled up a Post-It and threw it square at her brother’s forehead. It bounced off into his open coffee cup.
“Nice. That’s nice.” He grinned as he picked the paper out with two fingers and tossed it in her wastebasket. “Assignments for the day?”
She scooped up a pile of papers and held them out. Madden took them and headed for the door. “One more thing. You know he’s a player, right?” There was a
duh
on her lips, but he wasn’t done. “And I don’t just mean hockey.” Jacey closed her mouth. Madden quirked up a half smile and winked. “Just watch yourself, okay? Don’t want to see you get hurt. Not after last time.”
Last time. Alex.
Jacey swallowed the knot of emotion in her throat. Madden only had the Cliffnotes version of “last time”. It’d been a year, but every now and then the pain swelled to the surface, new and fresh. He must have seen it because he walked back over and dropped a light kiss on the top of her head before leaving.
The door closed, and Jacey sat back, numb. Madden. Felt protective. Of her. It was such a role reversal that she didn’t even dwell on his comment about Carter being a player. If she were being honest with herself … there’d be time for introspection later.
• • •
“Reese, get your ass off the ice.” Nealy blew her whistle at the goalie, causing him to scramble around and find his footing, though he leaned heavily on the crossbar. Jacey bit back a smile as she eased down the arena steps in her black, round-toed pumps to a seat behind the players’ box. The rest of the team panted, and their strides slowed as practice wound down. It was a large rink, but up this close, the sweat-sock smell was strong, and Jacey made an effort to breathe strictly through her mouth.
“All right, ladies, we’ll call it a day. Bennett, you made some good progress in the passing drills. Cole, you’re second-line center, so I need you to work on that face-off. And Phlynn, for God’s sake, make a mistake once in a while. I need something to criticize.” That got a laugh from the Sinners’ captain and grumbling resentment from the rest of the team as they skated off ice toward the locker room. Nealy spotted Jacey and glided over, swinging into the players’ box. Her smile was subdued, but her eyes sparked.
“I see everything’s going well.” Jacey grinned.
“They resisted at first, but I think I scare them.” Nealy laughed, sounding like an evil fairy, and leaned against the Plexiglas partition. “I give them hell, but the truth is, they look pretty good for the start of the preseason.”
“Excellent. Luckily, our first game is at home, so we’ll have that advantage too. What’s the plan?”
Nealy shrugged with a casual air that proved she had the nerves to coach. “These are more or less exhibition games, so we’ll play the rookies and the trades the most — get them used to the bigs and the core of our team. It’ll help us weed out the prospects that aren’t ready yet.” Jacey nodded. Nealy shook off her hockey gloves. “Something on your mind?”
Jacey bit her lip and considered how much to say. The only reason to tell Nealy the whole thing would be to just get it off her chest, and that was selfish. But maybe she should know. “The commissioner called me today.”
“About Phlynn? No? Oh … about me. He doesn’t want a woman coaching.”
“He didn’t say that. He more or less asked if I knew what I was doing. I reassured him my choices were informed. You’re the best one for the job, Nealy. I really believe that. And if the commissioner or anyone else has a problem with it, too bad. We’ll show them.”
Nealy looked about to argue, but she didn’t. After a few minutes, she said, “You’re doing a good job. It’s one thing to take the reins of a professional team with little-to-no training, but you’re practically rebuilding one from the ground up. It’s a lot. Your dad would be proud. I’m proud to be a part of it.”
The response caught her off guard, and tears threatened. Jacey blinked them back with a small smile. “Thanks, Nealy. This is your team as much as mine.” Before they both ended up crying, she cleared her throat. “How are we looking for the first preseason game?”
“Attendance shouldn’t be too high because it’s a Wednesday, but I’m sure the free admission will bring some butts in. That was a good idea, by the way.”
“Hey, the best way to advertise a product is to give free samples. I figure the preseason is the perfect time to do it. But only the first two games are free. Tickets are full price starting Saturday.”
“Lighting a fire under the new fans — nice. Our veteran players will thrive on a crowd, but it might intimidate the newbies. Best to get that out of the way before the real season starts.” Nealy slid a sweat-banded wrist across her forehead. “How was your second interview with that hockey magazine?”
“I think it went well. There wasn’t a question I didn’t have an answer for. Their last piece wasn’t too flattering, but I’ll be damned if they doubt me twice.”
“We’ll show ‘em.”
Jacey nodded as she started up the arena steps. “I hope so.”
Saturday, October 8th
High-pitched peals of laughter echoed off the metal ceiling and bounced off the walls of the north rink in the Las Vegas Ice Center, the place the team used for practice when the arena wasn’t available. Jacey looked on from the side, greeting new fans while Nealy and the players, in their Sinners’ jerseys, skated with kids of all ages. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but some of the guys were well known and had a ready fan base.