Her jaw drops. “You—”
“He deserved the visit.”
“Did you—”
“I didn’t get physical. I didn’t have to. I simply made it crystal clear how women are to be treated.”
It’s a beat as she processes this and then, before I know it, she’s pressing up onto her toe picks, and kissing me without hesitation, her arms winding around my neck as she presses closer. It doesn’t take me long to kiss her back, as if I’m drowning and she’s air, the way I’ve been wanting to all night.
This kiss is different from the one in my kitchen. Hungrier. More desperate. As if we’re both tired of pretending this isn’t exactly where we want to be.
When we break apart, her pupils are dilated.
“Emmitt,” she says, my name barely a whisper on her lips.
“Yeah?”
She looks at me for a long moment, and I see the war playing out in her eyes. Want versus caution. Heart versus head. Her hands slide down, over my shoulders, but she rests them flat on my chest as if she can’t quite bring herself to separate completely from me.
“We should probably go,” she murmurs but still doesn’t move away.
“Probably.”
“This is…” She trails off, looking around the empty rink as if she’s trying to find the right words.
“Crazy?”
“I was going to say perfect.” The admission seems to surprise her as much as it does me. “God, what are you doing to me?”
I trace my thumb along her jawline, feeling her shiver. “Same thing you’re doing to me.”
She closes her eyes, leaning into my touch.
“Take me home,” she says, so quietly I almost miss it.
“McKenna—”
“Please.” When she opens her eyes, they’re dark with want and something that looks like surrender. “I know I shouldn’t want this. I could list a hundred reasons sleeping together is a terrible idea. But I can’t… I can’t make myself care about any of that right now.”
Her voice breaks slightly on the last words, and I see how much this admission costs her. McKenna, who always has a plan, who weighs every decision, is choosing to let go of control.
“Are you sure?” I ask, my cock as hard as steel. I need to hear her say it one more time. I need confirmation I didn’t imagine she invited me to her bed out of sheer desire.
She nods. “Although there’s a strong chance I’ll change my mind at least a dozen times on the way home.”
McKenna
Ididn’tchangemymind.Getting fired isn’t part of my five-year plan, but this is just for tonight. He said it himself. Though there’s a strong possibility once will not be enough. Not even close.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I ask as the front door clicks shut behind us. Apparently, my manners kick in even when there’s a six-foot-three wall of muscle standing in my living room, looking as if he wants to devour me. “I have water, green tea, or…” I swallow hard, gesturing weakly at my kitchen, “more water.”
“McKenna.” His voice is gentle but firm, and it’s nothing like the commanding tone he uses during team meetings. This is softer. More intimate. “Come here.”
Even in casual clothes, there’s no hiding the powerful build that makes this man such a force on the ice. But here in my living room, he seems impossibly large, filling the entire space so much even the air itself feels charged with his presence.
I step closer, and his calloused hands settle on my waist, spanning nearly my entire torso. The bedframe in my room will protest his weight, I think absurdly, before his thumb traces along my ribcage and all rational thought evaporates.
I tilt my head back to meet his eyes and am struck by how careful he’s being, all that brute strength held in perfect check. This isn’t the captain everyone else sees, the one who can intimidate opposing players with a single look.
