She glances at her watch.
“You’ve got plenty of time.”
“What? You can’t be fucking serious.”
She holds my eyes. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
No. She really fucking doesn’t. She looks downright terrifying, if I’m being honest with myself.
If the news she just delivered didn’t already have my dick wanting to retract inside my body, then that look on her face really does.
“She’s lying, Hailee. I’ve never had unprotected sex. Ever. Never.”
“I know.”
I rear back, my eyes widening.
“What the fuck do you mean, ‘you know?’”
“She said the same thing. You wrapped it. She was on birth control.”
“Then she’s fucking lying.” My arms lift and my fingers sink into my hair, tugging until it starts to hurt. “She’s lying to try to get to me. What does she want? Money? Health insurance?”
Hailee shakes her head. “She doesn’t want anything.”
“Bullshit. That’s fucking bullshit. Every single woman I spend time with wants something from me. It’s never just orgasms.”
“Lovely,” Hailee mutters.
“It’s true. You know this as it well as I do. Why are you letting her pull the wool over your eyes? You’re better than this.”
Hailee takes a step closer, not giving a single fuck that I’m practically a foot and a half taller than her. She stands her ground just as well as any hockey player who squares up to me.
“I am damn good at my job, Donnelly. If I say this woman isn’t lying, then it would be in your interest to believe me.”
I scoff. “Do you know her or something?”
Her eyes narrow, but her lips remain pursed, not giving me an answer.
“You need to follow me. You’re wasting time.”
Before I have a chance to respond, she spins on her heels and takes off down the hallway toward the elevators.
“Fuck,” I grunt, rubbing the tight muscles at the base of my neck.
“Donnelly,” Hailee barks when she notices that I haven’t fallen in line. “The sooner you get this sorted, the sooner you can be back down here, ready to play.”
“Fuck’s sake,” I mutter as my feet begin to move.
As we silently ride the elevator side by side, I fully convince myself that this whole thing is bullshit.
Puck bunnies go to these kinds of extremes all the time. It’s always a risk when we live the lifestyles we do. It’s why I’ve never taken a woman bareback.
Hailee takes off the second the doors open, her heels clicking against the polished tiled floor of the front office, and I follow her like an obedient puppy.
I hate every single second of it. But I don’t dare defy her.
Hailee holds more power around here than I care to think about. If she wants me pulled from tonight’s game, I have no doubt she could in a heartbeat. But while I might not feel like I’m worthy of being out there and fighting for the cup, I fucking well want to be.
