Page 13 of The Puck Bunny

The words of my bold puck bunny run through my head. Without realizing it, I’d been looking forward to seeing her again.

Which only proves that Delaney is right because I can’t afford to get involved with a puck bunny—no matter how innocent—if I want to stay out of the limelight and have a nice, quiet, low-key life in New England. I need a steady girl I can bring home to Mom to satisfy her second condition for the Christmas family reunion—that I need to heal my fractured bond with my brother.

As I open the door of my newly delivered Land Rover, a picture of Ms. Bellagamba of the lovely legs pops into my head. Meeting Bellagamba was… interesting. More than the fact that she’s gorgeous in an understated way and obviously a fan because that sums up every puck bunny I ever met—except that she was… understated. Yeah, maybe that’s it. She seems so… innocent?

And familiar. That niggling at the back of my mind kicks in as if I’ve met her before. Maybe she’s from back home. If she went to UNH, she’s probably from New Hampshire so maybe I know her family or met her once somewhere a while back.

All I know is that there’s something familiar about her and that’s exciting as hell if I’m honest.

And a problem.

I nod to myself because I’m not okay with trouble. Recent issues in L.A. cured me of that. But this is nothing like that. That was all about a very different kind of woman.

Okay. We’re on.

I allow my curiosity to find out who Sara Bellagamba is and how I might know her—or at least have met her before—to take control. But I’ll have to be careful that my curiosity isn’t misinterpreted as anything more. Especially not by her.

Pulling out of my parking space, I dial up my new bud Finn because I sense a fellow mischief-lover in him.

He answers on the second ring. “Miss me already?”

“How’d you guess? Seriously, I have a question. No judgment.”

“You got it. Let it fly.”

“What do you know about Sara Bellagamba?”

“Who? She some super model I never heard of? An Italian starlet?”

I chuckle as I pull out of the garage and head for the tunnel to go meet the team’s realtor to see a place north of Boston.

“She’s a staffer for the Brawlers. Works for Delaney.”

He blows out a long whistle. “I don’t have a clue who she is, but if she works for Delaney, she’s in the hands-off zone with a barbed-wire electric fence wrapped around her. And spotlights with dogs and armed guards with orders to shoot—”

“All right, I get it. Maybe it’s not like that.” I’m lying my ass off, but even with all the caution lights flashing, I’m curious about her and there’s no harm in being curious.

“Oh yeah? What’s it like exactly?”

I can hear his smirk. the glee in his voice makes me grin. “Curiosity—and don’t say it.”

“What? About curiosity killing the cat? I wasn’t going to say a thing. No judgment. Of course, that doesn’t make you any less dead—”

“You can’t see it, but I’m giving you the finger right now.”

He laughs. “Seriously, what do you want to know?”

I blow out a breath because I don’t exactly know the answer to that.

“The usual. Who is she, where does she live, her family. I get the sense that I know her from somewhere, but I don’t want to ask her because I don’t want her to get the wrong impression like I’m hitting on her if I don’t know her from somewhere.”

“You sure you’re not looking to date her?”

“Positive. But I do have to work with her at the More Than Words event on Saturday and maybe I want to make sure we get along.”

“So that’s why you need me to make the inquiries?”

I chuckle. “You got me.” I pause. “I, uh, may have flirted unintentionally when Delaney introduced us. And Delaney may have called me on it.”