Page 18 of Breaking the Ice (Denver Stampede #6)

“Whatever. At least he’s still better than Rog the prick, right? Woof, the bar was really on the floor with that guy.”

“Rude. And Roger was nice at first. And charming.” I sighed, annoyed with myself that I was defending him. Except I wasn’t, I was defending my judgment.

Ugh, it was irritating.

“And now we’re done with him and good riddance,” Mal said.

I hadn’t given my brother too many details about my breakup and Roger not moving on, both because I’d been embarrassed that I’d fallen for a guy like that and because I didn’t want Mal to worry about me. I was going to fix this and everything would be fine.

“So, Gabe. Tell me everything. He makes you happy, right?”

That kiss last night had made me more than happy. Shit. I shouldn’t have gotten so into it, but he’d kissed and I’d melted and never wanted it to end. The catcalls from his teammates and the knowing looks from Harper and Josie when I’d come up for air had been awkward.

“Sounds like he does.” Mal’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“What? I didn’t even say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. You did this little sigh. What did you get up to last night? I’m so annoyed that I’m not there to see all of this in person. I don’t want to leave Hawaii, but I need to get home and check up on you.”

“I’m fine, and I promise you can meet him then. He’s a nice guy, funny and sweet.”

“Ooh, my sister is in L-O-V-E,” he sang.

“Shut up. It’s very new and we’re taking it slow.”

“Not based on your social media posts. Or his, actually. I immediately had to follow, naturally. You’re terrible at consistently posting.”

“Because I’m living my life and don’t need to document every second of it. Now, tell me how your trip is going.” I hoped that was enough to steer the discussion away from me and Gabe.

“Fine, fine. Keep your secrets for now. But I’ll sus them all out when I’m home.”

“I would never keep actual secrets from you.” And yet, I was. But no, because when he was actually standing in front of me and not just on the phone, I would so easily cave and tell him about the ruse. He would understand.

Hell, he’d probably love it.

I listened to Mal describe all the activities they’d done around a few of the islands. He was going to drive me crazy when he got back, but I loved him too much to care.

TUCKS

“I’m so excited that my favorite goalie was able to come last minute. This guy is a legend, and I’ve looked up to him since I was a kid.”

I was like a kid in a candy store and was pretty sure Dani was about to roll her eyes at my exuberance as we made our way into the hotel later that night for the charity event.

Fuck, she looked stunning tonight. The deep green dress molded to her upper body and flared out over her delectable ass.

Shit, I really needed to rein it in. Yes, we were still playing our loving-partner roles, but I had to try not to take it too far like I had last night at Tipsy.

My brain must have left my body as soon as my lips touched hers.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she said, pulling my head out of my dick.

“He’s commentating at the game tomorrow night, too.

” I’d briefly met Malcolm Albans a few times over the years, the first time being when I was a kid just dreaming about being a goalie for the big show.

He’d retired well before I started playing professionally, but I probably would’ve been too nervous to go up against him in an actual game anyway.

Not that goalies fired pucks on the other goalie.

“He used to play for Montreal, and he was a brick wall,” I continued. “Oh, that’s him. He’s walking toward us.”

I felt her stiffen next to me, her fingers clutching my arm as my idol stopped in front of us and gave Dani a big smile.

And then she said, “Hi, Dad.”

Dad? My gaze darted between Dani and Malcolm. What the hell? I guess there were some similarities around their cheekbones, but she didn’t have his jet-black hair or brown eyes.

“Danielle, darling, so good to see you. I did wonder if you’d be here.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she didn’t move in to embrace him at all, which was weird.

“I thought you were coming in tomorrow,” she said, taking a step back to put space between them. Her words were tight, as was her stance.

What the hell was going on? I’d followed his career and knew he had a kid or two, but I was more interested in his hockey stats than his family life, so it never even crossed my mind that my fake girlfriend could be my idol’s daughter.

And they clearly did not have a great relationship.

“So you did get my messages,” he said.

“Sorry. I’ve been busy with work and everything,” she replied.

“Too busy to make time for dinner with your father? But not too busy for charity events with your new boyfriend. I was sad to hear about you and Jenzy.” Then he chuckled, and the hair on the back of my neck felt tight.

“Guess you do have a type though,” he continued. “Nice to see you again, Tucks. It’s been a while.”

Malcolm held out his hand and I instinctively shook it. He squeezed, his grip firm, and I gave him pressure right back. He tilted his head, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Okay, that was a similarity between him and his daughter.

Fucking hell, his daughter.

Normally, I’d have been over the moon that this man recognized me, but now I just felt a bit icky.

“Nice to see you again too,” I replied woodenly. I kept my smile plastered on my face and gave his hand one last shake before he let go. I sure as hell wasn’t going to drop his hand first.

“We should grab a drink, maybe have them snap a photo of us,” Malcolm said, as if the tension was not thick as hell between him and Dani.

I needed to find out what was going on. Yes, she could be a bit prickly, but this was a completely different level of tension, and I didn’t like how she clearly wanted to not even be near him. What the hell had the man done?

“Of course you’d want a picture,” she bit out.

“Dani?” I turned my focus on her. Her expression was placid, but I could feel the anger coming off of her.

“Why wouldn’t I? I don’t often get to see my daughter since you’ve chosen to live in Denver and not back home in Montreal,” he said.

“Mom and Len are here. And Mal, your son, of course.”

“I know he’s my son.” The bite in his voice made me want nothing more than to whisk Dani away and get a real smile back on her face, listen to her if she wanted to explain what was going on with her father.

“Do you?” She took a sip from the wineglass I’d given her. “I’m not in the mood to do this right now, so we’re going to mingle with some of Gabe’s teammates. I would say enjoy your evening, but we both know I don’t really mean that.”

Malcolm Albans was known as a great player and charismatic guy.

I didn’t think I’d ever heard anything about him being an asshole, aside from when it was necessary on the ice.

But he’d obviously hurt or angered Dani.

I wanted to know why, but I knew that prying wouldn’t get her to open up.

She was prickly on a good day, and now she was pissed.

“And I might have a type, but Gabe is by far the best goalie and man I’ve ever met.

He’s an amazing guy on and off the ice. Guess I finally got it right.

” Then she linked her arm through mine, knocked back the rest of her wine, handed the empty glass to her father, and guided me further into the crowd.

Holy fucking hell, she was a breathtaking force to be reckoned with. I wanted to pull her into a dark corner and kiss the hell out of her if she’d let me.

“Are you okay?” I asked when we were far enough away from him.

Her fingers squeezed around my arm and she let out an audible sigh.

“Fucking hell. How bad was that?” she whispered.

“Pretty sure you handed him his ass like a pro.” Could she hear the awe and touch of humor in my voice?

She stopped walking and turned to face me.

“You aren’t mad?”

“What? Mad? Oh, at him? You can fill me in if you want, of course.”

Her face softened. “No. At me.”

I glanced around and then guided her toward a miraculously empty corner. Tonight’s event was packed.

“Gabe,” she said.

“Why the hell would I be mad at you?”

I held her gaze, and my eyes widened at her words.

“Because he’s your idol and I was rude to him,” she stated calmly, like this wasn’t the first time she’d had to defend her stance with her father, which just pissed me off further.

“Yeah, I looked up to him and followed his career. He was a top goalie. But you’re his daughter, so I’m sure you have your reasons for how you reacted to him. I swear, I had no clue that you were related.” I gave her a rueful smile. “Guess I should’ve gotten my girlfriend’s last name.”

She chuckled. “Meh, last names are overrated.” Then she was serious again. “I am sorry if I destroyed your dreams about him though.”

“You and I both know that sometimes people put on personas for their public images. I mean, we are fake dating, after all.”

“Very true,” she said sardonically.

“I’m not going to pry into your family life and you don’t have to tell me about him, but I will always be ready to listen if you ever want to share.”

“I swear, you are not real,” she murmured.

“I’m very real. I just happen to not be a complete asshole.”

“Unlike my father. I don’t want to get into all the ugly shit here, but he has always loved hockey more than he ever cared about his family.

As a kid, I grew up watching him play, and I loved my father, but as I got older, I saw him for who he really was.

For how he treated the people he was supposed to care for, not just his fans. ”

“I’m sorry. Every kid deserves loving parents and a supportive family.”

“Thanks. My mom and stepdad are great. And my brother Mal and his boyfriend Rick are the best. It’s just my father.”

“Well, then, you don’t need him in your life and if you want to use me as an excuse to not see him, like you have to be at all of my games or we have dinner plans or whatever, I’m always willing to be your excuse.”

She laughed softly. “You are too sweet, you know that?”

“It’s all those iced snickerdoodles Anna makes. She even has boxes delivered to the arena all the time.”

Her eyes were bright again, and I loved that her sparkle was back.

“I could totally go for one of those cookies right now.”

“Then you’re in luck, because I know she did a huge dessert spread for tonight. Let’s go spoil our dinner.”

She leaned forward and cupped my cheeks, then she was up on her toes and sealing her lips to mine. It was the first time she’d initiated a kiss. Okay, not true. She’d started the one that brought us to this, but this was the first since we started our ruse.

However, before I could truly get into it, maybe swipe my tongue against her lips, she pulled away and dropped back down on her heels.

“Thank you, really. I owe you so much.”

“No, you don’t. We’re friends and I’m always happy to help out a friend.”

Which was a lie. The more time I spent with her, the more I wanted something beyond friendship with her. I knew saying that out loud would freak her out though, so I was keeping it close to the vest for now.

“You really are a good guy.” She gave me a full smile and my chest squeezed.

I would do anything to get her to smile like that at me all the time.