Page 7 of Breaking the Ice (Denver Stampede #6)

DANI

B elinda walked into my office not even five minutes after I’d returned from my negotiations meeting, date, whatever , with Gabe. She was waving her phone at me. “Want to share something with the class, Miss Dani?”

“Umm, what are you talking about?” I tried not to panic, but I’d already had a bunch of notifications since he’d tagged me in that post, including another message from my father, and I was definitely not in the mood to return that call.

My dad had liked Roger; of course he had.

Not that I cared or needed his opinion on who I dated.

Mal—my little brother, Malcolm Jr—had also been quick to comment about how cute we looked.

He was going to tease me endlessly about having another goalie boyfriend when he got back from vacationing in Hawaii with his boyfriend Rick.

Hell, he’d already started with the taunts about me having a type and asking if I had daddy issues since I kept going for goalies.

Mal had been a pain in the ass since his arrival when I was four, but I guess I still loved him.

Unlike our dad, he’d been livid about Roger, but I hadn’t filled him in on the whole kissing Gabe and fake dating thing when he’d called the other night.

I was still trying to wrap my head around all that anyway.

Luckily, he and Rick had had dinner plans so the call was short, but I knew he’d want an in-depth chat about my “new boyfriend” as soon as we touched base again.

I still hadn’t decided whether I was going to tell him the truth.

The more people who knew we were fake dating, the bigger chance it would all blow up in my face.

But he was my brother, and I hated keeping anything from him.

And then I would also have to add Rick to the list of people who knew, but Rick wouldn’t let any info slip.

“Don’t play dumb with me, missy. Granted, I have spent the last two days catching up, and we had to cancel our initial chat on Wednesday because Jasper got sick again, but you go to lunch and suddenly there are Instagram posts of you and your new boyfriend?

” She narrowed her eyes. “Explain yourself. You have fifteen minutes until our next clients arrive.”

I sighed. Since she’d been there at the start, so to speak, Belinda was one I’d planned to fill in, but between her son being sick and work being nonstop all week, I hadn’t had a chance.

And part of me was so annoyed that I was even in this situation.

What the hell had I been thinking, asking a stranger to kiss me in public?

“He’s hot, by the way, and you two look adorable.” She shut the door and took a seat on the couch while I plopped into my comfy chair across from her. “Spill all the deets.”

“It’s not real,” I muttered.

She leaned in. “What?”

I sighed again. I’d seriously been doing that way too much in the last few days. Fucking Roger. Jackass.

“So, after you left Reilly’s Friday night, Gabe showed up. He was nice. We were just chatting. But then Roger walked into the bar, and I was just tired of trying to get it through his thick skull that we were over. So I asked Gabe to kiss me and pretend we were dating.”

“Oh my god. How dare you wait until now to tell me this! An entire week? ” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You could’ve texted me over the weekend, I would’ve gladly taken a Roblox break. Hell, you could’ve made the time yesterday. Clients can wait.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Whatever.” She waved her hand at me. “Keep going. So, you kissed him. Was it epic? Stars in eyes? Did Roger cry?”

I barked out a laugh. “Please, you have to stop.”

Her eyes twinkled with humor. “Right, right. Go on, you, kissing a hot stranger. Damn, I should’ve stayed for the show.”

I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, the kiss was, uh, nice.”

“Blew your socks off, didn’t he?”

“Not the point. So we kissed and Roger got very vocal and pissed off and yelled about how I was still his.”

“Fucking prick.”

“Gabe was great, played his role perfect. But, uh, they know each other.”

Her mouth gaped. “Uh, what? No. How?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s a hockey player.”

“I know Roger’s a hockey player, but that doesn’t mean he automatically knows everyone.” Then her eyes widened and she burst out laughing. “ No . Gabe’s a hockey player? Are you serious?”

“Yup,” I deadpanned. “And a goalie.”

“Fucking hell. No, wait. Not the same team, right?”

I snorted. “Can you imagine? No, Gabe plays for the new Denver team. Fucking hell.” I shook my head.

“So then what happened?” She leaned forward. “Have any popcorn in here?” She smirked and I glared at her.

“Roger was a total dick. He didn’t believe we were really together and when we assured him we were, he made some comment about Gabe taking his leftovers.”

“I will kill him with a rusty shovel,” Belinda bit out.

“I told him we were done and he needed to get out and leave me alone. Miranda and Randy also backed me up and threatened to call the cops. He finally left. After that, I blocked him everywhere.”

“About damn time. Honestly, I wish you could get a restraining order on him, but we both know it would take a lot more than him just being a nuisance and a verbal asshole to get one. Has he tried to contact you since?”

“No.”

“Good, at least that’s something. So if it was just for show, what’s going on with you and Gabe now?”

“Remember when he messaged me the other day? Apparently his team played against Roger’s the night before, and Roger got in his face and was a dick.”

“Not surprising,” she muttered.

“Anyway, Roger was giving Gabe shit and pushing him to admit that we weren’t really dating, so Gabe pushed our ruse.

Made it sound like we really are a couple.

So he suggested we keep up the charade for a while as backup.

Post some stuff online, I go to a few games, then we let it fizzle out, just to get Roger to leave me alone for good. ”

Belinda nodded. “That’s crazy, but it also makes a kind of sense. And I could seriously murder Roger. What a fucking asshole. Take a no and move the fuck on, man. He clearly doesn’t hear that word enough, and I’m glad you got out before it got worse. Do you think he might escalate?”

“I honestly don’t know. He was a decent guy in the beginning, but as soon as he got controlling, I knew I needed to end it.

I thought I broke it off early enough, and I definitely didn’t expect him to keep hassling me and try to get me back.

Do you think it has something to do with my dad? Which is just pathetic if it does.”

“I mean, you are the daughter of Malcolm Albans, Hall-of-Famer goalie from Montreal.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Everyone in the hockey world loved my father. They didn’t know that deep down, he was an asshole. He’d played the role of stand-up guy around the league and in front of the media, but he wasn’t that man at home at all.

“Is Gabe the same? I mean, I know your thing is fake, but he’s also a goalie.”

“I’m not sure he knows Malcolm’s my father.

It never came up, and we still haven’t officially exchanged last names.

It’s not like I use my full name on Instagram.

” I chuckled. “Hell, I think I still have my stepdad’s last name as mine on Facebook.

Did it to piss off my dad, and I don’t think I ever changed it. ”

Belinda snorted. “Bet he loves that.”

I shrugged. “For now, I’m going to hope that Gabe doesn’t know who my father is. That he just stepped up because he’s a nice guy. But based on my track record of reading guys in the past, does that make me foolish?”

She reached out and squeezed my hand. “No, but just be cautious. Hopefully, he’s nothing like Roger. I mean, Roger was smooth, I’ll give him that.”

“Too smooth.”

“So, what do we know about Gabe? Aside from him being a goalie and a great kisser.”

“I never said he was great,” I grumbled.

“Your tone right now, and the expression you had on your face the other day when he texted, told me all I needed to know on that.” She grinned.

“Not funny. My expression was completely normal.”

“Ah, I’d go with dreamy.”

“I’m not really dating him,” I muttered.

“Close enough. Maybe it will turn into more.”

“Stop it right there. I just got rid of Roger, remember? I’m not going right back into dating someone else, especially not another hockey player. My therapist is going to have a field day with this. Dad’s a goalie, ex is a goalie, and now fake boyfriend is a goalie.”

Belinda chuckled, and I glared.

“Come on. It’s funny when you list it all out.”

I pouted. “No, it’s not.”

“Sure, sure. So, not really dating, but what do you think is going to happen when you have to kiss Gabe again? For show, of course, but it’s still kissing.”

“It’ll be fine. Professional.”

She burst out laughing. “Professional kissing? What does that even mean?”

I just glared at her, but she carried on, ignoring me.

“Seriously, who the hell are you trying to convince?”

“It’s the truth.”

She nodded. “Sure it is, Dani. Well, I don’t care, as long as he’s not a dick and Roger gets the message and backs off. Meanwhile, have some fun.”

“I’m not in the mood to have fun with Gabe—or anyone, for that matter.”

“Okay, fine. Just for show, I get it. Going to great lengths just for show though—first date, first couple photo on social media.”

“It’s all fake .”

She quirked her brow at me again. “That smile you had didn’t look fake.”

“It was for the cookie. You know they’re my favorite. And apparently his.” I mumbled that last part.

“What was that?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s his favorite cookie, too.”

“See? You’re perfect for each other.”

“Don’t you have a session coming up soon?”

She waved her hand at me. “Yeah, yeah. I know when I’m not wanted.” She faked a pout. “You know you deserve to have some fun, right? Gabe seems nice, so just go with it. Plus, it looks like Roger saw it.”

“What? How?” I peered at her phone.