Page 15 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)
“I have a question,” Leon said immediately, his hand shooting up.
“Oh no,” Lucy muttered.
He glared at her. “It’s fine! I won’t ask about the sex thing, but something completely harmless,” he promised impatiently before adding louder, “Did you actually slaughter a chicken in front of everyone at a gala?”
Jack choked on his own spit. What a ridiculous question! Of course Penny hadn’t…
Oh shit, was she blushing?
Stunned, he leaned forward in his chair and noticed half the team following his gesture.
“Hm,” Penny said, drawing out the word before straightening her back. “No.” She cleared her throat and added softly, “It was a rooster.”
Gareth Clark glanced at his hands and smiled. Leon’s eyes almost popped out of his head. Lucy was obviously suppressing a fit of laughter and Charkov had blanched.
Jack did none of that. He just kept staring at Penny, whose face now resembled a shy tomato. Why the hell would she admit to something like that? Why hadn’t she lied?
“But that was a long time ago,” she said finally, when the silence in the room had lasted too long.
“Five years ago!” Leon said incredulously.
“Well…yes.” She bit her lip. “I thought it was a good idea at the time. Although, these days, I rarely walk around with a cleaver.”
Jack suppressed an amused snort, but Leon stared at her as if he was afraid of being mistaken for a rooster in his sleep at night.
Penny seemed to notice because she added, “It was youthful recklessness, Mr. Alquez.”
Leon frowned. “Alvarez,” he grumbled. “I’m Leon Alvarez.”
“Ah.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “Alvarez. You’re the 38 percent.”
“What?” The defense attorney blinked at her in confusion.
“Nothing.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sorry. I still have to match names to the numbers. So, if that’s everything…”
“I have a question too,” Jack said, raising his hand.
He wasn’t quite sure why he did it. Maybe he was annoyed that Penny was looking at everyone but him.
Maybe he honestly wanted an answer to his question.
She did owe it to him. “What did you do before you came here? I mean not the last few nights…” He paused and raised one corner of his mouth. “I mean professionally.”
If it was possible, Penny turned a little redder. Finally, her gaze was on him, and as she licked her seemingly dry lips, the memory of what else she had licked automatically flashed through his mind.
Oh, crap. Maybe this was a stupid idea.
Penny blinked. “And your name?” she finally asked after a few odd, silent seconds.
His jaw automatically tensed. Right. The man who had given her four orgasms wasn’t going to get any special treatment. He should have expected that. Special treatment only started after orgasm number five. “Jack. Jack West,” he grumbled.
“Well, Jack, Jack West,” she echoed his words. “I was in South America, traveling for the last five years, collecting data for New York University and compiling statistics on poverty, crime, and the number of street children in Latin America.”
Hm. That quashed his math professor fantasy. On the other hand, he was flexible when it came to dirty thoughts, so he could deal with the answer.
“That doesn’t sound hockey-like,” Leon remarked critically.
Jack ignored him. He merely nodded and said, “Thank you, Persephone.”
She pursed her lips. “Penelope.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Sorry. It’s new for me.”
Her smile seemed more than forced but it stayed on her face. “No problem, Jack, Jack West.”
“You can’t hold it against him, Penny,” Captain Austin Fox spoke up, always the ridiculously friendly diplomat.
“During the season, Jack only remembers plays and opponent statistics. No names, no faces. Especially not women.” Fox grinned at him.
“Our saint here has a pact with himself not to start any affairs or relationships during the season. He plays better chaste.”
Oh, shit. “Thanks for revealing all of that information to her,” Jack said darkly.
Fox waved it off. “Oh, it’s really no secret and she did say she wanted to get to know us better. Right, Penny?”
He looked back at their potential future team owner, who was still staring at Jack, her mouth barely open. “Is that so?” she asked quietly. “No sex during the season? And now…it’s the season.”
He automatically sat up in his chair. His whole team was staring at him, so what else could he do but say, “Yup.”
Dax snorted, but thank God, kept his mouth shut.
“So that’s your rule . And you don’t make exceptions?” Penny asked casually.
Just the one . “No.”
“Hm. Interesting.”
“Oh, it’s not that interesting,” Leon interrupted. “Jack is just a prude and an idiot. Nothing new. What I have yet to hear is if you know anything about hockey?”
Surprised, she raised her eyebrows and tore her gaze from Jack. “Yes. I grew up around the sport and I’ve read your profiles. I know a lot about you.”
“Just not names?” Charkov asked, frowning.
“I have a better memory for numbers,” she admitted quietly. “But names will come. I know the important things.”
Leon snorted. “Naturally,” he said mockingly. “So, you also know that my stick technique is the best and that I deserve a raise?”
A small smile spread across her lips. “I know you’re A positive and statistically speaking, 38 percent of the opposing team’s goals this season were your fault, not Moreau’s.
And I know that you’ve only won 22 percent of face-offs so far and that two women are currently claiming you impregnated them, although I think they’re both just after your money.
Oh, and as for your stick technique…” Her smile widened a little.
“Of course yours is the best. When you have a shorter, smaller stick, your technique has to be better.”
Jack didn’t want to laugh but he couldn’t stop himself. Evidently, the rest of the team felt the same way. For once in his life, Leon was too speechless to respond and that eighth wonder of the world prompted Lucy to rise and end the meeting.
Penny thanked them, Gareth Clark merely raised his hand, and their general manager simply left the room without saying a word. Jack didn’t miss the fact that Penny again avoided his gaze as she walked out the door.
“Great,” Coach Gray said, relieved as soon as they were alone again. “Now, can we finally get going? Everyone, get your things and we’ll meet downstairs for the bus to the airport! I don’t want to hear any more moaning about the change in ownership today, we have to focus on the game.”
“Oh God, we’re screwed,” Alvarez said, violating their coach’s instructions as soon as he had left the room.
“Why?” Lucy asked sharply. “Because she’s a woman?”
“No!” Leon glared at her. “I’m not sexist, okay? No, we’re screwed because she didn’t know who I am! How well can she know hockey?”
Some of the others murmured in agreement.
“Oh, she’s not going to win the team anyway,” Matt said. “Come on, Gareth Clark is a cold-blooded asshole and he’s going to show up his sister from top to bottom.”
Jack lowered his gaze and said nothing. He hoped that Matt was wrong. Penny didn’t deserve that.
A discussion immediately broke out about how Clark would proceed, but Jack deliberately stayed out of it.
He didn’t share the others’ opinion that Penelope Clark wasn’t up to the challenge, but he had to keep reminding himself that he didn’t know her.
Yet…somehow he did, didn’t he? At least a little.
So, she might be unsettled, but she wouldn’t let it get her down.
She was smart and passionate. She would probably never take the conventional route – besides, who said the unconventional one was always less successful?
“Are you okay?”
Jack blinked and looked up. Lucas Moreau was watching him skeptically while the others were shouting.
“What?” Jack wanted to know.
“You haven’t said anything yet. About Penelope Clark.”
“You haven’t either.”
Moreau raised an eyebrow. “Yes, but people are used to me not saying anything. You, on the other hand, can’t keep your mouth shut.”
He shrugged. “I’ll wait and see what happens,” he finally replied softly.
Because, by God, what else could he do? He was slowly getting the feeling that he had to be prepared for anything with Penny. At least forgetting their night together had gone fairly well – hadn’t it?