Page 20 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)

Jack snorted and slowly let his hands fall from her shoulders before reluctantly letting go of her completely.

“Sure. Because Google is the best way to find out what kind of person the other is. Honestly, Penny, if our past determines what kind of person we are today, I wouldn’t be saddled with the name Saint but wearing an orange jumpsuit.

I thought that despite everything, we wouldn’t judge each other. ”

She swallowed, and when her gaze met his this time, he felt as if he could see a sea of emotions in her eyes, so many that a bad swimmer could drown in them. Anger, hope, doubt, joy…everything. Her emotions were as contradictory as her character.

“Everyone judges, Jack,” she whispered. “Always and all the time.”

“Then let them judge,” he replied calmly. “You know who you are. They don’t.”

“I know who I am?” she asked doubtfully. “That’s nonsense. I’m starting to think that nobody knows who I am.”

I know .

The words were on the tip of his tongue but never came out of his mouth. They were silly. Ridiculous, really. Incorrect. Or were they?

Penny sighed long and hard. “It doesn’t matter.

Being crazy makes my life more difficult.

If there weren’t so many absurd stories about me circulating on the internet, your fellow players and management might have more respect for me.

But what is the situation again? Oh yes: They would only be interested in me if I were a puck or a stripper.

” Despite everything, a smile threatened to engulf the last words.

“The others didn’t think that bothered you much,” he noted.

She waved it off. “God, no. To be honest, it was a little funny. I always compare myself in that way.”

“To a stripper?”

She laughed and some of the tension seemed to fall from her. “No! But thank you for that. I meant to a puck.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, haven’t you noticed? People like to push me around.

And if I don’t go where they want, they keep hitting me.

” Her voice was calm and cheerful, but her drawn face didn’t match.

“Seriously: Everyone wants me to lie to the team and say that the transition will be easy and won’t affect you guys in the slightest. How stupid does Lyle think you are?

And since when did telling the truth become eccentric ? ”

He eyed her thoughtfully. It seemed absurd that her last name was Clark, because the richest family in California had certainly been lying for several decades.

“Penny, may I ask a question?” he asked quietly. It was a question the whole team had been wondering about for a week. “Do you even want to own this team?”

For a moment, she raised her eyebrows in surprise before looking at her furry slippers and kneading the M&M’s packet in her hand. Ultimately, she said, “I want to do something right, Jack. Not be seen as a crazy failure in the eyes of my family. And I would be a fantastic owner.”

He nodded slowly. He understood that well.

“The problem is that the players don’t know me and to be honest, they won’t give me a chance,” she continued.

She shifted her jaw from one side to the other before her gaze landed on his face again.

“Unless, of course, one occasionally lets me know when the team is going out for a drink. Or simply invites me out in front of everyone else,” she said casually.

“That would help me a lot , obviously. I just wish I knew someone willing to do that…” She looked at him with hope.

Jack snorted in amusement. “So, you want a stranger to do you a favor? Or am I suddenly not a stranger when it comes to helping you?”

She frowned. “Can’t you make it a little easier for me?”

“Hm.” He had to think about that for a moment. The word easy didn’t have any connection to Penny. “Okay. I’ll let you know the next time we do something together, but what do I get in return?”

She sighed and folded her arms over her slim chest.

It only took him five seconds to realize that she hadn’t been lying earlier. She was really cold. And God, she wasn’t wearing a bra again. He suppressed a groan.

“My M&M’s?” she offered, holding out the pack to him.

“Oh no, I was thinking more along the lines of a favor.”

“What kind of favor?” she asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know. I still have to think of one. But I have a feeling I might need one at some point. So, you’ll have to give me a rain check.”

She nervously tugged at the hem of her pajamas. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said quietly. “Because you seem extremely creative to me.”

He grinned. “Oh, I am. But that’s the deal: I’ll help you with the team and you owe me a favor.” He held out his hand.

Penny stared at his hand for a few endless seconds and then sighed heavily and shook it. “Fine. We have a deal. Although, I bet I’ll regret it at some point. But Future Penny can worry about that.”

“Future Jack is looking forward to it.”

She smiled. “I’m sure. However, a warning to Future Jack: I may not be a boa constrictor, but I do have access to some.”

He chuckled softly, feeling Penny’s fingernails scratching lightly against his palm. “Is that a threat?”

“Yes,” she replied even though her voice sounded uncertain.

“Well, you can try threatening me,” he said quietly, taking a step toward her. “But do I need to remind you that I’m a lot bigger and heavier than you?”

“Oh, not that much. I think I could wrestle you down,” she said confidently, lifting one corner of her mouth.

He had no doubt she could because all she had to do was ask him to lie on his back and he would do it. “Well, there’s the matter of me possibly taking a threat personally. And then, for revenge, I’ll let something personal about you slip out in front of the press.”

Penny’s eyes glittered as if she was more than ready to take on a fight with him. “Oh yeah? Like what?” she asked rebelliously.

He tilted his head a little lower until they were breathing the same air. “Like you enjoy biting earlobes when you climax. I bet some gossip magazines might be interested in that.”

He heard her swallow. Saw her pupils dilate. She didn’t back away from him, though. She stayed where she was so he could breathe in her scent of sun and Penny. “The press would be much more likely to wonder how you know that,” she informed him quietly, her gaze anchored in his.

“I could give them a detailed report. My memory is excellent.”

She laughed and small wrinkles formed around her light brown eyes. “Are you flirting with me again? Even though I forbade it?”

He made a face. “Does no one ever flirt with you? Or am I so bad that you always have to ask?”

She laughed louder and put a hand on his upper arm.

The touch was absolutely innocent, as light and easy-going as the humor between them, in stark contrast to the heat burning through his shirt.

“It’s my fault, really,” she assured him.

“It’s been a long time since anyone has used their charm so shamelessly to get me into bed again. ”

“How am I using my charm?”

“You’re standing way too close to me, aren’t you?” she murmured as her fingers wandered along his bicep. “And my memory is excellent, too. No matter how much clothing you wear.” Her fingers reached his palm and drew circles over the sensitive skin.

Shit, since when were hands erogenous zones?

“So, you can imagine me naked but I can’t imagine you?”

“Yes,” she whispered, smiling. “Because I’m your boss.” Her hand wandered to his chest and down the button placket, causing goosebumps to break out on his body. “And you do it anyway. Whether I forbid it or not. And I understand. But it is a stupid idea.”

His throat tightened. “Orgasm number five, you mean?” he whispered, grabbing her hand and pressing it to his chest so that it was right over his heart, which was behaving like an excited schoolboy just before the bell rang for recess.

He heard her swallow again. “Yes.”

“How can something so good be a bad idea?” he asked, tracing the curve between her neck and shoulder with his index finger.

Penny’s eyelids fluttered but she didn’t close them. “We’ve already talked about this.”

“Have we? Because I seem to have forgotten. And yet, I have such a great imagination.” He brushed his lips over her temple, down to her cheek, breathing her in. “There’s still so much I want to do. I haven’t even tasted you yet...with my mouth…”

“Holy mother of God, stop talking right now before I throw up in the hall!”

Penny pushed him away so hard that he hit his chin against hers before staggering backward. His neck cracked as he whipped his head around and looked into Dax’s face. His brother looked like he’d just peeked into hell — and found something much worse than expected.

“You picked her up at the airport?” His voice was so horrified and loud that it might as well have been that of a teenager who’d just caught his parents having sex. “Are you fucking serious, Jack? Do you have a death wish ?!”

“Oh God,” Penny exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock and then looking frantically at Jack. “You told him about it?”

“That’s right, ‘ oh God’ !” Dax agreed roughly with Penny before Jack could answer.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.” He sang the words to himself in agony, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing both hands against his ears.

“I’ll never be able to forget this! The things I saw and heard…

My eyes are burning. My ears are burning.

And the words are stuck in my brain and only a lobotomy can help!

Who still does something like that and…”

“Dax, keep your voice down!” Jack interrupted. If Dax spoke any louder, they might as well sell the information to the tabloids.

“How can I?” he cried in disbelief. “Is that why you didn’t want to tell me who she was? Because you’re fucking the boss?”

“We’re not fucking at all,” Penny interjected, panicking. “It was only that one night and I didn’t know he was a hockey player!”

“How could you not know?” Dax stared at her wide-eyed. “You might get the whole team !”