Page 27 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)

Chapter Sixteen

I like you, Penny. A lot.

The words were innocent, but they had been warming Penny’s heart for days.

They warmed here even in the ice arena, where, although the VIP box where she and the rest of management sat for games was heated, it was still chilly.

It was strange. The people here claimed they were there to watch the game, but mostly what she had observed them doing was drinking copious champagne, digging into the buffet, and standing with their backs to the rink while they gossiped about other rich people.

Not even Gareth and Lyle were focused on the game; they had spent the last half hour fawning over a woman with a pearl necklace and an arrogant face.

This game was incredibly important. If the Hawks didn’t win eighty percent of their games this February, they would never make the playoffs, which began mid-April.

At this rate, though, Penny might not even live to see it.

She swallowed and shook her head. These were all worries for another day.

In any case, it was clear that the game was making about as much of an impression on the CEO as her idea of using Leon as a striker.

They obviously hoped that if they stopped talking about it, Penny would simply forget it.

She wouldn’t, though. She was using this opportunity to analyze Leon Alvarez’s performance – at least, whenever she wasn’t looking at Jack.

That meant she was watching Leon for about half the game.

Yeah, okay, more like a quarter!

The only other person standing attention wringing her hands and staring out at the ice was Lucy James, the Hawks’ PR consultant and girlfriend of Dax Temple.

Dax, who had been in two fights during the first half.

Penny understood why he was nicknamed the Devil .

The devil’s patience must be as short as his namesake’s.

The Hawks were currently leading, but just barely, and Lucy was obviously not happy with that.

“Oh God, Dax, pull yourself together!” Shaking her head, the PR consultant glanced at her. “The guy spends more time on the bench than on the ice! How is he going to score goals if he’s only thinking about which nose to break next?”

Penny laughed. “I don’t know, but he always looks up here guiltily when he’s sitting in the sin bin.”

“Yeah, because I told him that if he gets more than five penalty minutes today, I won’t sleep with him for two weeks,” she murmured and tilted her head. “But, to be honest, I don’t know if I can keep that threat because the idea is to punish him, not myself.”

“…But if you don’t go through with it, how is he supposed to learn?” Penny added, emphatically somber and regretful.

Lucy laughed and gave her a warm look. “You get it.”

Penny smiled broadly. “I think sex-conditioning works better than, like, spraying him with water every time he misbehaves.”

“I think you’re right, but that water thing would be a good tactic,” Lucy said enthusiastically. “I can use that for all the players! Except for Fox and Jack – they don’t need it. They always behave. Seriously, no other player is as scandal-free as they are.”

Penny snorted. “Oh, please. Jack isn’t as tame and saintly as the media portrays him.” She would never describe the episode at the swimming pool as scandal-free .

Lucy looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Is that so? Do you know something I don’t?”

Penny’s face heated up as she hastily shook her head. “What? No. It’s merely a hunch.” She cleared her throat. “I can see the mischief in his eyes.”

Lucy grinned. “I see. Yes, he does have that look about him. Anyway, Jack’s right: He said you’re pretty cool and not as stiff as the other clowns in management.” She nodded vaguely in Gareth and Lyle’s direction.

“Jack said that?” she asked, embarrassed. Jack was talking about her? Would it expose her motives if she asked Lucy to tell her every word he’d ever said about her? Did he also happen to mention that she was incredibly smart and pretty? That would interest her.

“Yup,” Lucy said with a smile. “I know most of the guys are acting out a bit, but if it helps, they did the same with me at the beginning. You just have to prove to them once and for all who’s the boss and they’ll be completely tame.”

Penny laughed. Jack had already said something along those lines. “Is that how you hooked up with Dax Temple?” she inquired. “You showed him who was boss and from then on he was eating out of your hand?”

Lucy grinned and glanced at her boyfriend, who was still sitting in the penalty box. “Something like that. Stick with him and Jack if you want to be accepted by the team. Most of them listen to Dax, and Jack knows what it means to be an outsider. He’s struggled with it half his life.”

“Oh. Okay.” He has? Why? “You know a lot about Jack West. Do you spend a lot of time with him?” Penny asked, surprised.

“Oh, yeah, because he’s Dax’s…” Lucy stopped and cleared her throat. “…Dax’s teammate.”

Penny frowned at the other woman. She had actually wanted to say something else. “If the two get along so well, why are there so many articles on the internet about how much they hate each other? I mean I didn’t get that feeling, but…”

“Oh, the internet says what it says,” Lucy said, turning her face away.

Penny, however, didn’t miss the fact that she was tapping her foot nervously.

“At least now they’re getting along pretty well.

Jack has settled into L.A. and…oh, speaking of that.

..” She turned back to Penny. “How are you doing here in L.A.? You’ve been traveling around the world a lot, haven’t you? Being back here must be a big change.”

Penny knew Lucy was trying to change the subject for some reason, but it didn’t bother her much.

It wouldn’t hurt to think about something other than Jack for a few minutes.

“It is. I miss traveling. I miss the landscape in South America. All the people I was able to help. The experiences I’ve had.

Then again…it’s also nice to stay in one place.

I mean, apart from running around with the Hawks. ”

She smiled because it was the truth. Over the last three years, she had never found peace or called one place home.

And, although working with the Hawks was stressful and frustrating, it was also fun.

She’d been able to compile an incredible set of statistics.

She’d also taken care of a number of charities with whom they had partnerships but who had received little attention.

“You know, it’s difficult to make close friends when you only stay in the same place for a week.

Not that I’ve made many friends in the last few weeks – I’ve been working so much.

” She rubbed her arms nervously. Jack wouldn’t call her a friend, would he?

The image of his naked, wet torso popped into her mind, and she grew hot.

Nope, there was nothing friendly about her feelings at all.

“Well, now you’ve made one,” Lucy said with a smile, pointing both thumbs at herself.

“I’m always happy to have a female ally in this absurd male world.

Me and my boss, Leslie, are pretty much the only women here who have anything to say.

It’s incredibly frustrating. So, I’m crossing my fingers that you win the silly competition for the Hawks. If you need anything, let me know.”

A warm feeling spread through her chest. It was nice to know she wasn’t alone in this male-dominated world of hockey and that there were people in the organization who were as open and generous as Lucy.

“Thank you. That’s…thank you,” she said, swallowing.

Lucy had no idea how much it meant to her.

It wasn’t easy to make friends when you had the last name Clark.

She had a few friends from college, all of whom lived in New York, but, otherwise…

“I’m not completely alone,” she said slowly, more to herself than to the PR consultant.

“I have my brother…” who had spent the last few weeks working even harder than usual to beat her in this ridiculous competition.

He wasn’t hostile, just incredibly focused.

She already knew that about him. His ability to work obsessively for something was the reason he was better than the rest of the world at so many things.

Unfortunately, he was also worse at maintaining relationships and… being her brother.

Penny had the feeling that being the sole owner of the Hawks wouldn’t be good for him at all.

He would work all hours trying to prove to their father that he could run the organization even better than he could.

She looked thoughtfully at Gareth, imagining him snorting and flipping her the bird if she were to raise these concerns. Lucy followed her gaze.

“Hm,” she said. “It’s hard to believe you’re siblings. You don’t look alike at all.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I hear that a lot. We have the same hair color and the same nose, but most people don’t notice that. His suits and cool, rational aura are too much of a contrast to my screw it attitude. That irritates a lot of people.”

Lucy laughed. “I couldn’t have put it better. But I don’t really resemble my sisters either,” she said, dismissively. “One is always nice, which I am only on good days, and the other finds hockey about as interesting as athlete’s foot.”

“Hey, athlete’s foot is rather interesting,” Penny immediately countered. “It’s one of the most common foot infections and yet it only affects twenty to twenty-five percent of the world’s population!”

Lucy laughed. “I have to disappoint you, Penny, but it’s not interesting.”

She grinned. “Well, maybe not like hockey, but I’d give it a solid B plus.”

“You’re generous with your grades,” Lucy said approvingly. “If I were athlete’s foot, I’d go for your feet.”