Page 36 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)

Chapter Twenty-One

L ately, his teammates’ timing was getting on his nerves.

Sighing, Jack pulled on a t-shirt and strode toward the door. Sure, Moreau had seen him naked a hundred times, but the people who might be walking down the hall hadn’t.

Not unless they had seen the Sports Illustrated issue.

Sighing, he pulled the door open and raised his eyebrows at their goalie who was standing in the hall with his arms crossed. He peered into the hotel room with a frown on his face.

“Is anyone with you? You were just talking.”

Oh, crap. The guy’s hearing was too good. “I was talking to you. I was complaining about you disturbing my well-earned morning rest.”

Moreau snorted. “Why aren’t you answering the phone?”

“Why the hell are you up here?”

“I drew the short straw. Besides, you should have been downstairs by now.”

“Nonsense. The meeting isn’t for another two hours.”

“No. There’s been a change of plans. Clark wants to talk to us before we talk to the coach. One by one.”

Puzzled, Jack frowned. “Gareth wants to talk to us?”

“Nope. Darron.”

His mouth went dry, and his gaze slid quickly to the bathroom door. What was Penny’s father doing in Glendale? “The big boss is here?” he asked again to make sure.

“Yes. And he noticed that you were missing from breakfast. Gray is pissed that you weren’t there. Gave a speech about it being the most important meal of the day. Especially when you’re playing this evening.”

“Shit,” Jack whispered, running his hand through his hair. Having a secret girlfriend was a lot more stressful than he had thought. “I wanted to sleep in…”

“ You wanted to sleep in?” Moreau asked skeptically, his gaze sliding to the rumpled sheets on the bed. “When Leon had to share a room with you, he always complained that you were up at six.”

Yes, he and Penny hadn’t slept much last night. It was a miracle that he was still playing so well, because he had never been as distracted as he was now. But he had obviously been wrong about sex not being good for him during the season. Sex with Penny was better than any workout.

“I’m exhausted from the games,” he replied hastily. “But fine. I’ll be right down. What does Clark want from us?”

Moreau shrugged. “Don’t know.”

“Who does he want to talk to first?”

“Don’t know.”

Annoyed, Jack sighed. “What do you know?”

“That you should hurry up. And…”

Something vibrating interrupted them and their eyes automatically flew to the dresser next to the door where Jack’s cell phone was lying. A picture of Anna lit up. Jack grabbed the phone but ignored the call from his sister.

The goalie had seen the picture, though, and his frown deepened. “Wasn’t that Dax’s sister?”

“What? No.”

“Yes. That was Anna.”

Fuck. “Ah, you mean that sister.” Jack nodded quickly. “Ah, yes. That was her.”

“Why would Anna be calling you?” Moreau’s eyebrows met above the bridge of his nose as he shoved his fists in his pockets.

“No idea,” he lied. Wait, did Moreau and Anna know each other? Oh yeah, she had said she knew the goalie from the team meetings that Dax had taken her to.

“Apparently she’s got some reason,” Moreau stated soberly, rocking back on his heels. “Are you two dating?”

“Shit, no,” he said, shocked. Ugh, that was his sister!

But obviously, Moreau didn’t know that and…

God. He sighed inwardly. He was getting tired of the secrets.

“I’m not suicidal. Dax would kill any hockey player who got involved with her.

” As would he. “We’re just friends. That’s all,” he said, waving his hand.

“Can you go now? I want to get dressed before I face the big boss and Coach Gray tells me off.”

“Hm,” Moreau said, looking at him one last time. Finally, he turned his back on him and walked down the hall just as Jack’s cell phone vibrated again. This time it was a text – also from Anna.

Did you seriously just snub me? So, you have a girlfriend? And I have to hear it from Dax?

He sighed. Dax had a big mouth. He and Penny hadn’t discussed whether they were just sleeping together or in a relationship, so he didn’t know if the word girlfriend was appropriate. Before he could send Anna a text to that effect, the bathroom door opened.

“My dad’s here?” Penny asked, tugging nervously at her robe. “What’s my dad doing here?”

“I don’t know.” Jack wasn’t particularly keen to see him, either. Granted, fathers couldn’t determine who was sleeping with their daughter just by looking at her. However, if anyone in this world had enough money to buy that ability, it was Darron Clark.

“Wait.” Penny wrinkled her nose. “What’s the date today?”

Jack glanced at his phone. “February 15th.”

Penny blinked — then laughed dryly. “It’s half-time. Of course he’s here.”

“What?” Jack didn’t understand a word.

“Half of our time is over. Mine and Gareth’s. Do you know what my dad does when a new employee’s probation period is halfway through?”

“No idea.”

“He pays them a surprise visit.” She snorted and paced the room.

“God, I know exactly what he wants. He controls how we do things! It’s part of his little business 101.

He pays a surprise visit, watches the new employees, and asks how everyone is getting on with them.

He always says you can tell a great leader by how well they get along with their subordinates. ”

“Let me guess: We’re the subordinates in this scenario?” Jack concluded, narrowing his eyes.

She grimaced, stopped, and shrugged helplessly.

“Yes. But don’t take it personally. He’ll question Lyle, too, even though he’s not really our subordinate .

” Sighing, she sank onto the bed and rubbed her eyes.

“I don’t like being judged at all, yet everyone has been doing it my whole life.

You know what my mother always said about it?

Penelope, that’s the burden and privilege of the name Clark .

At least back then, I was only judged by people who didn’t know me.

Being judged by my own dad…” She shook her head. “I’m not a statistic.”

Jack sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders but said nothing. Penny had a habit of pausing to think even when she hadn’t actually finished speaking. And if you waited, then…

“You know, I thought I’d feel closer to my parents when I returned, but honestly, the opposite is true.”

Yep, if you waited, she kept talking.

“Because I’m mad at Dad about the whole Hawks thing and I don’t want to see my mom because all she does is criticize me all day.

So…whatever Dad was trying to accomplish with this crap, I think it backfired.

I was more excited to talk to him on the phone from South America than to actually see him.

That shouldn’t be the case, should it? And now he’s going to ask every damn hockey player if they think Gareth or me is the better choice! ”

Jack was silent, his jaw clenched. He didn’t like her parents forcing her to fight like that for their affection or acceptance.

He certainly wasn’t a good role model when it came to family relationships, but he knew what they shouldn’t look like.

He didn’t know what to say to help Penny, although he wanted nothing more than to do so.

He just sat next to her, was there for her, hugged her tightly, and kissed her gently on the temple before murmuring, “Don’t worry. I’ll tell your father that you’re fantastic in bed and deserve not only the team but another promotion.”

She laughed and slapped his arm. “Don’t you dare. But you can be honest, Jack, if he asks you,” she added, clearing her throat.

As if he would say anything that might end in her leaving the country again. Besides, he knew exactly what he would tell Darron Clark, if Clark actually asked him whether his son or daughter was better at the job. He just nodded.

“Good.” She seemed satisfied. “And I would hurry up a bit. My dad is not a patient man.”

He sighed. “Fine. Where are my pants?”

It took him ten minutes to find them, because they were under the bed for some reason. By the time he kissed Penny goodbye and stepped out into the hallway, he had cleaned up enough to not look like he’d been doing horribly, dirty things all night.

He hurried toward the elevator and when his cell phone rang this time, he picked it up without looking at the caller ID. He was certain it was Gray wanting to know where the hell he was.

But he was wrong.

“Ah, you answered after all,” Anna said with satisfaction. “And I thought you were going to keep ignoring me!”

He made a face. That was what he had actually intended to do, yes. “Never,” he said and pressed the button for the elevator.

“Good. Because what’s up with you having a girlfriend ? And your boss, at that? Why are you keeping your personal telenovela a secret from me?”

Oh God, he really hoped the reception in the elevator was bad. “I don’t know if she’s my girlfriend ! And my life isn’t a telenovela! At most...” Damn, if he said romantic comedy he would only make things worse, right?

“What? You don’t know ? So, at most what?” Anna demanded immediately.

“Commercial break. Boring subject. Best to skip to the next channel.” He deliberately ignored her probing question. In his opinion, they were in a relationship, but he had no idea what Penny thought.

“I’m pretty sure you’re describing my life, not yours,” she said, offended. “So, who is Penelope Clark? All I got out of Dax is that she scares Leon. Which, I guess, is a good thing. But it wasn’t particularly satisfying information.”

He felt a smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. “Why is my relationship status so important to you?”

“Because I care,” she said indignantly. “What kind of question is that?”

“It’s still quite new and complicated, and I didn’t want to tell you about it until... until everything was a little more certain.” He didn’t want Anna to get her hopes up.