Page 46 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)

Penny glanced at Gareth — her brother looked as shocked as she felt. “Why the hell didn’t we know?” he demanded.

“Because I didn’t think it was relevant,” her mother replied stubbornly. “I’m not the woman I was back then.”

Penny’s eyes burned and she leaned forward with shaking fingers. “But I’m not either, Mom,” she whispered. “That’s exactly what I wanted to show you! That you can trust me with the Hawks. That I’m strong enough and smart enough to lead them.”

“Of course you’re strong enough and smart enough, Penny,” her father said impatiently. “That was never the point.”

“So, what was the point then?” she asked desperately. “Because I don’t understand, Dad. Why all this crap? Why a competition?”

Her parents exchanged a look…before her father sighed heavily and said quietly, “Penelope, I simply wanted you to stay. Not just for a few days, but for…forever. I wanted you to give your all to the job, to build something. Something worth staying for. You ran away from your life — ran away from us . I wanted to make sure you…stayed with us. That you wouldn’t flee again.

We missed you. If I had just given the team to you both, you would have let Gareth do what he wanted and disappeared again. ”

“I wouldn’t have! I…” But she stopped. Because that was exactly what she had been thinking about.

That was exactly what her original plan had been.

She swallowed and took a shaky breath. “Okay. Maybe you’re right.

Maybe I would have left straight away, but I didn’t think you wanted me to stay,” she finally whispered.

“Because no matter what I do, I always cause a scandal! I really did everything I could this time not to draw attention to myself, but I still caused chaos. And I wanted you to be proud for once. To see how competent I am…”

“Oh, darling.” Her mother patted her hand awkwardly. “We are proud. The scandals are…unfortunate. I wish you’d pay more attention. But they don’t change the fact that we are proud.”

She stared at her parents with her mouth open. “Are you serious? Why haven’t you told me?”

How could she not have known all this?

Her mother looked at her, perplexed. “Penny, to be honest, we didn’t realize that you cared about what we thought of you. You’ve always lived your life the way you wanted.”

“Well…yes! But I care about what you think!”

“We think you should stay,” her father said stubbornly. “Then we can talk about if the team…”

“But I want to stay!” she interrupted. “If you had just asked me what my plans were, I could have told that you weeks ago!” She jumped up from her chair, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

“You want to stay?” her father asked, perplexed.

“Yes!”

“Oh. That’s good.”

“Good enough that we both get the team?” Gareth wanted to know.

“Well…I think so,” her father said hesitantly. “But I won’t sign this contract until I’ve gone through every single point with you. I do believe you’ve proven that you get along well.”

“Are you fucking serious, Dad?” Gareth exploded angrily. “You were doing this just to get Penny to stay ?! What the hell!”

Her father said something, but Penny wasn’t listening.

The blood was rushing in her ears and her hands were tingling uncontrollably.

Everything was…wrong. Ridiculous. Not to mention that her parents needed to rethink their parenting…

They thought she was smart and competent.

They had missed her. They didn’t care how many scandals she caused.

Why the hell had she told Jack they couldn’t be together?

Her mother was right. She had always lived her life the way she wanted. She was not a puck. But she was going to give the damn press the power to push her around?

“Shit,” she whispered, holding a hand to her forehead. “I’m so afraid of drama and scandal that I told the man I love that I don’t want to see him anymore!”

“What?”

That grabbed everyone’s attention.

“Are we talking about Jack West?” her mother asked promptly.

“You love Jack West?” her father chimed in, confused.

“Yes!” she barked.

“But…isn’t he holding a press conference to deny that you two had an affair?” he asked, surprised.

“What?”

“He called in a bunch of reporters,” Gareth said quietly.

“And you’re only telling me this now?” she cried in disbelief, heading for the door. “He shouldn’t have to lie! He already has to lie about too many things. We should… Shit, we should just tell them everything! If this conversation proves one thing it’s that we should all be more honest!”

“You want to tell the press that you’re in a relationship with one of your players?” her mother asked, shocked. “But, honey, people will talk about you again. They’ll bring up old stories about you. Are you sure you want that?”

She smiled shakily and nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Because it’s worth it.” The next moment, she threw open the door.

“Penny!” Gareth called after her. “The paperwork…”

“You’re better at that stuff anyway. I trust you. You negotiate with Dad, I’ll explain it to the team and the press. You paperwork, me people work.”

“Thank God. People aren’t my strong suit…” she heard Gareth mutter as she rushed out the door to Room 06.

When she slipped through the door to the room down the hall, she was met by an overwhelming mass of reporters seated before a small podium. There must have been over two dozen people here, while only two were at the podium: Jack and Lucy.

Apparently, they hadn’t started yet. The journalists were still talking amongst themselves, filling the room with a steady hum.

Penny stood along the edge, unnoticed by everyone, searching for Jack’s gaze.

She wanted to tell him he didn’t have to deny their relationship — because they still had one, if he wanted it.

Jack, though, was looking intently at the crowd.

As soon as he pulled his microphone closer, they fell silent.

Some of them pulled out their notepads, others, cameras.

Penny stared at Jack, not knowing what to do. Should she say something? But what?

“I don’t want any questions,” Jack finally said slowly, his voice matter-of-fact and clear. “I just want to make a few statements.”

Immediately, hands went up.

“He said no questions ,” Lucy remarked with a sigh and rolled her eyes. “You better listen, guys.” She waited until the hands dropped again before nodding at Jack.

“Well, there have been a few rumors about me recently that have reminded me how much of my life I’ve kept secret over the years,” he began slowly.

“And how much they have limited me. You know, I had a terrible childhood. Hardly anyone knows about it. For a long time, I believed I should be ashamed of it. But I have realized that I should be proud that it didn’t turn me into an asshole. ”

Lucy sighed quietly and the reporters laughed…and Penny’s heart clenched. This wasn’t about her. It was about finally being honest. It was about not letting the secrets that Jack had carried with him all these years dictate his life anymore.

“I don’t want to talk about my parents at all,” he continued. “Because they aren’t the ones who made me the man I am today. Those were my siblings.” An uneasy murmur broke out.

“Siblings? Did he say siblings?”

“West has no siblings.”

Skeptical glances were exchanged while journalists raised their hands again, already asking loudly if he was speaking about his team when he said siblings…and Penny lost her patience. “For goodness’ sake, let him finish. Remember he said no questions!” she shouted, annoyed.

Everyone abruptly turned to her, but she didn’t care about the press. All that mattered was Jack’s expression.

Jack’s surprised look. He was confused, and he blinked at her…and she smiled. She couldn’t do anything else but put all the warmth she carried in her chest into her expression.

“Keep going,” she stated calmly, her voice loud in the suddenly quiet room. “Just tell them…everything.” She pressed her hands to her chest to include herself in everything, hoping that he understood.

And now he smiled, too. Stared at her for an endless amount of time, returning the gesture. He put a hand on his chest before muttering into the microphone, “Dax Temple is my brother, and I love Penelope Clark.”

All hell broke loose.

Shocked cries of “Dax Temple?!” alternated with cries of “I knew it!” as a flurry of camera flashes erupted in the room.

Penny didn’t care. It didn’t matter that Jack wasn’t the only one the press was shouting questions at. It didn’t matter that within the next few minutes, photos of her with tears on her cheeks would be on all the social media outlets.

Because Jack loved her. Why should they care about anything else today?

“Jack! You said you’d break it to them gently,” she heard Lucy call out in annoyance.

“Sorry, I was suddenly in a hurry,” he replied, shrugging as he rose.

Penny laughed and pressed her hand to her mouth as Lucy groaned and shouted loudly into the microphone, “Please, everyone sit. I will answer questions while Mr. West and Ms. Clark immediately exit the room.”

The reporters seemed torn between wanting to take more photos of Jack and Penny and wanting to hear what Lucy had to say.

Penny didn’t care what they decided. Heeding Lucy’s words, she grabbed Jack’s hand and hurriedly slipped out of the room with him.

And as the door closed behind them, muffling the excited voices of the journalists, a pleasant calm surrounded them, and Penny heard nothing but her own hectic heartbeat.

“You told everyone,” she whispered, wiping the tears from her cheeks before she raised her eyes and gazed into Jack’s familiar face.

“Well…yes,” he said, lifting one corner of his mouth while brushing a few strands of hair off her face. “You know I thought it would be nice to just not have any more secrets.”

She swallowed, sinking into his touch. “Yes. I think you’re right.”

“I even told Dax about Dad.”

Her eyes started to sting. “You did? That must have been difficult.”

Jack shook his head. “No. It was good. Easier than I thought.”

She nodded and her heart lightened simply because his had to be, too. “I told my parents that they hurt me back then. And that I want the Hawks…and you. They seemed to be all right with it.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “That means…we both no longer have any secrets.”

“Yeah,” he murmured thoughtfully, frowning. “What are we going to do with all our newfound free time?”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh, I can think of a couple of things.”

He smiled crookedly. “Orgasm number thirty-three and thirty-four, for example?”

She snorted. “Did you seriously count?”

“Nope. That was a rough estimate.”

“Ah, I see.” She buried her hands in his hair and pulled him closer before whispering, “Jack? I’m sorry I said I wanted some distance. That was a stupid idea. I want closeness. Much more closeness.”

“Good,” he replied, his voice thick. “Because our ideas overlap there.”

She hiccupped, running her thumb over the sensitive spot behind his ear. “Convenient. And I love you too, you know?”

His smile widened. “I was hoping you did.”

“Good. Because the last few days have been terrible. I really wanted to tell you about my new carpet but couldn’t.”

“You have new carpeting?”

“Yes. And a framed picture.”

“Wow…”

“I know. My apartment almost looks like a home.”

“Almost?”

She nodded. “Yes. You were missing,” she whispered. Then she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, taking the closeness that she needed so much.