Page 50 of How to Puck Your Boss (L.A. Hawks Hockey #3)

Moreau said nothing, but instead, lifted one corner of his mouth and peered down at her again.

This time, however, his eyes darkened. They became ominous yet expectant, like storm clouds moving over her.

It felt like he was telegraphing his hands running over her skin, under the hem of her dress, down her legs in tingling streaks.

..up her contours again until they stopped at her lips, which began to warm.

New heat flooded her entire body, and her breathing quickened. Yes, it had been far too long since anyone had touched her. This had to be remedied. Still, she shivered again. How the hell did the guy do it?

“Ah. That’s how you do it,” she replied hoarsely, wiping her palms on her dress and licking her suddenly dry lips.

Moreau merely nodded, and his gaze darted to her mouth one last time before he turned and reached for his beer.

She followed his movement, noticing his knuckles turning white as he wrapped his large hand around the bottle, and wondered how it would feel if he were touching her.

If his thumb ran over her skin, instead of the neck of the bottle.

She wondered if his touch was coarse or soft. Rough or gentle. She hoped for both.

Something sweet and heavy sank into her abdomen so that she had to fold her hands across her lap and press her thighs even tighter together. The mere thought was turning her on. And when she looked up, she noticed that Moreau had followed her own gaze — his irises even darker than before.

Her pulse shot up again, so she opened her lips, feeling like she wouldn’t be able to get enough air otherwise.

Shit, his gaze was dangerous.

She glanced away and asked quietly, “In your professional opinion, is Dax just an idiot when he’s with me, or is it a general problem?”

Moreau’s mouth hinted at a smile and her traitorous abdomen hinted along with it. “It’s a general problem.”

“I thought so.” She raised her glass to her lips and remembered that it was empty.

Sighing, she put it back and continued talking simply because Moreau wasn’t.

“You know, Dax wants me to find my dream man and have my happy ending as if it were my duty as a woman, or at least as his sister, to live a monogamous life and be happy forever with some boring guy. But I don’t believe in happily ever after .

Happiness only ever exists for a short time.

And I can be happy for as many short periods of time as I want! ”

She felt Moreau’s gaze on her face. Felt it more than saw it.

She swallowed and slowly turned her head. “Right…Lucas?”

His square jaw worked before he murmured darkly, “Nobody calls me Lucas.”

“Do you prefer Killer ?”

“No.”

“Okay, so I’ll stick with Lucas,” she decided because it was irritating that all hockey players only addressed each other by their last names, almost as if they were constantly commenting on their own game. “If you have any objections, talk for five minutes straight.”

She looked at him expectantly. Seconds passed before Lucas lowered his chin…so that the shadow of his nose almost swallowed his broad smile. Almost.

Anna saw it, though. She felt it. Everywhere. Like butterflies in her chest. Like fingertips running up her bare arms, leaving burn marks.

His smile was wonderful. It made her heart stumble and heated the sweet heaviness in her abdomen until nothing else existed in the world but his lips.

“You’re more like your brother than everyone thinks,” Lucas murmured after a while and his gaze locked with hers. “You play dirty.”

Dirty . The word hung between them, making the air crackle. It seemed to echo a hundred times.

“I just know what I want,” she replied softly, her hands clenching the hem of her dress. And that was the truth. Right now, she knew what she wanted.

And suddenly she felt brave. Carefree. Daring.

Because when Lucas’ gaze wandered back to her lips, she knew that anything was possible.

She knew she wouldn’t have to wait any longer to finally live a little.

She knew that the time-out from her brain, from her life, the break she’d longed for, was sitting across from her.

She swallowed as Lucas gazed into her eyes again, his irises a dark gray that reflected the storm he had unleashed inside her.

“And what is that?" he asked roughly. “What do you want?”

“To kiss whoever I want. To go home with whoever I want. Because that’s my decision, right?”

“Sure.”

She slid off her stool, walked over to his…and pulled his head down to hers to press her lips to his.

She did it before she lost her courage. Before her exhausted brain kicked in and screamed Don’t do it!

She did it simply because she wanted to.

Adrenaline and desire had flushed the stress, the restlessness, and the panic out of her body.

With just one look, this man managed to make her feel as if she wasn’t merely someone’s sister, but a woman. Nothing more, nothing less.

His lips met hers…and time stood still, crackling seconds that stretched into burning hours in which neither moved.

Then Anna felt his big, warm hand on her neck, his thumb pushing her chin up, his lips pressing against hers as he deepened the kiss.

Anna stepped between Lucas’ legs. She opened her mouth under his, tasted beer, man, and freedom, wrapped her arms around his neck, and let herself sink into his warmth.

A long-forgotten feeling of lightness flowed through her, paralyzing her thoughts.

For the first time in such a long time, she was beyond any worry.

She wasn’t planning the next ten steps. For a few blissful moments, the weight lifted from her shoulders.

The stress was replaced by heat and desire, and Lucas’ hands on her.

She dug her fingers into his hair as her tongue met his.

The smell of something sweet – honey? – filled her nose.

The whole world faded into the background, leaving nothing but his taste and touch, which left hot streaks on her skin – on her arms, waist, and the hem of her dress.

It felt like they were both drowning — like they were the only reliable thing to hold on to.

It was perfect happiness, but short-lived.

“Fuck,” Lucas gasped against her mouth as he abruptly pulled away from her, his forehead just inches from hers. His pupils were huge and his breathing heavy. “No. Fuck, no. Not me.”

Anna’s lungs were working frantically. She blinked at him, still a little confused from the kiss. “What? Why not?”

“Because I’m not suicidal.” She heard him swallow before he grabbed her roughly by the hips and pushed her back, away from him.

“What? But…”

“You’re Dax’s sister,” he whispered hoarsely and closed his eyes.

“And? My brother told me to have fun today…”

He laughed dryly. “Not like that .”

“How would you know? He was incredibly vague.”

“Anna…” His gaze darted to her lips again, but he shook his head. He clasped his arms around her shoulders and moved her a bit further away from him...as if he needed the distance.

The heat inside her didn’t subside, but changed from desire to anger.

So, she was merely Dax’s sister, after all.

“Ah.” She nodded briskly and pressed her lips together. “So you’re afraid of Dax after all?”

Lucas laughed hoarsely as if the idea were absurd…and suddenly, uncertainty crept up her ribs, her audacity from before evaporating. If he wasn’t afraid of Dax, then…

God, what was she doing here? Obviously, it had nothing to do with her brother and everything to do with her. He was a famous, hot hockey player and she…she was just the sister of one of his teammates who had thrown herself at him.

Shit. What had come over her? She swallowed several times. “Okay, sorry. I understand. I didn’t mean to…it wasn’t my plan to…” She shook her head and glanced at the floor. “Of course. You…don’t want to. You’re not interested. Sorry.” She took a step back and pressed her lips together.

Moreau exhaled long and deep. When she looked up, she saw that he was gripping the edge of the counter, his knuckles white again. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”

She blinked, not understanding what he meant.

“You kissed me because your brother told you not to.”

For a few seconds, she just stared at him without saying a word — then her heart sank as her blood pressure shot up. Was that what he thought was going on?

“Well, thanks a lot. If you think I base all my decisions on what Dax says, you’re no better than the rest,” she replied coolly and turned away from him, fed up with all these arrogant men who felt they could dictate what she thought and what she should and shouldn’t do. She tried to push past him.

She didn’t get far, though. Lucas wrapped a rough hand around her wrist and pulled her forcibly back.

“Okay,” he said harshly, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll play along: Why did you kiss me?”

“Because I wanted to,” she said, unmoved, snatching her hand from his. “Because it was the first thing I have really wanted in a long time…and for a fleeting moment, I thought I could actually have it.”

Silently, Lucas looked at her.

Wonderful. She sighed and closed her eyes.

“Whatever. I thought we might be compatible, and I was hoping to relieve some stress with you. But…” She rubbed her fist over her still-rapidly pounding heart and took a deep breath.

“You know, my life currently consists of work, exams, and studying. It would be nice to have a distraction now and then. Twenty minutes a week when I don’t have to think.

But I’m obviously not the only one who allows Dax Temple to impose rules. ”

She stepped back abruptly and hurried toward the unoccupied cloakroom. She was about to reach for the waist-high door to grab her jacket herself when a possessive hand landed on hers and forced her to a sudden halt.

“Distraction,” a dark voice whispered in her ear and her breath caught in her throat as his soft lips brushed over it. “Is that all you want?”

She felt Lucas’ heat on her back, and with his free hand on her hip, he slowly pulled her back, making her heart rate quicken. “Yes. That’s all.”

“Short-term happiness?”

“Yes.”

“Dax…”

“Will never know.”

She felt him nod, noticed it because his lips brushed her neck, light as a feather, before his beard scratched the sensitive, excited skin.

Her soft gasp was interrupted by Lucas’ words. “I only have one rule.” He slid his hands down her hips, slipping his rough fingers under the hem of her skirt until he found bare skin, drawing circles on the inside of her thighs before sliding higher.

“Which is?” she whispered, closing her eyes. She sank against his hard chest, felt how he was big and hard against her ass. Because of her.

“No lies. No talk. Only sex.”

“No talk? What does that mean, I…”

He gently bit her neck before tracing the outline of her panties with his index finger, avoiding the middle.

She suppressed a moan. “Okay,” she gasped. “No talk. Anything else?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“No drama.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want you to tell me that there is nothing that could get you – and therefore me – into the press. They leave me alone. It has to stay that way. I won’t risk that for any woman in the world.”

She hesitated.

The press was interested in Dax — but not in her. And that would only change if…her family situation was investigated more closely. If it came out that Dax’s biggest rival was her brother, the journalists would question her too. Follow her.

Yes, the fact that she had a second brother who played professional hockey and might soon be joining the Hawks…whose protective instincts were as strong as Dax’s and who had the power to start the biggest media circus of her life might, potentially, displease Lucas Moreau.

But nobody knew! Nobody would find out. Dax would make sure of that.

“No problem,” she murmured. “There’s nothing.”

“Good.” His lips found her earlobe and her jaw. “One more thing.”

“Which is?”

“Twenty minutes isn’t enough for me.”

The next thing she knew, he was pushing her into the cloakroom, turning her in his arms, and lowering his mouth to hers. He kissed the last of her worries and maybe even her sanity out of her head, before she tuned out for the first time in months and just felt .

The exam receded into the distance. The unanswered email in her inbox evaporated into smoke. And the thought that anyone would ever find out that Jack West was her brother went completely by the wayside...