Page 10 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)

“You’re so easy to wind up. If I’d known how easy it was to turn you on…” I leave the sentence hanging, and she turns an even brighter shade of red.

It’s fucking adorable.

“Nope, we’re not doing this. No flirting.”

“Adele, I flirt with everyone. You can’t take that away from me, I’d literally have nothing to do with my mouth.”

She quirks an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you’d find something to do with that mouth.”

I splutter a laugh while I pull out of the parking garage. “Now who’s flirting?”

“Shut up and drive, you giant pain in the ass,” she says, but there’s no malice behind it, and I can tell she’s doing her best not to laugh.

Maybe this can work, after all. Just need to remind myself that this really is all for show. Especially when she’s looking so damn good while wearing my name and number on her back .

Two hours later, Seth and I are batting a puck around with Milo, who gets down in front of it, his butt sticking up in the air while his nose chases the black disc back and forth.

Standing off to the side, Sarah films us while the kids watch on, all cheering.

We come to the children’s hospital every two months or so. It’s part of the team’s way of giving back to the community, and it feels good being able to give the kids something to smile about when the reality they live in can be pretty bleak.

Taking a break from the Milo shenanigans, I look around for Adele, spying her standing with a few of the other partners. Kylie says something that makes her laugh, and she throws her head back while clutching her side.

It’s good to see her getting along with the others, although she’s not really a stranger to them. She’s been hanging out with us all for years now, so it’s not that much of a stretch for her to be here.

“Does Milo really like to play hockey, Mr. O’Malley?” A tiny eleven-year-old girl in a wheelchair called Madison looks up at me with huge eyes.

She’s been here for the last six months while going through chemo, and it’s heartbreaking to think of anyone going through treatment like that, let alone a child who should be spending their time outside climbing trees and just having fun.

I nod, leaning against my hockey stick. “He sure does. I take him to practice sometimes, and he slides around on the ice when we’re done. He can even open the gate onto the ice on his own, now.”

She grins. “Do you have videos? I want to see him skating.”

I smile back and crouch down beside her, pulling out my phone to show her the most recent video of Milo lifting the latch on the gate and running out onto the ice, sliding headfirst into the net with a massive grin on his face.

“That’s so cute! You should make him his own social media page. People would love to see that,” she says, staring at the screen.

“I don’t think I’d have time for that, unfortunately,” I reply, sliding to the next video for her.

“What about your wife? Can’t she do it for you?”

“What wif-” I cut myself off, realizing she’s looking over at Adele now. “Oh, you mean Adele?”

“Yeah. Isn’t she your wife?”

I shake my head. “Nope. No wife for me. But she is my girlfriend,” I say, mildly concerned at how easily the lie slips off my tongue.

She shrugs. “Same thing.”

I grin. She’s a sassy little thing.

“I’m sure she’d disagree with that.” I wave Adele over, and she comes to stand beside me. “Settle an argument for me. Girlfriends and wives are not the same thing, right?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Uh, no, they definitely aren’t. Why?”

Madison huffs. “I called you his wife, and he said you were his girlfriend. So, I said that was the same thing.”

Adele smirks down at me. “Definitely not his wife. But you never know, maybe one day he’ll be able to lock this down,” she says, waving her hand down her body.

Madison turns to look at me. “I like her.”

I laugh and rise to my feet again. “Yeah, I guess I’ll keep her for a while.”

“No, you’ll marry her.”

Adele and I exchange an amused look, and Seth lets out a little cough. I’d forgotten he was standing there.

Madison’s mother steps forward and pushes her off towards the line where our teammates are signing merch for other patients.

“You guys are doing a rather convincing job of this whole thing,” Seth says, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, we need to play it right to make it convincing,” I say, slinging my arm around Adele’s shoulders and pulling her into my side.

Seth nods towards the press area, where Colin stands with our general manager, Alistair, who is watching us with an unreadable expression. “Guess we’ll find out if it works.”

Adele places her hand on my chest. “We got this, boss man.”

Seth shakes his head and wanders off to join Kylie.

“Boss man?” I say, looking down at her while I cover her hand with mine.

“Well, you’re definitely not the boss.”

“Oh, I assure you, I’m the boss.”

She blushes again, and I have to admit, I love being able to play these games with her.

“You just keep telling yourself that, O’Malley.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be telling me that soon enough, too.” I shoot her a cheesy grin and she rolls her eyes.

“You are incorrigible, you know that?”

“Yes, yes I do.”