Page 14 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)

Chapter Thirteen

IS THIS YOUR WAY OF MURDERING ME?

Adele

Two days after Milo’s first appearance at the arena, I’m about to head off on an overnight tour to Banff.

I’m standing in my bedroom, packing my suitcase with my usual items. After doing this for more than a decade, I’m a pro at living out of a suitcase, but for some reason, it feels weird now.

Milo lies at the end of my bed, waiting for Lincoln to come and get him.

They had their first away game last night, and I had Milo as Kylie is away on a tour.

Rather than stay at their place alone, I brought him home to my apartment, where he has made himself right at home.

I’d spent the night with him lying beside me, and I’m not ashamed to admit it was nice to have someone to cuddle with.

Even if he is super hairy and prone to dog breath.

As I’m zipping my bag shut, the buzzer on the intercom rings, and I race out to the living room to pick it up, staring at the small screen that shows my guest’s handsome face.

“Hey, it’s me,” Lincoln says.

I grin. “Sorry, I don’t let strangers in the building.”

“Ha ha. Let me in, woman, it’s cold.”

I press the button to unlock the front door of the building, before returning to my room to grab my suitcase. I do a quick outfit check in the mirror before patting my leg to get Milo’s attention.

“Come on, mister. Daddy’s here.”

Milo gets up slowly, looking a little wary. He doesn’t love when the doorbell rings, but I know he’ll perk right up once he sees Lincoln.

Lincoln knocks on the front door, and Milo scurries into my bedroom, squeezing under my bed.

I sigh, silently cursing the woman that traumatized this poor dog when she broke in and made herself at home in Lincoln’s bed. Lincoln sure does have a shitty track record in the last twelve months when it comes to hook ups. “It’s just Daddy, come on you big chicken.”

I go back out to the living room and open the door for Lincoln. He stands in the hallway, and my heart flutters for a second at the sight of him. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a black, long sleeve shirt with the team logo on it. But I think it’s the backward facing cap that is my undoing.

“Hey,” he says, offering me a small smile.

I step aside to let him in, willing my lady parts to get the memo that we definitely can’t go there again with this man.

“Hey. Milo is under the bed,” I tell him, nodding towards the open door of my bedroom while I shut the door behind him.

“Of course he is. Come on, buddy,” he calls out, and seconds later, Milo comes darting out of the room, barrelling towards him.

Lincoln gets down on the ground with him, and I smile as they greet each other. It’s honestly so sweet to see how much they love seeing one another after any time apart.

“How was he?” Lincoln asks, once he’s back on his feet .

“Good, as always. How was the road trip?”

He shrugs. “Fine. Did you watch the game?”

“Of course I did. I never miss a game, you know that.”

He laughs. “I’d take that as a compliment if I didn’t know what a die-hard Mounties fan you and all your family are.”

I nod. “Yeah, you’ve got the entire Anderson and Wilson tribes to answer to if you guys start playing terribly.” I’m not even slightly joking, either.

Grandpa Anderson lives and breathes everything hockey and has told both guys off when he thought they weren’t playing well enough. Needless to say, they are both scared of making him mad.

“I am very aware of that, believe me. Any time I see your grandpa now, my palms start sweating.”

“Aw, is the big, bad hockey player scared of a little old man?” I ask, grinning.

Lincoln doesn’t smile back. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

I laugh, and he finally smiles, before looking around my apartment.

“You know, all these years I’ve known you; I don’t think I’ve ever been in your apartment. I actually didn’t even realize you had one. I just figured you had moved in with Kylie and Seth.”

I raise an eyebrow and give him a withering look. “I’m sorry. Are you, of all people, implying that I am there too much? Really?”

He raises his hands. “Joking, obviously.” He glances around the room. “I like your place. It has a nice feel to it. Cozy. Very you.”

Looking around at my belongings, I try to see it like he does.

I do like my apartment and had spent quite a few years making it homely before Kylie moved here.

My bookcases are overflowing with books and knick-knacks, collected on my travels as reminders of the places I’ve been.

The large, overstuffed off-white couch sits in the middle of the living room, covered in brightly coloured cushions, facing my small TV that I can’t even remember when I last turned on.

I’ve never really watched much TV, preferring to read when I have down time.

I shrug. “Yeah, I probably should do more with it, but, like you said, I’m barely here.”

He’s quiet for a moment, and it suddenly feels a little awkward.

We haven’t really spoken much since the dinner after the first game of the season, and neither of us has brought up the kiss before the game in front of his teammates.

I figure, if we don’t talk about it, we can pretend like I didn’t basically climb him like a tree in front of a bunch of professional hockey players.

“When are you back from your trip?” he asks suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“It’s only an overnight trip.” I eye him curiously. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I figure we should probably go out on a date.” He almost looks nervous as he struggles to meet my gaze, which is a little cute.

“Oh, you do, do you?” I lean my hip against my dining table and cross my arms.

“Yeah. If we’re going to make this convincing, we need to do it the right way. If no one sees us out other than at team stuff, eventually people will get suspicious.” He slides his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?”

“Well, after having to deal with snide comments from Alistair while we were away, I really just want him to move on and find someone else to drive crazy. So yeah, I’ve given it a fair bit of thought.”

The reminder of why we’re really doing this takes some of the playfulness out of it, and I nod .

“Okay. What were you thinking of doing?”

“Um… well, I don’t really date, if you remember. So… Dinner and a movie, I guess?”

That doesn’t sound overly exciting. “Wow, you know how to woo a girl, don’t you?”

“Well, what do you suggest, then?” he grumbles.

“What about something fun, like axe throwing? Or an escape room?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Is this your way of murdering me? By taking me to an axe throwing place and making it look like an accident?”

I roll my eyes. “I’d just smother you in your sleep. But I can’t orphan Milo, so you’re safe.”

He smirks. “Okay. Axe throwing it is. I’ll sort it out.” I hand him the dog lead and he bends to click it onto Milo’s collar. “Have a good trip. Where are you going, anyway?”

“Banff,” I reply, and he nods.

“I love Banff. It’s been ages since I’ve been, though. Might have to go on one of these tours of yours sometime.”

“Ha, I can just see that going well. You’d either be mobbed by hockey supporters or hit on by the little old ladies.”

He grins. “I do love the old ladies. Sounds like fun.”

I roll my eyes. “Go on, you big flirt. I need to get going. Send me the details of this date once you work it out.”

He leans down to brush his lips against my cheek, and it tingles under his touch. “See you later, Addie.”

I stand there for far too long once he leaves, brushing my fingers over where I can still feel his lips against my skin.

What the hell is going on between us? I’m not meant to be catching feelings in this whole thing. But my hormones don’t seem to be getting the memo.

“Come on Adele, get your shit together,” I mutter to myself, before grabbing my suitcase and heading out the door .

I get to my parents’ house and walk around to the office to grab the trip pack from my desk.

Mom is sitting at her desk and looks up as I walk inside. “Cutting it a little close,” she says.

“I had to wait for Lincoln to pick up Milo. Don’t worry, I’m not late. Simon messaged to say he’s just left with the bus,” I reply, referring to one of our drivers who I work with the most often.

“What’s going on with you two?” she asks.

I raise an eyebrow. “With me and Simon? Nothing, he’s like a hundred years old.”

“Not Simon. Lincoln O’Malley.”

I pause in the process of shoving the tour pack into my handbag. “Uh, what do you mean?”

“Don’t try to lie to me, Adele. You’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately.”

I bite my lip. Lincoln and I hadn’t really discussed what to say to our families. To be honest, I hadn’t even considered saying anything to my parents.

“We’re just… hanging out.” God that sounds so lame.

Mom frowns, but thankfully, Jordan comes in the door behind me, and I beat a hasty escape before she can question me any further.

While I wait out the front for Simon, I pull out my phone and send Lincoln a message.

Adele

Um, so Mom just gave me the third degree about you. What are we telling our families? Truth or what?

Figuring he’s probably still driving, I put my phone back in my pocket, surprised when it vibrates a moment later.

Lincoln

Shit, I hadn’t thought about families. I guess we should probably tell them the truth, but they need to keep it to themselves? I feel bad enough lying to the team, I can just imagine what Mom would do if she thought I had a girlfriend finally.

I snort. I’ve met his mother, and she would indeed lose her mind at the idea. She’s been at him for years to settle down.

Adele

Okay. I’ll tell Mom to keep it to herself. Talk to you later.

I pocket the phone again and let out a breath. This is all starting to feel far too complicated. But even though I know it’s all fake, a part of me is looking forward to seeing him again for our ‘date’.

Yeah, this isn’t messy at all…