Page 9 of On Thin Ice (Calgary Mounties #1)

Chapter Nine

LOCK THIS DOWN

Lincoln

In the history of bad ideas, I’m pretty sure this is one of the worst ones I’ve ever had.

“You want me to do what?” Adele asks, staring at the jersey I’ve handed her, running her fingers over the number nineteen on the back

We’re standing in the middle of my apartment after I called her an hour ago.

It seems as though management has involved their lawyers with regards to the video that was released, and it’s been pulled down from the site it had been loaded onto.

In doing so, they’ve managed to keep my little slip-up from the majority of the team and staff, although they had told Seth before they’d got it under control, due to his role as captain.

But still, there have been whispers, and they’ve been keeping me out of any media appearances.

Today, though, I won’t be able to stay hidden.

“I want you to come to the children’s hospital for the family day,” I repeat for what feels like the thousandth time.

And she was acting like I was the idiot when she decided we should go through with this insane idea .

She frowns. “Isn’t this a bit dishonest, though? I mean, they’re kids.”

I cock my head to the side. “What exactly did you think you were going to do when we started this complete act of lunacy?”

“I don’t know. Show up at your games and stuff? Hold your hand in public.”

I snort. “That’s cute. But if we’re going to pull this shit off, you need to be one of the WAGs.”

Her face pales slightly. “Oh god.”

I cross my arms and peer down at her. “Yep. Ready to admit this is a bad idea now?”

She takes a deep breath and stands up straighter, lifting her chin to meet my gaze. “Nope. I can do this.”

“You sure? Remember what Kylie went through in the beginning.”

The first few months of Seth and Kylie’s relationship were pretty messy when it came to the opinions of others, and her face ended up plastered all over social media when a bunch of jealous trolls took offence that one of the most eligible NHL players started dating an unknown woman from Australia.

I can tell these memories are going through Adele’s mind when she swallows hard and some of her bravado slips, showing the vulnerable woman behind the mask.

“It’s fine. I’m a big girl. And I’ll just stay off social media.

” She pulls the jersey over her head, and it falls to her knees.

She turns to look at herself in the mirror through the open bathroom door with a frown when she takes in all the excess material.

“Why does it need to be your jersey? I have my own Mounties jersey.”

Pushing aside a strange, fluttering feeling in my belly when I see my name on her back, I laugh, moving closer to turn her so that I can tie the fabric in a knot at her waist. “With Seth’s name and number on it.

Not the look we’re going for. You’re meant to be going as my girlfriend, not Seth’s number one fan. ”

She smirks. “Jealous?”

I scoff, pulling my own jersey over the top of my sweater. “Hardly.”

She laughs, fluffing her hair out. “You’re just as bad at lying as I am.”

I shake my head. “Come on. We need to get to the arena.” I move towards the front door to grab my shoes, pausing when Adele doesn’t move. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just had a thought. Maybe we should take Milo?”

I pause, holding one shoe in my hand. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. And I’m sure I’d have to check that with someone first.”

“Can’t hurt to ask, though, right? Call Sarah. He’s so good with kids, and I’m sure they’d love cuddling a dog. Especially the ones who have been stuck in there for ages.”

I consider her suggestion for a moment, before pulling my phone out of my pocket and dialling Sarah Matthews, our marketing and events manager. She also happens to be married to my teammate, Ollie.

“You had better not be calling to get out of this, O’Malley.”

“What sort of greeting is that? As if I’d cancel on the kids,” I reply, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder while I pull my shoes on.

“True. Fine, you’re off the hook. What’s up?”

“I believe the words you are looking for are ‘sorry Lincoln, I will never doubt you again’.”

“Nope, that’s the best you’re getting. Now, what’s wrong?” There’s an edge to her voice.

Getting the sense that a few of my teammates have been on the phone with lame excuses to try to get out of the event, I decide it’s best not to go too far with the joking around.

“Well, Adele just suggested that we should bring Milo along. Do you think the hospital will be okay with that? The kids would probably love it.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and I glance over at Adele. She’s moved to sit on the ground next to Milo, who’s lying on his back, begging for belly rubs.

“I’ll call and ask them. Give me a few minutes.” Sarah hangs up, and I slide my phone back into my pocket before moving to sit on the couch.

“She’s going to check with the hospital. We’ll probably have to drive there, instead of the arena, if he comes. Not sure how he’d behave on the bus.”

Adele looks up at me, and I’m momentarily blinded by the dazzling smile on her face.

God, she’s beautiful.

I’ve always been attracted to her, but I’d always been able to use the whole Ben situation to keep her at arm’s length. Now, after their break up and our colossal mistake, it’s even harder to resist her when I can see how much she loves my dog. Of course, it’s almost impossible not to love Milo.

This is just for show, I remind myself.

Sarah calls me back a minute later. “They are happy for him to come along. We just need to keep him away from the kids with respiratory issues. I’ll bring a stick and a puck along, so you can show them how obsessed with hockey that giant ball of fur is.”

I’ve been taking Milo to the arena since he was a puppy, and he has developed a deep, unwavering love of sliding around on the ice.

But that is nothing compared to his devotion to hockey pucks.

No manky tennis balls for this pup, just a black rubber disk which should be indestructible.

But isn’t, apparently, when met with the teeth of a golden retriever.

I grin. “Awesome. We’ll meet you at the hospital then.”

“I only just registered what you said earlier. Why is Adele coming with you?”

I grimace, not loving the idea of lying to people I care about. But if we’re going to make this believable, the fewer people who know the truth, the better.

“Ah… we’re kind of dating,” I reply.

Adele turns to look at me slowly, and I shrug, pulling the phone slightly away from my ear when Sarah gasps loudly.

“When did this happen? What happened to her fiancé?” Sarah sounds scandalized.

I guess not everyone at the wedding heard about what happened.

“They broke up a few months ago.”

“Wait. You don’t date. You’re making my head explode right now, Lincoln.”

Offtt, she first named me. Not good.

“What can I say, when the right one comes along, I guess I date now.”

She makes a non-committal noise, and I’m not entirely sure she bought it. She says goodbye, and I hang up, letting out a long breath while I pocket my phone again and get back up from the couch to retrieve Milo’s leash from where I keep it hanging on the door.

“Sounded like she was giving you the third degree,” Adele says, rising gracefully to her feet without even putting a hand on the ground.

As a professional athlete, I’m flexible and all, but that’s impressive as far as I’m concerned, and I take a moment to respond, turning my gaze away .

“Yeah. Guess we’re going to have our work cut out for us, selling this to everyone. At least Seth and Kylie know the truth.”

“Should hope so. It was their stupid idea.”

“Let’s not lump Seth into this. It was really Kylie’s idea,” I say, feeling the need to protect my best friend.

She raises an eyebrow. “Nope, Seth definitely encouraged the idea. Let’s not throw my cousin under the bus.”

Laughing, I bend to clip Milo’s lead onto his collar. “How about we just agree that it wasn’t our idea and keep it at that?”

“Good idea.”

Adele follows me out the door, and we travel down to the basement car park in the elevator, both attempting to avoid being smashed by Milo’s wagging tail.

When the doors open and he sees the car, he whines and taps his feet, looking up at me with a pained expression. I grin and hit the button to open the hatch on my Porsche Cayenne.

“Go on, Buddy. Drivies.”

Milo takes off and launches himself into the back of the car, turning in circles before lying down and placing his head on his paws to stare at me.

“Seriously, that dog is the cutest dog there ever was,” Adele says, shaking her head as she follows behind at a more restrained pace.

She gives him a pat on the head before walking around to the front passenger door.

“Yeah, he’s awesome.” I scruff him up a little before closing the door and heading around to climb into the drivers’ seat.

Adele shoots me a wary glance. “I just realized I’ve never been in a car with you behind the wheel… You’re not a crazy driver, are you?”

I snort. “Why, are you a backseat driver?”

She gapes at me. “Ah, no! But I do like to arrive at my destination in one piece. ”

I grin at her while I back out of the car space, placing my hand on the back of her headrest when I turn in my seat to look over my shoulder.

She groans. “Come on, seriously? You have to know that it is incredibly attractive for women,” she says when I look over with a raised eyebrow.

“What is?” I genuinely don’t know what she’s talking about, but it’s entertaining to see her squirm in her seat.

“That whole hand on the back of the headrest while reversing thing you just did.”

“What? Why?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know why, it just is. Maybe it’s the whole caveman thing. Or alpha male.”

This entire conversation is wildly amusing, and I can’t help but play into it more, reaching over to tug on a lock of her hair.

She bats my hand away, blushing. “Stop it!”