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M addie woke up first, surprised that neither of them had moved at all during the night. He was on his back and she was still draped across and against him. She slowly pulled away, tiptoeing into the bathroom to relieve her screaming bladder. Part of her wanted to slink away to her room and relive every moment of their night together in private, where no morning-after awkwardness would ruin her memories. It had been the most mind-blowing sex of her life, and she’d nearly sobbed when they finished, so unwilling to lose the intimacy. So she’d sucked on his shoulder until she’d known a big brown and purple bruise would remain for days, a constant reminder of her, of them .

She came out of the bathroom and paused, unsure whether to rejoin him or go to her own room, when his voice called to her. “Don’t even think about it. Get your sweet ass back in this bed .”

Crawling into his arms, she sighed in relief as he closed them around her and kissed her temple. “Good morning, beautiful .”

“Good morning .”

“How’d you sleep ?”

“Like a rock. I don’t think either of us moved .”

“Ready to run ?”

“What?” She stared at him in confusion .

“It’s morning… Isn’t this when we run? You know, that whole triathlon-training thing ?”

She flushed. “Oh, yeah. Do we have to ?”

“Yes, we do.” He lightly slapped her bottom. “We can come back and get naked in the shower when we’re done .”

She chuckled. “Can’t we just skip to the naked part ?”

“We’re already naked, and no. Time to get up. Come on, princess, this is how athletes do it .”

She arched her brow. “How would you know ?”

He shrugged. “I have a trainer, I work out a lot .”

“Fine.” She padded out of his room and into hers, turning on lights as she searched for her clothes. She was tired but in a good way, her body still humming from last night’s activities .

After getting dressed and washing up, she found Garrett in the kitchen making eggs .

“When did we get food?” she asked, moving up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist .

“I sent the concierge a message and they took care of it .”

“I wish you’d told me—I was hoping for some yogurt .”

He leaned back to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. “I’ll have some delivered today. Any particular brand and flavor ?”

She told him what she liked as she moved away to get plates out of the cabinets. “This place is amazing—it has everything .”

He nodded. “Yeah. A bit more room than the two of us need, certainly more than if I was by myself, but it was literally the only opening they had .”

“Must be nice to have friends in high places,” she laughed .

“Yeah, it is, but it’s also nice to have the money to afford it. I’m not staying here for free.” A touch of bitterness crept into his voice and Maddie paused, cocking her head .

“What does that mean? I know that gripe wasn’t directed at me, because you made the arrangements to stay here on your own… What are you upset about? Is whatever it is that’s going on at work related to money ?”

He sighed, shaking his head as he put eggs on each plate. “The problem is the future. If I continue to do what I’m doing, the money is phenomenal, but right now I’m unhappy. If I stop, I’ll be a lot happier, but I’ll be broke. Well, okay, not broke, but I wouldn’t be able to vacation in places like this. I’d probably sell my house in L.A., move somewhere more affordable, and come up with a whole new plan for my future .”

“Are you an actor?” She squinted up at him. “No… I’d know this face. Your eyes, the way you smile… I’d remember .”

“Definitely not an actor.” He handed her a plate. “Eat. We have to get going before the beach gets busy and it gets too hot .”

“It’s not even seven,” she muttered. “Who gets up on vacation to go to the beach at seven in the morning ?”

“Eat.”

She dug in, grateful he’d made coffee and put a cup in front of her. She wasn’t a picky eater, but black coffee in the morning was a must. The silence gave her time to ponder what he’d just said. Whatever he did now was lucrative, but he wasn’t happy. Her gut told her he wanted to be a mechanic but that it probably didn’t pay very well. She didn’t care about that. If they lived in a little house somewhere and they both worked, they could have a nice life. She wouldn’t work once they had kids but—she froze. He couldn’t hear her thoughts, obviously, but that wasn’t the point. What on earth was she doing, fantasizing about them having a life together ?

He’d made it clear that wasn’t going to happen but after last night, it kind of ticked her off. Who was he to decide what she could and couldn’t live with? No matter what Garrett had done, Jamie would help; she knew he would. He cared about money less than anyone she knew. Yes, he had a family now, and another baby on the way, but he was part-owner of a nightclub and his husband still played professional hockey. They wouldn’t bat an eyelash to help her and Garrett fix whatever was going on with him .

“Can my brother help you?” she blurted out .

“What?” Garrett’s fork paused en route to his mouth. “What are you talking about ?”

“Can Jamie help you get out of whatever mess you’re in? Whether it’s with his celebrity as an athlete or money or …”

“Jesus, Maddie.” He put down his fork and stalked out of the room .

She watched him go with a mixture of hurt and frustration. Why was he so stubborn? With a snort of annoyance, she followed him. “Don’t walk away from me like that! I was trying to help. You could just say no .”

He was standing at the sliding glass doors, staring out at the ocean. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he growled. “Your brother can’t help me. He wouldn’t .”

“You don’t know him .”

“It wouldn’t matter .”

“Why are you so determined to do this alone? Weren’t you the one who told me it was silly not to ask my brother for help with the bike? Why can’t people who care about you help ?”

“He’s your brother!” he spat out. “It’s not the same .”

“But if you’re mine and I’m yours, then he’s your brother now too .”

“Maddie, come on.” He wouldn’t look at her. “That romantic nonsense works in the middle of the night but in the light of day, we’ve known each other three days. Your family doesn’t give a damn about me and, frankly, neither should you .”

Her jaw clenched angrily through the tears that sprung to her eyes. “Really. So last night was romantic nonsense? I was already putting out—why the hell did we need to pretend? I seduced you ! I wanted to get laid as much as you did, so why was all of that romantic bullshit necessary ?”

“Because women like it!” he shot back, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you. I like you—I adore you—but you want something I can’t give you. This is what I was afraid of. I didn’t want to hurt you, but today and tomorrow are all I have. Take it or leave it .”

She met his gaze defiantly and held out her hand. “I want your keys .”

“What?” Caught off guard, he could only stare at her in confusion .

“Keys. To your rental. Please.” She was still holding out her hand, a thunderous look on her face .

He hesitated but then moved to the counter, picked them up and handed them to her. “The rental agreement with my legal name isn’t in the glove compartment .”

She laughed derisively. “I never even thought about that—my bad. No, I’m going back to that beach we went to on the north shore. I saw running trails up there and I need to be alone for a while. Can I take the car and go, please ?”

“By yourself ?”

She rolled her eyes. “Can I take the SUV or not ?”

He made an impatient gesture. “I already handed you the keys. Just take your phone and answer if I call—after what happened at the motel, I don’t want to worry about you .”

“Fine.” She grabbed socks and sneakers off the floor of her room, put them on, stuck her ID and phone in an armband designed specifically for runners to hold those things and headed towards the door. On impulse, she turned back to her room, dug around for her earplugs and then walked out the door without looking back .

W atching her go, Hawk felt a moment of discomfiture. Not because of their fight—he’d known this was coming—but because she was going off alone to a place she wasn’t familiar with. He desperately wanted to follow but that would piss her off even more. He’d call Jim and ask if anyone they knew up there who could watch out for her. If she wasn’t back in two hours, he’d go after her. For now, he needed to think about damage control. He’d avoided doing anything since Maddie had stumbled into his life, but he probably had an hour or two alone and needed to see what was going on with the team and his career. He loved hockey—it was all he’d ever wanted to do—but didn’t know how he’d go back after this. He’d have to apologize for something he hadn’t done. He’d have to publicly humiliate himself to protect a teammate he didn’t even like .

The bigger problem was that the alternative was equally distasteful. If he ratted the guy out, he wouldn’t have a career. This was the final year on his contract with the team, the Ottawa Generals. If he told the truth about what had happened, he’d be clear of one indiscretion but would be guilty of being disloyal, a terrible teammate, and worse. The bond guys shared in the locker room was directly linked to what they did on the ice and they would turn their back on him. Once word got out, no other team would want him either. Chances were the Generals wouldn’t re-sign him either way and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it .