“What do we need privacy for, Sparky?”
“So we can talk without being interrupted by your anal brother or my dumbass teammates?” On cue, Hunter and Wyatt strolled over. Quinn suppressed a groan.
“Hey, Gage’s sister. You’re looking mighty fine.” Hunter stood beside Sarah with a lewd grin, and Quinn could have sworn he was looking straight down her neckline. Which made Quinn see red.
He stood to his full height, stepped between Sarah and Hunter, and wrapped his hand around her bare upper arm. “We were just leaving, boys,” he growled. She rose even as he lifted her from her seat. Apparently, she was ready to leave too.
“So where do we go?” she asked as he steered her inside.
Her fragrance filled his nose, and he lost his bearings for a moment. “My room?”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Why? Afraid you can’t keep your hands off me?” He was pushing his luck, but he couldn’t contain his delight.
“More like my brother won’t keep his hands off you,” she tossed back. “Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
They rode downstairs and wound up by the curtained testing booths, where he pulled her into an empty one. “This’ll do for now, huh?”
“As long as they don’t find us and try to swab our brains through our sinuses.”
He drew in a deep breath. “First things first. You know I didn’t sleep with that waitress, right?”
Sarah folded her arms across her chest. “Mmm. But you knew her.”
“Yeah, I knew her from before, but I wasn’t interested last night.” He rushed to add, “Or any other night. In fact, you’ve kinda wrecked me for anyone else, Sunshine, so I sure as hell hope you’re here to put me out of my misery.” Shit, that didn’t come out right.
Her delicate eyebrows inched up her forehead, but she remained quiet.
He shoved his hands in his shorts pockets to keep them from wandering to her arms, her back, her hair. After all, he still didn’t know why she was here.
“I can’t believe you told your brother.” The thought had him suddenly verging on giddy, and he schooled his features.
She shrugged her creamy bare shoulders. “I should’ve told him a while ago. I just hope I didn’t screw up your line chemistry. That was a gorgeous game winner you scored the other night, by the way.”
He knew it was a gorgeous goal—he’d watched it on the highlights—but hearing her say it had heat rushing up his neck. “Thanks. Uh, so you were watching?”
“Of course I was! How do you think I got here?”
“How did you get here? Wait. Let me rephrase. What, specifically, made you come?”
“Great playoff hockey?” Her eyes glittered with amusement. She was toying with him, the little minx.
“Or was it to tell your brother about our ‘attraction’?”
She laughed. “Never gonna let me live that down, are you?”
A sigh eased his shoulders a fraction. “I’ve missed hearing you laugh.”
Her eyes suddenly misted, and her smile slid. “I’ve missed you. I wanted to tell you in person. That’s why I came.”
She about knocked the wind from him. “You came all the way to Canada to tell me you missed me? You could’ve done that on the phone or in a text.”
“No, I couldn’t have. It needed to be face-to-face.” After an awkward little cough, she raced on. “So did you get yourself settled back in your condo before leaving Denver?”
The sudden switch confused him. Maybe she’d traveled here just to tie up loose ends. “I tried, but I couldn’t do it. I extended the lease on the house and had Paige list the condo instead.”
Her hazel eyes popped wide. “So you’re living in that big-ass house by yourself?”
“Dad’s buddy wanted his place back, so Mom and Dad moved into Mom’s wing—your wing—after I came here.”
“I thought you loved your condo?”
“Yeah, well, I realized when I went back that that love affair had run its course.” I want what I had at the huge house. You. “So how’s the job hunting going? Moving to Texas anytime soon?” He held his breath.
She brushed her hair behind her ears. It had grown longer, and a thick, touchable curl called to him from where it nestled on her shoulder. “No. I sort of took a break while I helped Lily get settled in their new house.”
“You in the guesthouse?”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“You don’t sound happy about that.”
“It’s just … It’s not my place. It’s theirs. I felt more at home in that ridiculous house of yours than I feel there.”
Killing me here. His hands twitched, and he found himself looking around for something to juggle. “So what are your plans?”
“Now or future?”
He tucked his hands under his armpits. “Yes.”
“Well, for now I plan to stay and cheer from the stands as long as you guys are in the hunt. After that, I guess it depends on you.” She peeped at him from under her dark lashes.
His eyes darted to the ceiling while he tried to puzzle out what was she was telling him. He decided to help her along. “You flew up here to tell your brother about us and to tell me you missed me. What else am I missing?”
Unwavering eyes fixed on his and filled with tears. It took every ounce of willpower not to pull her into his arms.
“I, um, came to a few realizations I wanted to share.” She paused a moment to dab and sniff. “First, my independence means a lot to me. I love my career, I like supporting myself.”
His heart sank. “Thought we’d established that and that I’m good with it. It makes you who you are. I just had a hard time with the notion of you living so far away when I wanted you with me. Selfish, I know, but—”
She let out a teary laugh. “Would you let me finish? This is hard enough to say as it is.”
“Why? Since when have you been shy about saying what’s on your mind?” It was one of the things he loved
