Las Vegas Sidewinders: Karl (Book 3) (6 page)

Was she nice?

Kind of quiet. I don’t
think she was expecting for this to be a real relationship and now he’s
suddenly talking about moving her in with him and stuff. She looked
overwhelmed.

I’m sure you’ll take
good care of her.

I’ll try!
Have you seen your
mom yet?

Still in the car—soon.

Okay, I have to finish
up and get some sleep so I don’t look like a zombie later tonight!

You’ll look beautiful!
Miss you.

Miss you more.
She texted him a
picture of their handcuffs and he laughed, responding with an emoticon of a big
heart.

Sebastian glanced at
him. “Your
girlfriend
?”

“Why do you say it that
way?” Karl frowned at his brother. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I think Emilie put it
in Mom’s head that you were getting back together with Therese, and between
that and the bullshit with Marco, you might be coming home. You never said
anything about a girl. Now Mom’s going to be disappointed and—”

“Knock it off!” Karl
looked away. “Whether or not I come home has nothing to do with Therese; not
now, not ever.”

“Dude, seriously—she’s
smokin
’!”

“She’s a fucking twig,
with no tits and a shaved pussy.” Karl made a face. “Been there, done that, not
interested.”

Sebastian chuckled.
“Wow, you must be getting some piece of ass back in the U.S.!”

Karl smacked his
brother on the back of the head. “Her name is Kate—and she’s not a
piece
of anything.”

“Geez, relax.”
Sebastian wisely chose to remain silent the rest of the way.

As he’d suspected,
there was a full house waiting for him and Karl nearly growled with
frustration. Although he knew all his friends and family would come by once
they heard he was home, he’d wanted some time with his parents when he arrived.

“Did you fucking invite
Therese?” Karl turned to his brother in annoyance.

“We had no idea you had
a girlfriend!” Sebastian snapped.

Karl got out of the car
and slammed the door. He strode up the steps and into the house, calling out to
his mother. “Mom?!”

“Karl! You’re here!”
She came out of the kitchen smiling, her blue eyes as bright as ever.

“I missed you!” He
hugged her tightly, gently lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.
It always made her laugh, so he always did it.

“Look at you,
you
handsome devil!” In her British accent, she usually
spoke English with him, though they spoke Swedish the rest of the time. That
was why he spoke fluent English.

“Why are there so many
people here?” he whispered in her ear.

“There’s supposed to be
some big NHL star coming by,” she whispered back. “I don’t know who it is,
though.”

He snickered, happy to
see her acting as goofy as always.

“Karl!” His tall,
red-haired father came in grinning. He pulled Karl into a bear hug and launched
into a tirade about how the L.A. Kings had stolen the series from them.

“Wills, enough!” His
mother swatted him. “Let him relax before you start talking hockey.”

“Karl!” Emilie came
flying through the living room, her blond hair swinging behind her.

“Hey,
Em
.” He hugged her too, glad to see her even though he
wanted to strangle her for inviting Therese to the house.

“Hello again, Karl.”
Therese
Anderberg
was 5’11” and probably weighed no
more than 115 pounds on a bad day. She was long and willowy, with blond hair
and pale blue eyes. She looked like she’d just stepped off the runway in loose
silk black pants and a matching black camisole covered by a hot pink sweater
that fell off one shoulder. Her makeup was dark and overdone, more camera ready
than appropriate for an afternoon visiting with friends.

She lifted her lips for
a kiss and Karl turned so that she was forced to kiss his cheek. “Hello,
Therese.”

“You’re looking well.”

“Thanks.” He didn’t
return the compliment and turned to his mother. “Is there anything to eat? I’m
hungry.”

“Come.” Linking her arm
through his, Anya
Martensson
walked her son to the
kitchen. She began making a plate for him and looked over at him with concern
as he sank into a chair and ran his hands over his face. “Are you all right?”

“Just tired—it was a
long flight.” He smiled at her.

“Don’t blow smoke up my
arse
,” she raised her eyebrows. “I taught you how to
lie, you know.”

He grinned. “I know.”

“So, what is it? You’re
unhappy that Therese is here?”

“That’s been over a
long time, Mom.”

“I told Emilie that,
but she seemed to think you might be ready to settle down.” She paused. “And
then that picture of you two kissing…”

He grunted. “That was
bullshit—they snapped the picture before I could push her away. I’m not
interested in
her
.”

Anya glanced at her
eldest child and cocked her head. “Is there someone you are interested in?”

“Yes, her name is Kate,
but we’ll talk about her after you tell me what’s going on with you.”

“Oh, you know.” She
waved a hand, setting the plate in front of him. “They saw something in my
yearly mammogram, they did a biopsy and it was malignant. They took everything
out, and now I’m doing chemo.”

“Mom.” He narrowed his
eyes at her.

“Well, I had a little
reaction to the chemo but they think they’ve found a different one now.”

“Why didn’t you tell
me? We spoke last week.”

“There was absolutely
nothing you could have done, and distracting you during the playoffs wasn’t an
option.”

He dug into the plate
in front of him and smiled up at her, even though he was shaking his head; it
was just like her to protect him like this. “So, how many autographs am I going
to have to sign?”

She laughed. “I’ll get
rid of
some
of them if you show me a picture of
Kate
.”

He smirked.
“Extortion—nice.” He pulled out his phone and found a picture Louise had taken
of them at the engagement party. He paused, thinking Kate was so much more
beautiful than Therese. He finally handed the phone to his mother.

She stared at the
picture and a smile spread across her face. “Oh, Karl, she’s lovely.”

“I think so too.” He
took the phone back.

“More?” she asked.

He grinned. “Can you
get rid of Therese?”

Anya sighed. “She’s
staying with us. She sold her flat when she got this reality thing, so she
stays here when she comes home.”

“Really?” He pushed his
plate away as a groan escaped him. “Can I stay at a hotel?”

“No!” She touched his
hair. “It’ll be fine. You’ll be with me tonight, and tomorrow we’ll be at the
oncology center all day. Everything should go smoothly and then you’ll be on
your way back to Kate.”

“I didn’t come all this
way to stay for two days!” he laughed. “I’ll stay a little while, spend some
time with you and Dad. Maybe Kate will come for a week, if she can get away.
She’s got a new client…” He was happiest talking about Kate and Anya was happy
to listen. She’d never seen Karl talk about a woman the way he did Kate and it
was refreshing. Though she would have liked to have her son move back to
Sweden, she knew the NHL was where he wanted to be, and frankly, the idea of
having Therese for a daughter-in-law was a little scary.

The fundraiser was
being held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Kate watched from the back of
the room, her eyes taking in every detail from the elegant lighting to the ice
sculptures and the waiters walking around with hors d’oeuvres. It was a who’s
who of New York’s celebrities and athletes; Dom and a player from the
Washington Capitals were in attendance since they were clients of hers. Dom had
come without Molly because she was too close to her due date to travel, but
he’d wanted to support Kate, and Molly had urged him to come alone.

Kate moved towards Dom,
happy to see someone who was more friend than business associate.

“Hey!” he greeted her
warmly, kissing her cheek. “You look stunning!”

“Thanks.” She glanced
down at her turquoise floor-length gown. “Are you sure? You’d better be honest
because if this dress looks bad on me, every society column in New York will be
talking about me and I’ll find you!”

“They might be talking
about you,” he laughed. “But only because you’re a knockout!” He pulled out his
phone. “Come on, let’s take a selfie and drive Karl nuts!” He snapped a picture
of them with his arm tightly around her waist and texted it to Karl.

“It’s two in the
morning in Sweden,” she laughed.

“Ha!” He chuckled as he
showed her Karl’s response.

I’m going to kill you.
Then I’m going to tell Molly and she’s going to kill you again.

They both laughed. She
took the phone from him and typed back quickly.

Wish you were here!
Xoxoxo Kate

She handed Dom back his
phone and squeezed his arm before she moved to the next group of people. She
knew a lot of people, and being involved with this fundraiser was another huge
accomplishment for her. More people than ever knew who she was and she forced
herself not to linger too long with any one group.

“You look beautiful
tonight,” a deep voice said behind her.

Kate turned and smiled
at Dante. He was pretty hot too in a white tuxedo. On his arm, Larissa was also
in white, a somewhat demure dress that showed off her nice figure but somewhat
hid her growing baby bump. They hadn’t made an official announcement, so they
were trying to keep it under wraps a little longer.

“Thank you,” Kate spoke
happily. “You guys look great.”

“You did a wonderful
job,” Larissa said softly. “Everything looks very nice.”

“I had a lot of help,
but I’m kind of proud.”

“We’re glad to be
here,” Dante turned to smile at the photographer who was aiming at them,
pulling Kate into the picture at the last minute.

The next morning Kate
groaned when her phone rang. It had been almost five in the morning before
she’d gotten to bed and it was only 11:00 now. Reaching for her phone, she saw
Karl’s name and managed to accept the call.

“Hi!” she groaned.

“Did someone stay out
too late last night?” he teased.

“Oh my God.” She closed
her eyes. “I’m going to die.”

“Have too much to drink
too?”

“Maybe.” She giggled.
“Oh, Karl, it was amazing. I gave out so many business cards and my phone has
been dinging all morning with emails and invitations to events.”

“Yeah, well, being on
the cover of the New York Post will do that.”

“What?!”
Her eyes snapped open.
“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, you haven’t been
on your computer yet,” he laughed. “Maybe you should. I’ll wait.”

“Oh, God, do I look
awful? What picture was it?”

He took a breath.
“Babe. You have to stop this immediate need to think negative. Of course you
don’t look awful! You look stunning—and I’m sure Dante
Lamonte
thought so too.”

“What?” She frowned, grabbing
her laptop off the floor and fumbling to pull up the internet. “Oh my God,
Larissa was in that picture too—they cropped her out. Dammit. This is terrible!
I’m supposed to be fixing his image, not becoming his next scandal!”

“Welcome to the world of
celebrities—nothing is ever as it seems.”

“Karl, this is bad!”

“No, it’s not! Relax.”
He chuckled. “You think you’re the first publicist to be pictured with a famous
client? And there were hundreds of witnesses there that know he was with his
girlfriend all night.”

“And you know this
how?”

“Dom called me as soon
as he saw it this morning.” Karl laughed. “He wanted to make sure I knew that
he was with you until you left.”

“He was,” she said. “He
was a lifesaver, too, helping me get a few of the more intoxicated clients into
cabs without any fanfare, and staying with me until everyone was gone. He went
straight to the airport—he must be exhausted.”

“Kind of like you
sound.”

“Yeah.” She yawned. “It
was a really long day and now I’ve got to get right on this to make sure it
doesn’t turn into anything it’s not.”

“Don’t overdo it,” he
said gently.

“I’m okay.” She yawned
again and got up to make coffee. “So how’s your mom?”

“She tolerated the new
chemo meds much better than the first. But now the doctor has mentioned
chemotherapy and radiation both.”

“Oh, no.” She sighed.
“Are you okay?”

“I’m just staying
positive for her and trying not to think about everything that could go wrong.”

“I’m sure she
appreciates you being there.”

“She does. We’re very
close.” He paused. “Kate?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you be upset if
I stayed in Sweden a little longer?”

“No, of course not! If
you need to be with your mom, I totally get it. I mean, I’m disappointed, but
your mom takes priority over everything!”

“Not
everything
,”
he said softly. “I just, you know, she looked so old sitting there with all
those sick people and I never thought of my mom as old before. I can’t imagine
losing her…”

“You won’t!” Kate said
firmly.

They talked for a while
longer and finally hung up. Kate stared at the phone for a long time, and then
sat back down with her computer. Work, she thought, would be the only thing
that would distract her from how much she missed him.

Lacing up his skates,
Karl skated around the ice rink he’d grown up playing on. Here with his brother
and friends, it was fun to play hockey just for the hell of it. He took a shot
from his buddy,
Viggo
Sjoberg
,
and slammed it into the net. It wasn’t often he got to play forward, but the
guys he’d played with all through school liked to be in net when he was in
town, and he had fun switching it up a little. Sebastian skated past him, hip
checking him and sending Karl sprawling. He turned around and skidded to a
stop, spraying Karl’s face with ice.

“Very funny,” Karl
shook it off and got up.

“And all your NHL
buddies are
gonna
see it!”
Viggo
yelled, laughing, holding up the cell phone he’d used to capture a picture.

“Yeah, yeah.” Karl
skated over to the bench and sat down beside his buddy, Otto. They’d been friends
since grade school and Otto and
Viggo
both played in
the SHL.

“Good to see you home,”
he said casually.

“Yeah, it’s great
except for the weather.”

Otto laughed. “Got
spoiled in the sunshine of Las Vegas, eh?”

“Something like that.”

“You thinking of coming
back?” Otto searched his face. “You don’t have to back that idiot,
Rousch
, forever, you know.”

“I know.” Karl stared
straight ahead.

“Coach
Nilson
heard you were sniffing around and said he’d take
you in a heartbeat.”

Karl glanced at him.
“How did he hear anything? The only people who knew I was even considering it
were you, my brother and my roommate back in Vegas. I know
he
didn’t
tell anyone.”

Otto shrugged.
“Sebastian wants you to come home—so do I.”

“You can’t be talking
about that shit,” Karl gave him a hard look. “I have a contract with the
Sidewinders, and it makes me look bad since I’m not a free agent until next
year.”

“Sorry, man.” Otto held
up his hands. “We thought you wanted to come home. And that picture with
Therese—”

“I don’t want to hear
another fucking word about Therese!” Karl rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, she’s
like a disease I can’t get rid of!”

“Easy, man.” Otto
glanced at him. “What’s the matter with you? You’re wound up like a drum.”

“My mom has cancer, my girlfriend
is halfway across the world, and people are trying to push me at some woman I
couldn’t give two shits about—it’s getting old.”

“
Girlfriend?
”

Karl groaned.

Kate pulled on a light
suede jacket and grabbed her purse as she hurried out the door. She was meeting
Trey for lunch and running late. The last two weeks had been absolutely insane.
She had more work than she could possibly handle and was getting new clients
every day. Meanwhile, Dante had asked Larissa to marry him and bought her an
obnoxiously large ring that was now splashed all over every newspaper and
sports magazine in the country. While they worked on making him look like a
reformed bad boy who was getting ready to settle down and be a dad, she was
dragging him to every charitable event she could fit into his schedule. She was
commuting back and forth to Philadelphia every few days and it was exhausting.

“Hey!” Trey stood up as
she slid into the booth across from him.

“Hey.” Kate dropped her
purse beside her and asked the waitress for ice water.

“You look tired,
girlfriend.” Trey was easygoing and funny, and he seemed to be spending a lot
of time in New York lately. Apparently, he had a new boyfriend here that was
kind of serious, and in his free time, he hung out with Kate.

“I’m working 18-hour
days and going back and forth to Philly,” she groaned. “Plus I need to fly out
to Vegas next weekend for my friend’s baby shower, but Dante wants me to go
with him to some awards show.” She pulled out her phone and answered a text.
“And now my sister needs me to get fitted for a bridesmaid dress!”

He laughed. “Better you
than me!”

Her phone buzzed again
and she saw Karl’s name.
You there?

Having lunch with Trey.
How’s Mom?

Can’t stop throwing up.
Going back into the hospital.

Shit. I’m sorry, babe.

Call me later when
you’re done with lunch.

Okay. Xoxoxo

She moved her phone off
to the side and sighed.

“Boyfriend trouble?”

“He’s stuck in Sweden,
I’m stuck here.”

“Take a vacation—life’s
too short!”

“Dante would have a heart
attack—we’re in the middle of baseball season and he’s doing great so far!
We’ve got to ride the positive energy while we’ve got it.”

“You’re the reason he’s
got
positive energy!” Trey laughed.

“That’s what he pays me
for.”

“Don’t let him suck you
in,” Trey said quietly. “He’s a good guy, but he’s totally self-absorbed. He
don’t
care about nobody else, you know what I mean? He
thinks
‘cause
he’s paying you he owns you, but you
make sure he knows that he
don’t
.”

“Right now it’s all
good,” Kate replied. “I’m busy, my business is taking off and I’m making a name
for myself.”

“And what about your
hunky hockey player?”

Kate sighed, looking
outside. “What do I say? Hey, forget your mom, come spend time with me? He
needs to be with his family and I need to be here. Unless he puts a ring on my
finger, I can’t afford to walk away from this kind of money.”

“Is he
going
to
put a ring on your finger?

“I have no idea,” she
admitted. “I mean, things were going really well before he left, but now…” Her
voice trailed off.

“Well, don’t wait too
long, you know? You’re a beautiful woman—you shouldn’t be alone.”

“I was alone for years
before Karl. Most guys think I’m fat.”

His eyes widened and he
gaped at her. “What are you babbling about? I am not interested in those of you
born with vaginas, but if I was, I’d be all over your hot little booty! Dante
can have any woman he wants and he thinks you’re
fine
!”

“He said that?” She
narrowed her eyes at him. “Really?”

“Not
exactly
like that,” Trey hedged with a smirk. “But yeah.”

She laughed. “Lots of
guys want to fuck me, Trey—that’s easy. But guys like Dante? They want a size 0
on their arm.”

“Karl doesn’t—and Dante
likes you. A lot.”

“Karl is special,” she
said softly. “And I’m not going out with Dante, Karl or no Karl.”

“He’s not a bad guy,”
Trey said hopefully. “He just needs the right woman.”

“He’s getting married,
you goof!” She couldn’t help but laugh.

Karl left the hospital
late. His mother was finally able to keep down some food, but they were all physically
and emotionally spent. His mother was having a hard time with the chemotherapy
and Karl couldn’t fathom watching her go through four more rounds of it but he
couldn’t think about leaving her yet either.

Meanwhile, Sebastian
was driving him crazy, talking about the SHL constantly. Coach
Nilson
had called yesterday, inviting him to lunch, and
Karl couldn’t really say no. He’d played for him when he was younger, and not
meeting with him would be rude, but he was beginning to realize he just wanted
to go home to Las Vegas. Or wherever Kate was. Sweden wasn’t the way he
remembered it, and his life in the NHL was better than anything he had here.

Pulling up to the
house, everything was quiet. His father was at the hospital with his mother, Sebastian
was out with friends and Emilie had flown to Athens for a photo shoot. He just
wanted to call Kate, hear her voice, and collapse in bed. He walked into the
kitchen and pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. He popped the cap and took a
long pull, jumping when someone touched him from behind.

“Jesus Christ,
Therese!” He whirled around, glaring at her.

“Sorry!” She spoke
quietly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What are you doing
here? I thought you were going back to L.A. to do that reality show?”

“We haven’t started
filming yet so I’m home for a few weeks.”

“Therese, just so you
know—what you did in Vegas was bullshit. Understand me when I say I’m not
interested in you and I’m taken.”

She rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t possibly think you’re going to have something
long-term with that chubby little American?”

“She’s not chubby!”
Karl moved away from her. “She’s sexy as hell.”

“I’ve never seen you
with someone like her!”

“That’s because those
women were only about sex. Kate is special.”

“Fine.” Therese
followed him and lazily lounged on the couch. “So then tell me about her—why is
she so special?”

“Why do you care?”

“Why not?” She cocked
her head. “We’ve known each other for years—can’t we be friends?”