Offside (11 page)

“Hey,” she said as she walked into his shop,
voice overly bright, overly fake.

All the techs had left for the day, though
Shane was somewhere around. He watched her expressive blue eyes
widen as she turned in a full circle. “Wow, Logan. This is really
impressive.”

When she caught sight of her car she paused
and glanced back at him. “What the…“

She shot a surprised look his way and crossed
over to the Honda. Logan couldn’t help it, his gaze rested on the
gorgeous curve of her ass and the long waves she’d left to hang
down her back.

There was something about hair you could sink
your hands into and…

“This can’t be mine. The car looks brand
new!”

Logan joined her and nodded. “Shane did most
of it, so you can thank him when you see him.”

Her fingers ran along the top of the hood,
pausing where the word [i]‘
pussy’
[i] had been scratched into
the paint. Shane had ground it out—luckily the scratches had only
been surface damage, and the paint job looked mint.

Billie’s cheeks were red and she tucked a
long piece of hair behind her ears—obviously nervous. When she
turned to him, her bottom lip was tucked between her teeth in a way
that would make a porn star proud.

For a moment, he saw her plump lips sliding
across his skin, skimming over his belly, down to his—

“I don’t’ know…this is a lot more than the
estimate. Shane said it would be around five hundred bucks, but
those tires look new and they’ve got to be double that alone.”

Her soft white sweater hugged curves that no
female athlete should have. Not one who played hockey better than
most men. And yet, as she tucked her hands into the back pockets of
her jeans he took a moment to appreciate said curves, his gaze
lingering on the swell of her breasts. When he finally met her gaze
again, the blush that stained her cheeks intensified.

Billie-Jo Barker was hot as hell.

He cleared his throat and grabbed her keys
from his front pocket. “It’s all good, Billie. There’s no
charge.”

Her brow furrowed. “What? That doesn’t make
sense.” She gazed at him directly, her eyes wide, sparkling with
something…he wasn’t sure what, but he felt it all the way down to
his toes. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Logan knew this woman
was going to prove dangerous to him in more ways than one. “I can
pay my own bill, thanks. I don’t need your charity.”

“This isn’t charity. A hell of a lot of
people feel bad about what happened.” His voice lowered, as a wave
of anger rolled through him. He’d been right pissed when he’d seen
the extent of the damage, and when he found out who was responsible
there would be hell to pay.

In that moment Logan made a conscious
decision to ignore the little voice inside him, the one that said
back off. The one that said getting involved with Billie-Jo Barker
wasn’t a great idea. The one that said Betty had been bad enough,
but this one…she was going to be all kinds of trouble.

It left him strangely exhilarated.

“It’s not right,” she said carefully. “I’ve
got enough on me to pay the estimate in cash and I’ll put the rest
on my card.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a credit
card, chin thrust out, mouth set into a determined line.

“It’s kind of hard to pay a bill when there
isn’t one.”

Her eyes flashed again and her cheeks filled
with color. “Look, Logan, I just feel weird about this.” She licked
her lips and his damn gut tightened along with everything else
south of his waist.

She really was fucking adorable. He could
string this along and make her twitch a hell of a lot more, but
watching her bite her bottom lip in agitation had all sorts of
inappropriate thoughts running through his mind. Jesus, there were
several places he’d love to see her lips…and that tongue…

She must have read his mind because he saw
her stiffen. He took a step back and nodded toward the car.
“Billie, this isn’t charity. It’s made a lot of people feel good to
help you out. The tires just kind of showed up Monday. If you want
to thank someone for that, give Jackie Everett a call. She rallied
the local girl’s hockey league and they got involved too. Cash
donations came in and they pretty much covered all the other
expenses. Hell, even Duke brought over beers and wings for the
techs.” He nodded to the car. “We installed an alarm system so the
next time someone decides to mess with your car they’ll be in for
one hell of a surprise.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

Her eyes shimmered and the two of them stared
at each other for several long moments. They stared at each other
for so long in fact, that when Shane shouted a ‘hello’ from across
the shop they both jumped.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he answered
finally. Logan held out the keys and nodded toward the now open bay
door. “I’ll see you Friday night.”

Her fingers grazed his as she stepped forward
to grab the keys from him.

“Thank you, Logan.” She paused. “About the
other day and what happened…”

Logan’s gut tightened at the thought. “Yeah,”
he said carefully, watching the play of emotion on her face.

“I’m sorry. I was upset and I…it won’t happen
again.”

Logan lowered his head. He inhaled her
subtle, clean scent and stifled a groan. What was it about this
girl that made him feel like a teenager again? A damn horny
teenager.

“I think you’re wrong, kid,” he whispered
near her ear.

A soft sound escaped her lips. A sound that
made him tight and hard. As much as he wanted to pursue the moment
he knew enough to back off. The timing wasn’t exactly right with
Shane grinning at him from the shadows. He’d take his time with
this one.

He had the feeling she’d be worth it.

Billie arrived at the arena a half hour
before the game. She’d been ready for at least an hour, but had
paced her bedroom for most of it. She’d seriously thought about
ditching hockey. The guys didn’t want her there anyway, and really,
who was she to stir the pot and upset so many people?

Just this morning, Ike, at the coffee shop
had complained loud and clear about his views on a woman playing in
the men’s league. They weren’t favorable and they weren’t subtle.
In his opinion—which he shared with everyone in earshot—it was
plain wrong. It was men’s hockey and a man should be able to have
one night in the sanctity of a locker room without any female
presence. How in hell could you scratch your balls and fart when
there was a woman on the bench?

Billie thought of Dearling and clearly, some
of the guys had no problem with this.

But maybe he had a point? She could have
played in a mixed league in the city, or joined the local women’s
league but the skill level just wasn’t the same.

For two whole seconds she considered Ike’s
arguments, and then as her gaze settled on a framed photo—taken
just after she’d scored an Olympic medal winner—something inside
her stirred. Something fierce and full of need.

She grabbed her jacket—passed Herschel on his
way up to her father’s room with a cup of tea—and kissed his
cheek.

“Give ‘em hell, sweets.”

“I will,” she’d murmured quietly and then
proceeded down the stairs where she’d pointedly ignored Bobbi who
was in the kitchen making Gerald Dooley a goopy, gross dessert.

Gerald smiled, though it dimmed somewhat as
Bobbi shoved a bowl in front of him. “Heading to the game?”

“Yup.”

Billie heard her sister’s derisive snort as
she’d headed out into the cool, crisp evening and even though it
shouldn’t matter, it did. Some of her oomph left as she’d slipped
into her car and turned the key, though the warmth in her belly
stirred as she thought of Logan.

She thought of how much she’d wanted to kiss
him again in his shop. She thought of the way he smelled and his
dark, sexy eyes. She thought of his lean, hard body and a butt made
for a woman’s hand.

His full sensual mouth.

The words that had fallen from said, full
sensual mouth. [i]“
I think you’re wrong, kid
.”[i]

What the hell did that mean? Wasn’t he still
with Sabrina?

Billie pushed all thoughts Logan aside. She
cleared her mind of any excess garbage that could ruin her game and
parked her shiny, red Honda near the entrance— underneath the
biggest, brightest security light she could find. She’d lucked out,
someone was just leaving.

She heaved her bag over her shoulder and
paused as a rusted out, silver Chevy rolled past. The driver’s
window was down, and she earned one hell of a scowl as Ed
Cronkwright searched for a spot to pull his truck into. He mumbled
something as he passed and though she couldn’t hear his words, she
sure as hell got the drift.

She watched him pull into a spot farther
along and thought, screw you.

This was hockey—nothing more—and she wanted
to play. Billie wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from her.
Not Seth Longwood, or Ed Cronkwright or her sister. Not the
bastards who’d vandalized her car, or even the thought of being so
damn close to Logan Forest.

She heard Ed’s door slam and flipped him a
mental bird. Scowl all you want, asshole. I need this.

All week she’d been on pins and needles.
Bobbi was pissed. And, sure, Billie was big enough to admit that
maybe some of it was deserved—Bobbi obviously believed she was
sleeping with Shane—but still, it didn’t mean that every single
person who orbited Bobbi-Jo Barker’s circle deserved to be as
miserable as her sister was.

As far as Billie was concerned, her sister
loved to wallow in darkness. Why else would she hook up with
someone like Gerald Dooley and pretend to be something she
wasn’t?

Frustrated, Billie entered the arena and
pushed all thoughts of her family aside. She’d think about them
later. Right now, she had a game to concentrate on.

“Hey, Billie.”

She glanced up. Kendall McKallister waved
from across the lobby. The teenager lived two doors down from the
Barkers and was an avid hockey player. At the moment she was
surrounded by her teammates. They all wore their hockey jerseys,
the bold maroon and gold was pretty hard to miss. They must have a
game on the second ice pad.

She smiled, waved back and thought that maybe
she’d catch the rest of their game when she was done. That sounded
more her speed than hanging with ‘Angry Pirates’ at The Grill.
Besides, it’s not likely Logan Forest would stay to watch a bunch
of teenage girls play hockey, and Billie was more than okay with
that. The further she stayed away from the man the better. Her
brain tended to malfunction when he was around and she couldn’t
afford anymore lapses.

One kiss was enough.

“Have a good one,” Kendall shouted. “Give
them hell.”

Surprised, Billie smiled. “You too.”

She disappeared below and quickly found her
room designation, hoping there wouldn’t be a surprise waiting on
the other side. Gingerly, she pushed the door open and heaved a
sigh of relief when she found it empty.

Ten minutes later she was lacing up her
skates when a knock sounded.

“Billie, you decent?”

“Yeah,” her heart sped up and then slowed
down when she realized it was Shane, not Logan.

Gallagher pushed the door open and peeked
inside. “Hey, Cronkwright is filling in for The Whalers goalie.
Duggen’s wife went into labor.”

Billie grabbed her bright yellow jersey and
pulled it over her head, tossing a long, thick braid behind her
back. She reached for her helmet and arched a brow.

“And I care because…”

Shane grinned and for a moment she saw the
young man he used to be. Wow, he kinda took her breath away. He was
still dangerous—still had that edge that made men take a step back
while their women plowed forward—but there was something soft there
too. She totally saw the man her sister had fallen in love
with.

What the hell had happened between them?

“Look, I know you held back last week.
Christ, we could have won by twenty goals instead of eight. I also
know Ed hated every single one you put behind his ass and in the
net.”

[i]
Good
.[i]

Billie grabbed her stick and mouth guard.
“This going anywhere?”

“Ed made you walk home from the shop, asshole
that he is.”

Her natural hockey high was slowly
diminishing as the realities of her life filtered through. She
frowned.

“Shane…a point to your rambling would be good
right about now.”

Shane tapped his stick on the edge of his
skate. “He also fucked with me a few years back.”

That got her attention. “Really. You gonna
share the details?”

“Nope,” he replied softly, and something in
his eyes made Billie pause. It was that edge…that dark edge.

“I think it’s time we taught that bastard a
lesson. His ex-wife is remarried to Bart Strombley.”

“Bart? My winger?” Bart Strombley was a
quiet, gentle giant and though he’d not said a word to her either
way the Friday before, he’d played a solid hour of hockey with not
one cheap shot thrown her way.

Shane nodded. “Yep, and she’s here to watch
the game. It would be a shame for Ed if he lost, especially since I
saw his new girlfriend here too.” His grin widened even more. “Seth
Longwood is their hotshot center man.”

Billie grabbed her spare stick from its
resting place on the bench, a tingle of excitement making her nerve
endings shiver and her gut tighten. The other team was filing out
behind Shane and she heard some of the insults hurtled her way.

She settled her gaze on him. “You want me to
blow them out of the water.”

Shane stood back and gave her room to walk
by. “Yeah, I do.”

As the fresh air from the rink hit her in the
face, Billie grinned, feeling light and invincible for the first
time in a long time. Logan was already on the ice with the rest of
her team warming up. She saw his tall body glide by, his strokes
even and sure. She glanced back at Shane and secured the strap
beneath her helmet.