On Thin Ice (The Baltimore Banners Book 8) (19 page)

"No, I'm good. Dale's picking me up early so we can get things set up."

"If anything changes, let me know."

"I will. Now go, before Kelly thinks you got lost."

"Trust me, Kelly knows exactly where I am." He gave her a final kiss then walked down the hall toward the elevator, looking back at her twice before he turned the corner. Lauren offered him a small wave then closed and locked the door, turning off lights as she moved to her bedroom.

A room that suddenly seemed too big, too empty with only her in it. Kenny was right: it was going to be a long week.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lauren pushed the hair behind her ears then glanced around the rink, frowning. The game was supposed to start in an hour and the stands weren't even close to being full. She looked down at the clipboard sitting in front of her then over at the pile of tickets stacked to the side. More than half the people there had purchased their tickets in advance so all she had to do was mark their name off the list—which meant she'd sold maybe a dozen tickets. Maybe.

The whole thing was a little disheartening.

"Why so glum?" Dale moved to stand beside her, still dressed in jeans and a ragged fire department sweatshirt that had definitely seen better days. Stubble darkened his jaw, the shadow of whiskers a little thicker along his upper lip. Lauren leaned back in the metal folding chair and rolled her eyes.

"You have a caterpillar on your lip."

Dale frowned, his hand automatically moving to his mouth. "I'm trying to grow it out."

"Well don't. It looks stupid."

"And aren't you just a shining ray of sunshine this morning. Get up on the wrong side of the bed? Not have enough coffee? All of the above?"

"No. I just don't think you look good with a moustache, that's all."

"I thought women liked stubble, thought it looked sexy. I never heard you complain about lover boy's."

"Stubble, yes. That thing living on your upper lip, no. And don't call him 'lover boy'. That's not even funny." Lauren folded her arms across her chest and glared at Dale. It didn't do any good because he just laughed and dropped into the seat beside her, straddling it backward and resting his arms along the top of it.

"Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise. You guys have an argument or something? Is that why you're so grumpy?"

"No, we didn't. And I'm not grumpy."

Dale snorted, making his disbelief clear. "Yeah, okay. If you say so." He leaned closer, studying her with a frown. "Are you PMSing?"

"What? No. God, I can't believe you even said that. You don't say something like that to a woman. Ever. That right there is why you will always remain single."

"We're not talking about my love life—"

"Because you don't have one—"

"We're talking about yours." Dale spoke right over her, completely ignoring her comment. He studied her for a few seconds then sat back so fast she thought he was going to fall out of the chair. A look of horror crossed his face, followed by a flash of anger that burned in his eyes. "Holy shit. You're pregnant. I'll fucking kill him."

"What!" The word came out as a choked screech, thick with surprise. Lauren looked around, making sure nobody had overheard him, then leaned so close that her face was only inches from Dale's. "I am
not
pregnant. Oh. My. God. I can't believe you. Why would you even think that? I just—go away. I don't even want to look at you right now."

"So then what's your problem? You guys didn't have an argument. You're not PMSing. You're not pregnant. So what is it?"

"Can't I just be grumpy? Do I need to have an excuse?"

Dale leaned back, pretending to think about it. He finally shook his head, a grin teasing his mouth. "Normally I'd say yes, but since you're a woman, I guess not."

Lauren grabbed the first thing she could find, which happened to be a harmless pen, and threw it at him, hitting him square in the chin as he dodged to his left. The pen hit the rubber floor and bounced under his chair. Dale laughed and leaned down to pick it up, putting it back on the table out of her reach. "Testy, testy. Come on, out with it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"Yeah, uh huh. Which means something's wrong. Out with it."

"Nothing. I just—I didn't get much sleep last night, that's all." Because she'd been too busy thinking. Too busy arguing with herself, with her emotions. Too busy trying to convince herself that she was
not
in love with Kenny Haskell.

Too busy trying to get comfortable in her empty bed when all she wanted was to fall asleep in Kenny's arms.

Yeah, she could argue with herself all she wanted. That didn't change the truth.

"Do I need to have a talk with lover boy, tell him to keep his hands to himself and let you get some sleep?" Dale grinned when he said it but she could hear the underlying seriousness in his voice. He may like Kenny. He may even approve of them seeing each other—like he even had a say in the matter. But he was always going to be her big brother, no matter how old they got.

Lauren slumped further in the chair and shook her head. "Stop calling him that. And Kenny wasn't even there. His sister and niece are in town, remember?"

"Oh, I get it now. You're pouting because lover boy wasn't there. Now I understand."

Lauren narrowed her eyes, wishing there was something else she could throw at him. The only other things on the table were the stack of tickets and the clipboard. Tickets wouldn't hurt him and she was saving the clipboard as a last measure. "You're an ass, you know that, right?"

"You still love me." Dale grinned. A second went by then his grin abruptly disappeared, his eyes widening just a fraction as he stared at her. Then his eyes narrowed and the muscle in his jaw worked for a few seconds before his face finally relaxed and went completely blank. Lauren watched, amazed at how quickly the expressions went from one extreme to the other—until she realized what had just happened.

She grabbed the clipboard and flipped through the papers, pretending to study them.
Please don't let him say anything. Please don't let him say anything.

"Lauren."

"There's still a lot of people on the list who haven't shown up yet."

"We have their money so I don't care. Lauren, look at me."

"Can't, busy."

"Lauren." Dale's hand closed over arm, the command clear in his voice. She sighed and turned to face him, not quite able to meet his steady gaze. "Is that what this is about?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

"That's what this is about, isn't it? You're in love with him."

Lauren shot him a glare then looked away, refusing to say anything. Dale released her arm then sat back, silent for a few blessed minutes. Then he sighed and leaned forward, his voice low enough that nobody could overhear them. "So what's the problem?"

"I didn't say there was a problem."

"Really? I couldn't tell, not with you being so grumpy and shit."

"No problem." Lauren shrugged, her gaze focused on the scarred and chipped laminate of the table. "It's just too soon, that's all."

"Too soon?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's only been a few months. It's too soon."

"The heart wants what it wants."

Lauren finally turned to look at Dale, her brows raised in surprise. He was grinning at her. "Where did that even come from? Isn't that a line from something? Because no way you came up with that on your own."

"Probably. No idea where, though. And who cares? It's true. Stop beating yourself up over it."

"But what if I'm just imagining it? What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Just ask him."

"What? Are you insane?"

"No, I'm serious. Look, here he comes." Dale motioned behind her with a small nod and a big grin. Lauren turned in the chair, her heart slamming into her chest as her eyes automatically landed on Kenny. He was walking toward them, Sara's small hand held in his larger one, Kelly beside them. The smile on his face grew, shining in his eyes as their gazes met.

And oh, God, she wasn't imagining things. She really was in love with him. She glanced at Dale and wanted to kick him when she saw the knowing smile on his face. But then Kenny was standing next to her, leaning down to kiss her, his mouth warm and soft against hers.

"We would have been here sooner but Rugrat here had a meltdown because she didn't want to wear a coat."

Lauren glanced down at Sara, dressed in a cute pair of embroidered jeans and a pink sweatshirt. Kenny held her small coat in his other hand.

"All it took was one morning for him to completely undermine my authority. Just wait, this will come back to haunt you. Trust me." Kelly didn't look too worried, though, not with the indulgent smile on her face. That was probably a good thing, since Kenny didn't look the least worried. Or sorry.

"I'm her uncle, I'm allowed to spoil her. Right, Rugrat?" He tickled Sara then grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder, holding her like a sack of feed as she giggled. He gave her bottom a playful swat then smiled at Lauren. "We're not late, are we?"

"No." Dale stood, answering for her. "A couple of the guys are already suiting up though if you want to join them. I didn't know if you guys wanted to warm up or not."

"Yeah, probably should." He lowered Sara to her feet then handed her jacket to Kelly. Then he faced Lauren again, smiling. "So you're really playing?"

"I'm really playing, yeah."

"Not if you don't get changed, you're not. Go, I'll handle things here until CC shows up to take over." Dale grabbed the gear bag from under the table and handed it to her. She tossed it over her shoulder, laughing when Kenny stepped back.

"Gee, you're acting like I might hit it with you or something."

"Can't imagine why." He moved into step with her as they headed toward the locker rooms, making sure he was on her right, away from the bag. His hand closed around hers, big and warm, sending a tingling warmth through her. "How'd you sleep last night?"

"Hm? Um, okay I guess."

"I didn't. In fact, I slept like shit." He paused in front of the women's locker room and gently backed her against the wall, his eyes staring into hers. His mouth closed over hers, the kiss deep and slow. Lauren leaned into him, fisting her hand in the soft material of his sweatshirt. He pulled away and she swallowed her little moan of disappointment. "Nice shirt, by the way."

Lauren glanced down, smiling. She was wearing the long sleeve York Bombers t-shirt he had given her to wear that icy rainy morning all those weeks ago. "I guess I should probably give it back, huh?"

"No way. I like seeing you in my shirt." He kissed her. "I like you in my bed even more." He kissed her again. "And there's no way I'm going to survive this week. We need to figure something out."

Her heart sped up, tripping over itself as each beat pounded harder in her chest. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He closed his mouth over hers once more, his tongue sweeping in and dancing with hers. He tasted like heat and spice, his touch melting her. And then he was gone, jerked back as someone pulled him away.

"No fraternizing with the other team, Haskell. Traitor. Let's go." Harland Day kept hold of the back of his shirt, pulling him toward the other locker room. Kenny glanced over his shoulder, a grin on his face as his teammate pushed him through the door. Lauren laughed then made her own way into the locker room, busying herself with changing. She was tightening the laces of her skates when the door opened again and she looked up, thinking that maybe Kelly had come in to say hello or something. The smile died on her face and her heart slammed into her chest when she saw Lindsay standing just inside the door, looking hesitant and uncertain.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren's voice was a little too harsh and she swallowed, wondering if she should apologize. Guilt swept over her when Lindsay jumped, her body jerking like she'd been slapped. Lauren pushed it away, tried to tell herself it was just another one of Lindsay's acts.

But maybe it wasn't. She looked different, dressed down in loose jeans and a plain sweater, her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her face was bare of all makeup except for a hint of lip gloss. She looked pale, like she'd recently been sick.

Don't do it. Don't fall for it.

Lauren pushed the thought from her mind, chiding herself for even thinking it. Even Lindsay wasn't a good enough actress to fake being pale.

"I thought you might be here today so I wanted to—" Lindsay looked away, blinking. She sighed then looked back, her eyes not quite meeting Lauren's. "I wanted to say I was sorry."

Lauren tied her skate then stood, reaching for her jersey and pulling it over her head. She didn't say anything. She had no idea what to say and didn't think she'd be able to force the words through her tight throat anyway.

Lindsay stepped closer, her hands tightly clasped in front of her. "I know you don't believe me. I wouldn't believe me, either. But I am sorry."

"Okay." Lauren moved toward the door, only to stop when Lindsay stepped in front of her. There was no anger on her face, no hatred. No sign of manipulative calculation danced in her pale blue eyes. The only thing Lauren could see was sadness—and regret.

She took a deep breath and held it. She couldn't give in, couldn't allow herself to completely believe her sister. Not yet. It was too soon, not even two weeks had passed since Lauren had kicked her out. There was no way Lindsay could have changed that fast.

"I, uh, I have a job again. Not much of one, but it's still a job."

"That's—that's good news. I'm glad."

"I even paid for a ticket for today. See?" She pulled something from the front pocket of her jeans and held it up. The bright green paper was crumpled already, no doubt from being shoved into her pocket, but it was definitely a ticket for the game. Lauren wondered what Dale had said when he saw their sister come through the door.