Playing for Keeps/Body Check (Rules of the Game) (13 page)

And then the question was taken out of his hands.

"Hi."

She glided effortlessly toward him. Her voice was breathless, her chest heaving slightly from her workout. Sexy, long and lean, breasts perfect for his hands to caress, he swallowed hard and smiled at her.

"Hi."

Small beads of sweat dotted her forehead and Quinn handed her the towel she asked for. "Thanks. I don’t always have time to skate, so when I find a few minutes, I grab it. Feels good."

"You look good."

She chuckled and patted her neck and arms with the towel. "Thank you Mr. Rafferty. So, do I make the team, coach?"

His smiled disappeared as he whispered. "You could be on my team anytime."

She playfully bowed to him. "High praise from the Mighty Quinn. If hockey ever puts together a cheerleading squad, I'm your girl."

She opened the gate and walked past him to the locker room, and Quinn followed.

"I'll hold you to that. By the way, are you hungry? Let's have dinner together.
 
I know a little café in the Village."

Mia tilted her head. "Is this a date, Quinn?"

He took the towel from her and dabbed her forehead and face gently. "Call it what you want. You have to eat." He shrugged. "I have to eat.
 
Come on gorgeous, you know you want to."

He planted a small kiss on her pouting lips, tasted a hint of mint.
 
"I want you all to myself tonight. What do you say, Mia?"

She huffed and shook her head. "You're not going to take no for an answer, are you, Rafferty?"

He smiled, knowing he'd won her over. "I never do. So don't let me work for it."

She hesitated and Quinn thought she'd refuse him. Then she smiled and caressed his cheek, her touch making him want more.

"What if I said no?"

He smiled, sensed she was teasing him. "I'll meet you outside in ten minutes."

CHAPTER four

After deeming every dress in her closet inappropriate for the fundraiser, Mia decided to go shopping. Her close friend, Elena Collins, agreed to join Mia for breakfast so they could spend the day shopping and catching up.

Elena was bright, outgoing and never turned down the chance to shop till she dropped.
 
The petite woman with the chin length, jet black hair also possessed the golden hands of a gifted chiropractor, and had treated Mia and members of the Thunder from time to time.

Meeting for breakfast before their shopping expedition, Elena, as usual, was early, and had already ordered coffee and juice for both of them.

Mia knew she could tell her closest friend anything. Elena was a straight from the hip kind of woman and Mia felt this was a good time to confide in her good friend, who would give her an honest, no nonsense opinion of Quinn, and how a relationship with him would affect her.

After exchanging hugs and trivial niceties, Mia settled across from her raven haired friend, and took a welcome sip of morning brew, savoring the nutty flavor.
 
They ordered breakfast from the young, affable waiter, then faced each other across the table and shared recent events while they waited for their food.

"So, where do you want to start? Bergdorf? Saks? You want to dazzle and show off your beauty and allure, don’t you?"
 
Elena joked, then took a small sip of coffee.

Their breakfast set down before them, Mia shrugged and speared a cube of melon with her fork, then waved it at her friend. "How about that new boutique down on Broadway and Water Street. They carry Vera Wang and Stella McCartney."

Elena nodded, her brows raised, as she took a bite of scrambled egg. "Sounds like a plan."

They ate and spoke of everyday issues, Mia's job, Elena's practice.

Two cups of coffee later, Mia watched Elena narrow her gaze.

"What? Is my mascara smeared or something?" Mia made a grab for her mirrored compact.

"How long have we known each other, Sinclair?"

Mia laughed. "Too long."

Elena nodded. "Ok then, why don’t you tell me if the rumors are true."

Uh oh.
 
"What rumors?"

"Oh, I don’t know. The rumors about you and a certain, gorgeous, sexy, six foot five goaltender with the sexy stubble and the blue eyes of a hockey god, hmm?"

Mia tilted her head, then met Elena's dark gaze. "You got me.
 
I have ulterior motives to shop until we drop today."

"Well, talk Sinclair, what's going on?
 
I see the way he looks at you when I come to a game, and how long has this been going on?"

"I went out to dinner with him last week."

Elena gave her friend thumbs up. "Ah, finally, putting Goyette to rest. I'm going to kiss that Rafferty right on the mouth when I see him."

Mia nearly spit out her scrambled egg. "Ok, don’t get excited, Collins. It was just dinner. And…"

"And what, come on, tell me, I'm dying here."

Mia shrugged, "I'm going to the fundraiser with him."

Elena nearly cheered. "Ok, I owe him two kisses." The petite woman straightened. "Seriously, sweetie, I'm so happy for you. It's obvious the man has had it bad for you for a long time. Put him out of his misery and get laid already."

"I'm not ready, Elena. But when I'm with him, I'm so conflicted. The job, the team, what I went through with Andre and…."

"And your father." Elena nodded. "Look, take it slow, and let nature take its course.
 
If you like Quinn, just follow your heart. You can't keep yourself closed away forever, honey."

"Look Elena, I'm sick of sparring with Dad. I'm twenty-nine years old, and he's impossible. He still thinks he can run my life."

Elena dabbed her mouth with her linen napkin, then placed the fabric next to her plate.
 
"Look, I don’t know Quinn that well, but anyone has got to be an improvement over Andre the snake."

"I guess what it all comes down to is being hurt again."

Elena placed a generous tip on the table, then grabbed Mia's hand.

"Mia, honey, are you content to lock yourself up from men forever?
 
You're young, gorgeous, and Quinn obviously wants you. He can't use all that testosterone to just stop pucks. "

Mia opened her mouth to speak, when Elena interrupted. "Don't talk, listen.
 
You want my advice, well, here it is.
 
Go with him to the dinner, have a great time, and let nature take its course.
 
Not all jocks are alike, especially not the ones who look like Rafferty."

"If you weren’t already a chiropractic genius, you could go into business as a shrink."
 
Mia squeezed Elena's hand and smiled.
 
"Seriously, you're a good friend, Elena. I love you, and thanks."

"It's settled then.
 
You'll buy an uber sexy dress for the fundraiser to knock Quinn's socks off, then you'll let me know if the elusive Adam Piersson brings a date."

Mia laughed as they rose from their chairs and exited the restaurant. Elena had a crush on the Thunder's captain for a few months now, but it seemed that Adam was immune to Elena's charms. But if you looked in the dictionary under the word 'tenacious' there would be a picture of Elena Collins under it.

Hailing a cab to take them downtown, Mia promised Elena she'd think about taking her relationship with Quinn to the next level, whatever that was, plus all the perks that came with dating the gorgeous goaltender.

In the end, after an exhausting afternoon of shopping for the perfect dress, Mia was persuaded by Elena to buy a sexy gold curve hugging dress slit up the thigh, then splurged for the most sinful designer mile-high open heels and a new evening bag that cost more than her Louis Vuitton.
 
Questioning her sanity, Mia threw caution to the wind and surrendered her credit card. She was having a fun day, and she went with the feeling.

After a very late lunch, Mia and Elena parted ways with a promise to get together before the dinner dance. Mia caught a cab, and headed home with her extravagant parcels.

Opening her apartment door then entering her bedroom to place her purchases on her bed, Mia quickly sank onto her soft mattress, tired but happy for the first time in months.

She would take it one step at a time, and see where her relationship with Quinn took them. Yet she needed to be cautious and protect her heart, because she wouldn’t survive another heartbreak.

***

At the same time, Quinn parked his car in front of the big six story red brick building in Staten Island with the huge bronze statue of St. Michael the Archangel guarding its gates.
 
He smiled as he pulled three giant bags from the back of his Escalade, then walked through the double magnetic doors.

This was one of the perks of being a celebrity athlete. And the one he enjoyed most.

He stopped at the front desk, and was greeted by the familiar jovial security guard.

"Hey Quinn, you and the team played great against Boston."

Referring to the 7-3 win over Boston, Quinn threw a warm smile at the tall, rotund man wearing the uniform of a security guard.
 
"Thanks, Andy, we're going for it all. We've got a great group of guys. Can I go up?"

"Of course, they're waiting for you in the lounge."

Quinn nodded his thanks, and took the stairs two at a time to the second floor, then followed the sounds of children's laughter as he made his way to the family lounge as he'd done dozens of times before.

St. Michael's Children's Home.
The same institution he'd been brought up in many years ago after being abandoned as an infant.
 
And now that fortune had shined on him in the form of celebrity, he could give back to the place that had saved his life.
 
He was a newly appointed member of the board of directors, and he was proud to contribute generously to the place he credited with the man he'd become.

This is what it's all about, he thought as he entered the room, and more than two dozen or so boys and girls of varying ages greeted him with smiles, hugs and cheers.

He sat on the floor in the midst of them all, and began doling out hugs and high fives, then opened up the packages he'd brought with him, and handed them to the boys and girls who were his extended family.

Quinn never thought about having kids, but every time he visited these beautiful children, he thought immediately of Mia, and knew he'd love to have children with her.  He realized he was getting way ahead of himself, and he was going too fast when it came to Mia, but damn it all, he cared about her, and would do anything to make her happy.

Two hours later, Quinn left the beautiful hill top orphanage on the Southern tip of Staten Island, and drove a mile to the area known as Princess Bay. Located near the water, he drove to the barren piece of land he'd recently purchased, parked his car and walked to gaze upon the site where plans had already started to build a home after the season ended.

Quinn loved to work with his hands, and also planned on making some of the furniture to fill that home. Growing up at St. Michaels, he was fortunate to have a good education, and even though lonely at times, his teachers taught him not only how to grow up to be a viable part of society, but he loved building things. Starting with bird houses, he eventually moved on to small pieces of furniture and from there, discovered a talent for building more intricate furniture fashioned from wood.

He lived at St. Michaels, never fortunate enough to be adopted, and stayed till the age of eighteen. He applied to Staten Island Community College and got side jobs busing and waiting tables, then selling sports equipment, where he eventually fell in love with all sports, but hockey attracted him. Joining a local ice hockey league he soon discovered he was adept at stopping the puck rather than scoring with it. Urged by teammates to try goaltending, he found he enjoyed the challenge of facing opponents, and preventing them from putting the rubber behind him.

He instinctively touched the gold St. Michael's medal he always wore under his shirt, close to his heart.
 
He loved the children of St. Michael's, enjoyed bringing them sports equipment, not only hockey sticks, but baseball items from his friends who were members of the New York Stars, not to mention footballs and helmets donated by the New York Knights.
 
Quinn was fortunate to be associated with such talented athletes who shared with those less fortunate.
 

Looking out at the bay, Quinn continued thinking of Mia, and to their date this weekend when the team's charity dinner dance would be held at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.