Free Worth The Shot (The Bannister Brothers #2) by Jennie Marts Page B

coach noticed Addison holding his hand. The moment that he had driven away.
    One moment had changed everything. One moment—one loss of control—one decision to let her go.
    And now he had one chance—one chance to win her back.
    ***
    Addison peered out the window of the plane. Took a last look at St. Louis and silently said goodbye. Goodbye to her old life.
    The call from the magazine last night should have been a cause for celebration—should have had her jumping for joy.
    But all she could think about was Bane. And how he’d driven away. How she’d lost something important.
    She sighed and shook her head, as if to clear him from her thoughts. She’d spent the night thinking about him, going back and forth from anger to despair.
    One minute she was pissed as hell—pissed that she had let herself fall for another hockey player—let herself break The Rule. The next she was crying, her heart broken, grieving for what could have been.
    This morning, she had moved past mad and sad and moved on to resolved. She made up her mind to put him behind her. To go to Denver, to take this amazing job, to move forward and have a wonderful adventure.
    And to be happy.
    She needed to put her brief, but incredible, time with Bane in a box and stick it high on a shelf at the back of the closet.
    Let him go and move on.
    Speaking of which, it seemed like it was about time for this plane to be moving on. She checked her watch and noted they only had about five minutes before takeoff. The seat next to her was empty, and she sighed in relief.
    This trip was going to be painful enough—with the memories of Bane and their flight the night before keeping her company—and she didn’t need an annoying seatmate that wanted to chat about the weather for the next several hours.
    A commotion at the front of the plane caught her attention. Must be a last-minute passenger sneaking his way on to the flight.
    She could see the flight attendant smile and touch her hair. Must be a handsome passenger.
    That passenger stepped into the plane, and her heart froze.
    Bane?
    She’d thought he would have taken the red-eye out the night before. Was this just some crazy coincidence? The cosmos playing a trick on her?
    Bane looked around, searching the seats. Then his gaze locked on hers.
    And he smiled.
    A heartbreaking, panty-melting smile. That was all for her.
    Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t think—couldn’t move—as she watched him walk down the aisle and drop into the seat next to hers.
    “What are you—I mean, how are you—” Her words stuck in her throat.
    He seemed slightly out of breath, nervous even. He picked up her hand. She swore she felt a slight tremble in his fingers.
    “Addison, I’m so sorry.” He ran a hand over his hair and shook his head. “Shit. I’ve been running for the last thirty minutes—praying I would get here on time—and now I’m here, and I made it—and I can’t think of what I want to say.”
    “Slow down. I don’t get it. Why were you praying you would get here on time?”
    He took a deep breath. “I knew I had to make this flight. Had to catch you. I felt like it was my only chance to make things right. To make up for the way I acted last night.”
    What was he saying? She was afraid to wish. Afraid to hope that he wanted them to have another chance. “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, I was an idiot. I did everything wrong last night.” He stopped and gave her a slight grin. A grin filled with naughty implications. “Well, not everything wrong.” He paused, like he was waiting to see if he had earned even the smallest smile from her.
    He had. The corners of her mouth tipped up the tiniest bit. He was right. He had done that one thing right. Very right.
    He squeezed her hand. “But the time that really counted, when the clock was ticking, and it was sudden death in overtime, I blew it. I missed the shot. And I think I may have blown my chance at the one thing that could be more