Free Once Upon a Power Play by Jennifer Bonds Page B

about hockey, she knew anyone who had an owner’s suite at The Garden probably fell into the latter category. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself tonight. Or Ryan. Plus, she wasn’t looking for an encore appearance on Page Six. The irony of it wasn’t lost on her, considering the only reason she’d agreed to go to the stupid game with him was to garner press for Garden of Dreams and maybe do a little networking.
    Stopping at the bank of elevators labeled club level , Ryan turned, finding her eyes glued to his ass. Busted . Yeah, that earned her a smirk and a full frontal of his unmatched hotness. The man looked good in his uniform, but in a suit? He was hot as puck. And he knew it. Adding insult to injury, he dragged a hand through his hair, brushing aside the strands that framed his angular face. He was worse than any woman, leaving the top button of his shirt open and teasing her with just a hint of the defined muscles that she knew shaped his chest and arms.
    “Tease.”
    “After you, princess.” He slipped an arm around her waist and guided her into one of the waiting elevator cars. Despite the heavy fabric of her dress, she could feel warmth emanating from the open palm cupping her back. When his thumb made a lazy pass across her lower vertebrae, her body responded immediately. Such a simple thing, but it warmed her belly, lust pooling hot and heavy. Molten even. His touch had that effect. The man could take her from ho-hum to total eruption in a heartbeat. Like Maytag, he was built strong to last long. Fuck. Rest. Repeat.
    The elevator attendant smiled knowingly, igniting her cheeks. Shit. One look and even he knew she didn’t belong. That, or he knew she had a gutter brain. Unable to decide which was worse, she stared at her reflection on the door, refusing further eye contact.
    They rode up to the suite level in silence. She wanted to grab Ryan’s hand and assuage her nerves, but she didn’t want to do anything that might attract unwanted attention. Behind closed doors she could fuck his brains out, do every filthy little thing her dirty mind could conceive of, but holding hands in public was off-limits. Not that she was complaining. The sex was more than enough.
    After they completed the obligatory introductions and hand shaking, they settled into their seats to watch the game. Ryan was totally invested in his team’s play, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, eyes tracking every movement on the ice. She watched quietly for a while, following the cheers of the others in the suite, but eventually it became painfully obvious she was going to need an actual explanation of the rules.
    “All right,” she said, poking Ryan in the ribs. “You’re going to have to explain it to me because I don’t have the first clue what’s going on down there.”
    Incredulous didn’t even begin to describe the look on his face when he finally wrenched his eyes from the ice, as if he couldn’t fathom someone not being an expert on his life’s passion. “Explain it? Explain what exactly?”
    Might as well have some fun with it. Chloe waved her hand. “All of it.”
    He groaned. “Why don’t you start by telling me what you know and I’ll fill in the gaps?”
    Oh, this was going to be good. She beamed at him. “All I got so far is a bunch of brutes slapping a Hostess Ding Dong around and trying to slip one past the goalie.”
    Judging by the look on his face and the crimson flush making its way down his neck to disappear into the collar of his shirt, it was entirely possible his head was going to explode. And not in the good way.
    “Are you fucking with me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
    Chloe burst out laughing and patted his chest. “Little bit. But seriously, what the hell is offsides?”
    To his credit, he explained the basics in under five minutes, giving her a much better idea of what the heck was going on and when to cheer. By the middle of the second period, she felt like a pro,