Free Razors Ice 04 - Hot Ice by Rachelle Vaughn Page B

someone from Red Valley win the Cup. Your parents must have been thrilled.” Yes, ask about his parents. Anything to distract from what was beneath that towel.
    “Yeah.”
    “Do they still live in Red Valley?” she asked, hoping to find out more about the man behind the hockey gear, or, er towel.
    “Nah. They followed me down to Florida when I was traded to the Orlando Everblades. They loved it so much, they’ve been there ever since.” He glanced at the photo again. “I’m glad to have won it at least once before I have to hang up my skates.”
    His eyes lost their twinkle and Violet frowned.
    “This is probably going to be my last season ,” he explained. He had been deliberating the idea of retiring. Not by choice, but by necessity. His knee still bothered him on occasion and now his shoulder was starting to become a problem. There was only so much he could take when the toll of each game was so high. All it took was for him to put the equipment on and he was sore for days.
    Retirement. It felt strange to say the words out loud and he couldn’t believe he was actually telling her this. He hadn’t told anyone he was thinking about retiring. He hadn’t even really admitted it to himself yet, but for some reason he felt the need to confide in Violet.
    “I’m sorry ,” she said softly, recognizing the sadness in his voice.
    “Back then I still had speed on the ice because my legs were strong, but then I blew out my knee a couple of years ago. And now with my shoulder acting up, I don’t really have much of a choice.”
    He sounded weary, like the decision weighed on him heavily. It made her sad to think of him giving up something he loved so much and was so good at.
    Concern settled on her face and she put her hand on his arm. To comfort, to console. His skin was cool and moist from his shower, but it quickly warmed under her fingers. Comfort soon turned to desire. Red hot, scorching desire. Violet had never felt so responsive to a man before. She quickly dropped her hand and motioned to the massage table. They really needed to move out of the hallway and into the bigger space of the living room.
    “What will you do after retiring?” she asked as she followed him over to the massage table.
    Wither away into a dark void , he thought to himself.
    “ Coaching or commentary, probably,” he answered. He’d been invited up to the announcers’ broadcast booth a few times and liked the atmosphere. If that didn’t pan out there was always coaching. “I don’t know for sure. I haven’t really thought about it.”
    That was a lie. It was all he thought about. He’d spent months contemplating if there was in fact life after hockey. He hoped there was. Either way, he was about to find out whether he wanted to or not.
    Her brow furrowed. “Are you really planning on retiring soon?”
    He shrugged away the million dollar question. Thinking about retirement meant accepting that the day would come. If he didn’t think about it, it wasn’t real. He didn’t want to think about it.
    “It’s inevitable ,” he answered, lifting his “good” shoulder in a shrug and letting it fall. “There comes a point when the old bag of bones starts to fall apart.” He offered her a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
    She looked over his body and tried to analyze him objectively. His big body was toned and muscular without an extra ounce of fat clinging to his narrow waist. Now that she was seeing him through thawed out eyeballs, she could appreciate his good looks and athletic build. Athletes, especially hockey players, were gods among men.
    “You look like you’re in spectacular shape to me ,” she commented.
    “Thanks.” In return, Jace let himself look Violet over lazily from head to toe. Two could play this game.
    Violet could feel his hot gaze on her breasts, waist, thighs… It was like his smoldering blue eyes burned right through the fabric of her clothes.
    She turned and walked to the wall of windows