“Shug, just go talk to him.” Anika swatted her on the ass with a dishrag, making Sugar chuckle. “Or I’ll be aiming the next rag at your head.”
Laughing now, Sugar shook her head as she made her way toward his table. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to him. Just for a little. Besides, it was a slow night.
“Hi—Oh my god, what happened to your eye?”
It was a good thing she didn’t have a tray in her hands, she would’ve dropped it. Reaching for his chin, she gripped it with one hand as she turned his head to the side. The skin around his left eye was yellow and swollen. It’d surely be a horrible shade of black and blue by tomorrow.
“Can you see? Did you see a doctor?”
“Sugar, I’m—”
“You can’t play like that, can you?”
“It’s fine—”
“You don’t have any broken bones, do you?”
She could barely breathe, and she knew she was making a scene, but she couldn’t help it. He was hurt.
“Sugar. I’m fine. Seriously.” He covered her hand on his chin with his and drew it away but didn’t release her. “I’ve had worse. Nothing’s broken. I took a puck to the face. It happens. Yeah, it looks bad, and it’s gonna hurt for a while, but I’ll survive.”
“Do you need some ice? What can I do? God, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you—”
“You’re not embarrassing me. Sit down, hon. You look like you’re gonna pass out.”
She felt helpless and stupid for making a scene. But he was right, she felt a little light-headed. Which was totally ridiculous. He was the one who’d been hurt.
“Sugar. Indulge me. Sit down.”
She did as he asked, sliding into the booth opposite him, still feeling stupid.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I went off like that.”
Yes, you do. You know exactly why. And I think it’s okay that you finally tell him.
Could she? Did she have the guts?
“Don’t apologize.” RJ grinned at her, making her stomach do little flip flops. “I think you just made my day.”
Sugar’s gaze shot back to RJ’s, her eyes wide and her expression clearly dumbfounded. He could just see the questions rolling through her brain.
“What? How?”
RJ figured she probably wanted to add, “Are you insane?” to her line of questioning but was biting her lip to keep it from spewing out.
For the past couple of weeks, he’d been wondering if she’d been having second thoughts about him. Every night he’d been here, she’d seemed farther away emotionally. He hadn’t been quite sure how to handle it.
Reaching across the table, he took her hands in both of his, laced their fingers together and leaned forward so they were eye to eye. And what he saw made his heart pound furiously.
“I don’t…What?”
“Since I plan to be spending a lot of time with you in the future, you should probably get used to the fact that I’m going to get hurt. Bruises. Sprains. Strains. Fractured bones. Broken bones. Torn ligaments. There’re going to be days I look like I survived a gang beating.”
Her eyes continued to widen until he was sure they couldn’t get any bigger. He reached across the table and ran a finger down her cheek and watched her eyes flutter and her lips part.
He had to tamp down the urge to drag her across the table and onto his lap so he could kiss her. Like, really kiss her. Tongues dancing, teeth clashing, can’t breathe kissing. The kind that would get them kicked out of this place.
Which wouldn’t be a bad thing right now.
“So, you’re going to have to get used to that. Because, Sugar…”
She sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”
“I want you there with me. Through it all.”
She blinked.
“I want to come home to you at night and wake up with you in the morning. I want to be there when you graduate from college and I want you to be cheering at my games. I want—”
“I want that, too. I’m sorry—”
“No. No apologies. No ‘I’m sorry.’ Do you want me, Sugar?”
She nodded, her lips curving in a smile. “More than anything. Black eyes and all. But I am sorry for pushing you away. I pushed you away. I wasn’t honest with you or myself about how I felt, and I made you think I didn’t want you. And that’s totally not true. I do want you. And I really hope—”
He slid out of the booth so he could lean down and kiss her.
It definitely wasn’t an appropriate kiss for a diner, even one with only a few customers. Too much tongue and heat. Then again, when Sugar wrapped her arms around his neck and stood so she could press herself against him, someone started clapping and Georgie yelled something from the kitchen that he couldn’t quite make out but sounded like, “Jesus, about damn time.”
He kissed her until neither of them could breathe and he had to stop so they could.
“Come home with me, Sugar. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love you. I have never said that to another woman.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and tugged her head back so he could look into her eyes, pleased to see they were glassy with desire. “And I can wait--”
“I love you, too.”
“Then come home with me, Sugar.”
Her smile lit up his life.
“My place is closer.”
Her smile threatened to make him grab her and run out the door. He wouldn’t care who was watching.
He leaned down to speak right into her ear. “I’ll give you a head start.”
“I’m not running anymore.”
There’s more sexy hockey players in the Redtails Hockey Romance series. Don’t miss them! Start with The Brick Wall because it’s free!
About the Author
Stephanie Julian is a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author of contemporary and paranormal romance.
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Also by Stephanie Julian
FAST ICE
Bylines & Blue Lines
Hard Lines & Goal Lines
Deadlines & Red Lines
REDTAILS HOCKEY
The Brick Wall
The Grinder
The Enforcer
The Instigator
The Playboy
The D-Man
The Machine
INDECENT
An Indecent Proposition
An Indecent Affair
An Indecent Arrangement
An Indecent Longing
An Indecent Desire
SALON GAMES
Reserve My Nights
Expose My Desire
Keep My Secrets
Rock My Heart
LOVERS UNDERCOVER
Lovers & Lies
Sinners & Secrets
Beauty & Brains
Thieves & Thrills
FORGOTTEN GODDESSES
What A Goddess Wants
How to Worship A Goddess
Goddess in the Middle
Where A Goddess Belongs
DARKLY ENCHANTED
Spell Bound
Moon Bound
Copyright © 2020 by Stephanie Julian
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