Read Online On the Fly (Crimson Romance) by Katie Kenyhercz - Free Book Online Page A

Nine
    Monday, October 10th
    Jacey paced around her office, fingernails digging into her palms. Her heartbeat tapped out
Flight of the Bumblebee
. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, thinking that she might throw up. “Come on. Get a grip.” The preseason had been a train wreck. They lost every game. Normally she’d consider low attendance a bad thing, but it felt like a blessing. Now, on the night of the season opener, the pressure to win and garner the respect of potential fans — not to mention get the commissioner off her back — felt like an elephant sitting on her shoulders.
    She paused in front of a row of plaques. They all sported pictures of the Rockers in celebration, holding up a trophy, and beneath were the words Stanley Cup Champions followed by various years. In Jack Vaughn’s 18 seasons as owner of the Cleveland Rockers, he’d seen five Stanley Cups. It didn’t take a hockey expert to know how good that record was.
    And now the pressure rested on her shoulders to continue the tradition. In their three-year existence, the Sinners hadn’t even made a playoff run. Time to change that. Her head felt light, the floor started rocking, and she fell into the high-backed chair behind her desk, leaning her head down between her knees. She focused on the pointed toes of her pink, suede pumps peeking out from black pants with a subtle pink pinstripe. “Can’t puke on Prada. Can’t puke on Prada.”
    “Ja — Ms. Vaughn?”
    Her head snapped up. She immediately regretted the motion, squeezing her eyes closed against the hammering migraine.
    “Are you okay?”
    She blinked in the soft light of the office and took him in. From the waist down Carter wore black insulated shorts with green and black striped hockey socks covering padding that went down to the tops of his skates. Skates? She leaned up to look over her desk then sat back and released a slow breath. Skate guards. At least he was polite enough to not ruin her carpet. From the waist up, he wore only a white T-shirt snugly fitted to his lean torso. The blond spikes were in top form tonight, but he’d have helmet hair like the rest of the team in ten minutes. She swallowed hard, willing some color back into her face and summoned up a smile. “I’m fine, I just … dropped a pen.”
    His deviously arched brows rose in amusement and something else. A smile flickered at the edges of his mouth, but all he did was nod.
    She licked her dry lips and sat up straighter, trying to appear at ease. “Can I do something for you?” Carter stared at her lips. She flashed back to their almost-kiss on Saturday and felt heat creep up her neck. And everywhere else. His frozen state reminded her of a vending machine that needed a good shaking so the candy bar would drop. “Carter?”
    “Yeah. Neal — I mean Coach — told me not to come up, but it’s kind of tradition for the owner to come down and wish the team luck before the game. Some of the guys were getting a little nervous.”
    “Oh.” Even she could hear the sadness creep into her voice, but she couldn’t help it.
    Carter sucked in a breath and shifted side to side. “But listen, I’m sure they’ll understand if you’ve got a lot of things going on tonight, it being your first regulation game and all.”
    “No. I want to. I’d like to be more involved with the team on a personal level.”
    “It’s just that, you didn’t for the preseason games and … ”
    “You think you lost because I didn’t wish you luck?” It was a tone she might reserve for something like:
You think you were abducted by aliens?
    “I know how it sounds. And there were a lot of factors. It’s just … ”
    “You think I contributed.”
    “Me personally? No. But some of the guys are pretty superstitious. The way I see it is, maybe it won’t help, but what can it hurt?”
    Jacey’s bewildered doubt morphed into barely-checked amusement. “Sure. Why not?”
    “Look — ”
    “No, I get it. Who am