AGAINST THE ICE

Chapter20

She didn’t even glance my way. “I have great news.”

“Could use it.”

“Well, I did my magic behind the scenes and the reporter has dropped his charges against you and issued a public apology!” Her cheeks were flushed.

What the hell. She was taking credit for my work?

His blue eyes lit up. “That’s amazing. Wow, I owe you.”

She gave a cute little shrug. “You can count on me.”

I snorted, and they both turned to me.

I wanted to speak up and let Max know that I had been the one who helped him. My tired brain tried to think of a response.

She didn’t help you, I did.

I’m the one who had the reporter banned. I’m the one who really has your back.

Everything that came to mind sounded stupid and petty.

Katrina’s lips curled. “Someone should have told me that it’s casual Tuesday.”

I felt myself flush as I watched Max’s eyes drop to my jeans and sneakers.

Without saying a word, I turned to head up the stairs.

Max’s voice made me pause on the steps. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Nothing important.” I kept walking.

I stomped back to my office. I couldn’t believe that Katrina took credit for all my hard work, and worse, I couldn’t believe I had said nothing. I had a million responses, five seconds after the fact, but at the moment, my tired brain could not come up with anything that sounded intelligent.

Katrina drove me crazy. There was no doubt in my mind that she had tipped off that reporter. The question was why? She pushed to have him in front of the media and then set him up to fail. If I hadn’t gotten to the bottom of last night’s incident, who knows what would have happened to Max? And now she took credit for fixing the issue? It was so infuriating, I almost couldn’t stand it.

I read about twenty emails and then decided that my heart wasn’t in the game. I needed to cut out of work early. I was so tired I couldn’t see straight.

I started packing up when a knock sounded at the door. Max filled the doorway. No matter how many times I saw this man up close and in person, I never got used to how big he was. I could smell his intoxicating fresh scent from my desk, and I thought he looked hot with his freshly showered wet hair.

“What?” my tone cut.

He stepped into my office. “Are you heading home?”

“Thanks to you, I haven’t been home since last night, so I think I deserve to go home a few hours early. If that’s okay with you.” My voice was sharp. I knew my comment wasn’t fair, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

He tipped his head to the side. “You were here all night?”

“What do you want?”

“What did you want to talk about?”

Silence ticked between us while I dumped my wallet and keys into my bag.

“What’s going on?” Dad’s terse voice sounded from my office door. He trained his eyes on Max, who visibly stiffened under his gaze.

“We were talking about last night,” I swung my Louis Vuitton purse over my shoulder. “And I’m heading home.”

Dad rocked on his heels and crossed his arms. “Did Rory tell you everything she did for you last night?”

Max scratched the side of his neck. “We hadn’t gotten that far yet.”

I could tell that answer annoyed Dad. “Rory somehow managed to get her hands on the raw footage of your interview. Then she worked with our legal team to use that tape to gain some much needed leverage. She banned that reporter from this arena and by threatening to do the same to the station, they have issued a public apology. That reporter has dropped all charges against you and they have suspended him without pay all because of Rory’s hard work.”

It was anticlimactic that my father had to sing my praises. Especially after Katrina stole my thunder. I stepped from around my desk avoiding Max’s all-seeing eyes. “Just doing my job. Now if you’ll both excuse me, I’m heading home.”

I made it down to Concord before I heard Max calling my name. “Rory.”

Ignoring him, I skipped down the steps towards the entrance. He moved as fast off the ice as he did on it.

“Rory.”

His big hand grabbed my arm and held me until I stopped walking. “What?”

Frustration marred his expression. “Why did you let me think Katrina fixed this?”

“I didn’t want to get into it with Katrina.”

He studied me. “You’re tired.”

His concern was almost too much to bear. For one terrible moment, I thought I might start to cry. I forced myself to steel my expression. “I need to go home.”

“Let me give you a ride.”

I shook my head. “Unnecessary.”

“Come on,” he walked with my arm still in his grasp. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

I didn’t want to wait for a cab, and a small part of me really wanted to be near Max.

“Fine,” I huffed, making it sound like I was doing him the favor.

His lips twitched. “You’re cute when you’re grumpy.”

He drove a brand new black Lexus SUV. “Where to?”

I gave him my address which he punched into his GPS. We crawled through the congested downtown traffic and pulled to a stop at a red light.

Max glanced over at me. “How are you?”

“Fine.”

His long fingers tapped on the steering wheel.

The question blurted out of me. “Do you ever think about the plane crash?”

He took his time answering. “Every day.”

“I don’t talk about it with anyone. They all ask about it, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Because no one understands.”

“Yeah.” I turned to him. “But you get it. You were there.”

He swallowed and stared out the windshield. “I have dreams about it.”

“Really? What do you dream?”

“I dream that we crash, I go to pick you up out of your seat but you’re not there and I can’t find you. And then I wake up.”

Max dreamed about me.

It sounded more like a nightmare, but it thrilled me that I was in it.

The shrill sound of his phone on Bluetooth interrupted us. The screen on the dashboard said: Uncle Ronny Calling.

“I have to get this.” Max threw me a sidelong glance.

To give him some privacy, I focused my attention out the window.

“Ronny!”

“Hey, Kiddo. How ya doing?” A deep male voice boomed through the car.

“I’m good.”

“Saw your last game on TV. You’re on your game.”

“You’re my only fan, you have to say that.”

The man’s laughter filled the car. “This call has to be short and sweet since I’m on a break, but I wanted you to know that your mom’s car broke down last week.”

“Oh shit.”

“She’s taking the bus now, but I was wondering…”

“Anything. Buy her a new car and send me the bill.”

“She’ll know it’s from you.”

Max drew his hand over his mouth but didn’t speak.

“I thought maybe we could do a work around,” his uncle added.

“Anything.”

“You wire me the money. I’ll tell her that my mechanic friend owes me a favor and I’ll secretly pay the mechanic and get her back on the road.”

“That works. I’ll send you the money tonight.”

“I’ll make it happen.” Uncle Ronny cleared his throat. “So, are they treating you right out there?”

“Absolutely.”

“How about Baxter Nicols? I heard he’s tough on his players.”

“Nah,” Max lied. “He’s been great.”

My mind raced as I listened to his conversation. Why didn’t his mom want his money? And why did they have to trick her into letting Max help her?

I listened as they joked around before the call ended. My insatiable curiosity about Max drove me to prod. “So, that was your uncle?”

“Yup. My mom’s brother.”

What about Max’s dad? Was he around?

“He sounds like he’s a good guy.”

“He’s the reason I’m here.”

“What do you mean?”

“My mom hates hockey, but he paid for my gear and drove me to my practices.”

Oh wow.

“Well, if he ever comes to a game, be sure to tell me so we can give him the royal treatment.”

“Thanks.”

I wracked my brain, trying to think about how I could ask him more about his mom without coming across as being snoopy.

He turned onto my street. I didn’t want this drive to end. I could never quite get enough of this guy.

He pulled up into the driveway and whistled under his breath as he took in the massive 8,000 square foot Greystone that was more mansion than house.

“Well, this is me,” I announced unnecessarily. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Rory,” his expression was hard to read. “Thanks for helping me out.”

I gave him a tired smile. “Last night wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have kept my cool.”

He lost his cool when the reporter threatened me. “Thanks for standing up for me.”

Anger flashed in his eyes. “That guy was out of control.”

“I’m reinstating the media ban. I don’t want you to talk to the media. When I think you’re ready, I want to set up an interview with a friendly reporter.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I watched him. He stared pensively out the front windshield. What was he thinking? What did he need? What was going on with his mom? Why couldn’t I get this guy out of my mind?

“I should go.”

His smile was tight. “Yeah. Thanks.”

He was thanking me? He drove me home. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime.”

I climbed out of his vehicle and turned back to Max. Something passed between them. Without speaking, wishing that I could spend more time with him, I shut the door and moved to the house.

Max was off limits. I needed to remember that.