The Sweetest Seduction, Breakaway Hearts by Crista McHugh

Author:Crista McHugh [McHugh, Crista]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance, sports romance
Publisher: Crista McHugh
Published: 2014-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

Nine Years Later

The ice called to him.

After he’d torn up his knee, Ben had sworn he’d never go near a hockey rink again.

And yet there he stood in the shadows, holding on to his cane with white knuckles while he watched some teenagers scrimmage, wishing he could go out there and join them.

“Come on, guys,” the coach barked. “Erikson’s tearing you to shreds out there.”

He followed the coach’s finger to the player with the puck. The kid was tall and thin, probably a junior member of the team judging by his lack of muscle mass. But what he lacked in size, he made up for with speed and skill. He handled the puck as well as any player Ben had faced in the NHL, shifting left and then right, throwing his opponent off guard with a deke and slipping past him into the breakaway. One slap shot later, the puck was in the net.

A groan came up from the team as Erikson raised his hands in the air and skated a small victory lap around the rink.

The coach mumbled something under his breath and stared at his clipboard before scribbling a note on it. “That’s six, guys. You’re embarrassing me.”

It wasn’t until Erikson came closer that Ben knew the reason why.

Erikson was girl.

The helmet had concealed her hair, but there was no mistaking the feminine curve of her lips or the thick fringe of her lashes. A pair of matching dimples cut into her cheeks as she gave one of the guys a playful hip check, and an odd feeling of déjà vu washed over him. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember why.

His curiosity propelled him from the shadows and down the stairs toward the coach, his knee no longer protesting each step. He waited until the coach finished calling the next play before he asked, “Local team?”

The coach jumped, then gave him a narrow-eyed once over. “I haven’t seen you before.”

Ben smothered a laugh. After years of being recognized everywhere he went, the anonymity was nice for a change. Amazing what losing a playoff beard and getting a haircut could do. He hadn’t worn his hair this short since before he was drafted. “I’m new in town.”

The coach peered closer, and for a second, Ben feared his secret was out. “I know I’ve seen you before. Ever play hockey?”

Ben grinned. “Yeah, just a bit.”

“I thought so. You’re built like a power forward.”

He wasn’t the first coach who’d said that. At six-four and two hundred and forty pounds, he’d always been one of the biggest players on the team, but he lacked the aggressive nature to play that position. Instead, he’d made a successful career of playing goalie. All-Pro teams, Olympic medals, even trips to the Stanley Cup finals.

Until one bad collision twelve weeks ago had ended all that.

He’d retreated to the resort town of Cascade, British Columbia, to lick his wounds, but after a week stuck in his home, the solitude became unbearable. He came down the

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