“The sex or the distraction?” he murmured as he brushed his lips over hers.
“Oh, both, Durand. Both.”
26
Pepper awoke, already aware that the world was different.
Brighter.
She’d told someone about Kent. For the past ten months, she’d held this secret inside her. It had wound her up and twisted her insides, coiled them as tightly as a spool of metal thread. To feel it unravel while she poured her heart out to Bast had been scary, but with each word spoken, her chest loosened and freedom beckoned.
What a gift it was to share your troubles. But no one else could have drawn her out like Bast. He hadn’t been pushy about it, but part of her felt he needed to know. So she could put his mind at ease that he hadn’t made such a bad decision in defending her.
Or sleeping with her.
If it came out that they were together in any way, he could say that Pepper wasn’t as bad as all that. She’d been unfairly maligned. After all, a nice guy like Bast Durand, who could have anyone, wouldn’t sleep with a girl who did a fellow hockey player so wrong, would he? No one wanted the world to know they’re siding with the villain.
Maybe she was overthinking it. It wasn’t as if it mattered. This was just a snowbound fling, nothing more.
And as it would be over soon, she needed to squeeze as much out of it as possible. She lifted her head a few inches from the pillow. God, he was beautiful. Those lovely lashes lying peacefully on his cheekbone, that shock of dark messy hair, the firm lips that healed every hurt.
One eye peeked open. “Morning.”
“Morning,” she whispered back as she snuggled into his neck.
“Sleep well?”
She exhaled a breath that told him all he needed to know. If it had been any other morning, she would be checking the weather, wondering if there was a chance she could leave today.
“Like a sexed-out lump.”
He kissed her temple. “That’s good.”
It was good. All of it.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said.
“Never a good idea.”
His lips curved against her forehead. “About that night in Jimmy’s Tap.”
“What about it?”
“You didn’t have to stick around. You knew it was me and that if I knew who you were, I would inevitably have some sort of opinion. But you stayed.”
She lifted her head and faced him. “I liked how you made me feel.”
“How was that?”
“Like I was worth your time. I should have left the second I figured it out, but you were so charming and direct, and I wanted to feel good for a few minutes. I knew who you were, that it couldn’t go anywhere, but for that brief moment when you were blissfully ignorant, it was perfect.”
“Yeah, it was,” he agreed. “It is.”
With his free arm, he pulled her into his body and explored her lips with his. She loved how he kissed, that languorous application of his skillful mouth that built in depth and pressure until it was just this. Them. Nothing else could intrude.
Except her rumbling stomach.
“Hmm, sexy,” he murmured, which made her laugh.
A buzzing sound came from the nightstand on his side of the bed. He ignored it, even when it happened again.
“Maybe you should get that.”
“It’s just Reid or my agent or—”
“A pair of tits,” she offered after leaning up to check.
“That description could easily apply to my brother and my agent.”
She picked up his phone and showed him the screen. “Kylie says hi.”
“What—oh, Kylie.” He glanced at the X-rated photo on the screen. “She still hasn’t apologized.”
“For what?”
“Distracting me as I skated off the other night. Kylie and her big tits have a lot to answer for.”
“Hmm, about time you accepted her tits’ part in all this. So you and she have been texting?”
“O’Malley ran into her in a bar and gave her my number, the dick. I haven’t answered. In fact …” He went into the phone and … blocked her number.
“You don’t have to do that for my sake.”
“I know.” He smiled as his hand moved beneath the covers and captured her breast. “But I kind of have my good hand full right here.”
“Salty or sweet?”
He pretended to think about it. “Both.”
She rolled her eyes. “You have to choose one.”
“Okay, probably sweet because I love ice cream. I don’t think I could live in a world without it. You?”
“Salty. I’m a Pringles salt n’ vinegar girl. But I probably should lay off them for a while.”
“If that’s a way of fishing for compliments about your curves, then I’ll bite. Keep eating the chips.”
She offered a silent fist pump. “Winter or summer?”
“Winter. A thousand percent.”
She looked out the window, at the setting Winter sun, then back at him. “Me, too.”
They’d spent the day watching silly action movies (“Nothing sexy,” Pepper had insisted, “let’s try to finish something!”), raiding the pantry (Kennedy had the biggest stash of Japanese KitKats in the Continental US), and playing this or that. He now knew that she would choose chicken over fish, Marvel over DC, mountains over beach, and smarts over wealth.
Now they were lying in front of the fire, living out some “apres-ski fantasy shit” as Pepper had coined it.
“Okay, here’s one,” he said. “Children or none?”
“You mean becoming parents?” When he nodded, she said, “Children. Definitely.”
“Figured as much. You work with kids, so you must be crazy about them.”
She got this dreamy expression on her face. He loved that look on her.
“I love watching them figure out stuff and how their little minds expand when they learn something. It’s such a trip to see it. There was one kid I used to work with during my internship who found out the size of dinosaurs—that they were as tall as buildings—and his little face was just the best.”
“You miss it.”
“I do. But I’m lucky to be able to watch Hatch for a few days a week.”
He curled his fingers around hers. “Sounds like the Kershaws are lucky to have you, but it’s not your dream, is it? You want to teach. Finish that degree.”
“Maybe. It’s just—I’ve lost my mojo.”
He shook his head. “Know what that’s like. When I was injured last year, I sort of assumed that it was just a bump in the road, something I could overcome with sheer force of will. People like to tell me I’ve never had to struggle—”
“People?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, Reid. And the press, to a certain extent. Our paths to the NHL were so different that we’ve always been compared. It looked easier for me, but I still worked my ass off. And this last year was tough. My girlfriend dumped me. My team ditched me. I lost a couple of sponsors. But there were upsides. Closer to Reid, getting to know Ken. And I’m with a new team, which is an amazing challenge because let’s face it: the Rebels need me.”