Finding Carson Lee (Oh Captan, My Captain #3) (6 page)

Carson winks at me and leaves me alone with Elliott. Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover the feelings I’m having right now.

“
Hi, Elliott.”

“
Kinley. You look...nice.” He looks me up and down as if he isn’t sure if I do or don’t.

“
Thanks. How’ve you been?” I pray that Carson hurries.

“
Good, you know, just working a lot. Actually, you would know about that.” He slightly sneers at me.

I drop my head. I hate that I hurt him so much. I’d known him since high school. When we went to college, we started dating. It was a good relationship, and I did love him, but I wasn’t in love with him. When I graduated college and started working at LSMP, I knew that this is the life I want. Not worrying about laundry, having kids, or any of that.

“
What are you doing here, Kinley?” I can hear the hurt in his voice.

“
Carson is the newest spokesman for our fall line. I’m here to go over plans with him.” I don’t need to tell him that, but I owe him at least a small explanation.

“
In a towel?”

“
Hey,” I say firmly. “We’re not married anymore. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

Carson comes back into the kitchen in a loose pair of jeans and a tight gray t-shirt. His tattoo is still exposed.

“
Everything okay, Kinley?”

I nod.

“
Well, come on then, Elliott. Let’s get this over with.”

I watch my ex-husband walk away from me, and I let out a sigh of relief. I feel like a shitty person. He was a good guy, and I screwed him over. Maybe someday he’ll forgive me.

I look around the extremely large kitchen, and I’m sure my half of my apartment will fit in here. In fact, I know my whole apartment would fit in the living room. I mean, who in the world needs thirty rooms in one house? I guess Carson Lee does. Talk about over the top. I look at the back deck window and see a massive warehouse in the progress of being built. What the hell is that going to be?

“
Kinley.” I turn to see Carson and Elliott standing there. “You sure you’re okay?” Carson asks again.

“
I’m fine, really.”

“
It was good to see you again, Kinley,” Elliott says before shaking Carson’s hand and leaves.

“
Should I fire Elliott?” Carson cautiously asks me.

“
No, don’t fire him.” I wave my hand away at him. “He’s excellent at his job and honest. Whatever he’s doing for you will be great.” That’s the truth. Elliott is a hard worker and good at his trade.

“
How do you know him? Are you getting laid?” Carson scoffs.

I’m not sure if I should tell him, but I might as well. “No, Carson. Elliott Blake is my ex-husband. He’s the one who divorced me. My mama was telling you about him the other night.”

“
Oh. I guess you’re ready to work then?”

“
Yes, please.” I’m thankful that he changes the subject.

Carson heads over to the black rod iron table, and we sit down. I pull out the papers. My boss finally approved of the campaign, and I’m really excited to tell him.

“
Are you ready to hear all about your summer adventure with me?”

“
Don’t really have a choice, but sure, why not?”

“
Well, get ready because we’re going to spend a lot of time in Utah.”

“
Utah?” His face scrunches up in confusion. “You want me to spend my summer there? As long as I can get laid, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“
Well, you can import whatever Ice Girl you need as long as you’re at the shoots on time and dressed. Speaking of which, we’ll need to get your measurements. You, of course, will be getting all the clothes first, and I need to make sure I have the right sizes.”

“
You may need a yard stick for some of my measurements.” He wags his eyebrows at me.

I groan. “And I’m sure a toothpick will be needed for others.”

“
Ha. Ha,” he jokes back. “What is the theme or whatever you want to call it for this thing anyway?”

I giggle. “It’s very simple, and perfect for you. It’s Fashionable Bad-boy.” I show him the proposal. “We’ll have about five female models in the women’s clothes, and then you’ll be the only guy. But please remember, no orgies when the camera is rolling. This isn’t going to be a porno,” I sternly tell him.

“
That is one thing I can say I don’t do. No recordings.” He continues to thumb through the papers.

“
I’m so glad to hear you have standards. We’ll be in Utah almost the entire month of July, and it will be a variety of shots. This will be a national line, and LSMP is banking on your
reputation
to push it over the top. There will also be commercials that will be filmed during this time, which is why we’ll be there so long. I will have a full schedule ready at the end of May. Hopefully, you’ll be done with your playoffs by then because we’ll need to have a fitting. If not, then I may have to travel with you for a few days. I really don’t want to do that.”

“
Hopefully, I
won’t
be done with my playoffs by then. Even you should know that a team wants to make it to the end of the season to win the championship, but it feels nice to know that you have no faith in me. I’m about to turn thirty and I still haven’t won the Cup. Who knows if I ever will, but I’m going to fight like hell for the chance and you are hoping that we’ll get out early? For a fucking campaign for clothes? I know you have something riding on this for
your
career, but I
do
have one of those as well and I would like to accomplish something other than good stats.” His face is a little red from the anger pulsing through him.

“
Are you drinking? I was simply saying
if
. I’m sorry if it came across the wrong way. I hope you reach your goals. And just because you're about to turn thirty doesn’t mean you have to quit being a hockey player. Does it?” I snap back at him. There’s no need for him to get pissed at me.

“
No, but when your career is all you have, you want to do something with it before you get too old or get injured and have to retire before you’re ready. You want to know you have done something worth all that hard work.” He sounds sad.

“
Carson, you’re in good shape. I’m sure that you will have a successful season.” I try to sound hopeful.

“
Says the girl who doesn’t know shit about hockey. Are we done?” The hard expression that I’m used to is painted on his face.

“
Yep, I’ll keep you in the loop of everything that is happening. We will be going through the sketches of the clothes this week. Have a great day, Carson.”

Carson

“
Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, my favorite person, Carson,” she rushes. “Happy birthday to you,” Gracie finishes.

“
Thank you, Gracie. That sounded perfect.” I hold the phone between my ear and shoulder as I lock the door to my house.

“
Really?” she asks in that hopeful tone only a child can do. “I practiced a few times once Mommy told me I could call. Are you going to have a party for your birthday? You should have a party. And cake.”

I chuckle. “I’ll have a party and a big slice of cake, just for you.”

“
Okay. When are you coming to see me? I miss you bunches.”

“
I miss you too, but I’m not sure yet, Gracie. I’ll come see you soon, though, okay?” I tell her as I get into my car.

“
Okay. I hope you win tonight since it’s your birthday. Mommy said I could watch on TV.”

“
Did she? Well, I’ll try my best to win for you. I gotta go. Thanks for calling me, Gracie. You made it one of the best birthdays ever.”

On the drive to the rink, I end up talking to Gracie for a few more minutes and then her mother. If Gracie is watching, then we definitely need to win.

~ ~ ~

Happy birthday to me! We won the game today as planned, and now there’s a massive party at my recently finished personal ice rink. Music has the place vibrating. Models have every man in this place hard and there’s a huge supply of alcohol. The entire team is here. They brought people, and those people brought even more people.

As I scan the room, I see body shots being done and dancing on tables and the bar. There's a girl standing in front of me, running her hands down my chest. I have to give her props because there are three other girls around us and she decided to take charge between them, which is how she ended up against me. I lean down to kiss her just as I hear someone call my name.

“
Let’s play, Carson! C'mon!” Tyler shouts from somewhere nearby, close enough that I can hear him.

I move past her lips to her ear. “I'll be back later, sweetheart.” She's upset as I go over to where he’s standing, but I don't care. After taking a quick sip of my beer, I set it down on the nearest surface and take my skates that Tyler hands me.

“
Three on one?” I question, noticing there’s only a few other people on the ice. “You know I’m going to kick your asses, right?”

He grins. “We’ll see.”

After I lace up, I skate onto the ice and face my guests. “You,” I start loudly to be heard, “are all about to witness an old man beat three youngsters. Four, if you count the goalie.”

“
Let’s do this already,” Tyler mutters from behind me.

“
Suit yourself.”

We start a little game, the crowd cheering when I get the puck and booing when my teammates do. I reach out, stealing the puck from Tyler, and head towards the goalie. Once I’m close enough, I rear my stick back and slap it towards him.

Of course, I shoot, I score.

“
Wooooo!” I holler. “What did I tell you?” I skate over to get off the ice, wanting a beer. The first girl I see, a big-breasted blonde, smiles at me. Fuck a beer. I walk up to her, take her face in my hands, and kiss the hell out of her.

“
Hey!” A guy shoves my shoulder. “That’s my girl.”

“
Sorry.” I laugh. “You’re a lucky guy. She’s a great kisser.” I don’t give him time to respond before I walk past them, patting him on the shoulder as I go. My fingers fumble with my laces after I found a place to sit to remove my skates.

“
Hey, Carson.” I lift my head at a girl’s voice. This time, it’s a brunette and I remember seeing her dancing earlier. She sits next to me, placing her hand on my thigh.

“
Hey. You’re not someone’s girlfriend, are you?”

She giggles, shaking her head. “No, I’m not.”

“
Good. Having fun?”

“
Yeah, I guess.”

My head tilts to the side at that. “You guess? Oh, sweetheart, that’s just not going to work.” She smiles, but I have a feeling we’re thinking of two different things. I’m not ready for my night to end, so she’ll just have to stick around until I am. “Tyler!” Where the hell is he? The girl looks disappointed. I lean over, kiss her, and then tell her to stay awhile.

Standing, I go to find Tyler and a couple of the guys. They’re by the bar, surrounded by more women. I slap him on the shoulder.

“
Wanna race? I’ve been informed my party is getting boring, apparently.”

Tyler grins. “Hell yeah.”

We grab two other guys and run up to the house to my garage. After getting the keys, we crank the four wheelers and drive back down to the rink. The rumble of the motors and our absence has brought some people outside.