Offside (22 page)

“Your dad invited me yesterday after
the game,” he said. He searched her face. “I wasn’t sure if I was
going to come. So I didn’t tell you.”

“Why did you come?” Her forehead
creased.

“I wanted to see you.” His answer came
without hesitation.

Last night he’d acknowledged it, to
himself at least. When the other guys had been going out to some
nightclub, talking about hookups with puck bunnies, he’d had no
interest. He’d wanted to see Honey. He’d wanted to share his
happiness and relief at how well the game had gone with her. Yeah,
he’d wanted to fuck her brains out, but that wasn’t the only thing
he wanted.

After spending another night with her,
he’d decided on a plan of action. He wanted her. She was going to
be his. There was undeniable attraction between them, explosive
sexual chemistry and she seemed willing to explore that. He got
that she had some walls up. She had some baggage. He could see how
she tried not to care, how she tried not to expect anything from
people, including him.

He wanted to show her that she could
expect things from him. That he was there for her. No matter what.
He wasn’t sure exactly how to go about that, but one thing he did
know was he had to see her to do it, so he’d called Steve to accept
the invitation to dinner.

Her gaze slid away. “Matt…”

“Honey.” He set his hands on her hips
and turned her to face him. “I’m here. Deal with it.”

She made a series of faces so
bizarre—scrunching her face up, then grimacing, then biting her
lip— he burst out laughing.

“What was that?” he said. “I can’t
even guess.”

“I’m frustrated!”

“Relax, babe.” His hands slid around
her hips a little farther, nearly onto her ass. He had to remember
her dad was standing not far away. “Let’s just enjoy
this.”

Sucking briefly on her bottom lip, she
held his gaze then nodded. “Fine.”

“Glad you’re so enthusiastic,” he
muttered, releasing her.

“I don’t know what Dad was thinking,”
she grumbled. “Oh wait. I do.”

“What?”

“Daddy’s trying to give his little
girl everything she wants,” she said on a sigh. “As always. He just
doesn’t think. I’m sorry.”

“Fuck, don’t be sorry! I said I wanted
to see you. I was kinda freaked out when he invited me, but it’s
all good.”

She shook her head. “Okay. Sure. I
just wouldn’t want you to think you had to, um, date me because
he’s…you know…your boss.”

He stared at her, his jaw going slack.
“What in the holy mother of fuckers are you talking
about?”

Her lips twitched. “I
mean—”

“I know what the fuck you
meant.”

“You know, that swearing is really
excessive.”

“Like you’ve never dropped an
F-bomb.”

“Once in a while, maybe,” she said
primly. “Not every other word!”

He slashed a hand through the air.
“Off topic,” he snapped. “You grew up with men, men who are hockey
players, so I know language doesn’t bother you. Let’s put that
whole fucking nonsense to bed, and no, I’m not apologizing for
swearing again. I like swearing.” He leaned closer to her, almost
nose to nose, staring into her gold-flecked brown eyes. “I’m not
here because I’m sucking up to your dad, and I’m not dating you
because I’m sucking up to your dad. I’m dating you because you’re
sweet and strong and funny and sexy as fucking hell.
Okay?”

“We’re dating?” she
whispered.

“Yeah.” He held her gaze.

“Oh.” She blinked. “I
don’t—”

“I said, deal with it.” He took her
hand. “Now let’s get you a glass of wine or something.”

They were about half way through
dinner when Matt arrived at the conclusion that Honey had not been
exaggerating. Her mom was a whack job.

It was subtle. You might not even
notice it unless you were sensitive to Honey’s feelings. Honey
handled it all with apparent unconcern, but he could definitely see
how the constant put downs, the comments that sounded helpful, or
sounded like compliments, but…weren’t, could erode a person’s
self-confidence. And if she wasn’t putting Honey down, she was
ignoring her and praising her sons.

Matt had discovered that complimenting
Mrs. Holbrook made things good. He fucking hated sucking up, always
had, so he didn’t go overboard because it made him uncomfortable,
but if he got a chance for a genuine nice comment, such as how
great the dinner had been, he took it.

But it was so different than the easy,
relaxed atmosphere in his own family. Unless he or his brothers
swore too much, then his mom got testy. But that was nothing
compared to the feeling of walking on eggshells he had around this
family.

Honey’s brothers were okay dudes. They
seemed to get it too, careful to praise their mom and never
criticize. Their wives didn’t have it so easy, and Matt was
definitely getting a vibe from them that was strained.

Christ. If he wanted Honey in his
life, her nut job family came with her. The idea made him want to
give up hockey and take Honey away to a South Pacific Island for
the rest of their lives.

Heh. He had to play for a few more
years, but maybe one day that could happen.

Fantasy.

Fantasies could be fun
though.

He looked at Honey sitting across from
him. Oh yeah. He had some fantasies… She looked up at him as if
sensing his stare. Then, as if reading where his dirty mind was
going, her eyes widened.

He smiled.

She shook her head and looked down at
her plate.

Now he was wishing he’d had the guts
to phone her and suggest he pick her up and bring her to this
shindig. Because they both had cars there, he had no reason to
drive her home. Or abduct her back to his place.

And fuck, the team was leaving on a
road trip Tuesday, not back until the weekend again. Hell. He was
glad to be playing again, but just when he’d made up his mind that
he was going after her, he was leaving town. Shit.

Steve had asked him a question and he
turned his attention to the man who was, ultimately, his boss, as
well as the father of the woman he’d just been remembering on her
knees in front of him. Sweat broke out beneath his shirt. Yeah,
just a little awkward.

Chapter Sixteen

Dulcie’s baby arrived the next week, a
little girl as had been expected. Honey was happy to hear the news
when Celine announced it to everyone, glad mother and baby were
healthy and doing well. Dulcie promised to bring the baby in
soon.

Honey was busy at work preparing for
the gala fundraiser to be held the following week, along with other
projects. She still felt like she was flailing around blindly in
the dark most of the time, and everything probably took her twice
as long to do as anyone else because she had to figure so much
stuff out. She didn’t like to bother the others with a lot of
questions given the cool reception she usually got, so she only did
it when she absolutely had to. But she’d learned a lot already and
she was going to make the best of this. By the time Dulcie came
back in a few months, she’d have some experience in a real job
(sort of) on her resume that would help her find another
job.

Matt was away on the road trip and
Thursday night she left the office earlier than she sometimes did
so she’d be home in time to watch the six o’clock game on TV.
Suddenly she’d developed an interest in hockey. This made her
smile.

She made herself a grilled cheese
sandwich for dinner, then got out her knitting and arranged herself
on the couch in front of the TV.

After Matt telling her they were
“dating”, she hadn’t even seen him. He’d been busy with a practice
and some kind of promo work his agent got him, and then the team
had flown to Philadelphia for a Tuesday night game. He had,
however, texted her numerous times, little update texts that made
her smile, or texts asking how her day went, and some
giggle-inducing messages about why it was good to date a hockey
player. “I have great hands,” he texted. “Also I know how to find
the opening and get it in.”

She grinned remembering that
one.

The puck had barely been dropped on
the opening faceoff when someone knocked on her door. She frowned,
setting aside her wool and needles. It had to be Farrah, otherwise
people had to buzz to enter the building. Still she checked before
she opened the door. Yep, Farrah.

“Hey,” she said with a
smile.

“Is Mia here?” Farrah
demanded.

Honey’s smile faded and her forehead
creased. “No. Why?”

Farrah closed her eyes and Honey noted
the tension in her mouth. “Shit. I don’t know where she
is.”

“What?”

Farrah opened her eyes. “I let her
come home alone from school today. It was only going to be a couple
of hours because I was off at six. I got off a little early, so I
just got home and she’s not there.”

“Oh my god.” Honey gripped the edge of
her door, leaning against it. “Where could she be?”

“I don’t know. God, I don’t know.”
Farrah covered her face with her hands. “I never should have let
her come home alone, but she keeps telling me she’s old enough not
to have to go to a babysitter’s. Shit, shit, shit. I thought maybe
she came over here.”

“No. Come in. Let’s think. It’ll be
okay, Farrah.”

But Honey’s stomach had seized into a
mass of knots. She tried to clear the clutter of worry in her
brain. “Have you called any of her friends?”

“No.” Farrah looked a little dazed. “I
could do that. Um…I’ll go home and…”

“I’ll come with you.” Honey grabbed
her keys and they both headed across the hall to Farrah’s
apartment.

Farrah grabbed her cell phone and
began swiping through her contacts. “Okay,” she muttered. “Jennifer
is her best friend…I’ll try there first.”

But there was no answer at Jennifer’s
home.

Farrah kept phoning the numbers she
had, but none of Mia’s other friends knew where she was.

“Fuck,” Farrah said. “Fuck. If
something happened to her…oh my god, Honey, what will I
do?”

“It’ll be okay,” Honey repeated,
firmly hoping that was true. She squeezed Farrah’s arm. “Should we
go out and look? Maybe go to her school and retrace the way?” She
didn’t know what else to suggest. God. God. Mia was the sweetest
little girl, what if…fuck, the what-ifs were terrifying. The world
was a scary place.

“Yeah,” Farrah agreed. “I guess. I
could phone the police… How long does someone have to be
missing?”

“I’m not sure. But if it’s a child, I
don’t think it’s the same. Wouldn’t they start looking for her
right away?”

“Yeah. Okay. Police.” Farrah bit her
lip as she found the number to call. “I should have bought her that
cell phone she keeps asking for. Dammit. I can’t afford it, but
it’d be totally worth it to be able to call her, or know that she
could call me…”

The apartment door opened and they
both jerked around to stare at Mia.

Mia’s eyes went wide. “Mom.
Uh…hi.”

Farrah tossed her phone aside and
rushed at Mia. She grabbed her up into a big hug, bursting into
tears. Honey sank down onto Farrah’s couch, her legs weak with
relief.

“Oh my god, you’re all right,” Farrah
sobbed, squeezing Mia. “Oh thank god.” Then she pushed Mia away and
glared at her. “Where were you?”

Mia’s eyes shifted away and her little
mouth pouted. “Um…Jen and I went to Starbuck’s after
school.”

Farrah’s eyes widened. “What? Why? You
were supposed to come straight home!”

“I know, but the older girls from
middle school go there, and we wanted to see what it’s like… I knew
you had to work until six, so I figured I had lots of time to get
home before you got here, only we were having fun and…you’re home
early.”

“Yeah.” Farrah’s mouth thinned. “I’m
home early. And you are busted.”

Farrah had gone from terrified and
worried, to angry in a flash and Honey didn’t blame her. She knew
exactly how she felt. She shook her head at Mia, understanding her
desire for independence, but holy shit, this could have been so
bad.

“Grounded,” Farrah snapped.
“Forever.”

“Mo-om!”

“Go to your room. Right now. I need to
think about this.”

Mia met Honey’s eyes with an appealing
look. Honey gave her a small smile, but shook her head. “Your mom
and I were worried sick,” she said quietly.

Mia rolled her eyes, sighed
dramatically and stomped into her bedroom with her
backpack.

Farrah’s shoulders slumped and she
walked over to drop onto the couch beside Honey. Honey put a hand
on her shoulder and rubbed. “It’s okay. She’s fine. It’s
fine.”

“Oh, Honey. I was so scared. What if I
lost her? She’s all I have.”

“You didn’t.” Honey’s eyes stung a
little too. “You’re going to get her a cell phone. We’ll find a
super cheap plan. You’re going to talk to her about being safe.
Because she
is
almost old enough to be out on her
own.”