See Jane Score (16 page)

Avoiding Jane turned out to be easier than anticipated, but not thinking about her proved impossible. It seemed the more determined he was to avoid her, the more he thought about her. The more he tried not to think about her, the more he wondered what she was doing and who she was doing it with. Probably that “wild man” Darby Hogue.

He only saw Jane once in Philadelphia, but the second she entered the locker room at the First Union Center, he noticed her red lips. And he
knew
she'd worn lipstick on purpose just to drive him insane. She gave her good-luck speech, then walked toward him where he sat in front of an open stall.

“Good luck, you big dumb dodo,” she said, then she lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “And for your information, I have several bras.”

As Luc watched her breeze from the room, he worried that her full red lips had fucked up his concentration. For a few tense moments, his focus was on Jane's mouth and imaginary black lace bras. He closed his eyes and cleared his head, and by sheer force of will, he got it back ten minutes before he hit the ice.

That night, the Chinooks shut out the Flyers, but not before the boys from Philly laid on the lumber and sent Sutter to the hospital with a concussion. Rob was still on the injured list when the Chinooks landed in New York to take on the Rangers. In the locker room before the game, Luc waited for Jane to wish him luck before he said, “If you own several bras, you might try wearing one.”

She tilted her head to one side and looked at him. “Why?”

Why?
He could tell her exactly why, but not in a locker room full of hockey players. Then again, it wasn't his job to tell her that her nipples were at full salute. He was avoiding her. He was finished talking to her and thinking about her, he told himself as he skated to the net and turned his attention to winning against the Rangers. But without their best lunch pailer, the Chinooks took a thrashing against the boards and in the corners and ultimately lost the game when the Rangers' captain broke away and shot at Luc on the long side.

Then it was on to Tennessee, the birthplace of Elvis and the Nashville Predators. That night in the locker room there was no mention of bras.

The young Tennessee expansion team easily fell victim to the more experienced Chinooks, and when the team boarded the jet for the long flight to Seattle, Luc was glad to be heading home. His right knee was bothering him and he was exhausted.

Once the BAC-111 evened out, he shrugged out of his jacket and raised the arm between the seats. Grabbing a duffel, he stuffed it against the side of the plane and leaned his back against it. With his fingers woven together and his hands resting on his stomach, he sat in the dark and looked across the aisle at Jane. The light directly above her poured over her head and filtered through her loose curls as she typed out her column. The tips of her fingers lightly touched the keyboard. She paused, stroked backspace several times, then started again. He thought of a few places on his body he'd like to feel those talented hands stroke.

A curl fell across her cheek and she pushed it behind her ear, drawing Luc's gaze to her jaw and the side of her throat. A few rows back, some of the guys played poker, but most of them slept, their snores mixing with the sound of Jane's typing.

For the past seven days, he'd kept himself busy, distracted. Now, with nothing to occupy his thoughts, he took the time to study her. To figure out exactly why he suddenly found Jane Alcott so interesting. What it was about her that wouldn't let go and leave him alone? She was short, small-breasted, and had a smart mouth. If fact, she was just too damn smart. Luc didn't like those qualities in a woman. And yet . . . he liked Jane. Tonight, she wore one of those cardigan sweater sets like old women and Ivy League girls wore. Black. No pearls. A pair of gray wool pants, and she'd kicked off her shoes.

Within the darkness, Luc studied her soft hair and smooth white skin. The first time he'd seen her, he'd thought her too plain. A natural girl. Now he was having a hard time remembering exactly why natural girls had never appealed to him before. He wondered what it would be like to slide his hands all over her soft skin. For the first time since he'd stood in her hotel room in Denver, he let himself wonder what it would feel like to hold her naked body against him. To lose himself in the pleasure of touching her. Of kissing her mouth and breasts and smooth thighs.

The tapping stopped, and Jane brought her fingers to her mouth. She pinched her bottom lip and moaned, followed by a long drawn-out sigh that could be either frustration or pleasure. The sound of her moan brought Luc to full painful attention, and he decided that picturing Jane naked hadn't been such a grand idea after all.

Through the variegated shadows that separated them, he watched her tap backspace a dozen or so times and begin again. Luc closed his eyes and turned his thoughts toward home. While he'd been away, Mrs. Jackson hadn't reported any more problems with Marie, and when he'd talked to his sister, she seemed somewhat stable. She'd made friends with a girl in their building, and Marie hadn't burst into tears or gotten angry during any of the calls. He still hadn't ruled out boarding school, because he did think she would ultimately benefit from a female environment. He just didn't believe she was ready to talk about it yet, and for some reason he couldn't explain, there was a part of him that wasn't ready to talk about it either. Not yet.

Somewhere over Oklahoma he fell asleep, and didn't wake up until the jet was about to set down at SeaTac. Once the jet landed and came to a stop, Luc grabbed his bags and headed for general parking. Jane walked at a distance in front of him, pulling a huge suitcase on wheels and lugging her laptop and briefcase. His longer stride easily overtook her and they stepped into the elevator together. They pushed the same button to the same floor of the garage and the doors slid closed. Luc leaned back against the wall and glanced over at Jane. Her head was tilted to one side as she studied him. She looked worn out, but so damn cute.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you going to give me the interview this week?”

She might be tired, but she was obviously on the job. While he was thinking how cute she looked and had been fantasizing about her soft skin and talented fingers, she was thinking about her work. Damn. “Are you wearing a bra?”

“Are we back to that?”

“Yes. Why don't you wear a bra like most women?”

“Why do you care?”

His gaze lowered to the front of her wool coat, but of course he couldn't see anything. “Your nipples stick out, and it's distracting.” When he raised his gaze to her face, her brows were drawn and her mouth was open as if she'd been about to say something but forgot what. The elevator doors slid open. “You look like you're turned on all the time,” he added and held the door open while she wheeled her big suitcase out. The stunned look on her face was classic and he started to laugh. “Don't tell me that no one's ever told you that before.”

“No. You're the first.” She shook her head, and together they started across the parking lot. “You're just yanking my chain again. Like when you offered to pee in my coffee and told me you were going to a strip bar.”

“I was serious about the coffee and I'm serious now.” He stopped at the rear of his Land Cruiser.

“Ah-huh. Right,” she said as she continued to her Honda Prelude parked a few spaces from his SUV.

He tossed his bags in the back of his Toyota, then looked over at her. The trunk of her car was open and she was making little huffing sounds as she tried to get her big suitcase inside. Luc walked past the two cars separating them, and the heels of his shoes echoed in the near-empty lot. At the sound of his footsteps she looked up. The lights in the garage cast deep shadows in the corner where she'd parked her car. A lock of her hair fell over one eye and she pushed it back. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed.

“Need help?” he asked.

She pointed to the big suitcase still on the ground. “You can help me with that. I bought some books last night and they've made it really heavy.”

Luc easily heaved the suitcase into the trunk.

“Thank you.” She put her laptop and briefcase inside, then shut the trunk.

“You're welcome.”

“Did Marie tell you I'm going to pick her up Saturday?” she asked as she moved to the driv-er's side door.

“Yep.” He followed and took the key from her fingers. He unlocked the door and added, “She sounded real excited.”

She held out her hand and he dropped her keys in her palm. “I'm glad to hear it. We haven't talked in a while, and I didn't know if you were okay with the plan.”

He lowered his gaze from her hair, past her green eyes and straight nose, the bow of her top lip. “We've talked.”

“You may not know this, but me calling you a big dumb dodo and you razzing me about my bra isn't considered talking.” The corners of her mouth turned down. “At least it isn't outside of the locker room.”

He returned his gaze to hers and he wondered if she was trying to piss him off on purpose. He suspected she was. “What's put your panties in a twist, sweetheart?”

She folded her arms across her chest and took a step back—Luc figured so she didn't have to bend back her head so far to look up at him. “I think we both know.”

“I'm just a stupid hockey player, so why don't you go ahead and spell it out real slow for me?”

“I never said you were stupid.”

He took a step closer so she'd have to look up at him again. “You implied it, Jane, and I'm not so stupid that I didn't get the implication.”

She stepped back. “I didn't mean that you're stupid.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Okay, but I don't think you're stupid. You're . . .”

He followed her. “I'm . . . ?”

“Rude.”

He shrugged. “That's true.”

“And you say inappropriate things to me.”

“Like?”

“That I look like I walk around turned on.”

She did.

“You wouldn't say that to a male reporter.”

That's true, but if a male reporter walked around with full wood, chances were Luc wouldn't even notice. Now, Jane, he noticed. “I'll work on that.”

She took one more step and her back hit the wall behind her. “And you're spoiled. You get everything you want and everything is your way.”

She was talking about the interview again. “Not everything.” He moved forward and placed both of his hands on the cold concrete beside her head. “Some of the things I want aren't good for me. So I have to leave them alone.”

“What?”

“Caffeine. Sugar.” He lowered his gaze to her lips. “You.”

“Me?”

“Most definitely you.” He slid his hand to the back of her neck and he lowered his mouth to hers. “I've never had
you
my way,” he said, and he kissed her because he couldn't seem to stop himself. Her lips were warm and sweet and instant desire settled heavy in his groin. With nothing more than his hand on the back of her head and his mouth pressed to hers, lust rolled over him like a Zamboni.

He pulled back with every intention of walking away, of leaving before he did something he would regret, but she looked up at him and licked her moist lips. Instead of turning on his heels, he wrapped one arm around the small of her back and brought her body against his. He was used to tall women and he had to pull her up on her tiptoes. His mouth opened wide over hers and he fed her a hot wet kiss. He held her to him as her hands ran across his shoulder and up the sides of his neck. His tongue touched and mated with hers as she combed her fingers through his hair. His scalp tingled from her touch. She moaned deep in her throat, that sound of lust and frustration and yearning that had urged him on the other night and had him thinking about having sex with her right there against the wall now.

In the weak light of the parking garage, he unbuttoned her coat, then shoved his hand under her sweater. Her flat stomach was warm and he slid his hand to her breast. She wasn't wearing a bra, and her breast hardly filled his hand. Her puckered nipple poked the middle of his palm like a hard little raspberry, and his testicles squeezed and his scrotum tightened and his knees almost buckled. He slid his mouth to the side of her cheek and took a deep breath. This was the most sexual excitement he'd felt in a long, long time, and he had to stop.

“Luc,” she gasped, then she grabbed the sides of his head and brought his mouth right back to hers. She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest and kissed him like a woman who wanted to end up in bed. A hot openmouthed feeding kiss that had him thinking of security cameras and of the likelihood of arrest. He rolled her hard nipple beneath his palm and she wrapped her leg around his waist. He shoved his erection against her crotch. The heat of their bodies nearly did him in. He ground against her and forgot about stopping.

“Not here,” he said as he ended the kiss. “We'll get arrested. Believe me, I know.” He tilted his head back and took a deep breath. “There's a Best Western or a Ramada within a few miles.” He blinked. He was fairly sure there was anyway. “I'll grab a room while you wait in the car.”