The Sweetest Seduction, Breakaway Hearts (29 page)

“You’re not catching a fever, are you, sugar?” Cindy placed a cool hand on Hailey’s cheek. “You’re mighty flushed.”

“I’m fine.” She shook off Cindy’s hand and took the beer to Ben.

He thanked her, his gaze lingering on her until she turned around. When she emerged from the kitchen a couple of minutes later, he was bent over his iPad with a set of headphones over his ears, giving off a very clear “do not disturb” vibe.

“It’s slow tonight,” she said to Cindy, testing to make sure it was safe to spend a few minutes with Ben.

“Well, what do you expect now that the Whales are out of the playoffs? It’s going to be dead in here until they start playing again.”

“We still have some folks here watching the playoffs.” She pointed to the tables, which were three-quarters of the way filled. “But it’s definitely not as boisterous.”

“Agreed.” Cindy flicked her eyes over to Ben’s table. “I don’t mind holding down the fort for a bit if you need a break.”

Her lips twitched at her stepmother’s offer. “If I didn’t know better, I’d assume you were trying to play matchmaker.”

“Who says I need to?”

Hailey waited until Ben’s Rueben was ready before returning to his table. He smiled and took off his earphones as she set the plate on the table. “Do you have a moment now?”

She glanced at Cindy, who gave her a wink and a thumbs-up, and slid into the booth next to him. The warmth from his thigh penetrated her skin and spread throughout her body, driving away any desire to add some space between them. “What did you want?”

“I wanted to show you this.” He placed the headphones over her ears and tapped a couple of things on the iPad before handing it to her.

The screen came alive with her name, followed by one great play after another, all choreographed to a pulsating techno soundtrack. Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes burned when the snippets came to the end. “This is fabulous.”

Ben removed the headphones. “I’m only part of the way done, but I wanted to show you what I’ve been working on.”

“No, really, this…” Her words trailed off as she stared into his eyes. The light shining from them told her he had done this for her, and she struggled to find an adequate way to show her appreciation. “This is more than I had hoped for, but why?”

“Besides the fact that you’re good and deserve a shot?” He shifted next to her, stretching his tall frame out and draping an arm along the top of the booth behind her. “Let’s just say I’m trying to make the most of my second chance. I know this is important to you, and while I can’t help much on the ice, I can help in other ways.”

Watch it, girl. You’re coming dangerously close to falling for him. Remember when you needed him the most and he wasn’t there.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and handed the iPad back to him. Now was a good time to start asking the hard questions. “Why did you keep my note all these years?”

He looked down at her and gave her another of those smiles that made her want to take him straight to bed. “I wanted a little memento of that night.”

“So you kept it with you?”

He nodded. “It stayed in the back of my wallet from that morning until I gave it back to you. Caused me a bit of grief with one of my girlfriends, too.”

“Which one was it—the model, the actress, or the singer?” She relaxed and leaned in closer. It was easy to tease him, and yet she’d felt no jealousy when he mentioned the women he’d been with after her.

“The singer. She even wrote a song about it,” he said with a wry laugh. “All she saw was that I was fixated on a woman in my past. She didn’t even want to hear my real reason for keeping it.”

“So you didn’t keep it because of me?”

“Yes and no.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip and focused on her mouth. “I always wanted to remember you and that night, but I also wanted a reminder to act when I felt the urge and not let something special slip through my grasp again.”

A glow filled her chest and spread to her fingers and toes. He hadn’t forgotten about her. But when she replayed his explanation, a chill coursed through her, reminding her that she still needed to tell him about his son. She pulled back and added some space between them. “Ben, I—”

Tell him!

But a tsunami-sized wave of grief rose from her stomach and drowned her words. No, she couldn’t tell him. Not yet. Not when things seemed to be so perfect.

Coward!

But Jen had told her to listen to her heart, and right now, her heart was telling her this wasn’t the right time. She crawled out of the booth and focused her gaze on the floor. “I need to get back to work. Pop took the night off, so it’s just me and Cindy.”

His disappointment squeezed her heart as tightly as her own and slowed her steps as she returned the bar. Until she found the courage to tell him about Zach, there would always be something that would keep her from giving herself completely to Ben.

Cindy frowned when Hailey went back to restocking glasses like a zombie. “Everything okay, sugar?”

“Yeah.”

Her frown deepened. “Did he—”

“No, Cindy, it’s not him—it’s me.” She shoved a glass onto the shelf, jingling the others with a discordant blow. “You know how I am with men.”

“Hailey, honey, you can’t keep pushing away every guy who shows some interest in you. You deserve someone special.”

“Maybe, but right now, the only thing that matters is my promise.” She snatched the empty rack and ducked back into the kitchen before Cindy decided to press the issue further.

****

Ben watched Hailey leave and cursed under his breath. He’d almost succeeded in winning her over. He’d seen it in her eyes, her face, her body as it molded next to his. But then, as fast as a lightning strike, she’d done a one-eighty on him and run away. If she’d been any other woman, he would’ve accused her of playing games with him, but he’d gotten a glimpse of something before she ran away.

She was scared.

And if what Gus had told him was true, then she had reason to be. It was a classic case of once bitten, twice shy. He curled his hand into a fist. What he wouldn’t give to find the man who’d hurt her and beat him to a pulp.

The thought made him pause. He was never the type to have violent thoughts. Usually, it was his brother Frank who was dying to beat the crap out of someone, not him. Growing up, he’d always been the pacifist, the peacekeeper amongst all his brothers. Now his thoughts were as red and rage-filled as Frank’s.

He flattened his hand and combed his fingers through his hair as he groaned and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was she doing to him?

“Is something wrong with the food, sugar?”

He looked over to find Cindy standing beside his table. “What makes you think that?”

“You haven’t touched it.”

The Rueben and fries had cooled to the point where they weren’t appetizing. “Can I get a to-go box?”

“Sure thing.” Cindy bustled over to the bar and returned a moment later. “Anything else?”

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket to pay for the meal. “Care to tell me why Hailey keeps pushing me away?”

“That ain’t none of my business.” But something in her tone told him that if he asked the right questions, she might be willing to share some information with him.

He decided to take a chance. “Gus mentioned that Hailey had missed out on her shot at the Olympics before because she’d gotten mixed up with the wrong type of guy. Is that the reason why she won’t go out with me?”

“You said it, not me.” She emptied his plate into the to-go box.

“What did he do to her?”

Cindy jerked as though he’d Tasered her. She slowly straightened and studied him, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “That all happened shortly after I came to town, so I don’t know all the details.”

“Can you give me a hint?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen door before leaning closer and whispering, “Let’s just say he left her with more than a broken heart.”

She opened her mouth to say more, but the banging of the kitchen door shut it. She resumed wiping down his table. “Do you need any change?”

“No, I’m good.” Hailey didn’t look his way as he got up from the table. “I guess I’ll have to be patient and wait for her to open up to me.”

Cindy nodded. “I knew you were the good sort of man the moment I laid eyes on you. Yes, just give her some time, and she’ll come around.”

He left the Sin Bin and started his car, his mind still on the little tidbit Cindy had managed to feed him. What else had that asshole done besides break her heart? Once again, those vicious thoughts surfaced, and he gunned the engine up the road to his cabin.

His phone rang as he got to the edge of town. He clicked the answer button for his Bluetooth and prayed it wasn’t Mac checking up on him again. “Hello?”

“Hello, Ben,” his mother crooned on the other end of the line. “Did Adam tell you the good news?”

“No.” But he suspected it had something to do with Lia.

“He came by the house tonight while I had Amelia over for bridge and asked her permission to marry Lia.”

How quaint and responsible of his older brother. It sounded like something Adam would do. “And did her mother say yes?”

“Of course she did. What woman wouldn’t want Adam for her son-in-law?” His mother was too refined to squeal, but the excitement in her voice was barely contained. “He’s going to propose to Lia tonight when she gets home.”

“Here’s to hoping she says yes, too.” A twang of envy coursed through his dry reply.

His mother didn’t miss it. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not really, Mom.”

“Aren’t you happy for your brother?”

“Yes.”

“Then why do you sound like you aren’t?”

He gritted his jaw and exhaled slowly. “Just having my own issues.”

“You’ve met someone?”

Crap. If he told her about Hailey, his mom would probably start planning a double wedding. At the same time, he knew she wouldn’t give him any peace until he told her something. “Yeah, there’s a girl here in town I like, but she won’t go out with me.”

“Why not? You’re handsome, successful, kind—”

“Enough, Mom. You sound like you’re getting ready to take out a billboard personal ad for me. She won’t tell me why, but from what I’ve been able to gather, she’s been hurt badly in the past, and she’s a little wary to enter a relationship.”

“Don’t worry, Ben. If you want her bad enough, she’ll come to her senses.”

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, wondering how long that would take. “Maybe.” Time to change the subject before his mom decided to interfere like she had with Adam and Lia. “In the meantime, I’ve started skating again, trying to see if the knee can handle another season.”

“That’s wonderful news! I knew I shouldn’t have taken your threat of retirement seriously. You love hockey too much to quit.”

And it didn’t hurt that his one chance for having dinner with Hailey involved him coming back to the game, even if it was just for one shot. “Don’t get too excited. I’m still not ready to play. But I’m making progress.”

“I’m so happy to hear that.” His mother’s voice shifted to the tone she used when she wanted to be nosy without being rude. “So, does this girl in town like hockey?”

He chuckled. “‘Like’ would be an understatement.”

“Then it sounds like you already have something in common with her. Does she know who you are?”

“Yes, she does, and it doesn’t matter to her. She was a Whales fan long before I signed with them.” In truth, one of the reasons he’d signed with Vancouver was the faint hope he might see a girl with blue hair and dimples in the crowd one night.

“Okay, just trying to be helpful. I’d love to see all my boys happily settled down with the right girl.”

He rolled his eyes. No, she just wanted grandchildren and wasn’t above playing matchmaker to get some. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“Will do. Night, Mom.”

“Good night, Ben. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

He clicked the phone off and pulled into the driveway of his empty cabin. For a moment, he tried to imagine what it would be like to have someone waiting for him when he got home, to have a warm body to curl up next to at night, to wake up and look into the face of the woman he loved. But every time he tried to picture it, the same woman appeared.

Hailey.

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “This is definitely not good.”

Ben got out of his SUV with his leftover dinner. Once he got inside, he popped it in the microwave, opened a bottle of beer, and took a long swig. Hailey had managed to do more than just get under his skin. If tonight was any indication, she was working her way into his heart. But until he earned her trust, it was a dead-end road.

Chapter Nine

Hailey dumped the pail of pucks out along the blue line, trying to keep her mind on something other than Ben. Her time on the ice was almost over, and he hadn’t shown up this morning.