Falling for the Backup (Novella): The Assassins Series
Read Falling for the Backup (Novella): The Assassins Series Online
Authors: Toni Aleo
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary Women, #Sports, #Contemporary, #Fiction
Falling for the Backup
The Assassins Series
Toni Aleo
Loveswept, New York
Books by Toni Aleo
Taking Shots
Trying to Score
Empty Net
Falling for the Backup
Blue Lines
All part of the Assassins hockey series
Thank you so much for being there for me, for believing in me and encouraging me to do what I love to do. I never expected to have such amazing people behind me and because of you I am living my dreams.
So here’s to the best fans a girl could get, my beautiful puck bunnies.
Thank you.
Chapter 1
“Yeah, the meeting went fine, dad. I feel good about it.”
Jordan Ryan hustled through the Buffalo Niagara International Airport heading to the terminal where he’d catch his flight back home to Nashville, Tennessee. It had been a long day. He flew out that morning to meet with the Rangers and the Sabras NHL hockey teams. Both appointments though stressful were over before lunch. Now late in the day he was hungry, tired and a little anxious. Based on the interviews it seemed that neither team wanted him which he knew he couldn’t share. Jordan loved his father, but Bill Ryan didn’t accept anything but perfection. Since Jordan hadn’t been
perfect
for the last two years, he had learned it was best to keep disappointing details out of their conversations.
“Good, I’m glad, so you’ll fly home for the game tomorrow, take a break, another home game, then to Carolina for a meeting with the IceCats?” Bill Ryan asked.
“Yeah,” Jordan said as he arrived at the departure gate taking the first seat he found available. Leaning his head back Jordan closed his eyes and finally began to relax.
He hated traveling so much, but right now, it was necessary. After tearing his meniscus in his left knee two years ago he went through rounds and rounds of physical therapy. After 18 months of reahab he was finally able to play again, but because of his long absence he had been replaced.
Tate Odder was his replacement, was now considered the best goalie in the league. Fucking A.
As a result Coach Bacter wasn’t giving Jordan enough playing time – that is -
until Tate’s girlfriend was brutally beaten. When Tate took the much needed time off from the game Jordan became the starting goalie.
Jordan had missed playing and to be back between the two steel pipes was like being back home. Unfortunately that was short lived. His knee had not quite healed and gone out during the game. Bacter then took him out for good and brought in another backup. Yup. Fucking A.
Jordan understood Bacter’s concern, hell he had been concerned too.but what he didn’t understand was why he had’nt played since. He had clearance from his doctor for almost a year now and after a little R and R his knee was fully healed.
Not playing was driving him crazy, and even though he loved the Assassins and didn’t want to leave the team that started his career, he knew he had no choice. He was never going to get playing time being the backup goalie to Tate Odder.
With a defeated sigh, Jordan opened his eyes as his dad continued to talk.
“Fantastic, I feel good about South Carolina. Be good to have you home.”
Nashville is my home
, Jordan thought.
He loved Nashville and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else; or playing for another team but he was going to have to start imagining it. It was happening and going home to South Carolina was for the best. His whole family lived in South Carolina and he did likethe idea of being there with them rather than living thousands of miles away. Plus, as a kid, he had always dreamed of playing for the IceCats. While growing up he’d practically lived in the IceCats arena, watching his favorite player, Guy Richardson, defend the goal while his own dreams took shape.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Maybe he would finally find his place in South Carolina.
“Yeah, it would,” he agreed as he heard the attendant’s announcement. “Hey dad, I gotta go. They’re boarding now. I’ll send you a text when I land.”
“Sounds good, Jordy, talk to you soon,” and his dad hung up.
Jordan grabbed his things and rushed to board the plane. Once seated by the window he stretched out his legs before reaching in his duffle bag for his neck pillow. His teammates always made fun of his pillow, but he reminded them he never had the neck pain they were plagued with after long trips.. Neck pain – no.
Knee pain – another story. While situating his pillow, he glanced to the aisle and paused when he saw
her
.
Wow
. She had red hair, long and lustrous.
He had the insane urge to smell it.
Smell her.
He had always loved reheads.
Her face was round, scattered with freckles along her nose and cheeks. Her lips were full and luscious, but were completely overshadowed by her eyes. They were a light green and sexy as hell.. Watching her as she moved down the aisle, she looked at her ticket then right at the row he was sitting in. The day was definitely starting to improve.
Her eyes met his and he knew he was in trouble. She blushed before looking away, color creeping up her neck. Jordan felt dizzy. As
a confident man would get up and help her with her bag before trying to seduce her. Unfortunately for him,
Jordan wasn’t that kind of a man. The injury had changed him. He used to be the kind of guy that could talk a lady out of her panties and straight onto his lap, but now, he was lucky if he could
utter a word to the opposite sex.
Jordan hated how much he had lost after his injury. Not only did he lose his number one spot, but he lost the woman he was convinced he was going to marry. Leanna Masterson was everything Jordan thought he wanted. Big blue eyes, long blonde hair, hottest body ever, with legs that went on for days. He thought they’d be together foreverbut when he woke up after surgery and the doctor told them that it was going to be a long and rough road to get to where he was before the injury, Leanna was out the door. Good riddance.
He was glad she left.
Too bad, though, that she took a part of him with her. A part he hadn’t been able to find since. His confidence. It had been a long 18 months without the company of a woman, and he was lonely. He wanted someone to come home to, someone that would love him unconditionally, but he also knew that right now wasn’t the time. He didn’t know what his future held and it would be unfair to get involved with someone.
But looking at the beautiful redhead, he couldn’t help but think that maybe nowhe could find what he had lost. Looking down at the floor, he took an unsteady breath as she practically fell into the seat beside him.
Glancing over at her, he noticed she was busy putting away her ticket. She was wearing a long pale pink dress that did wonders for her skin and also showed off a pair of very impressive breasts. Sitting so close together, Jordan could see that her freckles were everywhere. He wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss her shoulder, then freckle by freckle play ‘connect the dots’ with his tongue. Man, he had to get ahold of himself.
She must have felt the power of his stare because she glanced over at him. Her light green eyes held his as she smiled and suddenly Jordan wasn’t sure how much room he had left in his pants. He felt as light headed, as an awkward teenager. As he sputtered to say something, he jerked his hand up bumping into her Starbucks coffee cup and the next thing he knew, coffee was all over her lap and her.
Shit.
***
Aynslee Shaw was having a rough day.
She wasn’t supposed to leave Buffalo until tomorrow after the wedding but after a call from her landlord, she learned that a water mane had busted in her beautiful Victorian home and her basement was flooded. She only wished she could have seen her niece get married. True that she would probably be divorced in no time, but it stung that Lane had gotten married before her.
Hell, everyone had.
All four of her sisters were now married as well as her two brothers. Aynslee and her younger sister, Quinn were the only ones left. Quinn was only seventeen.
She had time. But for Aynslee was thirty one and
her insane Irish family took every opportunity to remind her of her single status.
Even though she was going home to face a massive mess she was more than ready to leave the constant questioning behind.
When was she going to settle down?
Find a man? Have a baby?
It wasn’t that Aynslee didn’t want those thingsshe did. It was just hard to find someone when she was busy with her new job and adjusting to a new town. After going to college in Knoxville and working in the city for the last seven years at a nice private school where she taught 3
rd
grade, Aynslee had thought life was perfect. She had a beautiful condo, a good paying job and she had Dan McGee, her boyfriend since her senior year in college. They were happy and things were great. She was sure they would marry eventually. Then suddenly it all felt wrong. She didn’t love Dan the way she had when they were younger, and after telling him this, he said that he felt the same way.
They parted on good terms, and when he left, Aynslee didn’t love Knoxville the way she had before. Her mother had begged her to come home, but she loved being away from her family. It took a lot of patience to handle her big family, and being away was fine with her. She knew though that she needed a changeshe checked out the job opportunities in other cities before deciding to look for something in Nashville. A week after applying to New Life Christian Private School, Aynslee learned she had gotten the job. Ecstatic with her good fortune, she packed up her life and made the three hour trip to Nashville. She moved into her little house and was beyond happy with how great everything had turned out.
Things seemed to be unfolding nicely for her, especially her. Aynslee quickly became friends with the other 3
rd
grade teachers at New Life as they all had so much in common.
Soon her colleagues began setting her up on blind dates and although they were fine there was no one she wanted to date a second time. She didn’t know what it was, but after Dan, she decided she couldn’t settle for average. She wanted that burning love, the one that she would feel from the tips of her toes to the top of her head and if she had to wait for it than she would. Her eggs could survive for a little while longer, despite what her mother said.
.
After a week of her crazy familyAynslee had been ready to change out of her bridesmaids dress and rush to the airport so she could get home.
But that would have been too easy. As she went to change,
her suitcase was nowhere to be found. She soon learned from Quinn that aunt Fern must have “accidentally” taken her suitcase.
Fantastic.
So now, she was stuck wearing the stupid pink bridesmaid dress, her boobs on display for God and everyone to see while her feet ached in the stripper shoes that Lane wanted all of her bridesmaids to wear. With each painful step she took, the more she cursed herself for making the trip to Buffalo in the first place. She should have just stayed home and made up some stupid excuse as to why she and her made up boyfriend couldn’t attend. Good lord, her cousin had 5 other bridesmaids to round out the wedding album so it wouldn’t have been like one less bridesmaid would have been missed. The only thing that kept Aynslee from not balling up in a fetal position on the airplane seat and crying her eyes out was her cup of caramel macchiato from Starbucks. Thank god for Starbucks. Thank god for the sexy hottie it looked like she was going to be sitting next to on the flight.
Hello, sex on legs.
She had never been attracted to someone so suddenly, as she was at that moment. He held her gaze for maybe a second before he looked down to situate his yellow neck pillow. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him as she put her lap-top case up in the overhead bin, making sure to grab her Kindle and her own blue neck pillow. She knew for a fact that reading the new Kristin Higginswould never happen on this trip, especially with Mr. Sex sitting right beside her.
But she had to act like she was doing something, or she’d more than likely stare at him the whole flight back. Not that that didn’t sound like fun.