Falling for the Backup (Novella): The Assassins Series (6 page)

“Yeah, Carol asked who you were seeing, I said that you were too busy with hockey to actually worry about a wife or giving your old decrepit mother a grandbaby.”

“For the love of God, Jackie,” Bill complained as he shook his head, “You have all the time in the world to be a grandma, let this boy get his career straight.”

Jackie playfully slammed her hand on the table.
 

“Why can’t you just knock a girl up?
 
I need a grandbaby.”

Jordan
 
worried that his mom’s comment wasn’t all in jest.

“I swear, I am never coming home again.”
 

“I don’t blame you, son,” Bill laughed.
 

“This just isn’t fair, you are thirty three, Jordan, give me a daughter-in-law and a baby to love and spoil!”
 

“Please mom stop.”

But Jordan couldn’t completely discount his mom’s plea.
 
Thoughts of Aynslee continued to haunt him. How could he have been so stupid? Twice.
 
He wanted to see her.Hell, he wanted her.
 
Bad.
 
But what was going to happen when the IceCats or some other team wanted him to play as a starting goaltender? It was the main reason he had walked away. He couldn’t hurt her by letting something happen between them. He would be setting them up for failure because if she wouldn’t move home to be with her family, what made him think she’d want to move for him? All in all, the whole thing would end in heart break and Jordan couldn’t do that to her.
 
Or to himself.
 

***

“I can’t believe he walked out on you twice!”

Aynslee agreedas her nail tech, Brittany, went to work on her nails. She loved Brittany; she was highly inappropriate, cussed like a sailor,
 
and most of her body was covered in tattoos. She was also hilarious and Aynslee was completely envious of her. If she could get away with it, she would definitely have a tattoo or two.
 
But it wouldn’t fly at New Life. And she was pretty sure her mother would kill her.
 

“It is crazy, because she’s hot right?! Tell her Brittany, she thinks it’s because she’s not hot enough for him,” Sadie complained beside her. “He’s a sexy hockey player.”
 

 
“Not hot!? Are you crazy! Hockey player or not, babe, you are smoking!
 
I’d give my left nut to be as gorgeous as you!”

“You have nuts?” Aynslee asked, holding back her laughter.
 

“Of course I do! I stole my husband’s!” Brittany declared causing the whole salon to laugh. “But seriously, Ayns, you are beautiful and smart, and funny! Any guy would be lucky to have you.”

Aynslee whined, “But why did he walk away without at least getting my number!? Twice! I mean, what is wrong?”

“Maybe he’s gay?” Brittany asked with a shrug.

“That’s what I said, but he plays hockey then again, hockey players can be gay,” Sadie supplied thoughtfully.
 

Aynslee wanted to scream.
 

“He is not gay! But seriouslyI don’t know what to do, I mean, do I keep after him or do I give up?”

Brittany shrugged as she concentrated on painting the polish perfectly on Aynslee’s nails.
 

“I mean I like getting laid regularly so I think you should go after him, but then again, maybe you shouldn’t. You’ve given him ample opportunity to get you into bed, he failed.
 
Move on my friend, move on.”

The problem was she didn’t want to walk away.
 
But she was afraid. She had every chance to watch his practice last week and she didn’t. She was afraid to face him again because even though everyone guaranteed her that it was him not her, she was beginning to feel like she wasn’t up to his standard. Maybe he wasn’t attracted to her.
 

She had replayed their impromptu coffee date over and over in her head and she couldn’t find anything that would have caused him to run. She didn’t know what to do but she did know that for the last week all she did was search YouTube and Google, for Jordan Ryan. When she wasn’t watching the Assassins’ games to catch a glimpse of him, she was online looking at videos of him.
 
She was completely pathetic.

 
“Listen,
 
don’t worry, just because he jumped back into the sea, doesn’t mean another fish won’t swim by,” Brittany said, “Just keep swimming.”
 

Aynslee smiled back as Sadie said, “Plus, you never know, maybe you’ll run into each other again, third time is a charm, you know.”

“I don’t know, like Brittany said, he ran out on me twice, I don’t know if I want to give him a third try.”
 
She was a liar.

Sadie nodded before saying, “This is true, but I don’t believe you for one second “If you ever see him again, I wouldn’t put it past you to attack him and in the good way!”

Aynslee laughed out loud as Brittany said, “Hell yeah, you should take him and squeeze him and then kiss the shit out of him! I bet you, he wouldn’t go anywhere after that!”

 
“Yeah right, he is like 6’5, two hundred and something pounds, there is no way I could take him out and make him mine without hurting myself!” she said through her laughter, even though the last thing she wanted to do was laugh.

Aynslee felt more like crying. She put on a good front but it was bothering her. She wanted Jordan to realize that if he gave her a chance they could be happy. She had hopes of him being the guy for her. Call her crazy but she was completely smitten and she was more than ready to move forward with him. The only thing she needed was for him to be on board too and no telling if that was ever going to happen. He was untouchable and Aynslee didn’t know what to do because giving up just didn’t feel right.
 

But what else could she do?

After Brittany finished her nails she hugged Aynslee tightly .
 

“If it’s meant to be, then it will happen.”
 

Aynslee smiled as she nodded. Getting her wallet out she paid just as Sadie came out of the bathroom for the thousandth time. The poor girl was sick as a dog. Apparently the baby didn’t like anything she ate. Aynslee felt horrible for her, she looked terrible.
 

Holding her stomach, Sadie glanced over at her.
 

“I am not running today.”

Aynslee laughed, she figured that.
 

“I didn’t think so when you couldn’t even sit long enough to finish your nails.”

 
“Yeah, I’m going home, I’m sorry, maybe tomorrow?”

.

“Sure thing babe, same time, same place. Bye!”

Aynslee waved at Sadie, wishing her well before she jogged to her car to put her things away and to grab her iPod. After strapping the player to her arm, she ran across the street to Centennial Park. For the last four months, Sadie and Aynslee had been running midmorning every weekend which was her favorite time to run. She hated when people watched her run, so she tried to go when no one else would be there.
 

Even though she missed having Sadie beside her, she was enjoying the quietness of the park. After stretching, Aynslee pushed play on her iPod before jogging down the path. Centennial Park was one of the best things about Nashville. It was beautiful with lush trees and acres of green grass. Amazing red, yellow, and purple tulips filled the gardens as a large pond full of geese brought a certain magical quality to the park. It was her oasis and she loved her time here. As she dug in deep, taking quicker strides, her mind wandered to a certain goalie that was always on her mind.
 

What was she going to do?

Letting out a long sigh between her gasps for breath, she pushed hard, rounding her favorite pond as she bobbed her head to
Swedish House Mafia.
She usually made three trips around the pond since she liked to watch the baby geese paddling after their mommies but as she was coming around for a second time, she stopped dead in her tracks. Leaning against the rail, drinking from his water bottle was Jordan. She was so surprised, it was a miracle she didn’t stumble forward as her eyes drank him in. He was sweating, a lot, his purple T-shirt drenched as he took in deep breaths. God he was hot. There was something about a man completely drenched in sweat that made her think of naughty sex.
 
And Jordan drenched in sweat – there was seriously nothing hotter.

Aynslee’sheart leaped when he looked over at her. She knew shewasn’t looking her best, but she didn’t give a damn. She had been thinking of this man for a week and for some reason, they had been brought together again.
 

This time, she wasn’t going to allow him to run away.

“This is getting weird,” he laughed as his eyes ran up and down her body.

Aynslee smiled as she closed the distance between them. When she stopped in front of him, he said, “So because you weren’t at practice that means you’re not a stalker, right?”

He noticed she wasn’t there!
 

“Nope, not a stalker.”

 
“I know, I was just teasing you,” he said in a raspy way that made it hard for her to even think. She looked down as she took in a deep breath. She needed some answers, now.
 

“Why did you rush out on me at Starbucks?” she asked looking up into his face.
 

He
 
looked away while Aynslee waited for his answer. Looking back down at her, he said, “I’m sorry I did that. I have a lot on my mind and sometimes I get nervous when I don’t know what to say or do, and yeah, sorry. Like I said, I’m not the person I was before my injury; a lot of things have changed. My life is a complete mess right now.”

She nodded as she kept her gaze locked on his. Her heart was pounding and she was convinced that Jordan could hear it. Looking at him, she knew there was really only one thing to do. Taking a step towards him, she closed the space between them. She only came to mid chest and for once she cursed her shortness. Looking up at him, she crooked her finger at him, motioning for him to come closer. Thankfully he didn’t keep her waiting or even hesitate, he simply bent down where his face was only inches from hers.
 

“I get that it is nerve wracking when you first meet someone, I’m nervous too but the thing is that I don’t know the person you were before, and all I care about is getting to know the person you are now. I am attracted to you, a lot,” she said with a smile, “And I’m not saying I’m the person to clean your life up, but I’d sure like to try. Just stop walking away from me.”

Closing her eyes, Aynslee took in a deep breath as she went up on her tippy toes. She then placed her lips on his
.

Chapter 5
 

Jordan should have pulled away. But there was
 
no way he could.
 
He’d been waiting for this moment for too long.

Aynslee’s lips were soft and inviting and without thinking of the consequences, he moved his hand behind her neck, pulling her closer, before deepening the kiss. With each move of her lips, he lost more control. When her hand came to rest on his arm, he took in a sharp breath as she melted against him. It was another chance to pull away but he couldn’t.
 
Iinstead Jordan’s other arm snaked around her waist, pressing her body against his before covering her mouth with his, moving his tongue against hers. His need for her was tremendous and when her hand moved up his back, holding him, he pulled back before he completely lost it and fucked her against the fence that surrounded the pond.
 
He looked deep into her eyes, their breath mingling together as they breathed deeply. Aynslee’s eyes were bright and when a satisfied smile crossed her lips, Jordan knew his feelings for her extended way past lust. He didn’t know what to say but he did know there was no way he was walking away from this woman. His life may a mess, but after a kiss like that, and the way his body responded to hers, there was no turning away.
 

“Wow,” she muttered, her breath tickling his lips.
 

He nodded, a smile pulling at his mouth. He wasn’t done.
 
He didn’t think he ever would be.
 
Dropping his head, he brushed her lips again, just for a taste, but the taste turned into more, and soon he was holding her close kissing the hell out of her. He didn’t know what it was about this woman, but he felt like he could kiss her forever.
 

Pulling away again, Jordan leaned his forehead against her, gasping for breath.
 

“We have to stop, or people are going to get a show,” he said softly, his eyes still closed because her hands ran up and down his backBut he didn’t move. He couldn’t. He was putty in her hands.
 

Aynslee moved her hands up to his face, running her fingers through the stubble on his chin. Biting down on her lip, she said, “I don’t want to stop.”

Oh God, he was sure his cock was about to poke a hole through his shorts. He was so hard that it hurt and if she wasn’t careful, he really was going to bend her over that fence and To hell with the consequences.

Jordan could see the hesitation in her eyes as she said, “I live only a few minutes from here, unless you want to walk away from me again.”

Jordan didn’t even think twice, “Not a chance, I’m done walking.”

.

“Good,” she said stepping out of his embrace.
 

“Hey, where you going?” he asked reaching for her hand.
 

“Let me give you my number and my address,” she said pulling her phone from her shorts pocket as Jordan did the same. He rushed to put them in his phone but it was hard when his hands were shaking and his cock was begging for release.
 

“So I’ll see you at my house?”

 
“I’ll beat you there,” he said hoping she would understand how much he wanted her.