Off Her Game (17 page)

Val hesitated. Worrying her lip with her teeth, she sighed. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Come on, Darren’s gotta get used to the idea somehow. Just come watch for a few minutes.”

There was no telling Jenkins no. The man was already buttoning his jacket and heading toward the door. Blowing out a breath, Val looked at Ellie, who shrugged. Then she followed the man out.

Val was so damn happy to have a job, but the job came with issues. They were both working for the Highlanders now. Val hoped she had done the right thing. She needed the job too badly to not take it, but dealing with Darren was going to be interesting.

Darren tripped over his own skates as he saw who had come in the rink.

“Oh,
mannaggia Cristo
!” Gavin muttered as he looked up at the stands. “
Per l’amore di Dio!
”

Angela flipped her platinum blonde hair, carefully stepping down the steps to the floor of the rink.

He sighed. He’d been expecting her after practice, not during. She probably wanted something else and couldn’t wait. Typical.

“What the hell was that, Moran?” Rogers yelled at him. “Didn’t you learn how to skate in kindergarten?”

Darren collected himself and muttered, “Sorry.”

“You’re on defense this round.”

Darren skated across the ice, back over to where Baker and Vasquez were. Cody crouched in the net, his goalie stick laid across his kneepads. Leo Vasquez pushed off and coasted over to where Darren had stopped. “That was a nice spill,
amigo
.”

“
Pudrete
, Vasquez.” Darren glared at the man. “Don’t you have something better to do?”

The man grinned. “Nope, but you do. Isn’t that one yours?” He pointed to the stands. Darren didn’t have to turn around to know that he was pointing at Angela.

“Not anymore. Why, you want a turn? I hear she’s into that.” He didn’t want to turn around because he knew what he’d see. She’d be sitting on the edge of the bleachers, barely touching it because the idea gave her the squicks. Her smooth, tanned face would have a mountain of makeup caked on it. The woman felt naked without mascara on.

Leo laughed. “Hell, no. I prefer my woman dark-haired and Asian, and not whorish.”

Darren laughed. Leo had been pretty happy since last Christmas. He was one of the few people who actually knew about Leo’s private relationships. Most of the team didn’t know or wouldn’t understand. He wished he could have made it work with Angela, but then he’d not have been able to realize the feelings he had for Valerie.

He didn’t love Angela. He supposed he never had, but he’d been too blind to see what she was before. The fights in the divorce proceedings were enormously eye-opening. Angela wasn’t the woman he’d always dreamed of. The woman he dreamed of at night now had dark hair and had an odd fascination with the color purple and organizing things.

The rest of the practice passed in a blur. He tried to concentrate but focus seemed to escape him. Finally, as the coach blew the final whistle for the end of practice, he was out of excuses. Angela stood up, waiting expectantly on the player’s bench where the glass wasn’t present.

He dragged a skate behind him, allowing him to slowly coast to a stop instead of his normal two foot hockey stop. He purposely didn’t get off the ice, keeping the board between him and his ex-wife. Distance was good.

She smiled at him, two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth shining at him. “Hi, Darren.”

“Angie.”

She scowled. She disliked when he called her Angie. It was why he did it. He liked the nickname. She hated it. “I brought over the papers for the house.”

Right. He was buying her half out. She was more than happy to part with it for cold hard cash. Her precious landscaper probably couldn’t afford her Botox treatments. He nodded. “Good. So, if I sign these, we’re done, right?”

She bit her lip, uncertainty clouding her features. It was the first time she’d actually looked vulnerable. Too bad it was an act. “Yes. It’s the last thing according to the decree.”

“Good.” He was unnecessarily sharp with his words, but how could he not be? He’d caught her in a compromising position with his landscaper. His pride had taken a serious hit. He took the papers she held out and smoothed them on the wood of the board. He dropped one glove to the ice and took the pen she offered.

“It wasn’t all bad with us, was it, Darren?”

He didn’t answer as he signed, content to ignore her.

“I mean, we had some good times, right?”

He turned the page. Signed more lines. There were too many places for a signature. He wanted this done.

“Darren?”

Grateful that he finished it, he thrust the papers back at Angela. “What do you want me to say, Angie? That we had an awesome marriage? That it was all rainbows and unicorn poop?”

“Well—”

“Because it wasn’t, Angela. You were only with me because of the cash I handed you every week.” He huffed.

She grabbed his arm. “Darren, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I would have had to have feelings for you to hurt me, Angie. And the truth is… I was more in love with the idea of being married than the idea that it was you.”

“Darren—”

“Tell Victor I said hi.”

He wrenched his arm away from her. Then he glanced past her, toward the stands. Up near the top of the metal bleachers, what he saw made his heart bottom out and exchange places with his stomach. Valerie was dressed in a crisp business suit. Her definite surprise made it clear that she hadn’t expected to see him there, especially with Angela.

“I’ll file these in the morning with the mortgage people,” Angie said. She slipped the papers back into her purse. “For what it’s worth, Darren, I’m sorry.”

He tore his eyes away from Valerie and stared at his ex-wife. He’d never seen his ex so… emotional. She prided herself in not being so. What was she doing? What game was she playing? “I find that hard to believe, Angie. Forgive me if I prefer to hold on to my anger right now.”

“I deserve it,” she said. There was silence between them. Darren resisted the urge to look back at Valerie. What was she doing here? Why was she up there with Jenkins? He’d heard she canceled the interview after she’d broken up with him. Then she’d rescheduled it, but he didn’t think she would have actually made it. She had a good shot at the job Jenkins was offering. And it was better than being unemployed.

“I’m moving back home.”

Darren turned back to Angela. He blinked. It was hard to remember what they’d been talking about. “What?”

“You’re right, you know. I was a wretched wife to you. I hate the person I am here. So, I’m going back to Bowlville.”

“I have no sympathy to spare you, Angie.”

“I know. I expect none from you.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I hope you find someone else that can give you what you deserve.” He was too surprised by her to push her away. She collected herself and walked away, and out of the rink.

He glanced back up to where Valerie was. The surprise on her face had morphed into a deep scowl. He didn’t have any words for her either. He was all out of effort. If Valerie Chase didn’t want anything to do with him, then he would let her go. Too bad it would be painful as hell.

***

Val stiffened as Darren’s eyes locked with hers from across the ice. Most of the team had already headed into the locker rooms. She resisted the urge to grab her new boss’s arm for security. So not professional. Plus, Jenkins was talking about something concerning press boxes and strategic analysts. She didn’t really care. All she could focus on was the dark eyes zeroing in on her.

She knew Angela as soon as she’d seen her. She was exactly as Darren had described. Blonde, big-boobed, and a stick figure. It wasn’t that she felt inferior to her. Angela was who she was, as was Val. And Val was secure enough to understand that she was who she was, and she couldn’t be anything she wasn’t. But the thing that made her anxious was Darren. Did he still love Angela? Did it even matter since she’d dumped him cold?

“You should talk to him.”

Val burst from her thoughts and snapped her head toward Jenkins. Five minutes into the job and he was doling out love advice?

“Look, I understand if you don’t want professional contact. But he is part of the team, and seeing you will be a distraction he doesn’t need.”

“Then why give me the job?” She blinked, realization flooding her. “You brought me here on purpose. You wanted me to see him.”

“Something like that.” The sly smile on Jenkins’ face said it all. “Just talk to him. Put him at ease. If you can’t be with him, at least let him go. I need him.”

“I get the feeling you’re a sneaky bastard, Mr. Jenkins.”

“I just know my players and what makes them good. Some, like Gavin Ferrara, don’t need to have a life partner to play well. Others, like Moran, don’t know what to do with themselves if they’re having girl troubles.”

“And how have you dealt with that?” Val asked. It was interesting to see how Jenkins had so far handled the team. Most of her professional experience had been with teen girls. She wasn’t sure how different men and their families would be.

“Are you analyzing my team, Ms. Chase?”

Here, they had to function as a unit, be able to work together even with the drama. They had to have that intuitive sense of each other. She saw it the night she’d spent with Darren’s teammates at his house. With the married Cody, with the temperamental Gavin.

“Maybe I’m analyzing you, and how you deal with your team.”

It was strange and new to her, but not really unlike her girls at the teen center. They had encouraged the girls to do things that required a team effort. Obviously, the pregnant ones couldn’t do the sports but other things, like making a cake for their fake Cupcake Wars brought them together in ways she hadn’t expected. Team activities seemed to pull them out of funks faster than trying to get them out alone.

Jenkins laughed. “I like you, Ms. Chase.” He glanced down as Darren’s ex-wife kissed his cheek and left. She wanted to kill people for that kiss. She missed Darren’s kiss. His lips were warm and firm, strong and sure. They were everything she wanted and missed.

“I forgot I had a meeting in five minutes. You mind if I skedaddle?”

“You set me up, Mr. Jenkins.”

He shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. His eyes crinkled in the corners. “I sure did. I don’t know what it is about you, Ms. Chase, but Darren Moran plays better when you’re around. You’re his good luck charm. I need you to get him playing well again.”

“Is that why you hired me?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I hired you because you can provide a service to my players, and their families. Happy players play better. Happy players make Stanley Cup runs.”

‘You’re asking a lot of me.”

“Right now, I’m only asking for you to talk to that man down there. Nothing more. You don’t start working for me until Monday.” He started to walk down the bleachers to the floor. He turned around and glanced up at her. “But if you happen to have some magic awesome-player-fairy dust, feel free to sprinkle some on him. I need him in top form after the Christmas break.”

As Jenkins left, Valerie concentrated back on Darren. Before she knew what she was doing, she was heading down the bleachers to where Darren waited. This wasn’t a good idea. She’d managed to avoid him for the last few weeks. Her chest hurt, and it wasn’t from the stench of sweaty bodies and musky ice drifting up into her nostrils. She covered her nose and mouth, casting disgusted eyes in the direction of the locker room down the back hallway. Anything to avoid eye contact with the man waiting on the ice.

***

Val’s hips swayed lightly as she stepped down the bleachers. How she managed such grace in a pencil skirt and heels amazed him. It was hot as hell too, which only frustrated him. He pulled off his remaining glove and tossed them both on the wooden bench beside him, schooling his expression so she couldn’t tell icy trepidation was flowing through his blood stream. He wasn’t entirely sure it was working.

She stopped a few feet from him, safely behind the barrier between the player’s bench and the ice. “Hello, Darren.”

“Valerie. Or is Ms. Chase now?” His voice was laced with passive aggression. “I assume Jenkins gave you the job if he showed you around the building.”

“He didn’t show me anywhere. He brought me here to see practice.”

His eyes fell to her fingers, which were doing that weird clicking thing she did.

“You’re lying,” he said. “Or you’re nervous.”

“What?”

He gestured to her hands. “You only do that when you’re either lying or nervous.” She blinked and then dropped her hands. “So which is it?”

“I don’t think I like the insinuation you’re making.”

“I don’t think I like the way you’ve ignored me for the last two weeks.”

“You haven’t been in town.”

“Bullshit.” The word spat from his mouth like a bullet. “You’ve always been able to call me, come see me.”

“We broke up, Darren. We agreed not to see each other on a personal level.”

“Uh, no.” Darren shook his head, the anger building within him. “You made the decision. You said we were through. You. It’s always you.”

Her jaw clenched, forcing her lips into a thin, tight line. Fire kindled in her eyes, reflecting outward like glass.

“I know you miss the control you had over your life, Val. I do. I get it. But sometimes, you have to let things go.” He clenched his fists to keep from reaching for her.

“We’re not right for each other.”

“Why? Because you said so?”

“No—”

“You didn’t give it a chance. We ran into complications and the first thing you did was run.”

“I took the job Mr. Jenkins offered.” She blurted. “We can’t be anything but professional. I wanted to talk to you now to let you know. I felt like you should know and it should come from me. So there. That’s what I came here for.”

“Thanks for your concern, Valerie.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m a big, grown-up boy, though. I’ll figure out how to deal on my own.” He snatched up his gloves from the bench as he stepped off the ice. Anger wafted from him in waves, pulsing like a machine.