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Tracy kept her voice calm and professional, though she wanted to fist-pump the air. “Great. I’ll get that to you first thing tomorrow.”
Once she’d hung up, Tracy decided to celebrate with a coffee. As she waited for the machine to do its thing, she gave a happy wiggle. Major score! And a very nice boost to her turnover. Hopefully, once the Bridgers saw how Helping Hands enabled Mme. Chabal to settle more easily and eased Marcel’s stress, they’d extend the contract to cover all their foreign players. Their positive reference would be invaluable for pitching the service to her other clients.
Collecting her coffee, Tracy glanced at the clock. Visiting hours would be over shortly and she wanted another cuddle with her new nephew. It had been a good evening all around.
“Excuse me.”
Ike’s deep voice, close to her ear, startled her.
She jerked her head around as he leaned forward to program the machine. Their gazes clashed.
He was too close. Tracy could feel the heat radiating from his body. Prickles of awareness danced across her skin. Her pulse skipped as emerald fire flared briefly in his eyes.
Then he blinked and the flames disappeared. “Finished your business?” Ike reached past her for his coffee.
Tracy jerked away from him. Hot coffee splashed over her hand.
She swore and sucked on the sore patch before answering. “Yes, thank you. A client needed me,” she added, before she could stop herself. Damn it. She didn’t owe him any explanations.
“What kind of relocation emergency can there be?”
Her earlier irritation returned at his sarcastic tone, but she fought to stay polite. “You, of all people, should know that problems don’t just happen between nine and five. As I recall, you liked me to be available whenever you needed me.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I had to work viewings around the Ice Cats schedule.”
“Then you should understand when other professional athletes need flexibility, too.”
“Sure, but there are times when business should take a backseat. Like when your sister’s just had a baby.”
He was acting as though she’d abandoned Maggie and Joe. She’d stepped out briefly, leaving a room full of people to fuss over them. “Really? So you’ve never had to leave a family event to get to a game or missed a family occasion because you’ve been on a road trip?”
“That’s different. I don’t get a choice about where I have to be or when. I thought the whole point of running your own business was that you were in control. I remember how vital being your own boss—in every part of your life—is to you.”
His bitter tone brought up memories she’d rather had remained buried. Arguments better forgotten. “You’re the one who wouldn’t compromise.”
“You didn’t want compromise—you wanted things all your own way.”
“I didn’t want them all your way. Big difference.”
“What was so wrong with expecting you to take me, our relationship, as seriously as your career?”
Once again, he was twisting the facts to make everything her fault. Irritation turned to anger. “That wasn’t what you expected at all. You wanted my career to take a backseat to yours.”
“I never said that.” He drained his coffee and threw the cup in the bin.
“Maybe not exactly, but you made it clear that you thought my business was only something to keep me occupied until I had a husband to look after me. Meanwhile, you chasing around after a puck was—” she used air quotes “—‘so much more important,’ even though you only had, at best, another ten years.”
He clenched his fists by his sides. “I’d make enough money in those ten years to keep you living comfortably for the rest of your life.”
“I didn’t need you to take care of me and I didn’t need your money.” Tracy worked so hard because she never wanted to be dependent on another man or his money again. “I can bloody well look after myself.”
“Yeah, you’ve made it pretty freaking clear there’s no room in your life for a man.”
“Not quite true—there’s no room in my life for you.”
“Trust me, babe, I’m glad,” he drawled. “I had a lucky escape. I get banged up enough on the ice—I don’t need a ballbuster in my bed.”
Tracy gasped at his cruel words. Then she tossed her coffee over him. She’d show him a ballbuster.
* * *
IKE SWORE AS he wiped down his sweater and jeans with his handkerchief. From the heat around his zipper, the coffee had got too close to the family jewels for comfort.
Tracy Hayden had been a major pain in his ass from the moment she’d strutted into his life on those killer legs. With a toss of her dark hair and a glint in her brown eyes, she’d challenged him in every way. Still did. Damn woman was as irritating as grit in an oyster, except he never got a pearl. That said, a coffee shower was a first.
“I should apologize.” Tracy’s crisp tone, which emphasized her still-strong English accent, was grudging.
“Why bother, if you don’t mean it?” He stripped off his sweater. Beneath it, his T-shirt was damp but wearable. “I thought the one thing we had left was honesty.”
Her gaze lingered on his chest before flicking up to meet his. Color tinged her cheeks. “You’re right. Your remark was uncalled for, but I reacted badly.”
His conscience pricked him, taking the edge off his anger. It was partly—okay, largely—his fault. One minute Tracy had been cooing over her nephew and the next she was desperately checking her phone. Since she’d just told Maggie that everything was under control, what could be so freaking important?
Ike hadn’t deliberately followed Tracy into the waiting room. The cozy family image Jake, Maggie and Joe had presented had scraped on his already raw nerves, reminding him of the life he’d once hoped he could have with Tracy and making the hospital room feel claustrophobic. He’d escaped to get some air. He’d been surprised to find Tracy by the coffee machine and had nearly turned back. But then he’d seen that damn wiggle. That sexy hip-shimmy she always did when she was happy. The one that always fired up his pulse—and his groin.
He’d barely got himself under control when she’d spilled coffee on her hand. He’d wanted to kiss the burn better. The thought of putting his lips on her had sent desire rocketing through his body once more. Frustration had fuelled his annoyance. After all this time, he hated that he was still so pathetically affected by her, while all she felt for him was aggravation. And he’d snapped.
“No harm done,” he said stiffly. “I should apologize, too.”
“Okay.” Tracy dropped her empty cup in the trash and turned back to the coffee machine.
As she tapped in her selection, Ike stifled the urge to offer to buy her a drink. He turned to go when her voice stopped him.
“I know you won’t believe this, but I wouldn’t ordinarily let business intrude on such a special occasion.”
“So why the exception?” He was pleased his question held no hint of his skepticism.
“It was a time-sensitive issue.”
“Aren’t they all?”
“I suppose so.” Tracy smiled ruefully as she collected her drink. “But in this case, it would have been a costly mistake. The Bridgers are a major client.”
He frowned, unsure how one phone call could be that important. Unless she’d been about to lose the soccer team as a client. “Is Making Your Move in trouble?”
“Not at all. In fact I’m trying to broaden the range of services we offer with the new Helping Hands package.” Tracy explained the extra support her company wanted to give players and their families.
Ike obviously had a different definition of emergency. If her company had been struggling, he’d have understood. But how could adding business when her company was already successful be more important than celebrating a new member of the family?
Don’t go there.
What was the point? It would only lead to another fight and he probably wouldn’t survive another dousing unscathed. Besides, all of this only reinforced what he already knew—the two of them would never work. He couldn’t be with someone who put work ahead of everything and everyone else. He sure as hell wouldn’t compete with a woman’s career.
Ike acknowledged that his own childhood colored his thinking. Not just the weight of responsibility that he’d carried from too young an age, but also the way his mother had worked herself to exhaustion to provide for the family after his father had walked out. Ike was determined that his future wife and children would not struggle or suffer. Which was why he firmly believed the traditional male-female roles were necessary. Men provided and supported so that women could take care of the family.
Tracy would never be that type of woman.
Now if only his body would get the message.
“So you can see why I couldn’t risk messing up and not getting the Bridgers on board.” Tracy wound up her explanation and looked at him expectantly.
He was damned if he understood. Luckily, Ike was saved from having to come up with a suitable reply when his younger brother, Kenny, ambled toward them. “So, this is where the sane people hang out. The kid’s cute and all, but do we really have to sigh over every gurgle and dribble?”
“I’m afraid so.” She patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Give it a few weeks and you’ll be doing the same. I’ve seen harder men than you going gaga over a cute baby.”
“No way.” Kenny gave an exaggerated shudder.
Tracy laughed. “Well, I’m not afraid to say I want another cuddle.”
“Good luck prying him away from the grandmas.” Kenny rolled his eyes. “I’ll grab a drink and wait until the bloodshed is over.”
“Coward.” She waggled her fingers in farewell.
Ike and his brother watched Tracy walk back down the corridor.
Kenny punched him in the arm. “I don’t know why the two of you don’t just sleep together and get it out of your system.”
Ike choked. “Where the hell did that come from?”
Kenny smiled smugly. “So you don’t deny you’re hot for her.”
“Because it’s too dumb to bother denying.”
“Ike’s got the hots for Tracy,” Kenny added in a singsong voice.
“Mom must have dropped you on your head when you were a baby. You’re seeing things that aren’t there.”
“And you’re protesting a little too much, especially since you still haven’t taken your eyes off her admittedly great legs.”
“Leave her legs out of it,” Ike growled.
Kenny held up his hands in mock surrender. “She’s all yours. Or would be if you’d get your act together.”
“Trust me, the last thing Tracy or I want is a relationship.”
“Who’s talking about a relationship?” His brother plugged change into the soda machine. “I’m talking about doing the horizontal mambo until neither of you can move or snipe at each other.”
Damn it. Even Kenny’s teasing words were enough to spike Ike’s temperature. He did not need to remember what that had been like with Tracy. “I know for a fact we’re not compatible.”
“How do you know unless you give it a sho—” Kenny stopped and stared at him. “Holy cannoli. You already did it, didn’t you?”
Although Ike had never told anyone what had happened, Kenny and his other brothers had picked up on something between him and Tracy—perhaps the electricity in the air whenever they were together—and delighted in giving him crap about her. Maybe if he admitted it, they’d lay off. “A long time ago. It didn’t work out. Game over.”
Kenny studied him, his usually happy-go-lucky expression serious. “That sucks.”
“Yeah.” His brother didn’t know how much.
By unspoken agreement, they walked back toward Maggie’s hospital room.
“Are you starting in goal again tomorrow night, bro?”
“For sure.” Ike appreciated the change of subject. “What about you? Are you playing? Did the extra practice sessions help?”
Kenny’s confidence had been knocked when Coach Macarty had made him a healthy scratch for the past couple of games. Ike had reassured him that it wasn’t unusual for a player in his first season with an NHL team to struggle—the game was much faster and harder than in the minors—but his brother wouldn’t be happy until he was back in the lineup.
“Coach said he’d let me know in the morning.” Kenny sighed. “It wasn’t so bad. Watching from the press box gave me a different perspective on how the game is played here, so my positioning on the wing should be better. I just need a chance to put what I’ve learned into practice.”
Ike clapped his brother on the back. “Keep at it, kid, and after the All-Star break in January, it’ll click.”
“I hope so. I want to do my part, but I feel like I’m a step slower than everyone else.”
“Right now, we all need to pick up our play, and that includes our big-money guys.”
The Cats’ start to the new season had been okay, but not great. They were fourth in their division and a couple of places out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. But their points tally masked the real win-loss picture; the extra points they’d gotten for going to overtime or a shoot-out blurred the fact that they’d lost every freaking one.
Man, he hated shoot-outs and not just because he was 0-for-4 so far. Damn skills contest. They might as well toss a freaking coin. The Cats had lost a couple of their shoot-out stars when his brother Tru had moved to Denver and Vlad had returned to Russia, and to date no one else had stepped up. Sure, Ike could do better, too, but he needed a little help from his teammates. Like at least one of them could score. Then again, they weren’t scoring much during regulation, either. Worse, they couldn’t hold on to a one-goal lead. The number of times the Cats had given up the tying goal in the last two minutes of a game was plain crazy.
They were all adjusting to the new coach’s “run and gun” style. The veterans, like Ike, Jake and the captain, Scotty Matthews, preferred a more defensively responsible system, where even their best forwards would back-check to help out. The kids liked the focus on offence, but tended to be a bit wild. Shots on net hadn’t gone up. Goals sure as hell hadn’t, either. Ike had had to play out of his mind to scrape the wins they’d got.
Still, Kenny needed reassurance from his oldest brother, not a lecture. “The season’s only a month old. Things’ll get better. Besides, everyone has to sit out at some point in their career. Even JB Larocque.”
“Sure, but no one’s going to send a superstar like JB down to the minors if he doesn’t deliver. I don’t want to go back to riding the bus now that I’ve made it to the show.”
Jake came out of Maggie’s room in time to hear Kenny’s words. “Hang in there, bro. It’ll work out.”
Kenny grinned. He didn’t stay down about anything too long. “If you old guys say so, I guess I’ll be okay.”
Ike cuffed his brother around the head. “You need to learn to respect your elders and betters, brat.”
“Yeah, but I’m only seeing elders here.”
“We old guys have clout with the boss. You don’t want to be benched because you gave us too much lip.” Despite Ike’s ribbing, he was proud to have Kenny playing alongside him.
“This is why I need Tru here.” Kenny shook his head. “He has a sense of humor.”
“Speaking of which, I called him to give him the news,” Jake said. “He’s going to try to stay an extra day when the Avalanche comes east in December.”
“It’ll be good to see him.” Ike grinned. “It feels weird not to have him skating with us.”
They’d all been shocked when the Cats had shown Tru the door during the off-season instead of re-upping his contract. Hardshaw and Macarty had favored the Canucks’ stud defenseman, Troy Davidson, over the second-oldest Jelinek brother. Unfortunately, Davidson hadn’t yet shown the form he’d had in Vancouver, which had made Tru’s absence more difficult.
“Yeah.” Jake sighed. “At least he’s enjoying Denver. He’s slotted into the team well and the Avs are doing better than anyone expected.”
“That’s because we taught him everything he knows,” Ike said loftily.
They all laughed as they headed back into the hospital room.
Despite his best intentions, Ike’s heart squeezed when he saw Tracy cradling baby Joe. Her expression was soft and adoring as she murmured nonsense to her drowsy nephew. The maternal look suited her. He couldn’t understand why she preferred contracts and clients over a child of her own.
Perhaps Ike was projecting his own feelings. His career wouldn’t last forever. He hadn’t considered what he’d do once it was over; he didn’t like to think about it. That was tempting fate. The hockey gods had a funny way of knocking you on your ass when you thought everything was set. But as retirement loomed closer, he’d begun to feel frustrated that his personal life had stalled. It wasn’t as if he were a monk—he’d dated lots of nice women. Seeing Jake and Tru so happy in their marriages had made Ike question why he hadn’t been able to find anyone special.
The answer was simple. He hadn’t thought seriously about a woman since Tracy. Because of Tracy. Even now, four years later, the shock of her turning him down flat ricocheted through him. He hadn’t even proposed, just asked if she wanted to move in with him.
“Your turn. I have to go.”
Ike blinked as Tracy handed him the baby. The little dude snuggled into Ike’s neck; the scent of baby powder laced with a hint of Tracy’s perfume assailed him.
“Leaving so soon?” He hadn’t meant the question to sound accusing.
“I need to phone my mum and let her know she has a grandchild.” Tracy’s icy tone was the stinging rebuke her words weren’t.
“Right. Sure.” He stumbled over his words, but she’d already turned away and was saying goodbye to the others.
Crap. Why was it that when he was around her he couldn’t open his mouth without sticking his big foot in it?
Tracy didn’t acknowledge him again before leaving. Not even when she gently caressed baby Joe’s head. Ike didn’t need his kid brother’s censuring look to know he’d screwed up again.
Maybe it was time to admit he couldn’t handle being around her. He should treat her like any other problem. Do them both a favor and steer clear of her. Out of sight, out of mind. That might even open the door for him to find someone who was better suited to him.
Pleased with his solution, he gently rubbed Joe’s back. The loud burp that erupted from the little guy startled them both. The timing was coincidental, not a commentary on his plan, Ike reassured himself, even as he hoped the kid wasn’t right.
CHAPTER TWO
“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?” Tracy muttered as she spooned food into two cat bowls.
Moppet, the more sociable of her black cats, replied with a meow.
Poppet licked a white-tipped paw and washed one of her pricked ears.
“It’s crazy,” Tracy continued. “I can handle any other man, except Ike bloody Jelinek. Whenever I’m near him, he winds me up and I do something stupid.”
With impeccable timing, Moppet hacked up a hairball.
Tracy laughed as she cleaned up the mess. “Maybe tossing coffee on him was a tiny overreaction.” She held up her thumb and forefinger to show a small gap. “But it annoys me that there’s one rule for his career and one for mine.”
Despite Tracy’s determination to marry someone completely different from her father, she’d ended up with his twin—only with a more polished veneer. She’d left home at eighteen and headed to Manchester, where she’d waitressed by day and studied business by night. Hank Turner, a visiting academic from New Jersey, had been one of her lecturers. She’d fallen hard for the charming American, marrying him within weeks. It had taken much longer to realize her mistake.
At first, Tracy had overlooked the warning signs, attributing them to the difficulties of adjusting to life in New Jersey. It had taken Hank’s affair to rip the blinkers from her eyes. To Tracy’s chagrin, she realized she’d become exactly the kind of acquiescent wife she despised.
Poppet head-butted Tracy’s ankle, reminding her to hurry up with her food.
Tracy put the bowls down and the two felines dived right in. “Why do I still let Ike get to me? Why can’t I ignore him?”
Because he was a hard man to ignore. His presence, even when he wasn’t speaking to her, sent that delicious hum through her. The problem was he always did something to turn that hum into a jarring buzz.
When they’d first met, his charm had swept her off her feet. His gentlemanly manners and serious nature were rare in a business full of inflated egos. And their physical connection had sizzled. A touch, a look, a smile and they’d been all over each other like sex-starved teenagers. Ike had treated her as if she were special, both in bed and out. It was only later that his courtliness had begun to feel controlling. Caring suggestions had become polite demands. Compliments about her work had sounded more like criticism.
When Ike had asked her to give up her house and move in with him, she’d panicked. First her house, then her business, then her self-respect. Terrified that history would repeat itself, she’d refused. That final argument had been brutal; the bitter words they’d each said were still a thorn in her heart.
Trying to escape the memories, Tracy went upstairs to her office on the middle floor of her Victorian and sought refuge in work. But as she waited for her computer to power up, her mind went back to Ike.
That he still couldn’t understand that her company was more than just an income for her had confirmed that she’d made the right decision. Making Your Move might not keep her warm at night, but it enabled her to sleep soundly—secure in the knowledge that the only person who controlled her life was her. Good or bad, success or failure, she made the decisions. When Making Your Move was number one, she’d have proved to everyone who’d doubted her that she was strong and capable on her own.
Speaking of which, the sooner she got the paperwork to Glen, the quicker he’d sign. Tracy pulled up the Bridgers’ proposal document and began to make the changes she and Glen had discussed.
She’d just emailed him the revised copy when she looked at the clock and saw that it was already after eleven. Surprised it was so late, Tracy suddenly remembered her mother.
Damn it. Tracy had been so wrapped up in work, she’d forgotten to call her. She grabbed the phone.
Doris Hayden answered after a dozen rings. “Do you know what time it is?”
Tracy puffed out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry, Mum. But...”
“You know I don’t like calls after ten.”
Actually, that had been one of Tracy’s father’s edicts. Despite his death eighteen months ago, her mother still clung resolutely to every blasted one. Ordinarily, Tracy would have challenged this, but she wasn’t in the mood for a row that would only rehash ground they’d covered many times before.
Especially as she’d already had one of those tonight.
“Congratulations,” she said with determined brightness. “You’re a grandma again.”
“Maggie had her baby, then?”
“A gorgeous boy.” She filled her mother in on the details. “Jake took loads of pictures and he said he’ll email them to everyone in the morning.” Before her mother could complain that she didn’t know how to use the computer—Dominic Hayden hadn’t seen the point in his wife learning—Tracy added, “I’ll print them off for you and pop them in the post.”
“I won’t get them for a week.” Her mother sniffed. “I don’t know why you girls have to live so far away.”
No. She never had.
Tracy tried to head off the waterworks she knew were coming next. “Both Jake and I offered to pay for you to come over here. I can still book you a flight.”
“I don’t like to fly by myself. Can’t you come over and get me?”
Tracy gritted her teeth at the pathetic tone. “I’m sorry, but I can’t get away right now. We can organize a car to pick you up at home and someone to help you through the airport. Then we’ll meet you when you land.”
“I couldn’t. It’s too much on my own. And Maggie and Jake won’t be able to fly to England until the summer. I’ll miss out on seeing Emily and Joe for so long.”