twirl and lick, every firm brush of our lips as we shifted into a deeper kiss. By the time we eased off to take a breath, I was completely hard.
“That was a heckuva hello,” she muttered. “You’re forgiven.”
“Good.” Annika’s head fell against the wall and I trailed my lips down the side of her throat. She was warm and smelled like her sheets and the barest hint of her orange blossom perfume. My hands slid around the curves of her hips to cup her ass, pressing her softness into my hardness.
“You’re growling again,” she murmured in my ear.
“I really like your pajamas.” I dragged an openmouthed kiss to the swell of her breast and straight to her nipple. I sucked the rigid tip through the lace and she arched into me on a gasp. “I’d really like to tear them off you.”
“Is this how it’s going to be every time you return from away games? You barrel in, push me against the wall and kiss me stupid before you rip my clothes off?”
I tilted my head back and looked at her. “Pretty much. You have a problem with that?”
“Not a single one.” Then she gifted me with the sexy smile that filled me with fierce pride.
I lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her into the living room and set her on the couch before I backtracked to grab the controller for the fireplace and clicked it on.
Her lusty gaze zeroed in on my chest after I whipped off my shirt. “We’re doing this here in the living room?”
“Right here on this couch.” I dropped to my knees in front of her. “Fucking you by firelight is as romantic as it’ll get this time.” I let my fingertips skim the insides of her thighs up to the elastic edge of her panties. “Take these off. I missed the taste of you.”
Annika shivered. She scraped her fingernails across the bristle on my cheeks. “You’ll give me beard burn.”
“I promise I’ll kiss it and make it better.”
After she bared herself to me, I made good on that promise.
Then we were naked on the rug in front of the fireplace, and I rolled the condom on and slammed home with the first thrust.
“God yes,” she said, and her body bowed into mine.
Somehow I managed to rein the beast in. Although I stayed buried inside her, I quit moving and gazed down at her face. “You’re beautiful.” I kissed her cheeks, her temples, the corners of her mouth, the edge of her jaw. “So amazing how you feel hot and tight around me.” I nuzzled her neck. “How amazing you make me feel when we’re together like this.”
“Axl. You don’t have to give me pretty words,” she said softly.
“I want to.” I rested my forehead to hers. “I need to. You have to know that this is it for me. After all that’s happened, it’s important—”
She slanted her head and fastened her mouth to mine, showing me with her kiss and her gently stroking hands that she did understand. Then she slapped me on the ass. “Talk to me later. Fuck me now.”
That was when I knew I was gone for this woman. Utterly, completely, no-going-back, in-love-with-her-forever kind of gone.
• • •
Afterward, Annika insisted on cooking for me.
She’d slipped on her favorite robe, which I’d admired every time she wore it during our two days together. Amid all the crap that had happened over the past couple of days, she’d managed to obtain an identical man’s robe in my size—no easy feat, since the robes were custom-made. Her sweetness and thoughtfulness blew me away. I’d never had a woman so attuned to me.
I sat at the breakfast bar and watched her cook after she’d refused my help.
She whipped up an enormous egg-white omelet loaded with sautéed veggies and served it with crisp bread instead of toast.
We ate in silence. As soon as we were both finished, I forced her to sit as I cleaned up.
“So you’re staying here for a few days?” she asked.
“If that’s all right?”
“Of course it is. I’m happy you barged in at midnight, Ax-hell.”
Now the way she said Ax-hell sounded like a term of endearment rather than an insult. I glanced down as I dried the pan and said, “I missed you. I hated not being here when the shit storm hit.” I looked at her. “I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Hearing that has made my whole week.” She smirked when I lifted my brow. “That and the rockin’ sex. Man. I thought multiple orgasms were a myth. I’m so happy to have you prove that wrong.”
I laughed. “Anytime.”
“What happens now with the PR situation?”
“I’m meeting Peter in the morning before practice. I’ll make it clear that my time off the ice is private. Period. And unless the team holds a public event I’m contractually required to attend, no appearances and no interviews. If I have to be part of the postgame press conference, I’ll only answer hockey-related questions.”
She chewed on her lip. “Are you sure that’s wise? Your media impact is the highest it’s ever been.”
Angrily I slapped my hands on the counter and leaned in. “I don’t give a fuck. The media impact went up because of a scandal where I come off looking like a cheating asshole. So I don’t put much faith in a system that glorifies that behavior, or at least forgives it because I’m a pro athlete. It hurt you, and that killed me. The only good thing that’ll come out of this is now you and I have an excuse to lock ourselves away and continue building this relationship in private.” I paused. “Do you have any objections to that?”
“Of course not.” She hopped off the stool and skirted the counter to duck under my arm. “But there are a couple of things I need to point out, strictly from a PR standpoint.”
Stay calm and listen. You’ll get your turn to make her understand the only two things you give a damn about are playing hockey without distractions . . . and her. “Okay.”
“Peter will use your increased media impact to score endorsements for you. This was one of the end goals for you—regardless if you and I became a real couple or if we had stayed strictly PR lovebirds. Please take advantage of that while you can.”
“What company is going to hire a guy who’s considered a cheater?” I scoffed.
“Historically? Lots of famous guys with reputations as ‘ladies’ men’ endorse personal grooming products like razors, aftershave, cologne, deodorant and body gel. And besides . . . someone has to sell condoms.” She slid her hands up my chest. “Why not you? You’re hot and sexy. It’d show you’re a responsible cheater, even if the perception is you carry an entire box of magnum-sized condoms in your equipment bag ‘just in case’ you run across another mysterious brunette you wanna bang.”
“Jesus, Annika.”
She smirked. “Come on, wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony? You shilling condoms when you’re finally in a monogamous relationship? Dude. You could laugh about that all the way to the bank.”
That made me chuckle. “Fine. But what if they surround me with half-naked chicks and they have their hands all over me during the photo shoot? You won’t have a problem with that?”
“I won’t like it.” She briefly closed her eyes. “Okay, I’d freakin’ hate it. I’d be jealous as hell.” She looked up, her eyes fierce. “But I know you’re coming back to me, Axl, because I give you what no other woman ever has.” Another pause. “Complete trust, total understanding of the man you are beneath the hockey uniform and a chance to build a future.”
Once again, she’d rocked me to the core. What she gave me was everything I’d ever wanted and feared I didn’t deserve. “Do you have any idea what it means for me to hear you say that?”
“Yes. Which is why I needed to say it to you so you believe it.”
My mouth sought hers and I poured my heart and soul into the kiss.
I eased off and rested my forehead to hers. “Okay. I’ll consider endorsements but only if we discuss them first.”
“Deal.” She nestled the side of her face against my chest and squeezed me tight. “Th
ank you.”
“For?”
“For understanding that I have to put my job first too.”
“What are you talking about?”
Annika tipped her head back and studied me. “Peter didn’t tell you.” She paused. “Of course he didn’t tell you, because there’d be no need for you to know.”
“Need to know what?”
“When I met with Peter he told me it had to be very clear in the press release that I was the one who ended things between us.”
“If this is the sympathy-for-me angle, that’s bullshit—”
She briefly pressed her thumbs over my lips. “Listen. I didn’t understand either until Peter shared some crucial information with me about Haversman. Apparently cheating is one of Haversman’s hot-button issues. When he discovered his first wife cheating on him, he immediately divorced her. It is his personal code that he doesn’t do business with men or women with a reputation for philandering. And he considers anyone who stays with a cheater to have a weak character and no backbone.”
“You don’t find that odd?”
“No. Private companies don’t want to do business with individuals who violate their core philosophies—whatever that might be. It happens more often than you think. So even though our couplehood is no longer part of Peter’s PR plan for you, he is honoring his agreement to introduce me to Haversman. By having me initiate our breakup, when Haversman starts his background check on me . . .”
“You retain your ‘Iron Princess’ reputation by kicking me to the curb.” At least I’d put that much together on my own. “But what’s with the uncertainty in your eyes?”
“That means we have to stay broken up. We can’t let this blow over as a misunderstanding and then in a month I’ve miraculously forgiven you and we reconcile. No one can know we’re still in a relationship. We have to hide it.” She glanced down. “Do you know how much I hate asking that of you? Especially when I know you went through this with Isla? Especially when I have no idea when I’ll get a call from Peter that the meeting with Haversman is a go? It could be next week. It could be in eight months. But this chance to personally pitch to Haversman . . . if I’m successful it could mean jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, so it’s not just an ego thing for me.”
“Hey. Look at me.” I curled my hand beneath her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Isla set out to deceive me. That is not the case here, Annika. So that is not even a concern. Tell me you understand there aren’t any similarities in the situations at all.”
“Okay. But it did cross my mind because I worried it would cross yours.”
And that’s why I love you. “One question. We can’t be in public together at all, but we can be together in private as much as we want?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Then I don’t see a problem, Annika. Outside this apartment you focus on your job and I focus on hockey. When we’re together? We focus on each other. Besides, it gives us the power to reveal our relationship when we’re ready.”
She looked relieved. “It won’t be easy keeping this from my family and friends, because being with you makes me happy and they’re bound to notice. Dallas knows about us, but she’s trustworthy.”
“I stopped at my place to get clothes and clear the air with Martin. Now he knows you’re the mysterious brunette I kissed.” I brushed my lips across the top of her head. “He’s a good guy with a moral compass and I didn’t want him believing I’m a cheater.”
“Your friendship with him is sweet.”
Sweet. I snorted. “And since I want you to stay with me some nights, he’s getting a gate pass for you as Verily’s cousin. You might have to wear glasses and tuck your hair up in a hat and not act like your beautiful, charming self, but hopefully you’ll be undetected.”
Her eyes lit up. “Can I have a badass Swedish Valkyrie name?”
“You can have whatever you want, Annika.”
“All I want, all I need is you, Axl.”
“You’ve got me.” I kissed her. “Let’s go to bed.”
“You’re tired?” she said with surprise.
“Not at all. It’s time I showed you all the things we can do in a bed besides sleep. You seemed to have some confusion about that. Maybe it’s a cultural thing.” I hoisted her over my shoulder and sprinted to her bedroom.
Twenty-four
___
ANNIKA
Monday morning, the first day back after my week of media avoidance, my primary task was to finish my intraoffice memo welcoming Lucy to the PR team. She’d officially started the week before, and the few times I’d checked in she’d received glowing reports from everyone.
During lunch break, my cousin Nolan strolled into my office and deposited himself in the chair in front of my desk. Our female employees called him “The Prince” because he did have a certain regal air about him. If Brady was the nerdy, number-crunching braniac Lund, and my cousin Ash was the Lund with the bulldozer mentality toward anyone who stood between LI and global domination, then Nolan was the charming Lund mogul in the making, whose sharp sense of style was an intentional distraction from his sharp intellect. He was our family’s James Bond: dashing, dangerous and sometimes a total dickhead.
“Rough week, I heard,” he said to me in greeting.
I shrugged. “Live and learn. I don’t imagine you came here to counsel me on the best way to deal with cheating hockey players. Since you’ve been turning a blind eye to your brother’s cheating ways for years.”
“And . . . the gloves are off first thing? By all means. Let’s get to it.” He cracked his knuckles.
I rolled my eyes.
“You hired Lucifer.”
“I will tell you exactly once never to use that name when referring to Lucy again, Nolan. It’s disrespectful. Don’t make me bring this up at the board meeting.”
He held up his hands. “So noted.”
“Good.”
“You hired Lucy without talking to me or my dad or my mom.”
“I don’t ask their opinions on any of my potential hires.”
“This is different and you know it.”
“She has a solid portfolio and references.”
“If I knew that’s what you were looking for, I could’ve had a dozen people for you to interview, Annika.”
“Why are you opposed to her working here?”
He leaned forward. “It’ll cause tension. It’s already caused issues.”
“For who? Brady is fine with it. Ash is fine with it. And the CEO hasn’t stormed in here and told me to fire her or lose my job.”
Nolan scowled. “My dad wouldn’t do that.”
“Exactly. He hasn’t weighed in on this at all. Neither has Aunt Edie. I wouldn’t have given her a chance if not for Lennox. I would’ve had—I did have—the same ‘hell no’ reaction that we’ve been conditioned to experience whenever her name has been mentioned.” I picked up my can of soda and drank before I continued. “Interviewing her was the first time I’d ever really talked to her. So when have you ever had an honest conversation with her about anything besides her problems with your brother and Mimi?”
Nolan drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and said nothing.
“Nolan. Whatever you tell me doesn’t leave this room. You can joke all you want about me being a gossip hound, but you know it’s not true.”
“God. Sometimes I hate that you’re so damn . . .”
“Earnest? Perfect? Right all the time? Much better qualified than you to take over as CEO someday?”
He snorted. “And once again you strained the bounds of believability with the last one, brat. The truth is, I hate that you’re so damn honest, because it forces me to be.”
Not always the case on that “honest” thing.
“Don’t judge me too harshly,” he said with soft sincerity.
I nodded.
“I knew what Jaxson was doing. I knew about the women and the partying. I just didn’t know what to do about it.” He
blew out a breath. “I worshipped him. Sports star, everyone knew his name, getting laid all the time. He was my hero. By the time he met Lucy,