Page 38 of Three Hockey Hotties

“I’m just carrying you up to bed.” Her eyes widen slightly, and I add, “your bedroom.”

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and I let that sink in, prepared to put her down if she asks.

Dammit, she’s beautiful. And this urge to take care of her, keep her close, surround her, and protect her surges stronger.

I work on not squeezing her tighter and ask, “Okay?”

She nods. “Of course. But you don’t have to carry me.”

“I want to,” I tell her honestly.

She simply smiles. She doesn’t ask to be put down, and she doesn’t so much as wiggle a toe, so I continue up the stairs, my heart pounding.

I stop in front of the door to the room we’ve given her.

It’s right in the middle of the others. My room is the furthest down the hall, but hers is between mine and the one Dash uses. Kane’s is directly across from hers. It’s not as if we ever planned to bring a woman to the house and give her the bedroom situated in the midst of all of ours. I let the guys choose which of the extra rooms here they each wanted, and this is just how it worked out. But now it seems startlingly perfect.

I take a deep breath of her scent, unable to help myself, before I let her down.

When her feet touch the floor, she pauses, not making a move at first.

“I know I said it before, but it is really generous of you to let me stay here.”

“I should thank you for agreeing. It’s really the only way the three of us would be getting any sleep tonight.”

A little smile teases her lips, but she shakes her head, looking puzzled. “Are you three like this with all the women that you meet? So protective? Is that just how you’re wired or something?”

I can’t think of a good reason not to be honest here. “Absolutely not. Just you.”

She goes from puzzled to startled. “Oh.” She frowns. “That’s…weird. Right?”

I lift a shoulder. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s just perfect.”

She studies me. “I don’t like being coddled.”

“Okay.”

She slowly smiles. “That doesn’t matter, does it? You’re still going to.”

“I’m going to be sure that you have everything you need and that you’re safe and happy,” I tell her. That probably sounds intense for having known her only a few hours, but I’m not sure what will come of me telling her that I’ll leave her alone and then…not doing that.

“Why?” she finally asks.

“I’m not sure I can totally explain it. I just…need to.”

She slowly nods. “I had very overprotective parents growing up,” she says. “I don’t really do well with all of that now.”

I nod in return. “You’ll get used to it.”

I don’t know what I expect her reaction to be, but the laugh she lets out is not it. The sound is light and sweet and wraps around me like a fucking breath of strawberry-scented air.

And the only reaction I can come up with is to kiss her.

I step close, cup her cheek, tip her face up, and touch my lips to hers.

She sighs against my mouth, and I have no choice but to deepen the contact.

I press more fully, my other hand sliding to the curve of her lower back, bringing her up against me.