Page 44 of Heartless As Puck

Coach Dunn stood and extended his hand toward me. I took it and gave it a firm shake.

“Glad to have you on board,” he said. “I think you’ll be a real asset in getting the team where we want to go.”

“I hope so.”

God, did I ever. If I fell short, it sounded like I could kiss my career with the Chaos goodbye. I’d wanted to become captain since I’d been a rookie, but I’d never expected the position to come with such hefty strings attached.

He turned to Jane. “Once again, I’m sorry I was a bit gruff toward you in the past. I’m thrilled to hear about you and Austin. That’s exactly the sort of positive, exciting news we need to create buzz about the team. Austin Harris, dating Pete Wright’s daughter. It’s perfect.”

Beside me, Jane stiffened, and I wanted to be pleased with his reaction, but I couldn’t help recalling the conversation we’d had about how people had tried to use Jane because of her family. Coach’s words, while well-intentioned, had no doubt reminded her that I was doing the same thing.

Damn it.

Coach Dunn grinned wider. “Hell, imagine if you get married. He’ll be part of a hockey dynasty.”

Okay, that was enough.

“We’ve only just started dating,” I reminded him pointedly. “We’re nowhere near marriage.”

He sighed but was still smiling. “Let a man dream.” Sliding his hands into his pockets, he added, “Speaking of wives, mine is waiting for me to get home, so we can eat lunch.”

Stephen waved toward the door. “By all means, go. See you here tomorrow. You too, Austin. Enjoy your Sunday.”

I rose to my feet, my heart light enough to float away, while my gut was threatening to hit my shoes. It was a complicated feeling.

Jane tucked her tablet away and stood too. Together, we followed Dunn out of the office and into the corridor. He jogged down the stairs, but we lagged behind.

“I have to call Gus,” I said. He’d want to know immediately.

She gestured for me to do it. I withdrew my phone from my pocket and made the call.

“Why are you calling me on a Sunday morning?” Gus asked, sounding half asleep.

“Guess who’s the new team captain.”

“What?” He was wide awake now. “Seriously? If you’re messing with me, I’m going to be mad.”

“Seriously.” I explained the situation, including both their offer and their ultimatum.

“Well, damn,” he said in summary. “You’d better do a good job.”

Jane snorted, apparently able to hear him despite the fact the phone wasn’t on speaker.

“We’ll have to celebrate. I think this calls for an all-new poster on my wall. How does you in your captain shirt sound?”

I groaned. “Like you’re either trying to stroke my ego or your own.”

“Let me have it.”

I sighed. It did no harm, so he could replace the poster if he wanted. It wasn’t like I had to look at it every day anyway.

We finished up the call, and Jane and I made our way down the stairs and out the front of the building. The social hockey game had ended, and another was about to get underway.

A speck of water landed on my face as we crossed the parking lot, and I tilted my head back to see if it was raining. There might be a little on the way, but it was hard to tell for sure.

We got into the Range Rover, and as soon as the door shut behind us, I turned to Jane.

“Are you okay?”