Rachel Gibson: True Love and Other Disasters

She laughed. “Understandable.”

He inclined his head toward the arena and the cup being passed from one player to the next. Each player held it up and kissed the coveted prize as he was sprayed with champagne. “Coming out?”

She looked over Sam’s shoulder to Ty, who was still speaking with reporters. “Not yet.” As Sam moved from the tunnel, she looked out at the arena and the fans still filling the seats. Then she raised her gaze to the empty skybox and swallowed past the sudden constriction in her throat. She doubted Landon had just gone home.

She was right. “What are you doing here, Layla?” he asked from just behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder. “What does it look like, Sprout? I’m watching my team pass around the cup.”

“It’s not your team.”

She looked into his cold blue eyes and felt the tension ease from her chest. He’d done his worst to her and she’d survived. At the end of the day, she might not have the Chinooks, but she still had the only man she’d ever truly loved. “You’re tiresome.” She sighed. “You and your whole entitled family.”

“Holy shit!” Blake said as he and Vlad stepped into the tunnel for more champagne and cigars. “I can’t believe he just did that.” He looked at Faith.

“What?”

He pointed to Ty and the knot of reporters around him. “Saint just said he’s retiring. This was his last game.”

Faith’s mouth fell open and her brows rose up her forehead. When he said he’d take care of everything and get her team back, she never thought for one second that he’d give up his career. “He better not,” she said.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Landon spoke. “If you try and back out again, I’ll send the photos to every paper in town.”

Ty separated himself from the reporters and walked up the red carpet toward her.

“I won’t let you retire,” she said as he approached.

“What?” He laughed and stuck a championship cap on her head. “I can’t hear you.” His smile flatlined as he looked at Landon. “Did you tell him you’re not selling after all?”

She shook her head.

“She’ll sell,” Landon assured Ty. “She signed a letter of intent.”

“Yes, and she signed one of those before. You’re a businessman, Mr. Duffy; you know these deals fall apart all the time. If you want a hockey team, I hear that the Wild might be up for sale. Of course, that’s just a rumor. Like Faith selling you the Chinooks.”

Landon’s jaw tightened. “I’ll ruin you both.”

“You can try.” He took Faith’s hand and pulled her from the tunnel and onto the red carpet. “What an asshole,” he said through a laugh.

Faith’s ankles wobbled and her heart pounded in her chest as she followed beside him. “I can’t believe you’re laughing. When you said to trust you, you didn’t say anything about retiring. Now you get over there and tell all those reporters that you were joking.”

He slid his hand to the small of her back and put his mouth next to her ear. Instead of doing as she demanded, he said, “I love you, Faith.”

He smelled like sweat and champagne, and the warmth of his breath and the heat of his words crept inside her heart. Her footsteps faltered from shock and trying to balance on her skates. She looked up into his blue eyes. “I love you, too.”

He smiled. “I know.”

“I love you too much to have you retire for me.”

He raised his gaze from hers as Marty lumbered around in full goalie pads, holding the cup over his head. “I’ve played hockey for most of my life to just get to this one moment. Now that I’m here, I’ve discovered it’s not enough. I want more.” He looked back into her face. “I want you in my life.”

She wanted that too. More than she’d ever wanted anything. More than money and security and big shiny diamonds. “There has to be another way.”

He shook his head. “No, this feels right. I want my career to go out on a high note. Not after a few more years of chasing tonight’s glory. Trying to capture it again, only to go out on a low. I don’t want to be one of those guys. I don’t want to be my dad. It’s time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” They moved to the end of the carpet and he said, “Which means I’ll need a job.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, and since I have no skills other than playing hockey. I’m pretty much unemployable.”

“I saw a Help Wanted sign at a Gas-N-Go.”

He laughed. “I thought maybe you could use another pro scout.” They stopped at mid-ice and he bent her back over his arm and looked down into her face. The crowd went wild.

“What are you doing?” She gasped.

“Making sure those photos are old news. His mouth came down on hers and he tongue-kissed her on national television. In front of all the Chinooks and fourteen thousand cheering fans, the kiss lingered until she was dizzy and he was sure everyone got the point.

Everyone but Sam. “My turn.”

Ty shook his head as he brought Faith back up. “Don’t even think about it.”

Alexander Dumont hoisted the cup up over his head and let out a Tarzan yell as Logan shook a fresh bottle of Moët. Within the sweet mist of golden champagne, Ty lowered his mouth next to her ear. “There is only one thing that will make this night even better.”

“What?”

“You and me. A hot shower and really inappropriate behavior.”

With the publication of New York Times bestselling author RACHEL GIBSON’s first book, readers discovered one of contemporary romances freshest voices. Four of her novels were named among the Top Ten Favorite Books of the Year by Romance Writers of America. She has won numerous awards, including Borders Bestselling Romantic Comedy, National Reader’s Choice, and the RITA ®Award for the Best Single Contemporary Romance Title of the Year.

Readers can write to Rachel Gibson at P.O. Box 4124, Boise, Idaho 83711-4124, or visit her website at www.rachelgibson.com.