Nothing but Trouble

* * *

The Sycamore Room inside the Four Seasons glowed with golden candlelight. Gold tablecloths and fine white china adorned round tables with centerpieces made of exotic flowers. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city sparkled, and scattered lights shone like diamonds on Elliot Bay.

On a raised dais at the front of the room sat the holy grail of hockey: the Stanley Cup. Light bounced off the polished silver like it was a disco vball, and Chelsea had to admit, even from her seat at the back of the room, it was an impressive sight. Almost as impressive as Jules’s indigo-and-white-striped suit and fuchsia shirt.

As dessert was served, Coach Nystrom stood at a podium next to the trophy and talked about the hockey season. The highs and the lows. He talked about the death of the team owner, Virgil Duffy, and the accident that almost took Mark’s life.

“We were devastated. Not only on a professional level, but more importantly on a personal level. Mark Bressler played for this organization for eight years, led it for the past six. He’s one of hockey’s all-time great players, a leader, and a fine man. He’s family, and when we learned of the accident, everything just stopped. None of us knew if a member of our family would live or die. But as worried as we were about Mark, we couldn’t stop. We had the rest of the team to think about too. We had to think up something fast if we were going to have a shot at saving the season. We had to find someone who could step in and fill Mark’s considerable shoes. A man who would respect our players and our program. We found that man in Ty Savage.”

As the coach talked about Ty, Chelsea leaned to her left and whispered in Jules’s ear, “Where’s Mr. Bressler?” She and Bo had arrived as the first course was being served and there were more than a hundred people in the room, most of them a lot taller than the sisters.

“Owner’s table in the front.”

She knew from the few conversations she’d had with Jules, not only was he the owner’s assistant, he was her good friend. “Why aren’t you at the owner’s table?”

“I was invited but I wanted to sit with you and Bo.”

She leaned forward a little and looked at her sister seated on Jules’s left. Bo’s mouth was drawn tight. Maybe tonight hadn’t been a good time to tell her about the doctor’s consultation.

Applause broke out and drew Chelsea’s attention once more toward the front. Two men stood and approached the podium. Both had dark hair that brushed the collars of their dark suits. Both had wide shoulders. One was Mark Bressler. Chelsea didn’t need to see his face to know it was him.

Pride lifted her chest and tumbled in her stomach. He was strong and had survived a lot. She watched him move easily toward the dais. If she hadn’t known about the accident, she wouldn’t have been able to tell tonight. His steps were smooth, his gait sure—until he came to the steps leading up to the podium. He paused for several seconds before he grasped the railing and took the few stairs up. He looked healthy and handsome in his white shirt, striped tie, and wool suit. She was proud of him, yes. But there was something else too, something hot and achy and totally off limits, tumbling and swelling in her heart.

“Good evening,” Mark said, his voice deep and confident. “My grandmother always told me that if you take care of family, your family will take care of you. This past eight months, my Chinooks’ family has certainly taken good care of me. For that, I am truly grateful.”

The light above his head shone in his hair and bounced off his white, white shirt, and the feeling in Chelsea’s chest grew a bit more. “It has been both an honor and a privilege to play for the Chinooks these past eig {theht years. Everyone in this room knows it takes more than one person to win games. It takes more than great players. It takes good coaching and dedicated management willing to listen and invest in the team. So I want to say thanks to the late Mr. Duffy, the coaches, the trainers, and the rest of the staff. Most of all, thanks to the girls in the travel office who always made sure I had a room away from the elevator.”

“We love you, Mark,” a woman yelled.

“Thanks, Jenny.” He chuckled. “I need to thank everyone who contacted me after the accident to wish me well. I want to say thanks to every guy I’ve ever played with. Most of you are in this room. I especially want to thank the guy I never played with, Ty Savage. For the past six years, Savage and I met regularly in the face-off circle to exchange pleasantries. Most of the time, he questioned my paternity while I questioned his sexual orientation. But one thing I never questioned was his skill. On the ice and as a leader. I know that everyone else in the Chinooks’ organization has thanked him for the superb job he did leading the team to victory under difficult circumstances.” Mark turned and looked at the man standing slightly behind him. “I would like to add my thanks.”

Ty stepped forward and the two shook hands. Chelsea remembered the day Mark had called Ty an asshole, and she wondered if he’d changed his mind. The two men said a few words to each other, then Ty leaned toward the mic. “Stepping into the Chinook captaincy was both easy and one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Easy because Mark was a great captain who led by example. Difficult because he was a hard act to follow. As everyone knows, no one on this team deserves their name on that cup more than Mark.”

The room exploded in applause, and after several more speeches were given, people moved forward toward the Stanley Cup to get a better look at hockey’s top prize. Chelsea stayed in the back with Bo and Jules, but her gaze remained on the man who stood next to the shiny trophy. Even from the length of the room, he appeared relaxed. At ease and in his element. Chelsea had never known Mark Bressler, the hockey player. The elite athlete. Other than what she’d read on the Internet and gleaned from fan letters, she didn’t know that side of him or that part of his life. She wondered if she would have liked him. Because despite his rude and obnoxious personality, she liked him more than she should.

“Can’t you relax for one night?” Jules asked Bo, pulling Chelsea’s attention from the front of the room. “Have some wine. Chill. It’s a goddamn party.”

Bo stood and grabbed her clutch off the table. “I’ll be right back. Some of us have to work. I have to talk to the photographers from the Times,” she said, and walked out the open door behind them.

Jules picked up his wineglass and drained it. “Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Chelsea stood and grabbed her small purse. “Did something happen between you and Bo?”

He adjusted his paisley tie and took her elbow. “Your sister is moody as hell.”

Bo? Bo was a lot of things. Uptight and driven topping the list, but she wasn’t moody. “Did something happen?” Chelsea felt a bit like a salmon swimming upstream as the two of them made their way to one of the tables in the front.

“I told her she looked pretty, and instead of just saying thank you like any normal woman would do, she got all mad. She said I was only saying that because she was wearing a designer dress.”

She smiled. “Ah.” The crowd inside the Sycamore Room began to filter out toward the ballroom where the serious party was about to begin. “It makes perfect sense, now. In the fifth grade, Bo had a little crush on Eddy Richfield. So she punched him on the arm. He ran away crying, and the romance never blossomed.”

Jules looked down into her face. “Is there a point to that story?”

Chelsea nodded and pushed her smooth hair behind one ear. “Bo doesn’t react like other women.”

“Tell me about it.”

“And she always takes a swipe at guys she really likes.”

“Why?” he asked as they approached the owner of the Chinooks, Faith Duffy. The woman was even more beautiful up close.

“To see if you’ll run away crying.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s Bo.” Faith turned toward Chelsea Ross, and Jules introduced the two.

Faith smiled and held out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Chelsea. Jules has told me good things about you.”

She shook the team owner’s hand, and a few feet away, Mark’s deep laughter reached across the distance and spread little tingles down her spine. Her back was to him, but she didn’t need to see him to know he stood within a group of people admiring the cup a few feet away.

“I was in the Key the night the Chinooks won,” she told Faith. “Bo and I both thought that kiss at the end was one of the most romantic things we’ve ever seen.”

“Romantic and shocking.” Faith smiled and looked around. “Where is Bo?”

“You know her.” Jules let out an irritated breath. “Always working an angle.” A frown pulled at his brows and he reached for Faith’s left hand. “Is that an engagement ring?”

“Ty asked me to marry him.”

“And you didn’t tell him hell no?”

Ty moved behind Faith and slid his hand around her waist. “Why would she do that?”

She leaned back against Ty and smiled. “I was going to ask you to be my bridesmaid, Jules.”

Ty laughed, and Jules’s frown turned stormy. “Funny.”

“I’m not joking. I want you to be in the wedding.”

While the three of them talked wedding plans, Chelsea excused herself. Most of the room had cleared out, and she walked the few feet toward the dais. She stopped next to Mark and felt the hot swell in her chest again. She would love to tell herself that it was only pride that made her ache, but while she was a good actress, she was a very bad liar. Especially to herself.

He didn’t say anything as he stared at the symbol of his accomplishment. His life goal. His dream. He looked at it like he was mesmerized. Hypnotized by its shininess. Or maybe he was just ignoring her again.

“It’s bigger than I thought,” she said. “Probably pretty heavy, too.” She could only imagine the emotion he must be feeling. She knew that if she ever won an Oscar or even an Emmy, she’d be freaked out. Probably become catatonic. “I don’t know a lot about hockey, but seeing all those names inscribed on the cup kind of inspires awe. Like the first time I stood at the Lincoln Memorial. It’s so grand and filled with history.” He still didn’t speak. “Don’t you think?”

Without looking at her, he said, “Your dress is too tight. That’s what I think.”

“What?” She turned to look at him. “That’s crazy. It covers me almost to my knees.”

“It’s the same color as your skin.”

“I thought you’d like it because it’s all one sedate color.”

Mark glanced down into her upturned face. Into her big blue eyes and pink lips. He did like it. A lot. He’d like it a lot more if they were alone. “You look naked.” And beautiful.

“I don’t look naked.”

“Hey, Short Boss.”

Mark groaned inwardly.

“Hi Sam,” she said.

“You look hot.”

Mark had an irrational urge to kill Sam. Or at the very least, punch him in the head. It had been a long time since Mark had punched anyone in the head. It might feel good.

Chelsea smiled up at the defenseman. “Thanks. So do you.”

“What do you say to you and me hitting the other room? I’ll buy you a drink.”

Mark folded his arms across his chest. “It’s an open bar, numb nuts.”

Sam laughed and put his hand on Chelsea’s elbow. “Free booze. Even better.”

“Didn’t you bring a date?” he asked the man he used to consider a friend.

“No. I stagged it. Some of the other guys too.”

Great. A bunch of horny hockey players and Chelsea in a naked dress. He watched them walk away as bitter acid ate at his stomach. The feeling was rare, almost foreign to him, but he recognized it for what it was. He was jealous as hell and he didn’t like it.

“Mini Pit dyed her hair.”

He looked across his shoulder at goalie Marty Darche. “That’s not Mini Pit. That’s her twin sister, Chelsea.”

“She looks naked in that dress.”

“Yeh.” His gaze slid down her spine to her tight little butt. He didn’t need Marty to elaborate to know in which direction the man’s thoughts were running.

The goalie elaborated anyway. “Do you think her tits are real?” he asked out of the side of his mouth.

They were, and Mark felt another urge to punch yet another teammate in the head. “Big breasts like that cause shoulder and back pain,” he heard himself say. He sounded like such a girl, his neck caught fire.

The goalie laughed like Mark was joking. “I wonder if I got her drunk if she’d play knocker hockey?”

“Don’t be a dick, Marty.”

“What?” Marty looked at Mark as if he’d suddenly grown a horn out of the middle of his forehead. Like he didn’t recognize his former captain.

In the past, comments like that wouldn’t have bothered him. Hell, he might have made one a time or two. Or three. But there were rules. You didn’t talk that way about a teammate’s wife or girlfriend. “Nothing. Forget it.” Mark shook his head and walked away. Chelsea was not his wife or girlfriend. She was his assistant, and he’d been trying like hell to treat her like she worked for the Chinooks’ organization and wasn’t some living, breathing sexual fantasy they’d implanted in his house just to drive him batshit insane. He’d been trying to get the picture of her half naked sitting on his kitchen island out of his head. Mostly he’d been failing, and her touching his chest the other day, and looking up at him like she wanted to have sex right there at Hugo Boss, hadn’t helped. Not one bit.

He moved from the Sycamore Room into the crowded foyer. Music flowed through the doors of the ballroom as the band hit their first set.

“Hey, Bressler.”

Mark turned to his right and came face to face with one of the greatest enforcers to ever play in the NHL. “Rob Sutter. How in the hell are you?” He stuck out his hand.

“It’s been a long time.” Rob had been the Chinooks’ enforcer until a groupie shot him and ended his career in 2004. “Mark, this is my wife, Kate.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kate.” Mark shook the hand of a pretty redhead with big brown eyes. He dropped his arm to his side. “What are you up to these days?”

“We have a sporting goods store and a grocery market in a little town in Idaho,” Rob answered. “My oldest daughter lives with us now, and we have two little boys.”

“Rob is teaching them all to fly-fish,” Kate said. “It’s very comical.”

Rob smiled. “It’s like the Three Stooges.” His smile leveled out and his brows lowered. “Listen. I was sorry to hear about your car accident.”

Mark looked down at the toes of his black leather shoes. “It changed everything.”

“I know what you mean.” And if there was one other person on the planet who did know what it was like to have your life shattered, it was Rob “The Hammer” Sutter. “One day you have everything and the next you don’t.”

Mark looked up.

“I thought my life would never be go {ld od again. Now it’s better than I ever imagined. Sometimes God has His own plan. Sometimes shit happens for a reason.”

Lord, he missed the Hammer. No one else could get his face slammed into the boards and get all philosophical about it afterward like Rob. “You sound like a Hallmark card.”

Rob grinned. “When you care enough—”

“Stop or you’re gonna make me cry.”

“Pansy-ass girl.” Rob chuckled and shook his head. “You always were an emotional wreck around your period.”

“Rob?”

Both men looked at Kate. Her brows were lowered as if she didn’t recognize her husband.

Rob blinked several times and his cheeks turned red. “Sorry, Kate.”

Mark laughed. “Have you seen Luc?”

Rob looked around. “Martineau? Not yet. Ran into Fishy though.”

Mark hadn’t seen Bruce Fish since he’d retired a few years ago. Together, he and the Sutters moved across the foyer to the ballroom where a decent band was playing. Inside, round tables set with tea lights dotted the perimeter of the dance floor while two bars served the thirsty crowd. His gaze skimmed the dimly lit room and landed on a familiar little beige dress. She stood in a small group of people, laughing at Sam as if he was the king of comedy.

He turned to Kate. “It was great to meet you.” Then he shook Rob’s hand. “Good to see you again.”

“Take care of yourself.”

As Mark made his way across the room toward her, he ran into Hugh Miner and his wife, Mae. Hugh was a legend in Seattle hockey. A wild man who’d played between the pipes for the Chinooks until he got traded to Dallas a year after Mark signed with Seattle.

When he glanced in Chelsea’s direction, she was gone. His gaze skimmed the room, and he spotted her on the dance floor grinding with Walker Brooks. He leaned closer to Hugh’s wife to hear what she was saying, but he kept his eyes on Chelsea. So, maybe she wasn’t grinding. Exactly. But she was dancing with her arms in the air and undulating her hips like she was a damn belly dancer or something. She wasn’t all that coordinated, but she looked so good in that dress that it didn’t matter that she really couldn’t dance.

After Mark talked to Hugh and Mae, he got stopped by general manager Darby Hogue, who told him that the assistant coach position was still available. He wanted Mark to come and talk to him about it Monday. Mark said he would, but at the moment his mind was somewhere else. Somewhere approximately twenty feet away. While he listened to Darby, he watched Chelsea dance with Frankie, then Sam.

“Forget it,” he muttered, and headed to the closest bar. He wasn’t going to chase her down. Especially since he didn’t have anything to say and didn’t want to dance.

For the most part, hockey players were fairly decent on the dance floor. They had natural timing and rhythm in their bodies. Even though it wasn’t his favorite way to pass time, Mark wasn’t bad himself, but that didn’t mean he was about to drag his {t tass out onto the dance floor. He felt good tonight. Good enough to leave his cane at home. He hadn’t taken any medication, and on a scale from one to ten, his pain was only a three. Almost nonexistent, but even if he did feel an overwhelming urge to grab her up and drag her out onto the floor, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t fall on his behind. Like the day in his kitchen when he’d had her close to naked and his hand inches from her crotch. He’d been about five minutes from having sex with her, but instead he’d ended up on the floor gasping in pain and choking on humiliation.

He took a long drink from a bottle of Beck’s and watched Jules lead her out on the dance floor. Jules was young and healthy and wouldn’t fall on his ass. Jules pulled her close, and the acid in Mark’s stomach rose up his chest and ate at a spot just below his sternum.

He lowered the bottle and watched her smile. Somehow, in a matter of two short months, he’d gone from trying to get rid of her, to looking for her in a crowd. From avoiding her because he didn’t like her, to avoiding her because he liked her too much. She was the one person on the planet who made him feel whole again. Like a man.

Jules spun her, then brought her back against his chest. Suddenly Mark felt tired and old. He set the beer on an empty tray and moved toward the door. It was ironic as hell that the one person on the planet who filled him up, reminded him that he was empty.