Her Man Advantage. Joanne Rock
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team and also Axel’s foster brother. The Murphy family had facilitated Axel’s move to the U.S. the summer before his senior year in high school. Kyle and Axel had attended Boston College together before moving to the pros. But while Kyle had been picked up by the Boston NHL team, Axel had bounced around the league before moving to Kyle’s team last fall. Their combined stats had made them appealing to Nico Cesare as the coach strategized a run at the Stanley Cup, and he’d signed them as a package deal to the Phantoms just before the trade deadline.
“Hey, bro.” Kyle bumped Axel’s fist with his knuckles before moving to his own locker. “Been simmering in the hot tub?”
“No.” He figured shooting the breeze with Kyle was a legit way to waste a few more minutes before he had to meet Jennifer again. Hopefully it would be enough time to get his head on straight. “I’m showing the filmmaker around the facility.”
He hadn’t been kidding about keeping his enemies close. If the woman was going to be filming the Phantoms, he wanted to be sure he knew where she was at all times so he was never caught off guard.
“More power to you, man. You always did go for the redheads.”
Auburn hair was the least of Jennifer’s attractions as far as he was concerned. Sure she had sexy, shoulder-length red curls. Vivid green eyes. Cute-as-hell freckles and a build so willowy he could probably wrap his arms around her a few times. But that stuff was window dressing for the spark inside her, a spark that had flared from the moment she stepped out from behind the post to greet him.
She’d been unashamed to eavesdrop, had called him on his brute behavior without making him feel like a heel, and then she’d invited him to show her around. Keeping up with a woman like that would require more attention than Axel could spare, frankly. But damn. He envied the guy who got the chance to try.
“So you’ve met her?” Axel tied his shoe, curious what Kyle thought of Jennifer.
“Just a few minutes ago. She was trying to get up into the rafters to see what kind of wide-range camera angles she can snag from overhead.”
“You’re kidding.” Axel slammed the locker shut. “She’s here for less than a day and she’s climbing the walls?”
“Actually, she was trying to con a janitor into bringing her a ladder.”
“Great. She’ll probably sue us when she breaks her neck.” Tossing his towel in a laundry bin, he jogged toward the door. “Why the hell doesn’t Nico assign someone to guard her?”
“Didn’t you say you’re supposed to be escorting her around?” Kyle called after him. “Sounds like that job lands in your lap, bro.”
And wasn’t that an image he didn’t need in his head?
Axel plowed through the double doors, past the tunnel leading to the ice, toward the viewing area for visitors. At first, he didn’t see anyone. The morning session had been closed to the public and most of the players were long gone by now.
He shouldn’t have been surprised to hear her voice echo from above his head.
“Up here!” she called, lying prone on a steel girder that was part of the open web truss system holding up the clear glass arena ceiling. She gave a jaunty little wave over her head, her face hidden behind a medium-size camera with a big lens.
“You go to great lengths to hide from me,” he observed drily.
“You can’t say that when I announced myself right away this time.”
“Do you have any idea the kind of insurance liability you pose right now?” How had she gotten up that high? “Weren’t you supposed to at least wait for a ladder?”
“Your maintenance staff was concerned about the insurance risk, too. Surprising when you have a doctor and dentist on call for players who break bones every day.” The flash from her camera went off and she fiddled with the settings. One red canvas sneaker dangled from fifteen feet up, a hint of ankle visible at the hem of her jeans.
“I’ll make sure you have a ladder for the trip down. Can you sit tight while I find one?”
“No need.” She stuffed her camera into a nylon bag that hung from her wrist. “The descent is bound to be easier than the climb up.”
His heart nearly stopped when he saw her swing down to a lower girder. Positioning himself directly underneath her, he was too busy worrying she’d break her leg to notice the view straight up her colorful Bohemian blouse. Much.
“For someone in the directing business, you sure don’t take direction well, do you?” He reached up to spot her, his hand almost touching her leg as she scrambled over the side of the girder.
“Why do you think I stay behind the camera?” Lowering herself with her arms, she hung suspended from the beam, her knees within touching range now.
No one else was around. He’d have to step in and help. Unwilling to risk her falling, Axel wound his arms around her lower legs and squeezed her tight.
“Let go,” he ordered, certain he had her. He valiantly did not look up her blouse.
At least not at first … Creamy breasts molded by turquoise lace proved too tempting.
“I don’t want to fall on you,” she protested, peering down the length of her body at him.
“You won’t fall,” he assured her, liking the feel of her far too well for a man who intended to send her packing. A man who planned to help her see why this documentary was a very bad idea. “I’ve got you.”
The moment stretched out as they eyed one another and Axel slowly became aware of the scent she wore. The fragrance was subtle and sweet and one he knew well from childhood summers spent in the country.
The fiery redhead smelled like lilies of the valley.
The scent drifted all around him as she let go, giving him her weight. He probably held on to her a second too long, savoring the soft feel of a woman in his arms. With an effort, he tried to recall that the sexy, fragrant female of the turquoise-colored lingerie was an enemy who required monitoring. At the moment, he could only think about how good it was going to feel to lower her body down the length of his.
“Um.” She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. The camera on a strap at her wrist whacked him in the arm as it followed the movement of her hand. “Axel? Maybe you should …”
She glanced meaningfully at the floor.
He would have preferred to settle her on a bed. A couch. Hell, a futon would be fine with him. But since they were in the middle of the arena seating around the Phantoms’ practice rink, he dropped her lightly on her feet, copping only a minimal feel.
How the hell would he chase her away from this film series when he couldn’t even keep his hands off her? He needed to reassess his options sometime when he didn’t have hints of her scent clinging to his clothes.
“Sorry.” He resisted the urge to straighten her blouse where it had ridden up above the waistband of her jeans. “You ready for the nickel tour?”
Her hand smoothed the fabric of her bright purple-and-teal top, covering the sliver of skin he’d spied at her midriff.
“I’ve been ready and waiting.” She gestured expansively to the facility, her cheeks a little flushed. “Show me everything.”
Axel had been ducking opportunities left and right, determined to keep this conversation focused on the job she was here to do. But honestly, how could he walk away from that one?
“Tempting as that might be, I think we’d better start with something more manageable.” Stalking away from the seats, he gestured for her to follow. “The rink’s chiller system, maybe. I’m going to need some cooling down.”
3
AS THEY PASSED a wall of life-size photos of current