Pucking Sweet: An MMF Workplace Hockey Romance (Jacksonville Rays Book 3)

Call me biased, but I’d say my first major fundraiser as head of PR for the Rays is a hit. The music is light, the drinks are flowing, and the food keeps disappearing off the plates. Most importantly, the grant for the new pediatric wing of Jacksonville General Hospital is already halfway funded. Whatever money we raise tonight, Mark Talbot has promised to match it.

Glancing across the room, I spy Rachel chatting with Mars at the silent auction table. Our giant Finnish goalie is one of the biggest draws of the night. A two-time Stanley Cup-winner, he’s an all-around gorgeous enigma.

Breezing their way, I place a hand on his arm. “Mars, you can’t hide in the corner all night, honey. We gotta get you mingling.” He groans as I steer him away. “Oh, and Rachel, can you track down the other fellas and corral them back this way?”

She smiles. “Sure thing, Pop.”

I wave over my shoulder in thanks as I lead Mars over to a group of older ladies. They host the most exclusive book club in Jax Beach. “Ladies—Angela, Donna, Marie—have you met Mars Kinnunen? He speaks four languages. And he has a strong affinity for reading.”

They coo appreciatively. Resigned to his fate, he puts on a smile and starts in on his routine of the world’s smallest talk. I stand with them for a few minutes, laughing at the ladies’ jokes, until a hand brushes my shoulder.

“Hey.”

Lukas stands behind me looking devastating in a custom black tuxedo, his hair slicked back. I haven’t seen him since karaoke night. That was three days ago. Three days since we were all shouting at each other on that moonlit beach. Colton told me I had to choose between them, and now I feel paralyzed with indecision.

As if I don’t have enough on my plate with this new job, and my sister’s wedding, I’ve somehow found myself in the middle of a complicated love triangle with two of my players? No, this cannot happen. I can’t have this distraction right now.

“Hey,” I say, walking a few steps away from Mars and his book club.

Lukas follows. “Doc said you were looking for me.”

“No, I wasn’t. I mean—yes, I was. But I was looking for all the players. I—we just need you here in the main room to mix and mingle. You’re the draw, after all. Not me. Certainly not the mini quiches,” I add with a nervous smile.

He gives me a long look, his caramel eyes soft and searching.

“What’s wrong?”

“Would it be completely inappropriate to say I’m gonna get myself off later to the image of you in this dress?”

“Oh my—yes.” I slap his arm, even as I laugh. “You’re incorrigible.”

He’s not wrong though. I look dynamite in this dress. It’s this spicy little red number with thin straps and a thigh-high slit. I may have picked it knowing they’d see me in it. Don’t judge me. I’m an indecisive mess, but I’m still a girl, and two boys think I’m pretty.

His eyes are doing that stupid smolder thing. “You know, if you weren’t freezing me out right now, I’d take you to a dark corner and impolitely ask you to smear that red lipstick all over my dick.”

My heart skips as I glance around, praying no one heard him. “Heavens, is this how you’re greeting all the guests tonight?”

“No, just you.”

“Well, thank you.”

“My pleasure. It could be yours too,” he adds with a wink.

“I’m a little busy at the moment, running this event, remember?”

“But you’re saying there’s a chance.” His gaze traces me up and down again. “At an event you’re not running, all bets are off. Yes?”

“Why are you still standing in front of me?”

He laughs, popping one of the mini quiches in his mouth. “I’ll go mingle now, yeah? Anyone in particular you want me to fleece?”

“The ladies talking to Mars.” I point their way. “They’re all richer than god, and they like chatting with charming young men.”

“Say less.” He squares his shoulders, ready to pounce.

As he turns away, I can’t help myself. “Hey—have you seen Colton yet?”

Colton was signed up as one of my volunteers. I had him down to help run the silent auction table.

Lukas turns back, his smile falling. “Yeah, uhh…he texted that he’s not gonna make it. Family emergency, I think.”

Family emergency? Well, if that’s not the most rote excuse in the freaking book. Is he punishing me for daring to have feelings for Lukas? If he is, I think I’m gonna scream, then cry, then eat a pint of Neapolitan ice cream.

Worse, what if that’s how deeply I’ve hurt him? What if he can’t even bear to face me now? What if I’ve broken his heart and shattered his dreams, and he’s currently at home cursing the day he ever met me? I blink rapidly, fighting the sudden stinging in the corners of my eyes.

“Poppy…”

“No, that’s totally fine. It’s not like this was mandatory.”

“Pop, I really think it was an emergency.”

“Mhmm. Will you just excuse me for a second?” I step past him.

I am not crying over a boy right now. Blame my family drama, blame my anxiety, but I think all this pressure is finally starting to get to me. Lukas follows as I duck behind the catering curtain. We step through into the empty exhibit wing.

“Pop, come on, don’t make me chase you,” he calls. “Seriously, I have, like, zero tread on these damn tuxedo shoes.”

“I’m fine, Lukas. Just go mingle, please.”

“If you want Cole so badly, why haven’t you gone to him yet? Why are you making him sweat it out?”

I groan, turning to face him. “It’s not that simple.”

“Oh shit.” He grabs my arm. “Wait. Poppy, are you picking me?”

“No,” I cry, pulling my arm free. “I’m not picking either of you!”

His eyes narrow. “Why not?”

“Because I hardly know you! I hardly know Colton either, and he’s already saying he’ll follow me to the ends of the freaking earth. You don’t think that’s a little premature? Maybe even a little crazy?”

He shrugs. “Not really.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s a Leo.”

I gaze up at his handsome face. “What the heck does that mean?”

“It means he’s a Leo,” he replies. “It’s in his nature. He can’t help it.”

“What’s in his nature?”

“To love you at first sight and stay loyal until he dies.”

Well, knock me down with a feather.

“Now, take me for comparison,” he goes on, hands in his pockets. “I’m a chaotic double Scorpio.”

I roll my eyes. “And what does that mean?”

He grins down at me. “It means I’ll want you at first sight and fight it until I die.”

With a frustrated groan, I press a hand to my forehead. “Oh god, you’re both crazy. This is all so completely crazy.”

He laughs. “Hey, you picked us.”

“I didn’t pick either of you! You both just keep showing up in my pocket like a couple of bad pennies, offering me stress ulcers and orgasms!”

“Pretty great orgasms though, right? I mean, I can’t speak for Cole. Maybe there’s not a lot of motion happening in that ocean. But I think I delivered on my end—”

“Will you stop talking about orgasms?”

“You brought it up,” he teases, flicking my long ponytail off my shoulder.

I bat his hand away. “I didn’t ask for any of this. And, to own the truth, it’s all starting to feel like too much to handle right now.”

His pretty caramel eyes narrow. “What’s all too much?”

“This,” I cry, gesturing around. “Believe it or not, I didn’t move to Jacksonville to start up a complicated love triangle with two hockey players. I came here for a job—one I would very much like to keep, by the way. A job that brings me happiness and fulfillment and purpose outside of any relationship I might have with a man.”

“And we compromise your ability to do that job?”

“In every sense of the word, yes.”

“How?”

Popping my hands on my hips, I glare up at him. “Well, I’m supposed to be running this event. Yet, here I am, arguing with you in front of the creepiest painting of a man on a horse I’ve ever seen.”

Lukas glances up at the painting showcased in a gaudy gold frame. The man on the horse looks like his face was melted with wax, and the horse has the proportions of a sleep paralysis demon. “Jeezus,” he mutters. “That shit’ll haunt you till you’re dead.”

“I have to get back.” I step around him.

“Whoa, hold on.” He grabs my arm again. “Just so you know, you can have both, Poppy.”

I go still, my heart in my throat. He can’t mean what I think he means . . . can he? I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought about it. Stranger things have happened, right? I mean, not to me. But other people. Other women. Bolder women. And some guys can even be into it, I’ve heard.

But Colton and Lukas want me to pick just one of them. Which, frankly, feels impossible. They’re so different. It’s like picking between cake and ice cream. Colton is sweet and kind and so deeply good. He makes me feel cherished. And Lukas is funny and adventurous and wild. With him, I feel like myself. I feel like my sarcasm is a strength, not something I have to constantly keep in check. He likes my snark and my moods.

And they both make me feel sexy and confident in my own skin, something no partner before them has ever managed. Sure, they drive me a little crazy too. But typically, it’s only the good kind of crazy. They spin me up and leave me panting for more.

Is it possible they could ever not make me choose?

I look up at Lukas. “What do you mean?”

“The career and the guy,” he clarifies. “You can have both, Poppy. One doesn’t have to compromise the other. Look at Shelby O’Sullivan. She’s a child psychologist, a mother, president of the WAGs. She’s awesome. Lauren Gerard is in fashion design.”

I sigh. “Lukas…”

“I’m just saying you can be with Cole and be yourself too,” he goes on. “He would never want to change you or hold you back, Pop. Hell, he’s the kind of guy who would retire in a heartbeat if he thought it would somehow help make your dreams come true.”

I look up at him, my gaze softening. “You care about him.”

He nods. “Yeah, he’s my friend. He may be, like, my only friend. Is that pathetic to say?”

“No, it’s not pathetic. I think Tina is my only real friend,” I admit.

“I mean, if I’m gonna have one, he’s the one to have, right? Loyal Leo and all that.” Leaning down, he kisses my forehead. “If he’s who you want, I won’t stand in the way. You can choose him with no hard feelings, okay? You and I can just be friends. I think I’d like to have another friend.”

Damn it. Sarcastic Lukas spins me up and drives me crazy, but vulnerable Lukas tugs at my heartstrings and lures me closer. I want to know him. I want him to let me care for him. Because I get the sneaking suspicion that maybe no one else does.

Resolved, I tip up on my toes and kiss him. It’s soft and quick, just a gentle pressing of lips. But there’s a promise in it, a little kernel of hope. I pull away first, and he’s left blinking down at me in surprise. Heavens, is he really that convinced of his own lack of worth? He must think this is a no-contest win for Colton.

He swoops down to kiss me again, but I lean away, my senses homing in on a curious sound.

“What is it—”

“Shh.” I put up a hand. “I thought I just heard someone crying.”

He’s on alert as we both listen for the sound. After a minute, we hear it again. It’s not a cry…well, at least it’s no cry of pain. His face lights up as his mouth splits into a grin. “Oh, someone is totally fucking behind that door.”

He’s right, the sound is coming from behind a black metal door. We tiptoe forward, a difficult feat for me in these strappy heels.

Grunting, panting, whispered words of passion—

I gasp. Those voices are unmistakable. We turn to each other at the same time. Lukas points dramatically at the door. “It’s Compton!”

“And Rachel!” I mouth.

Oh god, Jake and Rachel. My player and his doctor. Oh, I just knew there was something happening between them! My hyperactive mind instantly goes into media crisis mode. The spin isn’t impossible, but it wouldn’t be painless either. She really should disclose their relationship to HR immediately. Should I let them know that I know? Maybe later…after they’re finished.

Oh god, now I’m picturing it! I put a hand to my forehead, blinking the image away as rapidly as I can. Yeah, no definitely, this is a problem. On Monday morning, I’ll start preparing our spin.

Next to me, Lukas chuckles, pulling on my arm as we slowly back away. “Those dirty dogs. Don’t they know this is a museum benefit for a children’s hospital?”

“Seriously? Three minutes ago, you wanted to pull me into a dark corner.”

“So, you’re still thinking about it too?” he teases. “Good. I bet we can find another stairwell. Or just use that one. Sounds like they’re almost done.”

“Goodnight, Lukas.” Turning away, I walk back toward the party. I can’t think about disappearing into a dark corner with him. I have money to raise, a pediatric hospital wing to build, and a brewing PR crisis to manage.

“See you around, Poppy,” he calls after me. “Let’s do a friend hang soon, yeah? Clothing optional.”

I groan, not looking back. I swear, that man drives me up the wall and down the other side. What the heck am I doing even contemplating getting more deeply involved with him? It’s breaking my own rules. I said, “no players,” and that was for good reason. This exact reason, in fact. Dating the players is messy and complicated and about a thousand other adjectives that all translate to “majorly bad idea.”

Besides, Colton and Lukas have made it clear that they expect me to choose one of them. In my heart, I know I don’t want to choose. God help me, I want them both. I at least want a chance to see what this could be. But I fear the only responsible option, the only fair option, will be to walk away…leaving all three of us at least a little bit brokenhearted.