Page 3 of One Kind Goal

Yeah. Pass.

Maybe she should grab a ride back home and put on one of Sawyer’s games, because of course she’d recorded a few. For emergencies. For night’s like this one. She didn’t need an actual penis to blow off this pent-up sexual energy. She could use her imagination and some battery-operated assistance.

“Morgan!”

Samira was to her left, waving her over. Schooling her face, Morgan hoped she didn’t look defeated. As she walked toward her friend, she considered reasons she could give Samira for why she wasn’t currently dragging a hot male specimen behind her. By the time she reached her friend though, Morgan only had one excuse.

She wanted a hot hockey player.

“Did you connect with anyone yet?” Samira asked.

Morgan shook her head. “No, I ran into my sisters instead.” Not a lie. Not the whole truth either, but whatevs.

“Okay, good.” Samira clapped. “I’ve got dessert for us.”

“Actually,” Morgan began, “I was thinking of heading home.”

Samira rested her hands on Morgan’s shoulders. “Oh, c’mon. At least look at the menu, Morg. It would be a shame to miss out, wouldn’t it?”

“Fine.” Morgan huffed out a breath.

“Super!” Samira took her hand and dragged Morgan through the crowd to a man sitting on a stool at one of the high tables near the bar. He had light brown hair and a nice smile, but he wasn’t the snack she needed. “Morgan, meet Teddy Bear.”

The man chuckled and held his hand out to Morgan. “Actually, it’s just Teddy.”

“I like Teddy Bear better,” Samira said as Morgan shook the man’s hand. “He’s for me, but he’s got a friend.” She rested a hand on Teddy’s thigh and leaned closer to the man. “Where’s your friend, Teddy Bear?”

He coiled some of Samira’s long black hair around his finger, smiling as if he’d won the lottery. He had. Samira was one of Morgan’s most attractive—and intelligent—friends.

“He had to make a phone call, but he’ll be over in a few,” Teddy said.

“Okay.” Samira pulled out a stool. “Sit, Morgan.”

Morgan lowered to the stool as Samira sat on the one next to Teddy. Now she was a third wheel as Samira and Teddy played the banter-and-flirt game.

Wonderful.

Why the hell had she agreed to come out tonight?

When Samira climbed onto Teddy’s lap, Morgan geared up to tell her friend she was leaving, but something made the hair on her arms stand on end. The air around her had become supercharged with energy. One that washed over Morgan like a tidal wave and pooled in her core.

Slowly, she turned around on her stool.

Sawyer Lundin stood a mere six feet away.

****

The lighting in the club sucked. That had to be why Sawyer Lundin saw Morgan Rayhill sitting on that stool, her incredible legs acting like a magnet and drawing him toward her. Did he remember her saying she lived in New York? Yes. Had he hoped he’d bump into her while his buddy Teddy and he were visiting? Sure. Could that have actually happened? Not likely.

“Sawyer?”

The music was pretty loud, but that definitely sounded like Morgan’s voice. Sawyer had been hearing it echo around in his skull since he’d met her in Vermont a few months ago. They’d shared a night that easily topped his Ten Most Memorable Nights list.

Hell, it knocked the rest of the things off the list completely and hijacked all ten spots for itself.

He’d thought of reaching out to her, but he’d been so busy with the hockey season. When he wasn’t practicing or playing, he was working on convincing his daughter’s mother to let him see his four-year-old more often. Sawyer had dated Carina Stevens for a few years. When she’d gotten pregnant, however, she’d broken up with him. Carina had grown up in the public eye with a famous rock star father. She was absolutely against their daughter, Nia, growing up in a similar fashion. Sawyer had promised to keep her out of the public eye, but every time he received coverage due to his hockey performance, Carina pointed out how unlikely it was he’d be able to keep that promise.

He got it. He did. But there had to be a way for him to see Nia more. He understood Carina’s fears, but Sawyer had fears of his own.