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“I would have,” she said with more emphasis than he expected. “He can just be sofrustrating. Camille says to handle him with a smile, but by the time he was making his stand in front of my place, I was operating on less than four hours of sleep. My people skills - my smiles - were all used up.”
“Now, we can’t have that.”
She slanted a look up at me, a breeze catching her hair, fluttering shiny strands across her face. She reached up and swooped the pretty bits behind her ear, but her gaze stuck to mine. “You are determined.”
“Sure am, when there’s a prize worth winning.” I tucked a hand around her waist and tugged her closer. I liked her eyes on me, but there were too many kids and people and even pets running rampant. I’d expected a big turn-out, but this was beyond even my expectations.
“When’ll you close the bakery for the night? Some of the women from the Richland Rollers came up to do an exhibition later. While they won’t be putting on a bout—we thought about it, but not enough time—they are some incredible skaters. And some of the outfits they come up with . . .”
She laughed, and the sound rippled through me like the sweetest taste of chocolate on a wintry day. I had the feeling she didn’t laugh too often. “Okay, explain that to me. I get you used to play hockey. Now you play with cars. How does roller derby factor in?”
“Are you kidding? Have you ever seen a derby bout?” I shifted us to the left, out of the way of a slow-moving old Ford that should have been parked two hours ago.
“A bout is a game? No, I’ve never seen a game.”
“They don’t play games; they have bouts. But, yeah. They are brutal; all elbows and knees and jumps and maneuvers. It’s practically hockey, just no puck. The only thing that could make derby better would be if they did that shit on ice. Can you imagine?”
We’d reached the end of the square, nearly at the caboose. I turned to tell Rae about the broken lock on the door, but just then J.T. Pendleton strode over and interrupted anything I might have said.
“Hoss, great turn out, boy. We obviously put the right guy in charge!” He pounded my back, his gaze flitting over to Rae in the next instant. “Despite those who tried to throw a wrench into the works.”
She stiffened at my side. “I voiced concerns, Mr. Pendleton. As a responsible business owner.”
“Imagine if you’d blocked us! You’d have lost all this business!”
Pendleton had owned the Renegades for as long as I had played hockey. The team a symbol of his wealth he liked to parade for the peons of the world. Just as he enjoyed bringing the potential sponsors up here to celebrate the holiday in a county named for his ancestors on a square named for his grandfather. He liked to flash his wealth around. Just as he liked to flash his power and influence.
Too bad I had a reputation in the hockey world for being the best and didn’t need J.T.. Too bad Rae had a spine and little appreciation for J.T.’s brand of bullshit.
“Thankfully, the cruise-in is in expert hands these days and Hoss resolved my concerns with the parking.” J.T. smirked, his rheumy, pale blue eyes dancing between Rae and me in a way that raised the hair on the back of my neck.
Time to move us along. “These expert hands are going to be sheathed in Santa gloves next. If you’ll excuse us, J.T.. Rae here is going to help me with this Santa gear.”
Without waiting for a response, I tugged her up the creaky old metal steps and into the unlocked caboose, closing the door solidly on J.T.’s grinning face. I didn’t like that grin, didn’t like where J.T.’s mind was going, and I could assume exactly where his mind went. Weeks ago he’d issued his directive to smooth the way with Rae, but I’d ignored him, as I did most things with J.T.. He was involved in the car scene only in a peripheral way and my hockey clients came to me via agents and players and coaches. While J.T. might have the power to blacklist me, I didn’t really entertain him doing so as a real possibility.
J.T. was snarl and arrogance, but if something wasn’t right in his face, it didn’t linger long in his mind.
And my mind would much rather linger on the fact that I had Rae alone in the tight confines of this ancient caboose. I tugged her further inside, away from the door. We stood at the top of the old caboose, with a wide center aisle extending all the way to the back where a windowed door looked out on the parking lot.
The world outside the empty caboose was still bright and cheery. The sun would soon dip beneath the horizon and bring a drop in the temp. Inside the nearly windowless train car, the light was filtered, small sunny squares shining over a padded bench that lined one side of the car and a bolted down desk, fold down table, and an old wood stove on the opposite.
I stepped to the bench, dropped the bag containing the Santa suit and faced Rae. “Don’t let that man get under your skin.”
She glanced up, chewing her lower lip, and I hated that the old dickhead ruined the perfectly great conversation we’d had going. I stepped into her space, tucked my finger under her chin, and tilted her face up to mine. “Really, Rae, don’t. You had concerns. You voiced them. Exactly why those meetings exist.”
Her blue-gray eyes turned velvet, and she released the bite on her lip. “Thanks.”
“You know,” I said, sliding my hand to cup her smooth cheek still cold from our hike across the square. “If you really wanted to thank me, there is something you could do.”
Her lips parted into a sweet smile that sizzled right to my heart. Two months ago, she’d hit me with a zinger the instant she appeared from the back of the bakery. From the fire in her eyes when I called her a chicken to her delivery of the coffee and treats today, every facet she revealed just made me want to know more about her.
“I already delivered all the bribery you’re going to get today, Hoss. You won’t cajole more outta me.”
I smoothed my thumb along the high curve of her cheekbone. She leaned just a hint into my touch. I’m not sure she even realized what she was doing, and the idea of her subconscious wanting me heated my blood. “Call me Kyle. And you need a hat.”
She blinked, distracted at my random change in the conversation. “I loaned it out.”
I nodded as though that made perfect sense, then tugged on the end of the deep blue scarf wrapped around her neck. I wanted to see more of her. Touch more of her.
