page1 (1/2)

Prologue

Lucas

This is not the first charity gala I've attended, but it is the first being held underneath a thirty-eight-foot Acrocanthosaurus fossilized skeleton on Valentine's Day I have to say, the dinosaur makes this event so much better because of the location and the fact there's a large stuffed satin heart attached to the skeletal structure right around the area I believe the heart would have been

We're at the North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum I'm here with my Carolina Cold Fury teammate Van Turner, my older brother, Max, and his fiancee, Jules My crazy brother proposed to her in a o Van is new to the Cold Fury, just as I aht in to beef up the defense, as the Cold Fury is taking a very focused shot at a repeat Stanley Cup victory

I want to hoist that cup"fuck yes" when ent contacted me to see if I was interested Actually, I think it was more like "fuckity fuck fuck yes," because Max was the starting goalie for the Cold Fury and we'd never played on the same team before once ent professional

I'ht to help raise money for the museum It's not a cause that's near and dear to ave Max four tickets, which cost two hundred dollars each He couldn't cohter, Lexi, was in a car accident three days ago and landed in the hospital

Let hter, Lexi Gray Brannon, the league's only fe Lexi is a long-lost daughter whom Brian purportedly didn't know about and she's recently shown up More surprising is that she's dating Ro

Gotta love the drama

That's not the only thing causing stress within our locker roo in just a few ht noe're at the top of our conference and want to keep that going in But we have some key players injured, which is a major stressor, and because Van and I are new to the tea to fit in to their system

Add that Gray's pregnant and due in a few 's in the water, because our tea a baby as well in July with his wife, Sutton Zack Granthaer, and his wife, Kate, are expecting a baby in August He's injured and riding pine, so he's extra cranky, but he's supposedly going to be good for the play-offs

I sip nant, are you?"

"I'd like to be married first," Jules says dryly "And ould you ask that?"

I shrug, tuckingpregnant lately Gray, Sutton, Kate It's like a virus"

Max chuckles "Well, when you settle down, little bro, you'll be thinking of babies at some point"

There's no controlling ht of babies, but at the thought of settling down Did you know it's statistically iet laid if he feels like it? Why would I ever give that up?

"Just make sure you practice safe sex," Van says with a wink "Then you've got no worries At least 999 percent of the time, if she's on the pill"

Jules rolls her eyes and drains her cha to walk around and check out some of this exhibit"

Max slips his hand around her waist "I'll come with"

"Later," Van says as they saunter off, then he and I are standing shoulder to shoulder watching the crowd There's a silent auction going on right now and people are circulating around the tables to put in their bids The event is being sponsored by the Carolina Cold Fury and thus soht to represent the tea elboith people, because generally I' charitable?

"How er do you think we have to stay?" Ia pleasant smile in place

"Half hour?" he asks back

"Done," I agree as my eyes move over the crowd

"I'rumbles to me "It's the only reason I came"

He hates these things and bitched and ht He's my temporary roommate for now and seems pretty chill, but he can be kind of an asshole at times

My eyesback to sweep the room, and that's when I see her

Going back to that statistical i laid, I'll clarify that only holds true if the wole, as I don't er, which is the first place I look, then I take a

She's tall and lithe, walking gracefully , curly fiery-red hair, and her ice-blue eyes are looking a bit distressed

I turnbehindanywhere, so I look back to her When she's three feet away, her gaze sweeps to et a polite smile

Then to my surprise she walks up to the exhibit, which sits raised on a tiled dais, and pulls up the skirt of her black evening gown It's siht freckles spread across her shoulders They match the ones over her nose and forehead I'm not normally a freckle dude, but her skin is like creamy porcelain and her facial

features are damn near perfect She's the type of woman who doesn't need makeup Her face alone is the beauty, the freckles only enhancing it

Yes, she pulls her skirt up to her knees, and without any hesitation steps up onto the tiled dais She side-steps through soive an idea of the terrain that this dinosaur once roa With her brows furrowed, she squats with her legs pri her index finger along one of the bones

Very interesting

She's totally hot and so very interesting I figure she's supposed to be fondling the dino bones, or she's a nut case and will be hauled out of here soon, but I'll enjoy the view until then

Before I can conteh the foliage to the edge of the dais and looks directly at irl down?"

I take the hand she's holding out to me as she pulls her dress up a bit in preparation to step off

"Absolutely," I say as I present allantly

Her resulting smile is actually a little flirty as she quips, "My hero"

One seriously high and spiked heel coh the building, followed by the other, and as soon as she's stable, I conteo But as I said before, she's totally hot,indeed

"I'm Lucas Fournier I'm here on behalf of the Cold Fury"

Her hand squeezes mine as she inclines her head "I actually knoho you are, Mr Fournier I'm Stephanie Frazier"

Still holding her fine-boned hand with the softest skin, I ask, "And you werethat dinosaur because?"

Stephanie's laugh is bold and infectious as she tips her head back,her flame-colored curls spill farther down her back When she looks back to ht I saw a nick"

My eyes cut over to the skeleton and back to her in confusion "Nick?"

"I' on to my hand "Well, I've recently been promoted to the director position due to some unfortunate scandal the previous director was embroiled in But, whateverPart of ood shape and perfect order at all times after they're put in place"

Fascinating about her job, I guess, butelse "What was the scandal?"

She steps in closer to s her eyes back "A sex scandal"

I feign shock as I whisper back, "You're kidding"

She shakes her head and smiles at me mischievously "The ru as well as for sleeping with some of the other staff's wives"