Read Breakout (A Dallas Demons Hockey Romance) for Free Online Page A

Total Access Total Sports offices, but this time there’s a silence between us. My heart is pounding. The butterflies are still fluttering. And I can’t believe he might be thinking the same things that I am. Oh, I hope he is. I’ve never met anyone like him, and I know he’s different than any other man I’ve met before.
    The rain has stopped, leaving the sky cold and grey. Niko opens the door for me, and I step through it.
    Now we stop on the sidewalk, facing each other.
    I will him to ask me out. Please ask me out . I know we could go to dinner and it could all go to hell. Or we could kiss—
    I allow my eyes to detour to his full lips for a second. And I strike the last sentence I was about to complete. Because I was going to say, we could kiss and it might be awful. But looking at his sexy mouth right now I know there’s no way it could be anything other than hot.
    Niko clears his throat, and I’m snapped back to reality. Gah, I’m losing my mind. This Greek God is making me utterly mental.
    “Thank you, Lexi. For everything today. And I’ll make sure your paperwork for payment is turned in tomorrow to Wyatt.”
    Oh. Right. Paying the help.
    So while I’m wondering what it would be like to kiss him, he’s thinking about my timecard.
    Ouch. That’s a reality check if I ever had one.
    I clear my throat to shake thoughts of kissing him out of my head.
    “Thank you,” I say. “For the work and the chance to do something I love.”
    Niko nods. A brisk November wind rips across us, and I can feel some hairs from my ponytail go free, sticking to my face. I smooth them back with one hand, and I realize Niko isn’t going to say anything else.
    We’re done.
    I swallow hard, trying to shove my disappointment aside. “Well, I guess I should head on home.”
    “Right.”
    I hesitate, giving him another second to change his mind. Niko’s eyes remain on my face, but he doesn’t say anything.
    And I have my answer.
    “Bye,” I say, forcing a smile on my face. “And good luck tomorrow.”
    I turn and begin walking toward my car in visitor parking. And I’ve never felt disappointment swallow me up like it is right now.
    “Are you going tomorrow night?”
    I stop dead in my tracks. My heart explodes inside my chest.
    I turn around, and Niko closes the gap between us.
    “Yes. I’m going with Kenley. We sit in Nate’s seats,” I say.
    “Um,” Niko says, raking a hand through his hair again, “well, if you’re going to be there, I could get you a credential to stop by the truck. If you want to, that is. Would you, Lexi? Wanna come by and see me on my opening night?”

Chapter 7
    The One Online Dating Service Profile Question: What is sexy on a man? A tuxedo? Rugged and casual wear? A Speedo?
    My write-in answer: He’s in a crisp white dress shirt and suit pants and I can't even . . .
    I anxiously fiddle with the media credential I’m wearing on a lanyard around my neck. With five minutes left to go in the first period, I’m about to do something that is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
    I’m going to meet Niko on the production truck.
    I stare at the TV truck in front of me, parked inside the confines of the Premier Airlines Center. It’s exactly where Kenley told me it would be, down some steps from rink level and right across from where the Demons players’ park their cars. You know, before she shoved me in this direction and ran off to the lounge for the players’ wives and girlfriends, yelling over her shoulder that she wanted a full report by the start of the second period and leaving me to conduct this mission alone.
    I draw a breath of air, trying to channel a feeling of being calm and unaffected. I’m going to meet an acquaintance, I tell myself.
    It’s that simple.
    Of course, it’s not every day that the acquaintance is a sexy as hell man who has pinned you to a bleacher mere days before, one I’m wildly attracted to and is more interesting than any guy I’ve met