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it, though he still possessed elements of etiquette—more so than any of the other guys, anyway.
    But Carolina—she was a piece of work. He’d done his best to annoy her, and she still gave him the Preston stiff upper lip and air of politeness.
    He’d really like to ruffle her feathers a little, to bring out the passion he knew lurked just under the surface. He’d made her burn once, had turned the ice queen into a molten, bubbling volcano of sexual lava. He’d seen glimpses of her today, when she thought he wasn’t looking. The glances she leveled at him, the way her body turned in his direction. It was like she wanted him, but she resisted.
    He wanted that erupting volcano of a woman again, not this cool, reserved specimen of polite society.
    He took a seat on her sofa, which he knew irritated her. She wanted him to leave. He wanted to talk to her. “Are you going to Washington to be with your family for Thanksgiving?”
    “I don’t think I am. I have so much work to do. Are you going home?”
    “No. I have a game right after, so I’m just going to hang out here. A bunch of us are going to serve the homeless for Thanksgiving.”
    She leaned back. “That’s . . . really nice of you.”
    He shrugged. “Better than hanging out in the apartment playing video games.”
    “I have to admit, this surprises me.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. It just does.”
    “I have a heart, Carolina. Despite what you might think about me.”
    She took a sip of tea. “I don’t think anything about you.”
    “Don’t you?” He smiled at her.
    “No. I don’t.”
    “Why don’t you spend Thanksgiving with me and the guys?”
    He loved the way her eyes widened, the look on her face like a cornered animal, searching for a way to escape.
    “Oh. I don’t think so. Like I said, I have to work.”
    “It’s Thanksgiving. No work that day.”
    “That’s the reason I’m not going home. I need to be productive.”
    “You need to be thankful for everything you have that day. Or show your appreciation to others for everything you have. Work the rescue mission with me and my friends.”
    He had her now and she knew it. “Okay. Fine. I’ll do that for a few hours, then I’ll come back and work.”
    “Sounds great.” He laid his coffee cup down. “Speaking of work, I’m sure you have some you’d like to do, so I’ll get out of your way.”
    She stood up so fast she created a breeze. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
    She opened the door. Drew leaned in and brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks for coming to the game, and hanging out with me at dinner.”
    Again she wore that surprised look, which made him happy. He liked keeping her off balance.
    “Thanks for inviting me to the game. It’ll help with my line.”
    He gave her a smile. “Anytime, babe. I can’t wait ’til we work on the underwear.”

FIVE
    CAROLINA HAD INTENDED TO SPEND THANKSGIVING immersed in her work, not elbow-deep in gravy. Yet here she was at the mission, surrounded by a half dozen men a foot taller than her and a crowd of people hungry and waiting to be fed.
    It was amazing. The mission was filled with people, and instead of being alone and lonely, she was facing smiles and listening to raucous laughter, both behind and in front of the counter where she was serving up turkey dinner.
    She supposed she had to be grateful to Drew for dragging her out of her apartment today. She would have likely eaten a salad and spent the day watching the parade and missing her family. Instead, he’d picked her up at seven a.m. and she’d met four of his teammates, who’d immediately hugged her and told her she was now one of the Travelers. Drew even brought her a team jersey to wear today, though it was miles too big for her. But Colin Kozlow, one of Drew’s teammates, had told her she looked cute.
    Cute. Just great. Avery Mangino, the goalie for the Travelers, had asked her if she was Drew’s girlfriend, since the jersey she wore had Drew’s name and