Breakaway
Hearts
Kelly
Brothers Series Book Two
By: Crista McHugh
Releasing February 3rd, 2014
Blurb
Hockey star Ben
Kelly has retreated to his mountain cabin in the ski town of Cascade, BC, to
recuperate from a season-ending knee injury and contemplate his future in the
NHL. He never expects to run into the one woman who got away. Nine years may
have passed, but nothing has dulled the explosive chemistry between them. Now
he wants more than just one night.
Hailey Eriksson had Olympic-sized dreams until an accidental pregnancy from a
one-night stand halted her ambitions. Her life was shattered when her son died.
Nothing will keep her from fulfilling her promise to him to make the Olympic
team, especially not the charming Ben Kelly. Unfortunately, he's out of sweep
her off her feet this time, and she finds him harder and harder to resist with
each passionate kiss. But when he learns about the child he never knew, will
their rekindled romance be on thin ice?
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Excerpt
The ice called to
him.
After he’d torn up
his knee, Ben had sworn he’d never go near a hockey rink again.
And yet there he
stood in the shadows, holding on to his cane with white knuckles while he
watched some teenagers scrimmage, wishing he could go out there and join them.
“Come on, guys,”
the coach barked. “Erikson’s tearing you to shreds out there.”
He followed the
coach’s finger to the player with puck. The kid was tall and thin, probably a
junior member of the team judging by his lack of muscle mass. But what he
lacked in size, he made up for with speed and skill. He handled the puck as
well as any player Ben had faced in the NHL, shifting left and then right,
throwing his opponent off guard with a deke and slipping past him into the
breakaway. One slap shot later, the puck was in the net.
A groan came up
from the team as Erikson raised his hands in the air and skated a small victory
lap around the rink.
The coach mumbled
something under his breath and stared at his clipboard before scribbling a note
on it. “That’s six, guys. You’re embarrassing me.”
It wasn’t until
Erikson came closer that Ben knew the reason why.
Erikson was girl.
The helmet had
concealed her hair, but there was no mistaking the feminine curve of her lips
or the thick fringe of her lashes. A pair of matching dimples cut into her
cheeks as she gave one of the guys a playful hip check, and an odd feeling of
déjà vu washed over him. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember why.
His curiosity
propelled him from the shadows and down the stairs toward the coach, his knee
no longer protesting each step. He waited until the coach finished calling the
next play before he asked, “Local team?”
The coach jumped,
then gave him a narrow-eyed once over. “I haven’t seen you before.”
Ben smothered a
laugh. After years of being recognized everywhere he went, the anonymity was
nice for a change. Amazing what losing a playoff beard and getting a haircut
could do. He hadn’t worn his hair this short since before he was drafted. “I’m
new in town.”
The coach peered
closer, and for a second, Ben feared his secret was out. “I know I’ve seen you
before. Ever play hockey?”
Ben grinned. “Yeah,
just a bit.”
“I thought so.
You’re built like a power forward.”
He wasn’t the first
coach who’d said that. At six-four and two hundred and forty pounds, he’d
always been one of the biggest players on the team, but he lacked the
aggressive nature to play that position. Instead, he’d made a successful career
of playing goalie. All-Pro teams, Olympic medals, even trips to the Stanley Cup
finals.
Until one bad
collision twelve weeks ago had ended all that.
He’d retreated to
the resort town of Cascade, British Columbia, to lick his wounds, but after a
week stuck in his home, the solitude became unbearable. He came down the
mountain and drove through the small town where most of the locals lived,
winding up at the only thing he knew.
The ice rink.
He stood quietly by
the coach and observed the next play. Erikson was on the defensive now. She bit
her blades into the ice, catching up to the player with the puck and passing
him. With a quick half turn, she was in front, skating backward, and she
snatched the puck away as the player stumbled and skidded into the boards. She
took it coast to coast, and the puck soared through the biggest five-hole he’d
ever seen on a goalie.
The coach threw his
clipboard on the bench. “Aw, come on, Watson! You can’t leave a hole like that,
especially with her. You want to make amateur league or not?”
Erikson plowed to a
stop and helped the goalie up. “Give him a break, Gus. I caught him off guard.”
“You caught him
sleeping in his skates.” He paced back and forth, running his fingers through
his sparse hair. “All right, that’s enough. Hit the showers.”
“You’re letting
them off lightly,” Ben murmured. “My old coach would have had us skating
sprints after practice.”
“Yeah, but my boys
just took on Erikson, so they’ve been punished enough.”
Ben watched her
joke with the boys and give them a few words of encouragement as they skated
toward the bench. But when her gaze zeroed in on him, her smile faded, and her
blue eyes turned frigid.
His heart thudded
from the palpable tension in the air. He racked his mind, trying to remember
where he knew her, but drew a blank. Frustration knotted his gut. The docs had
warned him that the number of concussions he’d sustained over the years could
affect his memory, and this was proof of it.
She turned away.
“I’m going to make sure the back door is locked, Gus.”
She skated to the
other side of the rink like she was chasing after a free puck.
Gus narrowed his
eyes at Ben again. “You two know each other?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“She looks
familiar, but you know how hockey players’ minds can be.” Ben tapped his skull
and nodded in the direction Erikson had gone. “She’s good.”
“No kidding.” Gus
lifted a bucket of pucks with a grunt. “If she’d been a boy, she’d be playing
in the NHL right now.”
“The next Sid
Crosby?”
“Ha! More like the
next Gordie Howe, complete with the fisticuffs. The girl’s got a temper on her,
and if I were you, I’d steer clear of her. She’s not someone you want to dance
with.”
“What makes you
think I’d be in trouble?”
“I saw that look
she gave you.” Gus stepped out onto the ice with the bucket and headed toward
the Zamboni. “I’ve known her since she was yay big, and I’ve seen the crap
she’s been through. If you’re here to cause her any trouble, then she’s not the
only person you need to worry about. We look out for our own.”
Ben stopped short
of the ice, staring at it like it was an old nemesis. He wasn’t about to follow
Gus. “I’m not here to do that. I can barely remember if I’ve met her before or
not.”
“Well, you’re sure
asking a lot of questions.” Gus set the bucket down behind the wall with
another grunt and climbed up on the Zamboni. “What are you doing here anyway?”
He sighed and
stared at his reflection in the ice, barely recognizing himself. “I’m not quite
sure.”
“Yeah, well, you
need to get going now. I’ve got to do a few laps with this before locking up,
and I don’t want to have to worry about you spending the night here.”
“No worries. Just
one question—do you know where I can find her?”
“Can’t take hint,
can you?” The Zamboni roared to life, and Gus drove it out onto the ice. “If
you’re looking for trouble, then you’ll find her at the Sin Bin downtown. Just
make sure you’re wearing a cup before engaging her.”
“Will do, and
thanks.” Ben turned around and climbed the stairs one by one, leaning on his
cane all the way up. He wouldn’t know any peace until he figured out how he
knew her.
Next stop: the Sin
Bin.
***
Hailey gripped the
steering wheel and took a deep breath, but that didn’t steady her rattled
nerves like it normally did.
Who’d have thought
coming face-to-face with Ben Kelly after nine years would affect her like this?
Worse, she had no idea why he was here. It wasn’t like he’d wanted anything to
do with her when she’d actually needed him. And now when she was finally getting
her life back together, he’d shown up her in her small town.
“Probably
schmoozing up at the ski resort,” she muttered and started her beat-up Ford
Bronco. After all, that’s where celebrities like him hung out, not down here in
the actual town. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t have a little harem of
puck bunnies to tend to him while he recovers.”
She’d seen the
collision that had taken him out for the rest of the season. Most of Canada
had, since the game had been broadcast nationally. The opposing team’s grinder
had charged at him, hooking his skates with his stick, and had knocked Ben to
the ice. Despite their history, she’d held her breath as he lay there, not
moving, his leg bent at a sickening angle. Once he’d finally come around, he’d
skated off the ice with assistance, but that was it for him.
The news the next
morning listed all the injuries he’d sustained. Concussion. Torn ACL, PCL, and
MCL. Tibial fracture. Then the bets had started rolling in on whether or not
the starting goalie for the Vancouver Whales would be returning to the team
next season, if at all.
Hopefully Gus had
given him a get-lost speech and that would be the end of it. Ski season was
almost over, and summers in Cascade were usually quiet without the influx of
outsiders. He’d probably leave in a couple of weeks, and that would be the last
she ever saw of him.
But a squirm deep
inside her stomach reminded her she wanted to see him again, if only to give
him a piece of her mind after all the shit he’d put her through.
Don’t let him
distract you from your goal. Remember your promise to Zach.
She pulled into the
parking lot of her dad’s bar and took another cleansing breath in through her
nose. This time, it worked. All her anger, her hatred, her frustration flowed
out with the air from her lungs. She’d wasted too much time and too many tears
over Ben Kelly, and now was not the time to lose focus.
Erikson’s Sin Bin
sat right in the heart of town, on the main drag. Complete with a half dozen
plasma screen TVs showing the latest games, it was the favorite watering hole
for the locals. The Stanley Cup playoffs were in full swing, so the place would
be packed tonight. The Whales were also playing, which meant the crowd would be
that much more invested in the game. And if the Whales won, then her tips would
be up.
She went in through the kitchen and grabbed
her apron from under the bar. “Hey, Pop, you ready for tonight?”
“Got seven cases of
Labatt.” Her father leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. She was built
like him, tall and lean, with the same bright blue eyes and blond hair. “How
was practice today?”
Besides the fact
the man who’d refused to acknowledge my existence two years ago had showed up?
“I roughed them up
a bit,” she said after a moment’s pause. No need to tell him about Ben. Her dad
would probably roll up his sleeves and beat the crap out of him if he knew.
“How bad?”
“Six to nothing.”
“That’s my girl.
You keep playing like that, and the Canadian team’s bound to offer you a
place.”
“First I’ve got to
convince them to give me a tryout.” At twenty-seven, she was a bit older than
the average player, but she was still in fantastic shape and could outplay
anyone she knew. “Gus forgot his camera today, but he’ll record the next
scrimmage.”
“And don’t forget
Monday’s league game, either.” He ruffled her hair, pulling some of it free
from her ponytail, before crossing the bar to see to a customer.
“Hailey, darlin’,”
her stepmother, Cindy, called from the kitchen in her thick Texas drawl, “do
you mind getting the drink order for the man at table twelve? I’m trying to get
fourteen’s order out.”
One quick peek into
the kitchen revealed the petite woman was carefully trying to balance four
platters of wings and potato skins. “Can I help you with those?”
“Nope, I got ‘em.
Just get twelve started, and I’ll be by in a few minutes to see if he wants
anything to eat.”
The Sin Bin was a
true family-run business. Her father had opened it shortly after her older
brother was born, and the whole family pitched in to keep it running. Her
brother had moved away ten years ago to work in Toronto, but that was just
about the time Cindy had showed up in town to take over his shifts. On busy
nights like tonight, they were all there. Her dad stayed behind the bar while
she and Cindy split the tables.
Twelve was a small
corner booth, usually occupied by someone not entirely into the game since it
had the worst view of the TVs. A lone man sat there, his back to the rest of
the bar while he bent over his iPad. He was big, powerfully built with short
black hair, and wore a fine-gauge sweater that hugged his broad shoulders.
Definitely not one of the locals.
She approached the
table and pulled her pen and notepad from her apron pocket. “Can I get you
started on anything to drink?”
He looked up, and
her heart kicked into overdrive as soon as she saw his slate-blue eyes.
Ben Kelly.
Her throat
tightened, which was a small blessing. It was the only thing that kept her from
calling him a dozen four-letter words.
He held up the
display card on the end of the table. “You’re truly serving Labatt for a
loonie?”
She swallowed,
pushing the lump of anger out of her throat and into her stomach, where it
burned with more fire than Cindy’s extra-spicy Buffalo wings. Two could play
this nonchalant game of I don’t know who the hell you are. “Yep, but only when
the Whales are playing.”
A cheer rose from
the other side of the bar as the TV showed the the team skating out onto the
ice.
“It looks like the
game’s about to start,” he said.
She squeezed her
pen until it started to bend in the middle. “So do you want one or not?”
He set the card
down, his eyes never leaving hers. “Sure, why not?”
“Fine. Cindy will
be over in a few minutes to get the rest of your order.” She shoved her pad and
pen into her apron and spun around on her heel. He had a lot of nerve showing
up here, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he got
under her skin.
She grabbed a
bottle out of the cooler and popped the lid off, leaving it on the bar. “Here’s
twelve’s order.”
“Aren’t you going
to take it to him?” her dad asked.
“No.” As far as she
was concerned, he could rot in hell.
Review ~
Breakaway Hearts is a must read for the hockey romance fan. It mixes hockey and romance at an elemental level as you get to be involved in a lot of hockey along the course of Ben & Hailey's relationship.
Ben & Hailey never thought they'd see each other again, and when they do, things have changed . . . a lot. They have a few obstacles to over come before they can even consider if there is a happy ever after for them. But they really do need each other to be able to face what has happened and move forward. So they have quite a few struggles to deal with on their own and together.
Since most of my fans know I am a huge hockey fan and I jump on hockey stories, no one should be surprised that I've read this one! I am just glad that I can recommend it highly to all of you. Christa McHugh weaves a world that will take you on the ice with Ben & Hailey (yes they both play!!) and also let you in on their struggles and dreams that make you not want to put Breakaway Hearts down!
Author Info
Crista McHugh is a multiple award-winning author of fantasy romance and paranormal romance with heroines who are smart, sexy, and anything but ordinary. She currently lives in the Audi-filled suburbs of Seattle with her husband and two children, maintaining her alter ego of mild-mannered physician by day while she continues to pursue writing on nights and weekends.
Author Links
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