DAX: Royal Protectors/Sidewinders Crossover Page 2

  I kept my eye on the asshole named Bo because he seemed to be giving Kelly a hard time and it wasn’t fair for him to take out his bad mood on her. She was almost always our waitress when we came in, so we tried to take care of her both financially and by not causing a scene when we came in en masse. Her grandfather owned the place and she worked a lot of hours to help out, so we tried to stay low-key since we came here often.

  When Jared got up and headed for the restroom, I watched Bo watching him and part of me worried he might go after him. Bo didn’t move, though, so I sipped my beer and made a mental note to keep an eye on him until Jared came back out.

  “So, I need to talk to you about something,” Ian said to me.

  “What’s up?” I took a pull of my beer and glanced at Ian. He was my best friend, both in hockey and life, and we’d been roommates until he’d gotten engaged last winter. I was going to be the best man at his upcoming wedding as well.

  “It’s Isla.”

  “Everything okay?” My heart rate kicked up a little at the mention of her name. His twin sister was the woman of all my dreams and fantasies, but I’d never had the balls to do anything about it.

  “Yes and no.” He seemed uncomfortable.

  “You’re kind of freaking me out, bro.”

  He nodded. “Right. So Granddad’s been on a kick the last couple of years to get Isla married. I’m not sure what prompted it, other than our father dying, of course, but he seems intent on making it happen and this time he tried to arrange a date for her to my wedding. She panicked and without thinking announced she was seeing someone, so she already had a date. She hoped no one would push it until after their guest was gone, but they did, so all she could think of was to say it was you.”

  My mouth opened but no words came out.

  This was fucking awesome.

  It was also a fucking disaster.

  What the hell was I supposed to say? One of my biggest reservations in going after Isla was that it was too big a risk because of my friendship with Ian.

  “Er, okay. So your family now thinks we’re…dating?”

  “She told them the two of you were taking it slow because of the distance, but yes, that it’s been long-distance since you saw each other at Christmas.” Isla and the rest of Ian’s immediate family had come to Vegas over the holidays to see him play and to spend time with him and his fiancée, Everly. Isla and I had spent time together because we were good friends, so it was feasible we’d started something. We hadn’t, but we could have, at least as far as her family was concerned.

  “I’m not sure what this means,” I said slowly. I had to be careful because this could go wrong in so many ways. “I’m happy to be her date to the wedding and be her stand-in for whatever, but how does she want to handle it?”

  “I’m not sure. She was so embarrassed that she’s put you in this situation, she asked me to approach you and see if you were willing to play along.”

  “Well, sure.” I took another long pull of my beer to buy a little time. “I mean, she’s awesome and we’re already friends. Did you think I’d say no?”

  “To be fair, we don’t talk as much as we used to, so for all I know, you’ve been seeing someone.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, with what free time? I’m a thousand percent single.”

  “All right. Then give her a call? She’s been so stressed and embarrassed about it, I plan to say something to my grandfather. I don’t know what’s come over him because he obviously has never pulled anything like that with the rest of us. Yes, she’s the only girl, but she’s not a child. She’s twenty-eight, with a doctorate degree and a good job. It’s not as if he’s taking care of her.”

  “I agree, it’s odd.”

  “I’m going to talk to Granddad when we get to Scotland, but for now, if you could go along with this until the wedding, I’d be grateful. Since you’re single anyway, I hope it doesn’t inconvenience you or—”

  “Wait. You think this is a hardship?” I asked in surprise.

  “Of course not. My twin is as amazing as I am.” He grinned. “But you’ve never shown interest in her so I figured she’s not your type and I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  “I’ve never shown interest in her because she lives thousands of miles away and she’s my best friend’s sister. You don’t go there.”

  “How come?” Ian looked genuinely confused.

  “Because if things went wrong, it would impact our friendship and that’s not negotiable for me.” Why was he looking at me like I was an idiot?

  “Why would it impact us? The only reason I’d ever get involved is if you hurt her physically, and I know you wouldn’t do that.”

  “I, um…” I had no response. Why hadn’t I known he wouldn’t mind if I dated his sister? We were supposed to be best friends but I didn’t know his feelings about something so basic?

  “Are you interested in her…for real?” Ian’s eyes darkened slightly.

  “Well, I mean, yes and no. Yes, because she’s smart, beautiful and a lot of fun. No, because she lives thousands of miles away and I don’t know how we’d make it work.”

  “The two of you should talk,” Ian said with a soft smile.

  “Is she…into me?” I practically held my breath as I waited for his answer.

  “Hey, Dax.” My friend Lennox Briggs sank onto the stool next to me.

  “Hey.” Her timing sucked, but I was glad to see her. Lennox was a retired Marine who worked as a bodyguard now for some elite agency here in town. We’d met at the gym and worked out together in the off-season, and I invited her to a lot of the games. I’d asked her out once, but we’d decided our schedules would make it impossible to see each other, so we’d morphed into good friends.

  “Sorry about the season,” she said, leaning against the table. “But you can’t win the whole thing every year.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  “Bloody hell.” Ian motioned with his head.

  I followed his gaze and noted Bo and his buddies waiting for Coach Wylde as he came out of the restroom.

  “Bring back Coach Barnett!” Bo had a bottle of beer in each hand.

  “Toli Petrov for head coach!” one of his friends yelled out.

  Lennox grinned at me. “Can I kick their asses? Please?”

  “Someone needs to,” Ian muttered.

  Bo had gotten in Jared’s face and I wondered about his self-control. Back in the day, Jared had been as wild as his last name, and was known for being scrappy on the ice. The last thing we needed was for him—or any of us—to wind up in jail after a season-ending loss.

  I got to my feet and headed in that direction, Lennox and Ian on my heels.

  “I’ve politely asked you to move,” Jared was saying to Bo and his friends. “Next time won’t be as polite.”

  “You gonna take me on, Coach?” Bo was all but pounding his chest.

  “If necessary.” Jared’s eyes had narrowed dangerously and I recognized that look, the one that said someone was about to get a beatdown.

  “Knock it off,” Kelly said, hurrying up to the slowly growing group.

  “You man enough to meet me outside?” Bo taunted Coach.

  Coach sighed. “Give me a break, man. You seriously looking to spend tonight in jail? Because I’m not. I’ll defend myself, but I’m not going to go out of my way to fight you.”

  “Pussy!”

  The chorus of disparaging insults that followed reminded me of high school, and I stood next to Coach wondering what was next.

  “Whassa matter?” Bo slurred, sneering at us. “Coach Wylde can’t take care of himself?”

  “He totally can,” Lennox said in a casual voice. “But it’s a lot more fun if he lets me do it.”

  “You want a go with me, honey?” Bo snaked out an arm to grab her and yanked her against him. “’Cause I can think of way better things for you to do than fight.”

  I bristled but Lennox wasn’t fazed in the least. She merely cock
ed her head. “You should let me go.”

  “Or what?”

  Lennox moved so smoothly, I almost missed it, but Bo was on the ground a second later and she had her foot on his chest. “Or I’ll put you down,” she said simply.

  “I love her,” Tore stage-whispered, coming over to join us.

  “Love you too.” Lennox flashed him a smile, slowly moving her foot.

  “Fuck you!” Bo managed to get to his feet, took a swing at Coach, and missed.

  “That’s enough.” The bartender came out from behind the bar and grabbed Bo by the arm. “You’re going home, Bo.”

  “I don’t have to!”

  “Well, you don’t have to go home, but you’re not staying here. You’re cut off.”

  “I’ll see you outside!” Bo roared at Jared as the bartender led him away.

  “Fuck.” Jared made a face. “My wife is going to kill me if I wind up in jail.”

  Was it wrong that I wouldn’t mind at all if it happened?

  There was definitely something wrong with me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t give a shit. In fact, I was looking forward to it. I was one hundred percent ready to rumble and many of my teammates appeared right there with me.

  The season was over, so management couldn’t suspend the whole team for getting arrested.

  Could they?

  Shit.

  3

  Isla

  I’d just come in after a ride on my horse when my phone rang. I was sweaty and covered in mud but the name on the screen gave me pause and I took a deep breath before answering.

  “Dax. Hello!”

  “Hey, Isla.”

  His voice was warm and friendly and made my insides do funny things. Why did that always happen when you liked a guy? I was an adult, professional woman, but the sound of Dax’s voice made me shiver with delight. I felt like an idiotic teenager, and I hadn’t been one of those when I’d actually been a teen.

  “Did Ian tell you what I did?” I figured it was best to get the hard part over with, but I was cringing as I waited for his response.

  “He did. Right before half the team got in a huge bar fight and wound up in jail.”

  “Oh my god!” I said, shocked. “Are you okay? Was anyone hurt?”

  “We’re all fine. Charges were all dropped, no one was hurt, and those of us who were involved chipped in money to fix the damage at the bar.”

  “Bloody hell, I’m surprised at the lot of you.”

  “We tried to avoid it,” he said, chuckling. “I swear, we gave this guy every chance to walk away, but he was spoiling for a fight and then he punched our friend Lennox. She’s a retired Marine and a bodyguard, so she can take care of herself, but it was the principle of the thing.”

  “Was this last night?”

  “Yeah. We got home around four in the morning, I slept for a while and now I’m up and calling you. I figured we should talk about this…situation you’ve put us in.”

  “I’m truly sorry. My grandfather wouldn’t leave it alone and yours was the first name to pop into my head. I didn’t think he’d push me for a name in front of company and then my brain seemed to blank out and I stopped talking.”

  To my surprise, Dax laughed. It was a genuine laugh, too, coming from somewhere deep inside of him.

  “Is it funny?” I demanded, though I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit myself.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just kind of picturing your grandfather lording over you, some nerdy guy with glasses trying to ask you out and you just blurting out my name in sheer desperation…” He started to laugh again and my own laughter amped up a little too.

  “I think you’re making fun of me,” I said, sinking onto the closed toilet lid since I was too dirty to sit anywhere else in my suite.

  “Maybe a little,” he said.

  “So you’re not angry?” I asked after a moment.

  “Angry? No, not at all. I think we have to come up with a game plan, but I was wondering how I was going to get through the wedding without a date, and now you’ve solved that issue for me.”

  “Glad to oblige. The problem is going to be the inevitable questions from my grandfather—and probably everyone else—about your intentions.”

  “It’s fine,” he said quietly. “We can come up with a standard answer and refuse to deviate. Something like, ‘It’s still new and we’re taking it one day at a time because of the distance and our careers.’ I think that’s a fair and almost honest answer.”

  “You’ve put some thought into it, I see.”

  “Well, Ian told me what your grandfather’s been doing, trying to marry you off, so I figured if I could come up with a way to help, beyond one date, I would.”

  “Thank you so much, Dax. I’m truly grateful.”

  “It wouldn’t be much different than what we already do, you know?” He continued without waiting for a response. “I mean, our friendship and such. Whenever you’re here in Vegas or I’m in Edinburgh visiting, we always hang out, go out, spend time together, so we can do a bit more of that and no one will be any wiser.”

  “You really don’t mind?” I was practically holding my breath with excitement.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s kind of like we already date when we’re in the same place. Just without the sex and stuff.”

  I chuckled. “Well, that’s probably true, but now that you mention it, it seems a shame, don’t you think?”

  “What?” He sounded confused.

  “That we’re dating but we’ve skipped all the fun stuff.”

  “Well, we haven’t skipped it so much as…haven’t gotten there yet?”

  “Are you flirting with me, Mr. O’Day?”

  “Do you want me to flirt with you, Ms. Campbell?”

  “Flirting is fun,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as breathless as I felt.

  “Then we definitely should,” he said, his voice dropping a little.

  There was a strange, somewhat electrically charged silence and then I managed to find my voice. “When, um, when will you be coming to Edinburgh?” I asked.

  “I have a few things to tie up here in Vegas now that the season is over, but I can come whenever. Why? Did you want me to come sooner rather than later?”

  I wanted him to come immediately, but it felt weird to say that. “If you don’t come until just before the wedding, there won’t be much time for…flirting.”

  “That’s kinda what I was thinking too.”

  What was happening here? I needed to ask, right? Was I imagining this…flirting stuff? “Are you asking me to go out with you for real?” I blurted out.

  “I hadn’t articulated it that far, but yeah, kinda?” He let out a breath. “Isla, I like you. A lot. It’s just, you know, complicated. You’re in Scotland. I’m in the U.S. Our careers—”

  “That’s why you should hurry and come to Scotland,” I interrupted softly. “So we can talk all that out. And if we decide it’s not worth the risk, you’ll have helped me get through the wedding without interference from my grandfather.”

  “Then I’ll see you soon. I’ll text you once I get my flight figured out.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  “We’ll talk soon, Isla. About lots of things.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” I disconnected and held the phone against my chest for a moment before leaning over to turn on the water in the shower. I’d rinse the mud off and then run a bath so I could soak my sore muscles. I didn’t ride nearly often enough and I would feel it tomorrow if I didn’t.

  When I finally sank down into the hot water, I closed my eyes happily. I didn’t take the time for baths very often, but they were one of my favorite ways to relax. It allowed me time to think, while simultaneously letting go of my worries and just losing myself in the moment. Especially times like these, when I was both annoyed and curious about my grandfather’s machinations. I didn’t understand where this need to manipulate my life had come from. I hadn’t done much dating the last couple of years, but
I’d had more than my fair share of fun during my undergraduate years at Harvard.

  I was an overachiever, though, so I’d finished in three years and came back to Edinburgh to start postgraduate studies. We were a family of overachievers, none more so than my twin brother who not only played professional hockey but also had a law degree. I’d always felt a little overshadowed by him, despite how close we were, and I’d worked harder than ever to prove myself professionally. Unfortunately, as the only girl in a family of six children, it always seemed to go back to marriage and babies. That was the only thing my grandfather cared about lately and it had begun to genuinely upset me.

  He’d apologized about his behavior the other night, but then had immediately asked me how serious I was with Dax and if I foresaw an engagement happening. I nearly cried with embarrassment just thinking about it, but now that I’d spoken to Dax, not only did I feel better about my lie, I had a little glimmer of hope. Hope that he returned my feelings. Hope that this charade would turn into something real. Hope that maybe there was some kind of happy ending for me in my personal life. What else could it mean?

  I’d been falling in love with him the last couple of years, and no matter who else I went out with, no one ever measured up. He was the whole damn package, smart and sweet and athletic and sexy as hell. He’d never appeared interested, though, no matter how many times I’d hinted that I was, so I’d essentially given up. Until now.

  While I hadn’t started this on purpose, it was happening, and Dax seemed on board with not just continuing my charade, but potentially exploring the option of making it real. Our conversation had been a little awkward, without a touch of caution, but he’d said the words, said that while it might be difficult, he was still interested in figuring it out. What more could I ask for? This was the closest we’d come to admitting there was a pull between us, chemistry that went beyond friendship, and I wasn’t going to walk away, no matter what. Maybe it wouldn’t work out, but at least I could look back and know I tried. Otherwise, I’d be back to pining for him, emotionally unable to open up to other men, and essentially miserable.

  I sat in the bath, sipping a glass of wine and imagining all the possibilities before finally pulling myself out. I dried off, put my hair up in a clip and pulled on my pajamas. I planned to sleep in tomorrow and spend the day inputting final grades into the computer system so I could put this semester to bed. I liked teaching well enough, but I preferred my research. Unfortunately, I had to do one to be allowed to continue with the other, so I did my best.