検索キーワード： 著者 "Ruth Stilling" すべてのカテゴリー

Fresh out of a failed marriage and with an old injury threatening to resurface, I only have one priority right now: rebuild my life both in and out of the rink. At thirty-five, I know it won't be easy, but hockey is all I have, and cutting my pro career short is not an option that I'm willing to...

Getting drafted to a losing team was bad enough. Falling for her could end me . . . I'm supposed to be the NHL's next poster boy. Not the guy the draft screws over. Or the headline waiting to happen. And definitely not the new face of the Seattle Rogues—the league's latest expansion team, who...

Darcy, Darcy, Darcy. The name I should have wiped from my mind nearly two years ago. Her brother, and my assistant captain, has repeatedly warned her she's off-limits to a guy like me—a playboy bound to bed her one night and break her heart the next morning—an opinion shared by her stepdad, who also happens to be my coach. I can see why they don't want their goalie anywhere near her. My reputation with women isn't exactly unblemished.

I'm Tommy Schneider, the most feared player in the NHL with a last name to match my bad boy reputation. Only, I'm the better, stronger, faster version of my estranged dad. Everything in my life I control with expert precision—from the hits I land in fights to the tattoos covering my body. Nothing and no one can get the better of me. I'm impermeable, a wall of steel that's as cold as it is opaque. So when my trade to the New York Blades is met with controversy, it's fair to say I'm unbothered. The recently appointed General Manager expects a brutal enforcer, and that's exactly what he'll get.

They think my greatest gift is my ability on the ice. But they're wrong. I've been hailed as the guy who has it all when it comes to hockey. Powerful people have invested their time and money, determined to turn my potential into their reality. The most influential of those people? Graham Jenkins, former NHL player and the General Manager of the Dallas Destroyers. The second he set eyes on me in the little leagues, he piled all his resources into my success. And when the Destroyers were awarded the first-round draft pick, he didn't hesitate to snap me up.

Apparently, she loved me, but that still didn't stop her from doing what she did. And frankly, I'm done with relationships, and I'm done with searching for love when it has no interest in finding me. After the hit I took last season, I plan to focus on rehabilitation and getting my mind back into the game I've loved for so many years. I don't need distractions, and I don't need another woman in my bed or my head. I've got enough complications to last me a lifetime.

I'm the unapproachable NHL captain with a reputation for chewing up reporters in interviews, forwards on the ice, and shutting down anyone who tries to get close to me. And that's how I like it—no feelings, no complications, and zero chance of reliving the grief I experienced when my wife passed away seven years ago. But sometimes the best laid plans go up in flames, and that's exactly what Collins Mackenzie does when she strolls into a bar one post-game night and gives me a taste of the cold shoulder I've bestowed on all those around me.

How to complicate your rookie season in the NHL: fake date your former college rival and now teammate's ex-girlfriend. It's a bad idea, and I know it, especially since Kendra Hart has had a hold over me since our freshman year of college. She has no idea how I feel, and I have zero control over my mouth when her life goes up in smoke and she needs a friend, along with a place to stay. My coach, who also happens to be my stepdad, is warning me to stay away not only for the team's sake but to spare me from getting hurt. I should probably listen to his advice.

My whole life, I've come out on top. One of the finest players ever to grace the NHL? Check. Most prolific playboy with an enviable reputation between the sheets? Check. Award for the cockiest athlete in America? Also, check, and well deserved I'd say. So why does my life feel anything but the perfect image I project? And why won't the one woman who came crashing into my life and knocked me on my six-foot-four ass take me seriously?

She can't stand me. She also thinks she's got me all worked out. My Princess is determined to stay as far away from me as possible. Eighteen months ago, she wanted me, but now, she's convinced I'm bad news. The thing is an attraction like ours doesn't just fade, and my need for her has only grown stronger no matter how many times she offers me a scowl instead of her beautiful smile. We've been playing a game of cat and mouse since the day she wore my jersey, and fortunately for her, I love the chase.