Slapshot Summer (The Playmakers)

Chapter 1

Honeymoon for One

Lexi Campbell stepped from the shuttle bus and took a deep breath.

The place was exactly as she’d pictured, right down to the lustrous open-air lobby, the swaying palms, and the sparkling blue water.

So different from her home state of Colorado, yet equally breathtaking in its own way.

She’d certainly hit it out of the park when she’d chosen the Sapphire Hotel as her honeymoon destination.

Too bad she hadn’t done as well picking the man who was supposed to be here with her.

Closing her eyes, she let the sea air caress her skin and wash away the pieces of Conrad that still stuck to her like staticky bits of plastic wrapper.

“Uh, miss?”

Lexi turned toward the deep voice that reminded her of gravel.

Agitated gravel—to match the annoyance in the man’s light eyes as he peered at her over mirrored sunglasses.

This was the same guy who’d sprawled his big frame across an entire seat and had promptly fallen asleep, not only missing out on the beautiful tropical scenery sliding past the window but also making it impossible for anyone to sit beside him had they chosen to—not that the bus had been full, but still.

Lexi reminded herself—again—that not all men were insensitive narcissists who didn’t flinch at breaking a woman’s heart, and that she shouldn’t be passing judgment on a stranger.

A different remarkable feature about this particular man was his shirt.

It was covered with magenta flamingos against an eye-popping cobalt sky.

Added to the mix were parrots in various shades of garish against electric green palm leaves.

Lexi was as guilty as the next person when it came to questionable wardrobe choices, but if this guy had dressed to impress, he’d missed the mark.

And that wasn’t a judgment call—it was a fact.

“There’s a bus full of people who’d like to get off and enjoy the view too,” he informed her in a voice as dry as the crackers they’d passed out on the plane, “but they can’t because you’re holding up the line.

” A fake smile pulled the corners of his mouth and immediately dropped into a sour expression.

Clearly, she’d given this guy more benefit of the doubt than was merited. She was about to tell him where to shove his attitude when her gaze was pulled to the unhappy faces staring down at her from the shuttle’s windows.

Oh God!

Mortified at her own insensitivity, Lexi quickly stepped aside.

It wasn’t like her to be so thoughtless, though Conrad would have argued otherwise.

“I swear, Alexis, sometimes you go through life as if no one else existed.” Funny.

Her ex could have been looking in a mirror when he’d hurled that admonishment at her.

The arrogant guest stepped off the bus and shoved his glasses back up the bridge of his aquiline nose. Sun glinted off his haphazard chestnut locks, lighting them with a hint of gold.

“Thanks,” he tossed out, though there wasn’t a single note of gratitude in his voice. He breezed past her without a backward glance.

Clutching her purse and carry-on in one hand and her suitcase handle in the other, she scurried toward the check-in desk as gracefully as one could with their hands full and a sandal missing its heel.

Terrible Hawaiian Shirt Guy had beat her there.

As she lined up behind him, she stumbled on her uneven shoes, falling against his muscular back before dropping to the floor like a sack of new potatoes.

At least it felt muscular through the fabric of his short-sleeved kaleidoscope of a tropical button-up.

“Of course I trip and face-plant into a human wall,” she muttered to herself.

He turned, slid his sunglasses down his nose again, and blinked. “Technically, I think I broke your fall. You’re welcome.”

Lexi peered up at him—way up. “Oh goodie. A hero and a smartass.” Oh Lord!

Lexi’s mom would be horrified at her mouthing off to a stranger.

She’d been taught better. Heck, she didn’t even give her friends lip!

A twenty-nine-year-old woman should have better control of her snark, but something about this guy stirred up her sassy side.

He didn’t seem fazed by her sharp tongue, though. “Former hero, current beach bum. Smartass is permanent, though.” He offered his hand, which she ignored, instead climbing to her feet with the grace of an elephant.

Gathering her dignity, she apologized. “I’m sorry.

It’s my shoe.” His eyes traveled down to her feet and back up again.

“I lost the heel on the airport people mover. There was this older woman, you see, and she was having a hard time getting off—you know how those things sort of throw you at the end. Anyway, I tried to help her and—”

He grunted and turned back around, pushing his sunglasses back into place and showing her his broad back.

Damn it! She always babbled when she was nervous, though why this guy made her nervous was a mystery.

Ever since Conrad dumped her seven months ago, her confidence had taken a plunge off the high dive and splatted at an all-time low.

She used to be able to carry on conversations with attractive men without getting rattled.

As a bridal magazine copywriter and sometimes-assistant to the magazine’s photography department, she had been around some of the most beautiful humans on the planet.

They were everywhere—even in Colorado. Talking to gorgeous men had been a common occurrence and, ironically, necessary mostly to put them at ease.

But like everything else in her life, that part of her had been broken too.

“You’re not broken,” her bestie’s voice echoed in her head.

“So you were fooled and fell for the wrong man. It happens. He didn’t deserve to lick the dirt off your shoes.

You just need to get back in the saddle and get in touch with your inner Wanton Woman so she can use the hell out of a man. Many men!”

Ha! Easy for Anna to say. She had her man, though Lexi wasn’t too fond of him at the moment.

He’d knocked up her best friend, which had kept her from taking Conrad’s place on this all-expenses-paid honeymoon—the honeymoon Lexi had foolishly paid for a year ago, when she’d been positive she was getting married on New Year’s Eve in Colorado’s cold climate.

A beach getaway had sounded like the perfect honeymoon.

And sure, it had been a great deal … because it had been nonrefundable.

The hotel had taken pity and bent their rules, letting her postpone the stay for a year from the time she booked it—which explained why she was vacationing in the beach resort town of Destiny, Florida, during one of the hottest months of the year.

Only after Lexi had locked in the new date did Anna learn she was pregnant. There was no backing out.

“Miss?” a clerk beckoned from the concierge’s desk. Apparently, she had beckoned for a while because Mr. Smartass was being checked in by a different clerk.

He spared her a glance and a smirk. “Looks like you’re holding up the line again.”

Fuming, she hobbled to the counter. As she pulled out her driver’s license, she repeated a mantra to stay calm and chive on.

She was one step closer to a fabulous ocean-view suite and a week of tropical drinks and beautiful sunsets.

Nirvana was near. Life was about to take a turn in the right direction.

All she had to do was sit back, relax, and let opportunity in when it knocked.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Lexi unpacked, working out any wrinkles as she hung her clothes.

She carefully laid her expensive lingerie into drawers—the luxurious bits of finery she’d purchased before Conrad dropped his bombshell.

In the bathroom, she arranged her cosmetics and grooming essentials in the same neat order as at home.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Conrad used to laugh at her organization OCD, but she couldn’t unwind until she’d put everything away.

She’d always been wired that way. Work before pleasure.

Except she didn’t have any work anymore, but she wasn’t going to think about that right now.

No, she had earned this vacation, damn it, and she was going to let herself—er, Wanton Woman—enjoy it.

First, though, she and her alter ego needed to become acquainted—assuming she even existed.

When the first bars of Bruno Mars’s “Count on Me” chimed on her phone, she quickly answered and plopped into a cushy lounging chair.

“Hey, girlfriend, I was just hearing your voice in my head urging WW to come out of her shell.”

“Good! I hope she listens to me. So how was the travel? What’s the suite like?”

“The travel was uneventful, but the suite! Oh God, Anna! The view of the infinity pool and ocean is to die for. The mattress is thick enough that the princess wouldn’t feel an entire peapod, and the bathroom reminds me of a Roman bath.

” Lexi let out a wistful sigh. “I wish you were here to enjoy it with me. I swear, there’s enough room for your entire family in here. ”

Anna came from a large Polish family. An only child, Lexi loved hanging around them so she could soak up the chaos, so different from her own life growing up.

Her parents were professors, and dinner discussions had been quiet affairs that centered around the cerebral.

Not that there was anything wrong with that—Lexi adored her folks—but she reveled in the banter and the unabashed affection Anna’s family lavished on one another.

“So have you met any of this week’s one-night performers yet?” Lexi could practically hear the waggle in her friend’s eyebrows.

“Well, there was this guy on my shuttle.” The image of a tall, dark-haired man with chocolate eyes and a brilliant smile floated through her head.

“Did you talk to him?”

“Well, no.”

Anna sighed. “Lex, Wanton Woman’s not going to have anyone to play with unless you put yourself out there.

Promise me that as soon as we hang up, you’ll throw on that slinky white sundress we picked out and take yourself to the bar.

When you get there, you’re going to sit at the bar—that’s a neon sign that says ‘My hoohah is open for business’—and order yourself an umbrella drink. ”

Lexi burst out with a laugh. “My hoohah is open for business? Anna, I’m not selling the goods.”

“Well, you’re advertising them. Especially after getting that Brazilian.”

“It wasn’t a Brazilian. It was a French bikini wax.” And it hurt like hell.

“Okay, how about this for your delicate sensibilities? ‘Down for love with the right slab of man meat. Applicants apply here.’ Does that sound better?”

“Not by much,” Lexi snorted. God, she missed her friend!

“That way you can interview the best candidates and pick from the bunch,” Anna reasoned. “Or, if you have multiple choices that are too yummy to resist, schedule one for each night of the week. Better yet, set yourself up with a reverse harem.”

“You’ve been reading too many smutty novels,” Lexi deadpanned.

“Something you should consider, my friend, instead of your syrupy sweet historical romances, where the heroine faints the moment the hero dares to kiss her gloved hand. Real people don’t behave that chastely, you know.”

“They did in the nineteenth century,” Lexi sniffed. “Besides, I don’t remember how to flirt.”

“Watch a YouTube video.”

Lexi’s heart sank. “I wish you were here. I need you to hold my confidence up.”

“I wish I could be there too, sweetie, but you don’t need me to hold up your confidence.

Lex, you are an incredible woman who simply needs to find that gear inside herself and get it rolling again.

And you know what? You took the first step by going to Destiny on your own.

I’m really proud of you for that. And I believe down in my bones that good things are coming your way. ”

“Thanks, babe. You’re the best.”

“Now stop stalling and get down to the bar! Wanton Woman is on tonight!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lexi chuckled.

“And send pictures!”

“The only pictures I’m sending are of the delicious fruity drinks.”

They hung up, and Lexi piled her hair on top of her head before taking a quick shower to wash off the stickiness of travel and the humid air.

In the drawer she’d designated for underwear, she pulled out the beautiful black lace thong and bra set she had planned to wear on her wedding night.

She forced back a surge of regret. She’d cried a river over Conrad, and he hadn’t deserved a single one of her tears.

Nor did he deserve the head space she was currently giving him to rain all over her idyllic honeymoon for one, so she banished the jerk.

As for the sexy undies, she didn’t plan on showing them to anyone, but she wanted to feel beautiful and feminine.

After reapplying her makeup and spritzing on some perfume, she shimmied into the dress and slipped on her backup pair of high-heeled sandals.

Not as practical as the first pair and probably too fancy for the hotel’s laid-back vibe, but they added length to her legs and pushed her height from five three to five six. She was practically an .

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, and maybe you’ll believe it.

It was time to hit the meat market and fortify her nerves with some liquid courage … and a nudge from Wanton Woman.