Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Tank drove past McKenna’s house, searching for parking on her narrow street.
She’d texted him the address that morning reluctantly, initially insisting she could meet him at the gala, but finally relenting when he pointed out there would be lots of opportunities for him to say the wrong thing if left alone on the red carpet.
Obviously he wouldn’t, but he decided to use Benny’s lack of faith in his intelligence to his own benefit.
Because he wanted to see where McKenna lived.
While Tank had bought a large condo on the waterfront after signing with the Rays, McKenna was currently renting a small townhouse on a narrow side street much farther away from the Inner Harbor.
Tank had lived in Baltimore for six years, but he’d never been in this part of the city.
He had to admit, he was impressed. Obviously, the townhomes housed people living on budgets considerably smaller than his own, but it was still a nice area with well-kept houses and tree-lined sidewalks.
What wasn’t great was the parking. He’d gone nearly a full block past her house before he found a spot where he could parallel park.
There were plenty of sections of Baltimore where Tank wouldn’t even consider leaving his baby—aka, his Audi R8—but he’d be fine to park it here for a few minutes. He stepped out and engaged the locks, walking back in the direction of McKenna’s house.
It had been two weeks since his return to the ice, and it felt amazing to be back in the game. His teammates had been very supportive throughout his suspension, but that didn’t help the fact he felt like shit for missing six games.
McKenna’s positive promotional posts had been making the rounds, and he’d started to see less negative comments circulating.
In addition to her posts, several pictures of him and McKenna had hit social media, as well.
One of the parents from the signing with the Pee Wee team had filmed him chasing McKenna around the ice.
She’d even gotten the impromptu kiss on the cheek.
The mom had uploaded it to TikTok, including the hashtag #cutestcouple.
Because TikTok apparently had a hard-on for him after the damn viral video—McKenna explained it was the algorithms—the mother’s video had gotten quite a few views itself.
McKenna hadn’t been thrilled when he’d pointed it out to her, but Benny hadn’t seen it as a bad thing, which was a surprise and a relief.
Then Benny reminded him—a-fucking-gain—that a lot of the Stingrays’ biggest sponsors would be in attendance tonight and Tank should be on his best behavior.
He got pissed every time Benny said shit like that, because it made him feel like he was some naughty toddler. He wasn’t a fucking idiot.
Of course, the second he thought that, he recalled that he’d taken Lara and Emily to the last fancy fundraiser he’d attended in the fall…
and after way too much champagne, the three of them had given new meaning to the term “dirty dancing.” So he begrudgingly decided that maybe the reminders were justified.
Tank climbed the three steps to the small front landing in front of McKenna’s townhouse, but before he could knock on the door, it swung open.
Tank’s eyes widened because…
Holy.
Fuck.
“Mouse?”
McKenna frowned, confused by his tone. “Who else were you expecting?”
Tank couldn’t stop himself from blowing a low whistle. “Jesus Christ. You look gorgeous.”
Her cheeks instantly grew pink, which only made her look even hotter, as far as he was concerned. Tank had had no idea before her that blushing was a total turn-on for him. The women he usually dated were experienced, confident, and oozing with sex appeal, so blushing wasn’t something they did.
He wouldn’t have thought McKenna ticked any of those boxes until a few weeks ago, certain that she was just what his first impression had told him.
Awkward introvert.
Now, he knew better. He’d seen her confidence up close and personal…at least as far as her job was concerned. She knew her shit when it came to work, and she didn’t cower or remain quiet about her thoughts and opinions.
As for sex appeal…
His gaze slid along her body once more, taking in the visual feast.
She might be the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. And that was saying something.
“You have a waist.”
If Tank could have swallowed those words back he would have, because what kind of stupid line was that?
McKenna, however, didn’t take offense. Instead, she rewarded him for idiocy by treating him to one of those eye rolls of hers.
“Ha ha,” she said.
“Seriously,” he said, taking one of her hands in his, playfully spinning her around.
McKenna’s work wardrobe consisted of baggy shirts—either blouses or her funny graphic T-shirts—loose-fitting pants or mom jeans, and always topped by one of what had to be a million oversized cardigan sweaters she owned.
He’d never—NEVER—seen her dressed in anything that told him she had a body that looked like this. She had a legit hourglass figure with decent-sized tits—where the hell had those come from?—and hips that offered a man plenty to hold on to.
And while her figure was mouth-wateringly gorgeous, he didn’t take as much time to admire it as he normally might because he was too fixated on her face.
“Where are your glasses?” he asked.
She pointed to her eyes. “Contacts.”
“Why don’t you wear those all the time?”
McKenna shrugged. “My eyes tend to dry out too quickly with them in, especially if I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. Which, FYI, is ninety percent of my job. Plus,” she grinned, “I’m usually too lazy in the morning to bother with them.
It’s easier to just slap my glasses on and go. ”
Tank chuckled. As good as McKenna looked without her glasses—her bright blue eyes sparkling—he realized he preferred her in them. The thick frames gave off sexy librarian vibes.
“This hair,” he said, aware that with each passing comment, he was coming off as an even bigger buffoon.
She pushed the dark auburn waves over her shoulders. “It’s already driving me mad. I never wear it down because there’s just too much of it and somehow it always ends up in my face.”
Tank couldn’t come up with an intelligent reply to that, because he was too busy imagining himself closing a fist around the wavy tresses as he took her from beh—
Brakes screeched in his brain, because what the fuck?
Why did his mind keep going there with her?
McKenna was not his type. Period.
“Should we go?” Mercifully, she didn’t seem to be suffering from the same case of the stupids he was.
She stepped out onto her porch, and he waited as she locked the door.
It was then that he realized she was taller tonight. Glancing down, he spotted the heels.
“I’m afraid I couldn’t find a spot on the street to park. My car’s about a block away. I can go get it if—”
“Oh, that’s okay,” she assured him, smiling when he offered his arm, the two of them walking down the steps to the sidewalk. “While I rarely dress up, I’m actually pretty good at walking in heels.”
He tightened his crooked elbow to his side, her hand nestled between as they walked down her street.
“Parking is always bad around here, I’m afraid,” she explained.
“There’s only room in front of each townhouse for two smallish cars, and my neighbors on both sides are couples in their mid-forties with older teens still living with them.
So they’re four-car families. Fortunately, they’re super nice and they know I’m a single woman living alone, so they’ve told their kids to always leave one of the spots right in front of my house clear for me. ”
“That is nice.”
“It’s a great neighborhood,” she continued. “I was a little worried about living on my own in the city, but this street’s quiet, with a lot of working families, and everyone looks out for everyone else.”
Tank was glad to hear that, because he knew there were plenty of other parts of the city where he’d worry about McKenna living.
Worry?
Jesus.
Tonight was going to be way too challenging if he kept thinking about McKenna as anything more than a work colleague.
“That’s a pretty dress,” he said, when they reached his Audi and he opened the passenger door for her.
“Thanks.”
He closed the door behind her, quickly crossing around the front of his car to climb behind the steering wheel.
When he started the vehicle, McKenna said, “Blake’s girlfriend, Erika, invited me to go shopping with her and Ainsley when she learned I was attending the gala with you.
I was glad she did, because I wouldn’t have had a clue what to wear.
Ainsley was in the same boat. We’re both new to attending fancy parties like this. ”
Blake and the Rays’ goalie, Coulton, had been the first of Tank’s friend group to fall hard and fast for their ladies, both guys shedding their bachelor statuses in the fall.
Tank hadn’t been surprised at all when Blake fell for his long-time neighbor and best friend, Erika.
In truth, he was shocked it had taken them so damn long to figure out they were perfect for each other.
Coulton had the reputation as being the team’s gentle giant, the quiet guy who’d never shown much interest in women at all.
Which Tank could never understand. Because why be a professional athlete if you weren’t going to take advantage of the perks?
And in Tank’s opinion, puck bunnies were a sweet perk.
Coulton had never agreed, perfectly fine with spending his nights alone until he found “the one.” Which he had after walking into a dive bar in Cherry Hill on a whim and spotting the tough-as-nails bartender Ainsley behind the counter.
Tank never imagined his quiet friend would fall for a tatted-up, curses-like-a-sailor woman, but damn if she and Coulton didn’t fit together perfectly.