Way to go, Shelby. You are so a people person. Always with the right thing to say.

Letting out a sigh, she went into her own room so she could shower off the flight and maybe—just maybe—get her head on straight before she had to spend the evening with a hot, surly hockey player she absolutely for sure wanted nothing to do with beyond a professional work relationship.

Really.

For sure.

Without even an itty-bitty smidgen of doubt.

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

An hour later, Ian walked into the private room of the hotel’s restaurant to find he was the last to arrive. Everyone else was already at the table, enjoying appetizers and gabbing about the Phoenix players they’d be facing off against tomorrow.

Normally, he’d be all on board for some pregame smack talk, but that would be all it would be for him because of his stupid thumb injury. He wasn’t even wearing a brace anymore, just some wimpy little bandages that declared what a dumbass he was for tripping over his own big feet. It barely hurt anymore; he had range of motion back—okay, mostly back. All he had to do was talk Doc into giving him the okay.

How hard could that be?

Spotting the free seat by the team doc, Ian made his way over to the table. It had to be a sign from above. This was gonna happen. He was getting back on the ice, and then that nagging sense of not being enough would shut the fuck up.

“Heya, Doc.” Ian pulled out the empty chair. “Anyone sitting here?”

Doc, an older guy with not even a hint of hair on his perfectly round pale-pink head, looked up at him. “Not you, I’m afraid.”

What the hell? How had he turned an affable guy like Doc against him?

Before he could ask, Lucy walked up with Freya in her arms. The chubby little baby gave him a huge gummy smile, showing off one tooth starting to come in.

“What Doc means is that your reservation is for that table over there.” Lucy pointed to a three-person table in the corner.

One that Christensen and Shelby were already sitting at. Shelby was listening to whatever bullshit story Christensen was telling her with utter rapt attention, a soft smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. Ian was grinding his molars together before he even took the first step toward them.

Christensen was like this with every woman. It had barely registered with Ian until now—until Shelby. Gaze locked on Shelby, the way her lips had curled into a half smile as if Christensen was the most fascinating person ever, he marched past the long table of Ice Knights players who weren’t in PR hell.