Gold Hockey

This is her shot. Brit has the chance to make history by being the first female goalie to play for an NHL team, the San Francisco Gold. So, when she is introduced to Stefan, the Gold's captain, she is determinedly not interested. Stefan is sexy, charming, and has a publicly documented list of conquests a mile long. Brit is unwilling to risk mixing business with pleasure, even when that business is wrapped up in a six-foot-plus, gorgeously muscled package. When management pushes Brit and Stefan together in an effort to gain good press for the beleaguered team, Brit finds that her carefully calculated disinterest doesn't mask her body's desires. The more she falls for Stefan, the more she risks her career. Will she be able to have it all-a starting position and the heart of the captain? Or will she lose everything?

Mike Stewart is a bad boy. Sleeping around. Boozing. Fighting with teammates. Name a bad behavior and he's done it-done it so well, in fact, that he almost tanked his career as a starting defensemen for the NHL's San Francisco Gold. But Mike is done with all that. He's starting with a fresh foot forward and putting his past behind him. That is, until his past quite literally reappears before his eyes. Sara Jetty is just as beautiful as she was a decade before, but Mike hasn't seen her since she left for her first Olympics and scored a gold medal in women's figure skating. Now something has put shadows in her eyes, a familiar type of hurt he is all too well versed in. This Sara wants nothing to do with him. Their easy friendship is gone and in its place is a hardened woman who's nothing like the girl from his past. Still, Mike hasn't become a top defensemen in the NHL by being afraid of hard work, and he isn't about to let Sara push him away. Come hell or high water, he's going to crack her tough outer shell and find the sweet, innocent woman he's lusted after and loved, in equal measure, for more than ten years.

Muscles. Mandy's work was supposed to be regulated to muscles. Well, muscles and ligaments and tendons . . . and general body health and- Sigh. She was blabbering as usual, but muscles combined with lips that were way too kissable and a pair of sharp blue eyes that pierced right through all of her carefully erected defenses had a way of doing that to a girl. Blane was her fantasy-literally her nightly fantasy. He was sexy, strong, talented, and normally she would have thrown herself at his feet and begged for a night-or, cough, more-showing him exactly what that fantasy was. But that would mean she would get fired . . . and worse, so would he. She couldn't have that on her conscience, not when Blane was a gifted player for the San Francisco Gold. Plus, he was a professional athlete and their relationships were doomed to fail. Mandy knew that firsthand and she also knew she couldn't live that life. Always being the one left behind, always way down on the priority list. Hockey was his job and it was all consuming. That was reality and everything was fine- Until Blane got hurt. Until she was spending more time with him. Much more time. Until Blane told her she was his fantasy too.

Max Montgomery was at the height of his career, playing the best hockey of his life, and lucky enough to have a starting spot on a team that was actually a contender for the Cup. And one by one his friends were falling in love. Love. Now that was a dirty four-letter word if he'd ever heard one. Max had experienced love and all of its aftereffects and where had that gotten him? Lonely, living in an apartment, and paying alimony to a woman who'd left him at the merest sign of a hiccup in their marriage. His only bright spot was his son. Brayden had moved back in with him a few months ago, after his mother had taken off to God knew where. Max loved having him home, but with his son only seven and him on the road for forty-two games a year, they'd struggled. Still, they'd found a way to make it work. But then Brayden threw Max a completely new curveball. He wanted Max to find a wife. Max had been there, done that, got the crappy T-shirt as a souvenir. No way would he make himself vulnerable like that again, no matter how much his son wanted it. A puppy was a perfectly viable alternative, right? At least that was what he'd been thinking until he met Angelica Shallows, sister to the team's Physical Therapist guru, Mandy, and a brilliant engineer in her own right. She was gorgeous, smart, but had shadows in her eyes. Max knew all about shadows, knew they were meant as a sign for him to stay away. What was that about the best intentions paving the road to hell? Max may have wanted to stay away, may have wanted to abide the warning signs in Angie's eyes, but- The real trouble began when found that he couldn't do either of those things.

It was hate at first sight. Just not for Blue. He'd loved what he'd seen. Tall and thin with long blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes, Anna Hayes was absolutely beautiful. She also wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. As a professional hockey player, that was a rare thing for Blue Anderson. He was young, rich, good looking, and in the best shape of his life. He wouldn't say he had to beat women off with a stick, but . . . maybe he had to brush them off with a broom. Still, bad puns aside, the truth was Blue didn't have any trouble finding someone-or someones-to share his bed. Except Anna. Never beautiful Anna with the razor-sharp wit and seriously dirty mouth. Despite his appreciation for her model good looks, Blue knew when to stay away. And his plan was to remain far far away from the woman who never failed to roast him within an inch of his life. He wanted someone nice, not a woman who'd barbecue his balls off. But then Blue did something stupid-something that felt incredible, but was also incredibly stupid. He kissed prickly, gorgeous Anna Hayes. And every one of his carefully laid plans went right out the window.

He was too young for her. A decade too young. Rebecca Stravokraus was the top publicist in the professional sports. She was extremely smart, capable, and could spin a story like a spider spins its web. But there was one thing she couldn't do. L.O.V.E. Except…then Kevin declared that Rebecca was what he wanted. That couldn't be. Not now. Not ever. But Kevin had decided on her and if there was one thing she'd learned about stubborn, alpha hockey players, it was that they didn't give up. And Rebecca had to admit that in this case she didn't want him to.

She was in love with him. The worst part? He knew. It was Rebecca's job to help keep the players on the San Francisco Gold healthy and she was damned good at it. Unfortunately, not everyone thought her contributions were important. In fact, some people-cough one Dr. Gabe Carter-thought her position with the team was unnecessary. Well, he was a jerk. She didn't like him or care about his opinions and she definitely wasn't in love with him. Definitely hadn't been in love with him the moment she'd laid eyes on him- Sigh. She definitely was. And to make matters worse? Gabe knew.

He was about to be traded. And the woman he loved would be left behind. Liam Williamson's family was legend in the NHL, but he hadn't lived up to the family name. He'd been traded to four teams in as many years, and it was widely accepted that his career was nearly at an end. Then he met Mia. She was tough with a sweet center and the most incredible woman he'd ever laid eyes on. Unsurprisingly, he'd fallen and fallen fast. But Mia lived in San Francisco. Her whole life was there… And how in the hell was he going to leave the woman he loved?