Across the Line (In The Zone) by Kate Willoughby Read Free Book Online

brushing off the adoration. Luckily, they’d chosen the slow period between lunch and dinner, so Becca didn’t mind. She kept an eye on the customers who did come in, watching for signs of irritation, but no one seemed upset. She also monitored Savannah to make sure she didn’t shirk her duties, but she was, as always, an exemplary worker.
    It turned out to be a good thing that Becca was in the café instead of off with Calder. She was in her cubbyhole office going over the food order for the next week when whispering in the hallway caught her attention. Just as she was getting up to go see what was going on, Savannah poked her head in.
    “Hey, can you come here for a sec? There’s something I think you should see.”
    Savannah led Becca to the back of the restaurant outside. “I was cleaning out the trash can like I said I would and I saw that.” She pointed at a small plastic box set along the wall. “Isn’t that like a rodent trap?”
    “It isn’t like a rodent trap. It is a rodent trap,” Becca said.
    “That’s what I thought,” Savannah answered with a disgusted look on her face. “We keep the place scrupulously clean so I think it’s the place next door.”
    “Donuts ’N’ More?”
    “Yeah. Do you ever go in there? It’s dirty. The tables, the window ledges, the ceiling fan...all covered with dust.”
    Becca shrugged. She didn’t want to bad-mouth the old couple next door, but they could do a better job keeping up the place, that was for sure.
    When they went back inside, Becca saw Calder at the counter. “Is His Majesty finished holding court?” she asked him with a smile.
    “His Majesty would actually like to see you in your office, if that’s okay.”
    Curious, she showed him in. “What’s up?” They stood because there was only one chair.
    “I want to ask you something,” he said. He wouldn’t meet her eyes and that made her uneasy.
    “Shoot.”
    “I feel stupid asking this, but you wouldn’t happen to want to watch me play hockey, would you?” He glanced up, uncertainty wrinkling his forehead. “Like...tonight?”
    “Tonight?” For a moment, she got confused. It wasn’t hockey season. Then she realized. “Oh, I get it. You want to go play with Oliver and the guys.”
    A little-boy smile tilted his lips. “Can I? Please?” He bent his head to give her a more intense imploring look. “I haven’t played hockey since November of last year.”
    “And you’ve missed it.”
    “Like you wouldn’t believe.” His demeanor went from playful to serious. “The surgery and the rehab wasn’t nearly as bad as having to watch my team play seventy-one games without me.”
    Becca had never played a team sport. She’d never played any sport outside of gym class. Her parents didn’t approve of sports. Every moment of Becca’s spare time was spent studying, reading and practicing the piano. But she could hear in his voice how much he wanted to play tonight.
    “Calder, I’m not your mom. You don’t have to ask permission.”
    “I know,” he said, “but I pretty much bailed on you in the middle of our lunch date, which was really shitty of me.” Putting his hands on her waist, he took a step closer. “But I still want you to come watch because I really liked coming here and seeing your restaurant. I learned a lot about you, how passionate you are about your food, your business, everything, and it’d be cool if you could, you know...understand more about what hockey is to me.”
    “Calder...” That sounded like a “we’ve been seeing each other for a while and I want to take it to the next level” speech. She wasn’t ready for that. Nor was she ready for the physicality he brought to the conversation.
    She suddenly felt extremely feminine. It wasn’t just that he stood a full head taller than her or that he seemed powerful enough to break down a door. It was something intangible. Testosterone, maybe. Or pheromones. Maybe he gave off an abnormal amount of pheromones and