Last Chance Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

had scholarship offers. Your father is very proud of you.”
    “Was,” she corrected him. “He was proud of me before I did a one-eighty and decided to pursue something besides the family legacy.” Stuffing an arm through each arm of her coat, she winced as she strained a rib.
    “Slow down.” J.C. struggled to hold a crutch and help her with her coat at the same time. “Damn, but you’re still packing a temper.”
    “At least I don’t throw down my gloves and fight when life ticks me off.” She’d certainly been applauded for “standing her ground” that way when she’d played for her dad. “That’s more than I can say for some people.”
    “I’ll have you know I’m logging a record low number of penalty minutes this season.” He settled her coat on her shoulders and slid a hand under her hair to tug it free.
    Distracting her with his sexiness, damn him.
    He stood much too close.
    “That’s because you’re sidelined with a concussion this season. Do I look like I was born yesterday?” She fumed, hating the way her skin heated just because he was next to her. Just because she wanted him to touch her again in spite of everything.
    “No, Shea Walker.” He looped her scarf over her head and kept a hold on the ends, keeping her close. “You do not look like you were born yesterday. You look…” His gaze dropped to her body, taking a slow, scenic detour that should have ticked her off but only succeeded in setting her on fire. “…really, really good.”
    A million responses cartwheeled through her brain.
    She couldn’t seem to form words though, since her mind was too preoccupied with what J.C. might do next. His hands stayed locked on her scarf, his knuckles resting just above her breasts through the barrier of her wool coat. His powerful thighs brushed hers as he shifted from one foot to the other, shuffling a step nearer…
    “Hey, J.C.!” The bartender shouted. “If that car with Virginia plates belongs to you, the cops are ready to tow it out front.”
    With a soft curse, he stepped back again.
    “That’s me. I’m on it.” He waved a hand in acknowledgement while Shea tried to collect her wits.
    How could she get all worked up over him again?
    “I had a feeling that parking spot out front looked too good to be true.” She took her crutches from where he’d leaned them against the table.
    “I couldn’t let you hobble through snow, could I?” He jogged ahead of her to hold the door leading out into the dark, snowy night.
    She ducked her head into the wind as she moved carefully down the icy walk. J.C. was already charming the local cop, a young man who recognized him on sight—no doubt a hockey fan like everyone else in Cloud Spin. Winter games of all sorts were the life blood of the town, one of many reasons she’d left. When she’d lived here, her whole life had been hockey—her father made sure of it.
    But seeing the officer shake J.C.’s hand and remembering the grateful look on Mrs. Elliot’s face earlier, she had already witnessed some of the positive side of the sport. It was easier to look beyond the injuries and the toll it had exacted on her relationships now that she’d been away from it for a good long time. But had her father forgiven her for turning her back on his hockey dreams for her? He’d staked out a plan to get her on the women’s national team by the time she was five, and she’d been on track to do it too…
    She hadn’t wanted to live his dreams though. She’d had her own and she’d left town to follow them. It was long overdue for her to smooth things over with her past.
    And it couldn’t hurt to close the book on her tumultuous past with J.C.
    By the time she arrived at her rental car, J.C. was signing an autograph for the cop’s kid since the officer had graduated a few years after J.C. Shea waited under a lighted street decoration of an angel carrying a snowflake, thinking some of the Christmas spirit must have found her in spite of the run