They’d left the hotel early the next morning, because their next game was against Tampa Bay Lightning. The flight wasn’t long, but they wanted to practice today again before the game in the evening, talk about some strategies.
Benoit propped up the book on his legs and watched Kara intently. She was in the row in front of him across the aisle, busy with her calendar. There were four pens in different colors and she was writing something down on different pages. No, he wouldn’t ask her what she was doing.
He hadn’t seen her again the night before. In fact he’d only seen her when they’d boarded the bus to the airport. She hadn’t even looked at him. Then again, she had seemed really busy with her mobile phone.
He wanted, no, needed to talk to her about last night so badly, but they had to be alone for that. He couldn’t talk to her about that kiss in front of the whole team on an airplane, could he? It was nobody else’s business.
It was a fact that he’d played one of his best games the night before. He’d scored two goals and had two assists. Number one star of the game. He wasn’t really superstitious, but that kiss had certainly motivated him in some way. While he had been on the ice, he’d concentrated on the game. On the bench he’d looked Kara’s way several times to see her follow the game.
After the game the locker room had been swamped with reporters and he hadn’t seen Kara anywhere. Neither had the others because he’d heard Soupy ask around. Coach Julien had told them that she’d be there.
“What are you doing there?” Benoit finally gave in to his curiosity and asked Kara. He leaned towards her to get a better look at her calendar.
Kara jumped a little in her seat. Her purse along with three books was on the vacant seat next to her. She’d been so absorbed in her planning that she’d forgotten where she was for a moment. Slowly she turned around and looked at Benoit, her pulse quickening immediately. “Just planning the next weeks around your games, because I’ll have someone at my apartment for nearly two weeks.”
What? Who would be staying at her apartment?
The smile on her face made Benoit want to shake her and make her tell who that person was. She looked so happy. “Who’s staying with you?” There, he’d asked her. Everyone else would have asked as well.
“A really good friend of mine.” Kara closed her calendar and put all her belongings back in her purse. They were nearly there. “Her name is Mika and she’d actually a huge hockey fan. I’ve known her for more than five years now and she’s coming to visit me from Los Angeles.”
“That sounds great.” Better than he’d admit. It wasn’t some random guy, but a friend, a female friend, who was staying with her. Why did he even worry about this? “Are you taking her to the games then?”
“I’m pretty sure she’d love to go, so, as long as it’s okay with everyone I’ll bring her along.”
Benoit was pretty sure that nobody would mind. They’d adopted Kara to the group quickly and they would probably do the same with her friend Mika, as long as she wasn’t a Habs fan.

They’d lost the game.
Kara couldn’t believe it when she entered her room at the hotel and pulled the jersey over her head. The guys had played so well, but in the second period Rich Peverley had been hurt and hadn’t returned to the ice. They’d found out that he had a hyperextension of the ligaments in his right knee (I hope that was correct because the dictionary is no big help and in German it is one word). He returned to Boston the same evening and would have to sit out the following games.
Claude Julien hadn’t let the media talk to the team that evening, so Kara had waited to drive back together with them. In complete silence. She hadn’t said a word to one of them and they hadn’t even talked to each other because they’d been so frustrated. After Peverley had been out, Tampa Bay had scored and that had been the only goal in the whole game.
Kara wasn’t yet ready to go to sleep. She wasn’t tired and she didn’t have any work to do, because she’d worked her ass off the previous day. The indoor pool at the hotel was open until at least one in the morning and it was now quarter to eleven. Swimming sounded like a really good idea right now.
She took the black polka-dot bikini out of her suitcase and changed into it. Quickly she removed the mascara from her eyes because she didn’t want to look like a clown in the water. What did she need? A towel and her keycard. She put on the bath robe from the hotel and tied the belt into a knot.
When she got down to the pool she saw some of the players in the water and smiled at them. She hadn’t expected them to be down here. They would be leaving the next day in the late afternoon, but she’d thought that the guys might want to go to bed or grab a beer, not go swimming. Not that she minded, she just hadn’t expected that.
“Hey Kara.” Soupy was sitting on one of the deck chairs looking up at her. “What are you doing down here?” Slowly he got up, so Kara got a good look at his glorious body. She reminded herself not to stare and looked up at his face. What was she doing here? A frown appeared on her face. “Stupid question. I’m just a bit surprised to see you here.”
“Well, and I’m surprised to see so many of you here.”
“Yeah, we decided to cool off a bit after the game, since we don’t have to be up early tomorrow.” He pushed back his wet hair and looked behind Kara for a second before diverting his attention to her again. “The chair on my left is still vacant. Why don’t you join us?”
It would have been rude to not join them, so Kara nodded and put down her towel and the keycard. She would spend most of her time in the water anyway and leave at twelve at the latest. She couldn’t wait to get into the water.
“What are you doing down here?” His voice sent a little shiver down her spine. When she’d first met Benoit she hadn’t really thought about him at all, but that had quickly changed.
Turning around she looked straight at his chin. Intuitively she took a step back and nearly collapsed to the ground. Dark nipples were hidden in his chest hair. It wasn’t too much and not too little, just the way Kara liked it. She couldn’t stop herself from checking his body out, his defined arms, the tattoo on his forearm in honor of his father, his abs and especially the small happy trail that vanished into his swimming trunks.
Look at his face you nitwit!
Looking up again she put a little smile on and said: “Going for a little swim. I wasn’t tired and it sounded like a good idea.”
“It sure is,” Gregory chimed in, putting the book he’d been reading before down. “Swimming is always a good idea.” He walked past them to jump right into the water.
Kara had to smile at Gregory. She would do exactly the same in a few seconds. Well aware of being watched by Benoit, which made her a little self-conscious, she undid her belt, shrugged out of the bathrobe and turned around to walk to the edge of the pool.
“What is that?” She felt Benoit’s long fingers on her shoulder, making her stop immediately. He traced a finger along her neck and her spine. Closing her eyes for a moment she tried to concentrate. “What does this tattoo mean?”
Kara took a step away from him, making his hands fall to his sides. Two years ago she’d gotten a tattoo of a bowknot in red and black with the words Carpe Diem beneath it. “The words are self explanatory. The bowknot symbolizes life in some way. It’s the bowknot on a present. Every day you live is a present and you should cherish it.” She loved her tattoo. It was between her shoulder blades and she’d never regretted getting it. Seeing people leave you in life too early makes you realize how precious every day is.
Now she definitely had to get into the water or rather away from Benoit before she crumbled to the floor. With one swift motion she jumped into the water, stayed underwater for a short moment and then came up to get some air. She pushed her hair away from her face. The cool water calmed her down a little bit. Swimming a couple of laps would get her mind off things.
And it really worked. She’d swum laps for nearly an hour when she finally stopped and held onto the pool edge. A smile was playing on her lips until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Gregory who stood right next to her. Of course they were able to touch the ground with their feet. She could only reach it with the tip of her toes.
“Are you tired yet?” Greg asked her, a wicked smile on his lips.
“Not really, why?” She eyed him suspiciously. Something definitely was up.
“Then maybe we should try to catch you.” Only Greg and Benoit were still there. Some of the other guys had gone to their rooms, while Horton and Lucic had decided to spend some time in the Jacuzzi.
“What are you? Five?” That was a good joke. Really funny.
“No, but I’ll count to five.”
“Oh, come on.”
“One.”
“Soupy, stop it, I mean it.”
“Two.”
“Are you serious?!”
“Three.”
He was serious. Oh God!
Kara pushed away from the pool edge and swam to the middle. Where was she supposed to go now? It was two against one and there was not really a place to hide. She looked around and saw something. It was like a smaller pool attached to the bigger one, but with a few pillars and whatnot. She couldn’t really describe it, but it looked nice and would give her a place to hide from them.
She dove as far as she could and was proud of herself when she came up for air behind one of the pillars. Now she had time to breathe and calm down again. Every so slowly she started grinning to herself. It might have been a juvenile idea from Campbell, but she liked it. She felt like a child again, even if only for a minute or so.
“Gotcha!”
She cringed when she felt Benoit’s strong hands on her sides. Of course he would find her. Carefully he turned her around so that she faced him. Her breathing was a bit ragged, making her chest heave.
“You know, after that kiss I played one of the best games of my entire career.” He spoke in a low voice, pulling her a little closer. “Today you didn’t kiss me and we lost. From now on, you’ll have to kiss my before every game. Do it for the team.”
This made her chuckle. Finally she relaxed a little and put her hands on his chest, combing her fingers through the fine chest hair. “And what if you lose?”
“Well, then it won’t be your fault. Someone else will have screwed up.” Benoit couldn’t resist. He put one hand down on her butt. That bikini was driving him crazy. He didn’t know what he wanted more: look at her in that bikini, seeing her puckered nipples through the fabric, or kiss her senseless.
When he saw the smile on her lips that displayed the dimple in her right cheek, he didn’t have to think about it anymore. He rocked his mouth over hers, fanning his fingers out over her side and holding her in place.
Kara’s fingers flexed against his chest. Yesterday had been good, but this was even better. His tongue dipped in her mouth, caressing her tongue, her lips. It seemed like Benoit could set her body on fire with the slightest touch.
Kara ran her hands across his broad chest, over his shoulders and back down to his abdomen. Her former boyfriends had had nice bodies, but she’d never felt a body like Benoit’s under her fingers. She moaned against his lips, but then she thought she’d heard her name.
“Shit”, Benny muttered under his breath, keeping his hands still. “You should probably go to your room now.”
“What?” Kara blinked a few times and tried to make sense of his words.
“Soupy is looking for us. You should go ahead. I have to swim a few laps before I can get out of the water.”
“What? Why?” Kara was utterly confused. Her brain wasn’t ready to function properly again just yet. She needed a few more moments. Benoit pulled her close, pressing his erection against her stomach and making her whimper with that motion. “Oh, I see.” Breathe, Kara, breathe. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She pressed a kiss to his chin and slowly moved away.
“There you are!” Soupy exclaimed as soon as he saw her. She still couldn’t think straight but managed a smile as well as a yawn.
“Yeah. I found a good place to hide.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned again. “But now I’m definitely ready to go to bed.”
“Oh, okay.” Soupy eyed for a moment. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Kara.”
“Good night.” Kara kissed his cheek before she proceeded to climb out of the water, grab her belongings and practically run to her room.