“Good idea,” Kara agreed and finally started on her steak. It tasted delicious, but she was distracted by the person sitting opposite her. “What do you do for fun then? Except for working out of course.”
Benoit smiled to himself. She already knew that he enjoyed pool billiard and had a table at home. They would have to meet at his place so that he could show her a couple of tricks. They’d talked about this before.
Apart from that he told her that he read quite a lot. It wasn’t a secret after all. Naturally she wanted to know his favorite author. He didn’t even have to think about it: “Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson. My Dad introduced me to the books years ago and ever since then I’ve been hooked.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” She frowned at him, putting her knife and fork down.
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Unglaublich.”
“What?” Now it was Benny’s turn to frown at her.
“Nothing.” Kara shook her head, taking a deep breath. “It’s just that Patricia Cornwell is the reason why I started writing. Of course what I wrote years ago was a bit different from what I am writing today, but still. That’s the way it started and I wasn’t able to shake the crime or thriller writer off. I still need this in my books.”
“Where do you even get your inspiration for your books?” He was dying to know this. Had she experienced the things she wrote about herself? He was reading her second book now and couldn’t stop himself from imagining Kara in the scenes he read. And that he wanted to do those things to her himself.
“I do a lot of research like I do now with hockey. I read books, I look up things online and I do ‘field work’.”
“So, the scenes are based on your own experiences?” He didn’t even know why he wanted to know this so badly. Oh, wait, to know that these images were not only in his imagination but existed or could exist in reality.
“Which scenes?” She looked up again, completely innocent, but blushed when she realized what he was talking about. “Well, little of this really happened so far. It’s mostly my imagination, which was one reason why my ex-boyfriend freaked out sometimes.”
“What? Why?” He was baffled.
“Because we thought about this topic differently.” Why was she even talking about this with Benoit Pouliot of all people? “He was okay with how things were going, I wanted a little change. He was afraid he would end up in one of my books, bit I’d never do that. In the end he said I was to kinky and shouldn’t write stuff like this. He didn’t realize that fiction and reality were two completely different things.”
“Good that you’re not with this jerk-off anymore.” Benny shook his head in disbelief. Really? REALLY? That guy must have been out of his mind. Or boring. Probably both. “He didn’t deserve you. It takes a real man to make you happy.”
“What are you doing here?”
Both of them nearly jumped out of their seats and turned around. Gregory was standing next to their table looking confused and a little tired.
“I could ask you the same question.” Benny cocked his head to one side and studied his friend and teammate. “I thought you were out with the guys.”
“Yeah, I was. But I decided it might be better to get back to the hotel. It was boring.” He shook his head and sat down on one of the vacant chairs. “Now back to you.” He eyed them suspiciously. Something was definitely going on.
Kara smiled at him and pushed the nearly empty plate a bit away from her. “I went down here to grab something to eat. When I saw Benoit I asked to join him. Why eat alone when we can eat in company?”
“That’s a good point, Kara.” Greg grinned at her.
“And now I should get back to work.” Carefully she got up and looked at the two men. Thanks, Benny, for the nice conversation.”
“Anytime.”
Both men watched her walk away. As soon as Kara had vanished around the corner, Soupy turned around again. “What is going on with you two?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Benoit,” Greg said, raising an eyebrow. “You can’t tell me that there’s nothing. I like her and I just don’t want to see her hurt.”
“I do not intend to hurt her.” This was ridiculous. Soupy should know him well enough to know that he would never hurt Kara on purpose. “I won’t do anything against her will.”
“Good.”

The next time Kara saw the guys was the following evening in the locker room. She’d agreed with Benoit to kiss him before the game. Now that she was here, she wasn’t so sure about this anymore. The first two kisses had been a bit unexpected, there hadn’t been a lot of thinking involved. Now that she sat here and everyone was filing out of the room to take the ice again, she started to overthink everything again.
She should probably just go along with the guys. That way Benoit wouldn’t get a chance to stop her. He wouldn’t stop her in front of everyone else, would he? Now she wasn’t so sure about this anymore.
When her mind finally shut up she found herself alone in the room with Benoit, who looked even bigger than usual because of the hockey gear. She should be used to this by now, but she wasn’t.
When he walked across the room directly towards her, her pulse quickened. The hint of a smile and the look in his eyes were so sexual that she had to squeeze her legs together. She wanted to touch his hair, his neck and all the other body parts hidden by his jersey. It had been a long time since she’d wanted this so badly, but usually her brain started working quickly enough to keep her from making any stupid decisions.
He stopped directly in front of her, making her tip her head back so that she could look him in the eyes. Her lips parted slightly. Carefully he pushed her bangs out of her face and brushed his lips over hers. He did it again, once more and then forced himself to leave it at that. Oh, the things he wanted to do with her right then.
“Good Luck.” Kara mumbled and took a step backwards. The smile on his lips made her smile as well when she left the locker room to take her place in the audience.
Once again it was an intense game. Many penalties, few goals, but in the end the Bruins won 2-1 and could fly home the next day with two wins and one loss.

With a smile on her face Kara left her apartment. She’d just finished cleaning when it was time to pick Mika up from the airport. Her office was crammed with books, the walls covered in post-its as usual, but that didn’t matter. The important thing was that her living room, the kitchen and dining area as well as the guest room were tidy and clean. Mika would have the guest room all to herself. She probably wouldn’t sleep in there the first night, maybe not even the second, but she had the possibility to be alone if she wanted to.
They had so much to talk about, though Kara was sure that she’d have to do most of the talking. On the romantic front nothing had happened in the last few months in Mika’s life. They both knew what was going on in the other one’s life, but Kara still had to tell her friend about everything Benoit related. She’d told her about the first two kisses, but Mika didn’t know anything that had happened since.
They would have the rest of the evening to themselves. Kara had already prepared dinner and they’d eat when they got back, sit down with a cool beer and talk. The next day they’d go to the matinee game against the Buffalo Sabres, maybe even meet up with the guys later that day. It would be good. That way Mika would get to know Benoit and the others off the ice and she could tell Kara what she thought of them.
It didn’t take her that long to get to Logan International Airport. She parked her car and looked for the gate where Mika would arrive. She’d written it on the back of her left hand so that she wouldn’t forget. Luckily there weren’t that many people right now so it was easy to spot her when she came out, suitcase behind her and a huge purse on her shoulder.
“MIKA!” she practically screamed and ran towards her friend.
Mika turned around, looking for her. She dropped everything, but didn’t have to walk or run far until she was in Kara’s arms. They hadn’t seen each other in months and it was so good to finally be together again. They were friends, but they felt more like sisters. They’d gone through so much together, helped each other when they were close to giving up and shared happy moments. Lots of them.
“It’s so good to see you.” Kara held back the tears. She wouldn’t cry in public. She was an emotional person, but throughout the last couple of year she’d learned to control her emotions most of the time. She’d had to learn this.
“Let’s get going okay?” Mika smiled up at her friend and gathered her purse again, Kara took the suitcase. “I can’t wait to take off my shoes and get something to eat.”
“Lucky you.” They walked together to the car. “I got everything prepared and just need to put it in the oven. You can take a hat shower while I set the table.”
“That sounds divine.” A little sigh escaped Mika’s lips as she settled down in the passenger seat. They were halfway to Kara’s place when Mika opened her mouth again. “So, what about you and Mister Pouliot?”
Kara cringed. She looked at Mika, then back at the street. “Can we not wait till later with this? Until we’ve had something to eat and have a beer in hand or something?”
“Fine.” Mika crossed her arms and looked out the window at the beautiful city. She loved Boston and she missed it, but her home was now Los Angeles. Sometimes she wanted to go back to Finland and she would do that next year. Visit her mother, meet up with old friends.
“How was your flight?”
“It was okay. I got some ideas, so I spent most of the time sketching them.”
“You’ll have to show them to me later.”
They arrived at Kara’s apartment and got up there pretty quickly. Mika only put the suitcase in the room, grabbed black sweat pants and a pink sweater to put on after her shower. Meanwhile Kara put the food in the oven and set the table. It was actually nice to cook for someone else for a change.
Right as the noise told Kara that dinner was ready, Mika appeared in the kitchen. As usual her Minnesota Wild pendant was hanging on a chain around her neck. She’d been having this ever since Kara could remember.
They started on their food and now Mika couldn’t wait any longer. She had to know what had happened with Benoit Pouliot since the e-mail. “Spill it, missy.”
“Okay, okay. But there isn’t really much to tell to be honest.” Kara took a sip of her beer before she tried to tell Mika everything. “The day after the swimming pool thing we had dinner together. He came by my room because the others were out and asked if I wanted to join him. Better than eating alone.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We talked about my books and my butt.”
“Booty!” Mika couldn’t stop grinning. Ashe already liked the guy.
“Yeah, he said my ass fits perfectly in his hands. And Gregory seems to appreciate it as well. At first I thought this was weird, but it was actually quite nice to hear something like this. It gave me a confidence boost.” She liked her body most of the time, but there were still moments when she felt completely insecure and wasn’t able to look at herself in the mirror. “And then we talked about my books, about my ex and kinda about my sex life.”
“What?” Mika sat up straighter. “How in the world did this happen?” Kara wrote about stuff like this and of course the two of them talked about this, but it had taken Kara a lot of time to talk to her ex-boyfriend about this openly, tell him what she wanted. And then she goes and talks to Benoit Pouliot, a guy she hardly knew, about this?
“Not in detail.” Kara waved a hand in the air. “He asked me where I got my inspiration from and, well, I told him that most of it is my imagination. Some of it actually happened and then I told him the ex-boyfriend story.”
“Kusipää.” (asshole/cunt)
“I know.” Kara had to smile. Mika hadn’t really liked him right from the beginning. “Anyway… he said that it takes a real man to make me happy.”
“What?” For a moment Mika looked confused, but then she broke out in laughter. “Did I tell you that I like this guy already?”
“I figured that much.” Kara put down her fork and took a deep breath. “You’ll probably met him tomorrow.”
“Great. Then I can tell him myself to get in your pants already.” Mika tried to hide her smile behind the beer bottle.
“WHAT?” Kara shrieked. “You will not do that. Oh God it’s already bad enough.”
“Relax, it was just a joke. Do you really think I would do this?”
“You have before.”
“Yes, when we were both drunk and this guy was basically undressing you with his eyes. That was one hell of a night.”
Both women smiled when they remembered their night in Los Angeles not even a year ago.

Before the game Kara had come to the locker room to give Benoit a short kiss for good luck. She’d had to get back to her friend quickly, but Benny had been able to invite them both over for dinner. Some of the guys would be there and he knew that they’d enjoy having her around, not to mention his own thoughts. He couldn’t see enough of her. And he, as well as the others, was curious about her friend. None of them had seen her so far, because they’d been so concentrated on the ice this time that they’d hardly realized anything around them. It had paid off with a 1-0 win over the Sabres.
Tuukka had been amazing in goal that day and really deserved the beer he was holding in his hand. Gregory, Shawn and Patrice were there as well. When the doorbell rang, Benoit excused himself and went to answer it.
“Hey.” Kara was all smiles, when she saw him. “We didn’t know what to bring, so we got beer and wine.”
“Come on in.” He stepped aside to let both women pass. “And you must be Mika. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too.” The younger one said and smiled up at him. The pastel pink undertones in her hair might have looked weird on someone else, but they looked good on her with the rest of her appearance. Skinny jeans, a pink sweater with some kind of print on it. He couldn’t figure out what it was.
While Benoit was looking at Mika, he heard a squeal from the living room. It was obviously coming from Kara. When they both went to the living room, they saw Gregory still lifting Kara and twirling her around a bit. He finally let her down and she was still giggling.
“Did you see my goal? How good was that?” Greg smiled big at her and didn’t even realize the other two in the door.
“Yes, I was there.” Kara patted his shoulder, an affectionate smile on her lips. “You all did really great out there. One of your best games so far.”
“Yeah, but I still had too much to do.” Tuukka spoke up as he entered the room. Shawn and Patrice were still outside by the barbecue.
“Yes and you were amazing as always, bud. Don’t worry, we really know how hard you had to work, but the Sabres were really tough today.” Benoit stepped forward and showed the women to the table. It was too cold to eat outside, so they’d set the table and dinner would be ready any minute now.
“Wait, are we having a barbecue?” Kara turned to face him, a big question mark above her head.
“It’s never too cold to have a barbecue.” Benny shrugged his shoulders, grabbed two bottles of beer and opened them for Mika and Kara. “Besides, Shawn makes the best burgers ever. You won’t be disappointed.”
They sat down at the table, just as Shawn and Patrice came inside, a huge plate of meat in hand.
“Good evening, ladies.” Patrice smiled at them. He went over to Kara, kissed her cheek and then proceeded to introduce himself to Mika. “It is nice to meet you, Mika.” Mika had heard from Kara that Patrice was quite charming, but he topped her imagination with his behavior that evening.
While they were enjoying their meal, they wanted to know more about Mika. Benoit himself was curious as well, but he got distracted by Kara every now and then. It happened all the time and he couldn’t help it. He had to look her way.
“Wait, where from Finland are you from?” Tuukka had to know. Someone else from Finland was here in this room with him and maybe he got the chance to speak Finnish for a change.
“Matinniemi. Born and raised there, but I’ve been in America for a couple of years now.”
“Ei käy!” (No way!) He had to smile at that. “That is not far from where I was born.”
“Mahdotonta! Olen ollut siellä pari kertaa.” (Impossible! I’ve been there a couple of times.) Mika couldn’t hide the smile. She knew that Boston’s goaltender was from Finland, but she hadn’t known that he’d grown up so close to her.
”Guys,” Shawn interrupted them. ”Can we finish dinner first? After that you can sit together and talk Finnish all evening long if you want to.”
”Yes, sure.” Mika smiled warmly at him. ”I’m sorry. I got a bit carried away.”
They asked Mika a few more questions and she answered all of them. She told them about her life in los Angeles, what she did and how she earned her money. After dinner they knew that she was 21 years old, was a big hockey fan, had a motor cycle and a car licence, lived on campus at the Fashion Institute of Design Management in LA and worked in a small clothing store. Her favorite NHL team were the Minnesota Wild. She didn’t say it, but the logo pendant around her neck gave that away. As long as she wasn’t a Habs fan, everything was alright.
As soon as dinner was over, Benoit got up to clean the table. Shawn, Patrice and Gregrory ventured outside to have a look at the barbecue. Mika and Tuukka stayed seated at the table facing each other and started talking in Finnish. Benoit didn’t understand one word, but he got the impression Kara did, because she was smiling.
”What are they talking about?” he asked as she helped him carry the plates to the kitchen. They were done in no time, because there wasn’t that much that had to be removed from the table.
”They’re talking about their childhood.” Kara put down the last plates and pushed up the sleeves of her cardigan. ”I don’t know exactly what they are talking about, because my Finnish is not that good.”
”Well, you’ll probably find out later anyway.”
”You might be right.” She pushed her hair behind her ear, looked up at him and gave him a smile that showed her dimple. He had to be alone with her and talk to her. That scene with Gregory didn’t get off his mind.
”Would you like to see the house? I would offer to show Mika around as well, but she’s busy and I don’t want to interrupt the two of them.” He was really lucky that Mika was talking to Tuukka. And it didn’t seem like they’d stop that soon.
”I’d love to see the place.”
”You’ve already seen the kitchen.” He looked around himself, then back at her. ”Bathroom is on the other side, you’ve seen the living room and dining area, as well as the pool outside through the windows. Let’s go upstairs then.” He put his hand on the small of her back, leading her to the stairs. He let her go first because of different reasons. She was a woman and he was a gentleman on the one hand, but he was a man on the other hand and this was the perfect opportunity for him to stare at her bottom once again.”
He showed her the bathroom at first, because it was just to the right when you came up the stairs.
”You’ve got a hottub?” Kara turned around to face him and shook her head. ”And that shower probably fits four people at least. I wish I had a shower like this at home. I usually bump my elbows when I start singing and dancing in the shower.” Did she really do that? Judging by the color her face turned, she did. ”Okay, please forget about this again, let’s move on.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the corridor, where she let go of his hand again.
He showed her the next room, his gym room, which contained a few weights, a bike, a punching bag in one corner and everything else he needed. There wasn’t much to be seen there so he went on to the next room, in which he kept all his hockey stuff. Things that he’d accumulated throughout the years. Some of his old hockey gear, but mainly pucks from games he’d gone to as a child, autographs and a lot of photos. Photos of him with his family and especially with his Dad.
”This room holds a lot of history for you, right?” Kara turned around to face him and saw him nod. ”I know what that’s like. That’s what my office is for me. I’ve written every book in there except for the first one.”
She looked around in the room for a moment, took in the pictures and then left with Benoit again. There was only one room left up here, his bedroom. He opened the door and let her step inside. Quietly he closed the door behind them, making her turn around to him. She didn’t look intimidated or scared, because she knew that he’d never hurt her, but there was still something in her eyes that made him question everything right now.
”What’s this with you and Greg?” It came out a lot harsher than he’d intended to.
”What do you mean?” Kara took a step closer and tilted her head back. She thought back for a moment, but then a smile appeared on her face. ”There is nothing. I’m not interested in him and he’s not interested in me, if you mean that.”
Benoit put his hands on her hips, turned her, so that her back was against the door, and leaned a bit against her. This felt so good and it had been too long already since he’d touched her. You couldn’t count the kiss before the game, because it had been merely a peck on the lips. There was never enough time for them to actually do something. They had to be down again soon, but right now he didn’t care. Kara inhaled and bit her lower lip for a second, but long enough for him to see it. ”How do you know that he doesn’t want more?” Greg was his friend, but it was still strange.
”We talked about this.” Kara’s voice was raspy when she talked. ”He said that he feels like a big brother towards me who wants to look out for me. And I feel the same way about him.”
”That’s a relief.” He ran his nose along her collarbone and her neck, making her shiver. When he arrived at her earlobe, he gently bit down, then placed kisses all the way to her chin. Kara couldn’t even think straight anymore, talking about Soupy was out of the question. ”Stay tonight.” Benoit placed soft kisses on her lips and it took Kara a moment to realize what he’d just said.
”I can’t”, she mumbled as she put her hands on his chest. ”I’ve got Mika at my place.” She rose to the balls of her feet and kissed his lips again. ”But I will, when she’s back in Los Angeles.”
”Give me your word.” He raised his head, looked her deep in the eyes and brushed his knuckles across her cheek. ”I would be highly disappointed if you backed out again in the end.”
Kara couldn’t suppress a smile. She took his hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. ”Promise.”
”Good.” He bent down to kiss her again. ”We should probably get back downstairs, before the others miss us.”
When they came back downstairs, Tuukka and Mika were still talking in Finnish and the other three had started a game of pool billard. Kara and Mika stayed for another hour, Mika talking to Tuukka all the time.
”Thanks for dinner.” Mika said and gave Benoit a hug before she turned to Tuukka again. ”Nähdään huomenna!” (see you tomorrow)
Both women went to Kara’s car and waved to the guys in the door again.
”What did you plan with Tuukka?” Kara wanted to know immidiately.
”He’s coming to you book thingy. You invited them. At least that#s what he said.”
”Oh no. I totally forgot about this.” She rubbed her forehead. ”Actually, I fforgot that this thing is tomorrow.”