Excerpt 1:
“I get it. Hockey’s your world right now,” Troy replies. “Which is why coming back to your hometown to play is so perfect for you. I can work things out with your team management to get you the time off, and we’ve got an excellent PT. She’ll get that wrist back into shape before you know it.”

“I’ve got to admit—it’s tempting.”

And besides, there’s another reason for going back home, and it’s kind of a big one. Keira Johnson. My Kiki. Only she hasn’t been my Kiki for ten years now.

Just the thought of my high school girl—the girl I left behind—has my pulse kicking up a notch or ten. 

Keira is the girl I’ve never been able to forget. 

Sure, there’ve been other girls. It’s been a long time and I’m no saint. Women tend to throw themselves at you when you’re an NHL player, particularly when you’re known as the pretty boy of the team. Those puck bunnies, as they’re sometimes called, simply come with the territory—and it’s fun territory, believe me.

Of course, the fact that my kid brother is the current heartthrob on the hit Netflix fantasy show, It Came One Winter, doesn’t exactly hurt, either. 

But here’s the thing: Most of the women I meet are only interested in me because I’m Dan Roberts, center for the Chicago Blizzard, brother to the guy they love to watch on TV. Relationships for me tend to last a few weeks, a month, tops. My lifestyle means it’s hard to hold down a relationship. And besides, those women aren’t interested in plain Dan Roberts, the hockey-obsessed kid from Maple Falls, who worked his butt off to make it to the NHL. 

So, my heart has been safe, never forgetting my first love. Keira.

Excerpt 2:
I got the fright of my life when I looked up from my book, mid-bite of my cinnamon roll, to see Dan Roberts standing in front of me, chatting with the moms as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. Because of course he doesn’t have a care in the world. He’s a famous and wealthy NHL star. He’s got it made. And he’s looking shockingly good, with his dark hair kind of messed up but sexy, his tan skin glowing as though he just stepped off the beach. His jacket is open, revealing a white T-shirt that more than hints at the muscular torso beneath. He looks effortlessly hot in that unattainable, famous person way, like he’s from another planet, simply visiting us mere mortals here on Earth.

So, what did I do? I panicked. Big time.

I knew it was only seconds before he would look up and clock me. I also knew that I had successfully managed to dodge the guy every time he visited town for the past ten years, and I needed to keep that record for my sanity.

So, I did what every self-respecting, twenty-seven-year-old woman would do: I dropped to the floor and pretended like I wasn’t there, clutching my half-eaten cinnamon roll to my chest as though it was Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.

Sadly for me, it’s just a cinnamon roll.

Excerpt 3:
“The step. It was broken this morning when you left, and now …”

I narrow my eyes at her. “What has the broken step got to do with Dan?”

“It seems I’m going to have to spell this out to you. Dan came over this afternoon when you were out.”

My heart rate jumps at the thought of Dan coming to my house again. “He did?”

Clara nods. “He brought a hammer and nails.”

“Why would he bring—” My mind finally catches up on what Clara is telling me. “Dan fixed the broken step?” I ask, my voice coming out all breathy.

Her knowing smile morphs into a broad grin. “He fixed the step.”

Clara looks out the kitchen window, and I hear the rumble of an engine. “Oh, and one other thing, sis. He’s coming back to take you out, right about now.”

“Wait, what?!” I squeal, my pulse banging against my ribs like a caged animal trying to escape. Dan fixed the step? And now he’s here to take me out? 

“Did I not tell you?” Clara asks, her face bright. 

“I might have remembered that if you had!” I reply, clutching a tea towel and plate in my hands. “Is it a date? As in a proper date? It’s a date, isn’t it? Clara?”

My sister is now beaming like the Cheshire cat. “It’s a date.” She places a hand on my shoulder. “Be careful. Okay, Keeks?”

“Be careful? Why?” I ask, confused, as I peer out the window at Dan, closing the door of his SUV and making his way toward the entrance to the house.

Dan. Here. Taking me on a date.

I might pass out.

“Because, Kiki, you might just get everything you ever wanted.”