Thanks, as always, to my beta...I never know what to call you! dirtybird, detroitangel... Oh well, you know who you are, LOL! AND to Lisa for pre-reading and loading me down with lots of pretty pictures in the process.

I started posting another story, if anyone's interested. I know quite a few of you have already found it, and I thank you all. This is my foray into angst. It's called "Disengaged" and you can find it under my profile. Already have two chapters posted.

Chapter 5

"I think I just got hit on."

I looked up from stack of mail to see Mike with his hand still on the phone after hanging it up, looking thoroughly scandalized.

"Did she sound cute?" I asked.

"No, she didn't sound cute. She sounded like a he. In fact, her name was 'Rick'. So I'm pretty sure she is a he."

I cracked up laughing. "Hey, if it gets us the job, go with it."

Mike's face turned bright red and Jessica popped up behind me to add her two cents. "How do you think I got the Exxon contract?"

His mouth opened and closed a few times without a sound coming out before he stood up from his chair and walked out. Jessica and I took one look at each other and started laughing all over again.

"What's so funny?"

"Look who finally graced us with his presence?" Jessica said, smiling at Jake.

He shrugged. "Been keeping busy."

"Yeah yeah. World traveler," I said.

It wasn't too far from the truth. Jake could easily be considered an absentee boss, but he was always working. He took most of the international jobs, conducting training sessions for companies all over the world, while I handled most of the domestic ones.

"I'm just glad to be home for a little while. Everything going okay here?" he asked.

"Busy, but things are running smoothly. We seem to be picking up a lot more work." At that moment, as if to prove my point, the phone rang, and Jessica shuffled off to answer.

Jake started walking toward his office, motioning for me to follow him. "Good, we needed it to pick up," he said, closing the door behind us. "I have to say, the past couple years worried me."

I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. When the economy tanked one of the first things cut from our clients' budgets was training. We'd had a fraction of our usual work for too long and all of us feared the company would go under. But Jake had too much money wrapped up in the business to let it go down without a fight. When his business partner, Sam, retired a year after I started working here, he practically sold his soul to the bank for the money to buy him out rather than to take on another partner. It was risky, but if our current books were any indication, it was a smart maneuver.

"I was looking at the calendar on my flight in from Hong Kong and if this keeps up we're going to have to add a third trainer. You and I aren't going to be able to keep up. I need to sit down and take a hard look at expanding. I don't want to have to start turning down work just because we aren't prepared to handle the overflow."

"Can we afford it?" I asked. I knew what kind of money we had coming in every day, but I also knew what kind of debts we'd been loaded down with while trying to keep afloat.

"I sent an email to my financial advisor to look over things and see what he thinks. We already have most of next year fully booked. I don't see any reason not to expand."

"It would be nice to have someone else to share the travel schedule," I said.

Jake laughed. "Tell me about it. My wife's gonna leave me if I don't slow down. She's getting sick of shopping and sightseeing while I'm in seminars during the day."

"A real tragedy there," I laughed. "Too much shopping!"

"If she cuts back on that then we'll definitely be able to afford a third person."

Back at the arena that night, we settled into our seats for another fast-paced game. The first period flew by with only a few stops in play and the second seemed to be following the same pattern. Solid but perfectly legal hits kept the game moving and the energy buzzing as we all cheered. Edward had scored the game's only two goals so far, so the mood in my immediate vicinity was even more frenzied.

At some point a few weeks ago, our seat neighbors pieced together that I was dating Edward. I hadn't been hiding it, exactly, but I certainly wasn't advertising it. People could be weird, and I didn't want awkwardness amongst the regulars. It turned out they were all very cool about it, not bothering me to get them autographs or asking to meet him. They'd make the occasional joke—instructing me to withhold sex after a bad game, or to treat him right after a good one. It was all light-hearted ribbing so it didn't bother me. Actually, I found it kind of funny.

During the second intermission, we all headed out to the concourse and dispersed in separate directions for restrooms and food.

I'd just left the line at one of the many concession stands when I bumped into Emmett.

"Back off," I said, turning away from him to protect my soft pretzel.

He tried to reach around me, but was unsuccessful. "C'mon. Didn't your parents ever teach you to share?"

"I was an only child, Emmett. I never had a reason to share."

I ripped a piece off, waved it near his mouth before yanking it away and stuffing it into mine.

"Mmmm," I moaned, dramatic and loud.

"I'll just go get my own," he said, as Jasper walked up from one direction, drink in hand, and Rosalie and Alice appeared from the other.

"Good luck, this was the last one," I said.

His mouth dropped as he frantically scanned the concession stand to see if I was telling the truth.

"Why do you have to torture him?" Rosalie asked, laughing.

I shrugged. "It gives me endless enjoyment."

If he looked hard enough, I was sure he'd find some left at one of the other concession stands, but intermission was drawing to a close so we all headed back to our seats.

The period started and the play instantly made its way to our end of the ice. A few players were scrabbling right in front of us when one of them managed to work the puck loose and pass it back to an open player. The slapshot was blocked when another player poked his stick out to stop the shot, the blade crashing against the puck and causing it to fly straight up into the air.

We all watched the trajectory, unsure where the puck was headed. There was a definite arc, but it was wobbling, making it difficult to predict. When it was clear that it was headed over the glass, I felt the panic start to well up. My instinct was to move or run, but I still had no idea which way it was ultimately headed until it was too late. The puck was headed right for me, but at the last second I was able to throw myself from my seat to the one next to me, landing right in Alice's lap. My body braced itself for impact when I heard the thunk of hard rubber as the puck slammed into my seat.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Emmett holding the puck in the air and I immediately looked up at the screens above the ice. Sure enough, there we were for the whole arena to see. I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the way I was still sitting on Alice's lap while Emmett and Jasper stood, waving arms and rallying the crowd around us into raucous cheers. As I stood up, Emmett slapped the puck right into my palm and lifted my hand in the air like a victorious boxer. I ducked my head, laughing, but when I glanced out at the ice I was met with a wide-eyed Edward. He seemed more shaken up than I had been, so I smiled and shrugged, mouthing 'I'm okay' to him. He nodded, and I could see him breathe easier as he started to skate over for the face-off.

Sitting back in my seat, I turned the puck over in my hand, round and round. It was still cool from the ice, and I could smell the rubber without even bringing it to my nose. It was an interesting souvenir to have of my brush with death . . . or, at the very least, a mild concussion.

"Jesus, baby. Don't scare me like that again."

I laughed against Edward's lips at he pressed a hard kiss to mine.

"You've got reflexes like a cat, woman!" his teammate, Garrett, called from behind him. "Dude, it didn't even hit her. She doesn't need CPR."

I laughed again as Edward grunted his disappointment in my lack of reciprocation so he enveloped me in his arms instead. I was only just able to peek over his shoulder, the only movement a small wave of my hand. He held his bottle of beer up in a salute before turning away and walking toward the women eyeing him up by the bar.

We'd decided to go out even though it was a weeknight. I was heading out on the road again for work, three training sessions back to back, and my flight didn't leave until the afternoon. We wouldn't see each other until Buffalo, so after spending a little time with friends we planned to go home to squeeze in as much time together as we could.

While waiting for Edward to arrive at the bar, our group managed to lay claim to one of the pool tables where we'd been camped out since. Emmett and Jasper trash talked as they played, occasionally sabotaging the other's shot.

"You got winner?" Jasper asked Edward.

And with that one question, I lost Edward for the next hour. I couldn't really complain; the view was excellent every time he leaned over the table. At one point, Garrett swung by and the guys played in teams. The extra down time as they waited for their turns led to even more trash talking, more drinking, and increasingly bad shots. Alice, Rosalie, and I heckled from our seats, showing no mercy or favoritism. A few of the puck bunnies sidled up nearby, eating up the attention Garrett would throw their way. I hated the feeling it gave me, hoping that no one in the bar mistakenly assumed we were with them. It was an association I'd never wanted made, and I thought I'd gotten over most of my issues with it. It had been a while since I'd last worried that people would assume I was just like those girls, so the insecurity hit me out of nowhere. They left when Garrett did, since he was the only one giving them the attention they craved, and with them went that bit of self-consciousness. But clearly, I still had a long way to go before I completely gave up that particular neurosis.

My heart was heavy as we pulled up in the drop-off lane at the airport. We wouldn't be flying back from Buffalo together since the team chartered a plane, but my flight would land just a little after his allowing us to ride home together. That was still quite a while from now, though; it felt like a lifetime away. The thought of not seeing him for two weeks was gut-wrenching.

"Call me when you land," he said, wrapping me in his arms and holding tight. Goodbyes never got easier.

"You're completely sure that your parents don't mind sharing you with me, right?" I asked. In addition to my nervousness over meeting his mom and dad, guilt had started to creep in that what little time they would have with him while he was home would be split with me. He hadn't visited with them in months, though he talked to them all the time.

He laughed and kissed my temple. "I told you, they're excited to meet you. They know how I feel about you and how much it means to me to get to show you where I grew up. Who knows when we'll get the chance again? Could be summer before we find time for me to get you back over there. I'll get to see them the next week when they're here visiting, anyway."

I nodded. "Good luck," I said after a short pause. He had a few big games coming up that I was bummed about missing.

"No luck needed, baby," he said with a wink and a healthy dose of ego.

I laughed. "No fighting."

It had become our "thing" where I'd scold him about fighting after that big one that had scared me so much. He'd been in a couple scuffles since that I'd handled so much better. It was slowly getting easier.

His voice dropped to a seductive low. "You love it when I fight. You love my scars."

I immediately glanced up at the scar that slashed through his eyebrow and moaned low in appreciation.

"A little."

A whistle sounded near us as the guards tried to move traffic along. It was so jarring that I'd broken away from him and had turned with the handle of my suitcase in my hand ready to walk into the terminal before I realized I hadn't actually said goodbye. When I turned back around he was smirking, waiting for me to catch on. I rushed the few steps back to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him with everything I had. He stood at full height, holding onto me so that my feet lifted off the ground and dangled.

"See you in two weeks," he said after placing me back on the ground.

"Two weeks," I repeated with a nod. "I love you."

One more quick kiss to set my heart aflutter before he let me go. "Love you, too, baby."

As I walked through the doors, I turned around one last time. Forcing my responsible half to proceed, I gave him a small wave before heading in to check in for my flight. Standing in line I felt my phone buzz with a text message. "Two weeks" was all it said. I could survive two weeks, right?

A/N: Anyone have their own brushes with death at a hockey game (or any sport, really)? I've had two. One I was in an upper section, behind the goal, and the puck managed to get over the net they put up at the ends of the ice to prevent this exact scenario. The thing was gunning right for me and I had to move quick. Head between my knees, just like the airline safety fliers tell you to do in the event of a crash. The thing slammed into the back of my seat and bounced into my back. Didn't hurt... the seat took the brunt of it. The other time was during a different game, same deal. The puck got over the net during warm ups. It clipped the top of the empty seat in front of me and then hit me in the shoulder. Some little brat grabbed the puck and ran off with it. I do still have that first puck, though.