Top Ten Reasons to Date a Hockey Player

My book One Man Advantage came out last week. The hero of the story, Logan Heller, is a professional hockey player. Logan is the brother of Jase (Breakaway) and Tag (Faceoff). As the third of four boys in the Heller family, following in the steps of his two older brothers has never been easy. Logan’s always been a joker, a fun guy who never takes things too seriously, always with a smile on his face and a smart remark. Of course, Logan is hiding a lot between that carefree façade, including a deep-seated fear that he’ll never be as good as his two older brothers, both on and off the ice.

BLURB:

After her ex trashes her reputation in front of the media and it quickly goes viral, Nicole vows she’ll never get involved with another hockey player. Too bad her job with the Minneapolis Caribou puts her in contact with sexy hockey players on a daily basis, including the newly traded center, Logan Heller. Logan’s pretty sure Nicole is the perfect woman for him and he’s determined to have her—in and out of bed. Nicole is equally determined to never date another hockey player. But Logan has a one-man advantage…he knows what she really wants. 

Logan spends much of the story trying to convince Nicole they should be together, and at one point he tells her some of the reasons why it’s good to date a hockey player. He only gets through a few of them and although he doesn’t completely convince her with these reasons, he does soften her up a little with his sense of humor. Here's a short excerpt - this is at a Thanksgiving dinner party Nicole's friends Taylor and Fedor host:

“Fedor wants to know if you picked up any chicken wings,” Logan said.

“Chicken wings! Is he nuts? This is Thanksgiving.”

“He says he needs Buffalo chicken wings to watch football.”

“Phhht. I’ll go talk to him.” She hustled out of the room, leaving Nicole and Logan alone.

“Excuse me,” she said. He blocked the door. “I need to go change.”

He looked down at her, his mouth a flat line. “How was your date Saturday night?”

She smiled, her eyes narrowed up in fake cheer. “Lovely. How about you? I heard you went out with some of the guys.”

“Yep.”

“I heard there were girls all over you.” Oh hell, did she say that out loud?

“Yep. That’s why I went.”

Her smile faded. Bastard.

They stood there facing each other. Nicole had to break the eye contact, she just couldn’t hold his gaze without wanting to fall to her knees in front of him. “Please. Let me by.”

After a brief hesitation, he stepped aside. She hurried out of the dining room and down the hall to the guest room. Closing the door behind her, she pressed her hands to hot cheeks. The attraction she felt to Logan hadn’t diminished and only reinforced how extremely painful her date with Paul had been. They just had nothing in common, and much as she wanted to expand her horizons and have some kind of interests outside of hockey...he just wasn’t going to do it.

She changed out of her jeans and sweater into the dress she’d brought, a sleeveless black dress that was simple, but she liked the shape of the neckline and how it fit her body. She brushed her hair and touched up mascara and lip gloss, then went out to greet the other guests who started arriving.

Taylor started music, but the guys made her turn it off until the football game was over. People filled the kitchen and great room, talking and laughing, offering to help with food. Nicole stirred gravy while Logan mashed potatoes and she had to fight to keep her eyes off his big flexing muscles as he held the pot and plunged the masher in and out. Ergh.

“So what are the other top ten reasons to date a hockey player?” Taylor asked Logan.

He shot her a sexy smile. “Let’s see how many I can remember. Um...they always wear protection.”

Nicole choked. And coughed.

“You okay, hon?” Taylor asked.

“Yes,” she wheezed. She could not look at Logan. Even so, she sensed his grin.

“They have great hands,” he continued.

Oh yeah. Oh god, yeah.

“They have great stamina.”

She bit her lip. Their sex on the floor hadn’t required a lot of stamina; they’d both been so hot for each other, it hadn’t lasted all that long. But she had no doubt he had lots and lots of stamina. Actually, so did she...

“Nic, you’re whipping the gravy into a froth,” Taylor said. “I think it’s good.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” She set down the whisk. And Taylor had to go and talk about whipping. “It’s hot in here,” she said without thinking, and then she caught Logan’s smirk and her face turned scorching. “I mean, I’ve been standing over this hot stove...I need more wine.”

She grabbed her glass and downed the rest of the contents, started to reach for the bottle, but Logan was there with it. He poured some into her glass.

“Thanks,” she croaked. She met his knowing gaze, his brown eyes gleaming.

    Here are the rest of the reasons why to date a hockey player:

10. They have great stamina
9. They have really long sticks
8. They know when to play rough
7. When they play rough they do it from behind
6. They can score from any position
5. They find the opening and get in it
4. They always wear protection
3. They never miss their target
2. They have great hands
1. Other athletes only play with balls