Breakout (San Francisco Strikers Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Breakout

  San Francisco Strikers, book 1

  by Stephanie Kay

  Breakout

  Copyright © 2017 Stephanie Kay

  eBook Edition: March 2017

  Edited by Chelsea Kuhel www.madisonseidler.com

  Cover Art by Caitlin Fry

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are a product of the author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Stephanie Kay. www.stephkaybooks.com

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  BREAKOUT

  San Francisco Strikers, book 1

  Penny Connor is putting the pieces of her life back in logical order. At least that’s the plan. Six months ago, her world imploded when she walked in on her fiancé with another woman. After calling off her wedding, she spent a week acting completely out of character in the Tuscan countryside with a scorchingly hot man. They didn’t even exchange last names.

  Ethan Hartnell has grudgingly returned home. He’s got an image to fix after being traded to the San Francisco Strikers, due to some questionable behavior. He plans to keep his nose to the ice, focusing on the career he loves. Everything is going according to plan, until he walks into a friend’s bar and sees her. She’d left him in her bed in Italy, with a note, and run.

  Which is exactly what the does when they see each other again.

  It should be a sign.

  So why does he keep chasing her?

  *

  Please sign up for my newsletter for upcoming releases and exclusive excerpts. You can also email me at [email protected] or find me on Twitter or Facebook. For more information, please visit my website, http://www.stephkaybooks.com.

  Dedication

  To John, my amazing husband

  Without you agreeing to get married in Gretna Green, this book never would’ve happened.

  Thank you for dragging our four rolling suitcases through six train cars, while I hobbled behind you, because I insisted we get on the train in first class so we wouldn’t miss it, even though our seats were in second class—it’s a miracle you still wanted to marry me after that!

  Thank you for encouraging me to write every day and pushing me to pursue my dreams.

  Let’s be honest, it’s really so you can get me out of your hair and go hiking.

  I love you more than words can say, even when you drive me crazy…

  which is daily, in case anyone was wondering.

  Acknowledgements

  There are so many people to thank that I don’t know where to start.

  To Susie Warren, my fabulous critique partner, thank you for the great—and speedy—feedback. Your suggestions made this book what it is, so thank you for the multiple read throughs and for letting me bounce ideas off of you.

  To Chelsea Kuhel, my awesome editor, thank you for polishing up my writing and catching every word I missed. And I’m so sorry for not listing you in the acknowledgements in Unmatched. See what happens when I don’t list the acknowledgements in the version of the book I send to you!

  To Iveta Cvrkal, proofreader extraordinaire, thank you for finding every comma I missed…I hate commas!

  To Caitlin Fry, my fantastic cover artist. This one might be my favorite, and I’m sure I’ll say that about the next one, too.

  To Samantha Wayland for getting me hooked on hockey. Bet you didn’t think I’d get this obsessed this quickly! Can’t wait for our next hockey road trip, you know, for research purposes. Maybe we can run into another AHL team on the road and recognize them by their outstanding asses.

  To Aven Ellis, for your awesome blurb skills and for helping me try not to overanalyze everything. I’m a work in progress.

  To Penny Watson. My contemporary romance career wouldn’t exist without you ordering me to write this book based on a Facebook post. I might still be working on that historical that will never see the light of day.

  To my new and fantastic beta readers, Elaine and Sita. Your comments helped immensely and I’m glad you enjoyed Penny and Ethan’s story.

  To the Hearties. Thank you for welcoming me into this group of amazing hockey romance authors and for answering all of my questions. I’m sure I will pester you all with each book.

  To the fantastic Sin Bin Facebook group. Your hockey knowledge and appreciation for the game is endless and I enjoy every day with you, including Tyler Tuesday, Hump Day Holtby, Tanger Thursday, Sharpy Saturday, and Stephen Sunday. I can’t wait to delve into the Expansion Draft with you all later this summer.

  To the members of Rhode Island Romance Writers, New England chapter of RWA, New Hampshire chapter of RWA, and all the writers I’ve met in the last decade, thank you for your workshops, conferences, and critiques. I’ve learned so much since I joined RWA. I shudder to think of how horrible that first historical romance is in comparison to my writing now.

  To my mom. You and Dad showed me how to have a successful 40+ year marriage through laughter and affection. You’ve also shown me that even in grief, you can become the strongest woman I know. So glad you are finally able to travel the world and have a social life I envy!

  To my amazing in-laws, thank you for letting me watch your hysterical Italian family for the last 10+ years. I still think about that first Christmas Eve. After everyone gorged themselves on seafood for dinner, my motherin-law asked if anyone was hungry, and the family sat down to a lasagna she just had in the fridge and dove in…at eleven p.m.

  To my family for always encouraging me to go after my dreams and for your unwavering support, even if most of you don’t read romance novels…I’ll forgive you for that last indiscretion.

  And of course, to my husband, John, for more reasons than I can count. You were the one who encouraged me to get back to writing when I was laid off from my day job in 2008. Probably so I would leave you to your books and guitars. Chicken has dried out on the grill and sweet potatoes have been burned because I was working on a scene instead of focusing on dinner, but you never complained…well, not that loudly. And you agreed to let me live out my romance dreams and get married over the
anvil in Gretna Green, Scotland, even if you did refuse to wear a kilt. Thank you for loving my craziness and putting up with discussions about the characters in my head not doing what I want them to.

  And to my readers, thank you for taking the chance on a new author. I hope I make you laugh out loud and follow your heart.

  Please sign up for my newsletter for upcoming releases and exclusive excerpts. You can also email me at [email protected] or find me on Twitter or Facebook. For more information, please visit my website, http://www.stephkaybooks.com.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Books by Stephanie Kay

  Chapter 1

  Crawling around on her hands and knees in her office was never a good way to start the day. If anyone walked in, they would see her ass up in the air, and her shoes kicked off next to her desk. Definitely not office appropriate. Penny’s hair slipped from her clip as she crawled toward her credenza, the uncooperative curls at it again.

  She bit back her frustrated laughter, and blew a wayward blonde strand out of her eyes.

  “Where is that damn clicker?”

  She’d already dug through the files on her normally immaculate desk. Nothing. Her lack of organization caused her cheek to tick. She had a presentation in an hour for a new and extremely important client, and instead of going over her notes one last time, she was on the floor looking for her damn PowerPoint remote.

  She peeked under the cabinet.

  Lots of dust—gross. And the clicker.

  She felt a twinge as she shifted on her right knee. Six months ago, she’d wiped out at her drunken bachelorette party. The bachelorette party that never should’ve happened. But after surprising her fiancé at his office, the morning of the party, and getting her own surprise when she’d walked in on his boss gyrating in Michael’s lap–the woman’s moans reminiscent of an episode of Wild Kingdom on Animal Planet–Penny had needed to numb the pain with martinis. A lot of martinis. And shots. She couldn’t forget the shots.

  Damn cheating bastard.

  That night, she hadn’t confessed to her friends that she’d called the wedding off. She couldn’t dwell on a cancelled wedding, a cancelled future, when she was tossing back shots and dancing until her knee gave out.

  She’d learned many valuable lessons that evening.

  Never wear a veil in a bar.

  Never take three shots in a row, just “because you went to college.”

  And “dropping it like it’s hot,” isn’t that hot when you end up sprawled out on the dance floor in pain.

  She’d put a serious dent in her pride that night. At least from what she could recall.

  She shook off her memories. It was over, and she had to stop thinking about the plans they’d made. Plans she’d counted on.

  Her ex-fiancé was a forgotten memory. Not totally forgotten. But she was working on that.

  Her honeymoon—well, that was another story.

  Stop it.

  She was completely distracted, but she was nervous about today, and her brain was flitting off in random directions. Hence, the messy desk and disappearing clicker. She stuck her hand under the credenza, grasped the offending clicker, and sat back on her heels.

  The less time on her knees the better. She always feared it would dislocate on her again. And she did not have time for that right now.

  She stood up and sank down into her chair, grabbing the Alexander file. She was prepared, but one more run-through would make her feel better.

  She crossed clicker off her list and scanned her notes. Robert, her boss, was looking to promote someone to Accounting Manager, and she’d been with the company for five years. The position should’ve been hers last year, and she hoped she hadn’t been overlooked because she’d been in wedding mode. Another way Michael had screwed her while he was screwing someone else.

  She was determined to land this account and that promotion. She’d done a detailed review of everything she could find on Mr. Alexander and his company, since she would be handling his personal and business accounts. She read through everything one last time, making notes in the presentation so she didn’t forget anything.

  Today had to be perfect.

  ***

  “To Penny, may she finally get the promotion she deserves,” Amanda said as she toasted with her lemon drop martini later that night at Byrne’s grand opening.

  Lexi lifted her glass. “Yes, to Penny. It’s about time.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Today was just an initial meeting. I’m hoping the guy signs on, but even with that account, I might not get promoted,” Penny said to both of her friends. Today couldn’t have gone better. Well, that was a lie. Mr. Alexander could’ve signed the contract instead of informing her that he was meeting with two other firms and she’d hear back in a week or two.

  “We should celebrate with a cookie bomb, too,” Lexi said, and Penny chuckled.

  “You and that freaking dessert,” Amanda said.

  “Adam promised to keep it on the menu,” Lexi said, glancing toward the bar where her boyfriend, Grant, sat talking to his best friend and the bar owner, Adam Byrne.

  “I don’t have the promotion yet, you guys. I don’t even technically have the client yet.”

  Lexi took a sip of wine. “But you will. Mr. Knight can’t keep holding you back or he’ll eventually lose you.”

  “Damn straight,” Amanda stated, with a fist pump. “You could always go out on your own.”

  “Too many risks in that,” Penny said. Not that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d weighed the pros and cons multiple times—every time someone else was promoted.

  “I’m sure you have the checklists to confirm it, but you could take a chance. It could work,” Amanda said.

  “Or it could be a disaster. I’m sure I’ll get promoted eventually,” Penny muttered, ignoring her friend’s checklist dig. Making lists was important. How else could she make sure she examined every option and didn’t miss anything?

  “Well, I still say you’re going to get it. I think this calls for a round of shots,” Amanda said, her gray eyes twinkling.

  Penny knew that look. It’d gotten her into way too much trouble over the years, especially six months ago. Well, not the look exactly, more like the line of shots that followed.

  “Definitely no shots for me tonight. It’s a work night,” Penny said.

  “Fine. I’ll go grab another round of drinks.” Amanda slipped off her stool and practically floated to the bar, her hips swaying as she walked.

  So unfair. Perfect hair, petite body. If Amanda wasn’t one of Penny’s best friends, she’d be tempted to trip her. But Amanda was also graceful, so she’d probably stand back up as if nothing happened.

  Penny, on the other hand, had the grace of a newborn gazelle. No, not a gazelle. They were typically agile. She was like the gazelle for the first few seconds after birth. All arms and legs. No coordination. Not that a gazelle actually had arms…

  “I’m glad the meeting went well. I know that Robert has been hinting around that he’s ready to promote, and you’re the obvious choice. We all know he doesn’t want the hassle of looking for someone outside of the company.” Lexi was the of
fice manager and took care of all HR at Knight and Welling, so she would know.

  “I really hope that I get it. I’ve been feeling stuck, like he was never planning to move me up.” She fiddled with the stem of her glass. It was so damn frustrating.

  “You deserve this, and Robert should recognize that. How many accounts have you brought in this year?” Lexi asked.

  “At least four large accounts, and a handful of individual accounts. He even mentioned positive changes coming soon when I spoke with him after my meeting today. And this would be our biggest client.” But she hated getting her hopes up, only to have them crushed.

  “The job should be yours,” Lexi said.

  “I hope so.”

  “I have a good feeling about this.”

  Amanda came back with more martinis in hand. “What did I miss?”

  “Just talking about work stuff.”

  “Boring. How about we talk about the hot guys in this bar? I think the pickings are even better than usual. Adam mentioned hockey players. Lexi, you’re here all the time. Point them out,” Amanda said.

  Lexi laughed. “I’m going with that group of guys over there. The asses are a dead giveaway.”

  “Are you scoping out other guys?” Grant asked, coming up and wrapping his arms around Lexi’s waist, and kissing her.