Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(143)

“That’s what I thought.”

Shea smiled and the side of her mouth lifted a little, but not much as he said, “I never thought I would be scared of something so small.”

“I’m not small, you’re just huge.”

He laughed at that, causing her to smile, “God, I love you.”

He was rewarded with a dazzling smile before she took his hand in hers, kissing his cheek and laying her head on his shoulder, holding her book against his leg. He leaned his head against hers, loving the feel of her hair against his cheek. Just loving her, all of her.

Even her sassy little temper.





Elli stood in the freezing cold, outside of General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport while Shea yelled at the rental guy about the Prius he thought he was gonna give them to rent. Shea was livid, Elli wasn’t sure if it was cause he was in pain, or if he really did hate the car that much. Elli thought it was cute, plus it wasn’t like Shea was gonna be driving it.

“It's a chick car!” Shea yelled. They both looked over at Elli, and she shook her head, cuddling into her jacket.

“Sir, this is all we have in less you want a BMW which is almost $300 a day.” Shea looked at the dude like he was the biggest idiot on earth.

“Give me the BMW, please,” Shea said through gritted teeth. The guy nodded and Shea walked towards Elli, beat red from either his angry or the cold.

“It's just a car, Shea.”

“I am not riding in that girlie ass car, and that dude is being an ass. He knows who I am, he just doesn’t want to act like it because I don’t play for Boston. Asshole.”

“Why does it matter who you play for?”

“You will learn quickly that in less you play for Boston, you aren’t shit around here.”

“You’re the leading defensive man in the league; I think that means a lot more than playing for Boston.”

“No, actually, it doesn’t,” Shea answered as the guy earlier drove a red BMW towards them, parking it in front of him. He got out and helped load their bags. Afterwards, he walked with Elli to the front of the car, opening the door for her.

“Let me ask you a question,” Elli said with a grin, the man smiled, he was her age, cute even.

“Sure.”

“You know who he is?”

“There is only one team worth anything in the NHL and that’s Boston, so I only acknowledge Boston players. And I definitely won’t acknowledge a guy that is from Boston not playing for Boston.”

Okay then.





After leaving the rental place, they headed towards Copley Place, which Shea said was a really great shopping mall. After going through Louis Vuitton and blowing more money than needed, Shea went to Tiffany’s to get his mom and sister something. Since Tiffany’s made Elli blow money, she headed for Gucci.

She should have just gone to Tiffany’s.

After dropping her first-born’s college fund, she walked out, meeting Shea in the middle of the mall. He eyed her bags, and then smiled. “Got enough?”

“Don’t ask.” Elli eyed his little blue bag, and nodded towards the bag, “Anything for me?”

“Maybe,” he said with a grin, as he took as many as her bags that he could with his one arm.

“Anyone ask what happen to your arm?”

“No, they just stare, but one of the girls in there actually acknowledged who I was and said she hoped I recovered well.”

Elli raised an eyebrow, “I’m impressed. Everyone I meet keeps asking me where the hell I’m from, then they raise their noses at me when I say Nashville. They then ask if there is even a hockey/football/baseball team there. These people are crazy.”

Shea laughed, leaning into her since that was all he could really do since her hand was full before saying, “Let’s go, my mom is waiting.”





When Elli turned onto Winthrop Shore Dr, she took in the sight of the water running up against the shore. The water was such a beautiful bluish green, it crashed up against some rocks that lined a lighthouse. The lighthouse stood tall, majestic, and beautiful. Elli had never realized how much she loved the ocean until that moment. It was like she was instantly calm as she looked out at the water that was glistening under the sun.

“We used to live in this house in the heart of Boston, but when I made it into the NHL, I bought my parents this house since they love the ocean,” Shea said as Elli turned where the GPS said to turn.

She ended up in the driveway of the most beautiful colonial home she had ever seen. The home stood tall, white siding with dark blue shutters around glamorous wide windows. The second floor was bigger than the first floor; it came out over the front door acting as a cover for the porch. The windows that lined the whole top floor were huge and poised. On the porch was a small lighthouse that must have been a replica of the one that Elli was admiring earlier, along with it was two wooden beach chairs and an end table that held a large bouquet of yellow sunflowers. The house was breathtaking.

“It’s beautiful,” Elli gasped as she looked through the windshield up at the house.

“Yeah, mom had to have it. They sold their last house and used that money to fix it up, they’ve done a lot,” Shea said with a grin as he open the door and got out. Elli followed behind him, popping the trunk as Jenna came out on the porch.