Strip Away

By Erin McCarthy

A hot hockey player. His boss’s daughter. And a one-night stand ten years in the making… Astrid Anderson Bouchard, a creative free spirit, has one last item on her birthday bucket list before she starts graduate school. She’s determined to hookup with Jesse Lambert and get over her long-standing crush once and for all. No more fantasizing about the guy who saved her very clumsy teen self from public humiliation at hockey camp. No more comparing him to every man she dates. One and done, and she can move on with her life.

Jesse Lambert has a plan. Sign a big contract with a new team for his remaining few seasons as a pro player, then retire back home to Beaver Bend, Minnesota. Find a nice woman, settle down, and start a family. No more one-night stands, no more casual sex with random women. The Tap That charity strip event weekend is his last chance to sew some wild oats, and the sexy stranger with the pink hair and the sweet laugh fits the bill.

Only after a very hot night together, Jesse learns Astrid is his new boss’s one and only daughter. Which is bad. Plus she’s furious with him for not realizing who she was before he stripped her clothes off. Not good either. And she’s accidentally revealed the naked truth about them to her father. That’s even worse. There’s only one way out of this sticky situation and it involves convincing Astrid to pretend they’re in a serious relationship so he doesn’t lose his lucrative deal with her dad. But will she give him an assist or send him straight to the penalty box?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing
• Release date: May 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781094457970

Erin McCarthy

USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy sold her first book in 2002 and has since written over seventy-five novels and novellas in the romance and mystery genres. Erin has a special weakness for high-heeled boots, martinis, and Frank Sinatra. She lives with her renovation-addicted husband (he built her a bar, so it’s all good!) and their blended family of kids

Book preview

1

"C

an I get your autograph?"

Jesse Lambert turned and saw a woman standing there expectantly, smiling flirtatiously. She was his mother’s age if he had to take a stab in the dark, and holding out a marker for him to sign his name as he stood at the bar.

Of course, he said, giving her the slow lazy smile he was known for. Where’s the paper?

You can sign here, she said and further pulled down the neck of her already plunging shirt, exposing a very full and very high breast.

He was very impressed with both the perkiness of her chest and her confidence. Most likely what he was seeing was not natural, but it was still quite a display. Sure. He took the marker, signed his name with a flourish right on the peak of her breast, and put the cap back on. It wasn’t that he signed tits on a regular basis, he just figured why the hell not? It was all about the fans. Will you be here tomorrow night? It’s for charity.

He handed her back the marker.

You can bet your sweet ass I will be, she said, running her eyes down the length of him. I hope to see a whole lot more of you then, she added, before sashaying off with a swing of her hips.

Now that was a full-blown woman. If he hadn’t made a vow to himself to not have sex with a stranger this weekend while he was in his hometown, he wouldn’t mind seeing exactly what she could do to him. He had a feeling she would tear him up in bed. Or at least try, which sounded like a hell of a lot of fun.

No, Sullivan O’Toole said as he slapped a beer bottle down in front of Jesse. Do not even think about it. That’s Winnie’s mom.

If a mom was single, she wasn’t off-limits in Jesse’s book. He didn’t even remember anyone named Winnie from high school. Moms needed love too, right? Though he wouldn’t go there. He was serious about not having casual sex with strangers for the foreseeable future, but Sullivan didn’t need to know that and Jesse couldn’t resist baiting his friend.

She approached me, man. Who’s Winnie, anyway? he asked, shifting his gaze away from the woman and back to his buddy of twenty-five years. And since when do you have boundaries, asshole?

Seriously. The guy had no right to judge. Since Sullivan’s wife had died four years earlier, he’d been on a quest to pretend he wasn’t in agonizing pain by hooking up with every single woman in Beaver Bend, Minnesota. Which was more than you might think. As the bartender and owner of Tap That bar, Sullivan had plenty of opportunities to close drunk women and he’d taken full advantage of it. Jesse and their other childhood friends, Rick, Axl, Brandon, and Lilly, had all been worried about him, but there was no telling Sullivan what to do.

Ironic, then, that he had any sort of opinion about who Jesse was looking to bone. Or wasn’t looking, in this case.

Winnie owns the pet-grooming place next to Rick’s auto body shop. She was a freshman when we were seniors in high school.

Didn’t ring any sort of bell, at all. That explains it. You know I always liked older women. I would not have been looking at a freshman when I was seventeen.

She used to walk our dogs, Sullivan said, shaking his head. She was around all the time. How could you not remember her?

Your dogs, not mine, Jesse said. I have zero memory of your dog walker. He’d spent the majority of his teen years at the ice rink training and had left town right after high school.

Just stay away from her, Sullivan said flatly.

Can I hit on the daughter, then, if the mom is off-limits? he asked, just to get a rise out of Sullivan. He clearly had a big-brother vibe going on with Winnie whoever-she-was.

She’s married. She got married the same day as Axl and Leighton’s wedding that didn’t result in marriage, what, two years ago now? Damn, what is happening to my life. Sullivan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the bar.

Yeah, what the hell is happening to your life? Jesse asked him, baldly, curious how Sullivan would respond.

But Sullivan just made a sound of exasperation and moved on down the bar, totally ignoring the question. Jesse sipped his beer and looked around at the room, looking for faces he did actually recognize.

Sullivan’s cousin, Torin O’Toole, who had recently moved back to Beaver Bend, came over and leaned down on the countertop. What the hell did you say to rouse the beast? he asked. Sullivan retreated to the back room and is doing a shot of whiskey.

Jesse held his hands up. I didn’t do anything. He asked what is happening to his life and I basically said yeah, good question. We both know he needs to figure his shit out.

Torin nodded. He was covered in tattoos and had the distinction of having been struck by lightning twice. That made him almost as big of a town celebrity as Jesse himself, who had been playing pro hockey for seven seasons.

It’s probably time he got it together, I agree, Torin said. So you thinking of hooking up with Winnie’s mom?

Jesse eyed Torin, trying to gauge his emotion. Why, are you going to lecture me about it if I say yes?

The corner of Torin’s mouth lifted as he stood back up. Nope. I’ve already had sex with her. Twice. No reason you can’t too. I can tell you straight up I have no regrets about it. That woman is a good time.

Jesse laughed. Yeah, well, I told myself no hooking up with strangers this weekend. I’m trying to rein it in.

You probably know half the women in here, Torin pointed out. I’m not sure how restrictive that’s going to be. Nice loophole. I appreciate the cunning logic.

I don’t know about that. I’m not seeing a damn soul I recognize. I think I’ve been gone too long. He’d left after high school on a hockey scholarship to the University of Massachusetts and then went straight to Houston to play pro. This was why he was trying his damndest to get traded back up north. He only had two seasons, max, left on his career, and he wanted to be back home by family and friends. It was getting time to settle down, get serious about the next phase of his life.

He had the success, the money, the house. Now he wanted a relationship. A serious one, with a hometown girl. Someone grounded, who didn’t give a shit about his career, or the impending end of it. He was tired of women who were more interested in him being a hockey player than in him. Yes, he’d taken advantage of that fact for years. There had been many hookups where the using had been mutual, to both their satisfaction.

But now he wanted something different. Something real.

A high, joyous laugh rang out from the end of the bar. It caught his attention, so he turned to look. The laugh belonged to a woman who had vibrant pink hair and made sweeping hand gestures as she chatted with her friend.

Jesse was instantly intrigued by her. She was pretty, yes, but she was full of life.

Or maybe liquor.

The thought made him grin. Maybe he was looking too hard, trying to find something that wasn’t there. That didn’t stop him from asking Torin, Who is that woman with the pink hair?

Torin glanced in the direction he had nodded and shrugged. I have no idea. Ask Sullivan. Between the two of us, we’ve probably slept with every single woman in Beaver Bend. A few of these women I’ve slept with at the same time.

So much for Jesse’s weekend. He took another sip of his beer. I guess the bar is well named, then, he said dryly. How the hell am I supposed to meet anyone when you and Sullivan have already hooked up with everyone in a thirty-mile radius?

Fuck you. You’re a high-scoring center forward hockey star who has been all over the country. This is our small-ass pond and you’ve got a whole ocean of women to choose from.

Jesse couldn’t really argue with that. Fair enough. But it’s been a minute since I had sex. Guess I’ll just have to live with blue balls for a while longer.

Or take home a stranger. Torin looked at him like he’d lost his ever-lovin’ mind. I think you’ve taken one too many pucks to the head.

It’s a principal. I’m not breaking my rule. The year before, he’d been in town this weekend for the annual breast cancer awareness charity strip show event, and he’d hooked up with a woman who had been wearing his jersey. I mean, really, how could he not take her home? Wearing his number was the ultimate fan compliment. But now he was trying to take a step back, think about the future. I think it’s time to be thinking about a relationship, not another one-night stand.

Then he immediately regretted his honesty when Torin snorted. He didn’t sound like he believed him.

Hell, maybe he didn’t even believe himself. It was hard to totally shift the way he approached dating. The woman at the end of the bar laughed again and the sound went straight to Jesse’s dick. What was it about her laugh? But man, that chick with the pink hair is really cute.

He lamented everything he’d just said. His sexual need wrestled with his convictions and he wasn’t sure who was winning.

Are you objectifying women again, you two? Lilly asked, taking the stool next to him.

No, he said.

Yes, Torin said.

What kind of an answer is that? Lilly asked him, leaning over the bar to slap Torin’s arm.

He pulled his arm back from her playful attack. Just being honest. And trust me, they hand it right back to me. I’m nothing but a talking cock to half these women. Torin pulled his bottle opener out of his back pocket, saluted Lilly with it, and moved away to serve a customer.

Jesse was amused. Talking cock. Torin didn’t even have that much to say. He was probably a woman’s hookup dream. Jesse thought his own success with women came down to two things—his career and his upbeat attitude. He had a good time, always. There was nothing angsty about his personality at all.

Lilly shook her head. Between him, Sullivan, and Liam, I’m up to my ears in brooding O’Toole men. And now Callahan is moving back too in just a few weeks. It’s going to be all kinds of drama here.

Jesse didn’t care about any of those motherfuckers right at the moment. He was locked in battle with himself over whether or not he should approach the cute woman. She was only three stools down from him and very, very tempting. Do you know the girl with the pink hair? he asked Lilly, the tone in his voice giving him away. He heard it himself. He sounded like a man who hadn’t had sex in months, which he hadn’t.

She sighed. I really need new friends. No, I have no idea who she is.

Damn it.

But then something amazing happened.

The woman turned and spotted him. They locked eyes for a heartbeat, and he had an instant reaction. A sudden and undeniable sexual tension rippled between them. She had strong cheekbones, a delicate nose, and lips that made him want to devote the rest of the night to tasting them.

Her face lit up with a smile. She waved. Jesse, hi, oh, my God, it’s so nice to see you again!

Then she bit her lip. That lip he wanted to kiss and suck and tug at with his own teeth. Those lips he wanted to see wrapped around his cock while he pulled on that pink hair.

Jesse shifted on his stool, said cock growing hard at the sudden clamoring thought.

There was a God, and he liked hockey.

Because apparently Jesse knew this woman already.

According to her, anyway. He had exactly no clue who she was.

But all that mattered was his rule no longer applied.

Time to take a shot.

Astrid Anderson Bouchard’s palms started to sweat and her heart rate jumped by approximately one thousand percent the minute her eyes landed on Jesse Lambert, her childhood crush. Okay, still crush. Impossibly, ridiculously, long-standing, needed-to-go-the-hell-away crush.

Before she could even strategize, plan, or play it cool, she was waving and telling him it was nice to see him again. She instantly bit her lip, contrite, trying to take it down a notch.

Um, ease up on the enthusiasm, her best friend, Sasha, murmured under her breath. Don’t look so eager!

I know, she whispered back out of the side of her mouth as Jesse raised his hand to return the greeting. I didn’t mean to but I couldn’t help myself. It’s been years since I was in the same room with him. I got carried away.

It had been eight years, to be exact. Eight years since Astrid had spent a miserable summer at hockey camp, trying to please her father, and hating every single second she had skates strapped on, when Jesse had smiled at her and changed everything. He’d spent three weeks as her instructor, shielding her from the bullies, and she had spent three weeks fantasizing that he would fall in love with her.

Given that she was fifteen at the time, she had taken his kindness as interest. A couple of years later it had occurred to her that the same reason she had been bullied– because her father owned a professional hockey team—was the same reason college-age Jesse had been so attentive to her. By then, it was too late though. She had become obsessed with him, certain he was The One for her. Which led to years of holding up any man she dated to the impossible standards of her first intense crush.

Totally unrequited first crush, by the way. Jesse had seen her as a kid, nothing more.

That was all about to change tonight.

We talked about this, Sasha said. Men like a challenge. Do not get off that stool. I am dead-ass serious right now. Let him come to you.

Astrid turned to look at her friend. Sasha knew her well. Her foot was already off the stool rung and she had shifted her weight to stand up. Damn it. Fine. You’re totally right. I’m sitting. I will sit.

Sasha sipped her glass of wine. If you want to finish your bucket list and move on with your life, you have to be confident but aloof.

That’s why I’m here. Not to be confident or