Brooklyn Bruisers

Hockey player Leo Trevi has spent the last six years trying to do two things: get over the girl who broke his heart, and succeed in the NHL. But on the first day he's called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team's coach - who has a long simmering grudge - and then by the Bruisers' sexy, icy publicist - his former girlfriend, Georgia Worthington. Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do - and saying hello again isn't much easier.

As team captain and enforcer, Patrick O'Doul puts the bruise in the Brooklyn Bruisers. But after years of hard hits, O'Doul is feeling the burn, both physically and mentally. He conceals his pain from his coach and trainers, but when his chronic hip injury becomes too obvious to ignore, they send him for sessions with the team's massage therapist.

Mike Beacon is a champion at defending the net, but off the ice he's not so lucky. A widower and a single father, he's never forgotten Lauren Williams, the ex who gave him the best year of his life. When Lauren reappears in the Bruisers office during the playoffs, Beacon sees his chance to make things right.

You'd think a billion dollars, a professional hockey team and a six-bedroom mansion on the Promenade would satisfy a guy. You'd be wrong. For seven years Rebecca has brightened my office with her wit and her smile. She manages both my hockey team and my sanity. I don't know when I started waking in the night, craving her. All I know is that one whiff of her perfume ruins my concentration. And her laugh makes me hard.

Heidi and I have been trading hungry looks all year, and everything she does makes me smile. But I don't do girlfriends, and I certainly can't get involved with the league commissioner's daughter. I need shots on goal, not a hookup and a widely misunderstood paparazzi photo. Can I resist her, though? The way she teases me should be a game penalty for interference with my libido.

Sometimes lady luck shakes your hand, and sometimes she smacks your face. Sometimes she does both on the same day. Three years ago, I met the most amazing girl in the world. We were both down on our luck. Then I got that call - the one that tells you to get your buns on a plane to go meet your destiny. But the girl was left behind. I didn鈥檛 have her phone number, and she didn鈥檛 know my real name. While I became a professional hockey player, she became a superstar, with platinum records and legions of fans. And a slick music producer boyfriend who treated her badly.

The mysterious allergic reaction I have at the hockey game is terrifying. But it鈥檚 just a little less terrifying when a big, strong equipment manager for the Brooklyn Bruisers saves the day. That鈥檚 how I meet James 鈥淛imbo鈥� Carozza. When I鈥檓 alone and frightened, he gets me the help I need and delivers me safely to the emergency room. Too bad I don鈥檛 even get his number....

I鈥檓 at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don鈥檛 even know its name. Pass, thanks. I don鈥檛 need a summer job. But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she鈥檚 a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble. So guess who鈥檚 on a flight to Hawaii?

On the eve of her 30th birthday, sports agent Bess Beringer is ready to make some changes. Armed with a five-year plan - indexed and color coded - she鈥檒l tackle her personal life with the same zeal that she brings to her successful agency. A big, tall, ripped hunk of hockey player who鈥檚 just been traded to the Brooklyn Bruisers is not a part of that plan. Mark 鈥淭ank鈥� Tankiewicz has a lot of baggage. He鈥檚 a ride-or-die loner with a bad reputation. He鈥檚 on the rebound. He鈥檚 also the sexiest thing on two legs, and for some crazy reason it鈥檚 Bess that he wants.

This is my last chance to ditch my playboy reputation and finally fulfill my potential. So I鈥檝e made three rules for our biggest season yet: no boozing, no women, and no scandals. Especially that last thing. So who do I befriend on the very first day back at the rink? An amazing female hockey player. I want Sylvie in a way that鈥檚 more than just friendly. I crave her. But I have a championship to win, and so does she.

What I meant to do in Vegas: Let my hair down for once and celebrate winning a medal at my first women鈥檚 hockey all-stars competition. What I actually did: Got senior prom drunk and woke up married to Brooklyn鈥檚 star winger, the great Neil Drake. He鈥檚 the heir to a billion dollars, and I barely survived my childhood. Our friendship is based strictly on hockey, takeout food, and smack talk. And now holy matrimony. We both know it can鈥檛 last - especially once his evil family gets wind of our Vegas shenanigans.

After I鈥檓 arrested for throwing a raucous party, my hockey team says I have an image problem. And I need to fix it, stat. Charity work? Check. Haircut? Sure. But I draw the line at hiring my neighbor to style me. In the first place 鈥渟tyle鈥� shouldn鈥檛 be a verb. And I鈥檓 tired of people who鈥檇 judge me on appearances. Vera and I don鈥檛 see eye to eye on anything. She wants me to try on clothes, while I just want to remove hers. She's distractingly pretty, with soulful eyes and a sinful mouth that likes to argue with me.