Seattle Scorpions Series

My whole life, I've come out on top. One of the finest players ever to grace the NHL? Check. Most prolific playboy with an enviable reputation between the sheets? Check. Award for the cockiest athlete in America? Also, check, and well deserved I'd say. So why does my life feel anything but the perfect image I project? And why won't the one woman who came crashing into my life and knocked me on my six-foot-four ass take me seriously?

Apparently, she loved me, but that still didn't stop her from doing what she did. And frankly, I'm done with relationships, and I'm done with searching for love when it has no interest in finding me. After the hit I took last season, I plan to focus on rehabilitation and getting my mind back into the game I've loved for so many years. I don't need distractions, and I don't need another woman in my bed or my head. I've got enough complications to last me a lifetime.

She can't stand me. She also thinks she's got me all worked out. My Princess is determined to stay as far away from me as possible. Eighteen months ago, she wanted me, but now, she's convinced I'm bad news. The thing is an attraction like ours doesn't just fade, and my need for her has only grown stronger no matter how many times she offers me a scowl instead of her beautiful smile. We've been playing a game of cat and mouse since the day she wore my jersey, and fortunately for her, I love the chase.

They think my greatest gift is my ability on the ice. But they're wrong. I've been hailed as the guy who has it all when it comes to hockey. Powerful people have invested their time and money, determined to turn my potential into their reality. The most influential of those people? Graham Jenkins, former NHL player and the General Manager of the Dallas Destroyers. The second he set eyes on me in the little leagues, he piled all his resources into my success. And when the Destroyers were awarded the first-round draft pick, he didn't hesitate to snap me up.