Blades Hockey Series

He (was) the hottest player on the ice. She's a (struggling) sports journalist looking for her big break. Charlie Denton has been handed the most impossible assignment from her stick-in-the-mud boss: get an exclusive interview with the NHL's golden boy, Duke Harrison. The catch? She's got eight days or she'll be demoted. Fired. Kicked to the curb - no way is she letting her future rest on the broad shoulders of a goalie who is at least three seasons past his prime.

Falling down is an accident. Staying down is a choice. Going down is a career-changer...that's the one I did. How was I supposed to know that the NHL's toughest enforcer, the Red Wings' laundry room, and one security video would be my downfall? I've spent more time in the penalty box than any other player in the NHL, but this time I really screwed up. How was I supposed to know that one night and one choice would be worse than all of my transgressions on the ice? Now, I've lost my team, my sponsors, and my publicist. For most people, it's bend or break. For me, it's melt or harden.

As the star forward for the Boston Blades, I've earned a reputation for no-strings attached hookups and a mean slapshot that has all the ladies purring - but it's never been the one woman I want to see all fired up and ready to score. Boston's own Ice Queen Gwen James has had my emotions all tangled up for years. I've played the games. I've sat on the sidelines. I'm done being benched. When she approaches me for a second chance, I accept on one condition: she's got to prove she's all in. It just might kill me to keep my hands to myself, but it's time Gwen knows what it's like to beg.

As captain for the Boston Blades, I've spent years working toward bringing home the Stanley Cup. But when the owners sell us out to Hollywood, suddenly we're not just playing for thousands of fans, we're cracking open our lives on Getting Pucked, a new reality show. I agree to sign the contract on one condition: They hire New England's reigning queen of media to call the shots. Holly Belliveaux Carter. The woman who drives me to insanity and turns me on with nothing but a quirk of her lips and the sound of her laugh. The only woman I've ever loved. The problem? She's my ex-wife.