My name is Poppy St. James, and I am going to kill Lukas Novikov! I've just landed my dream job as the director of public relations for the NHL's newest expansion team, the Jacksonville Rays, but the team owner has only granted me a one-year contract. If I want to stay, I'll have to prove myself. Easy. Public relations is in my blood.
But it turns out professional hockey players are a major handful. No one is a bigger pain in my side than party boy defenseman, Lukas Novikov. I don't care how well he plays hockey. Off the ice, he's a PR nightmare. Brash and bossy, he's always finding ways to drag his teammates into trouble. His favorite accomplice is fellow defenseman Colton Morrow.
The players can all call me PR Barbie if they want, but I'm getting the job done, and I'm doing it in three-inch heels. Because I am Poppy St. James-poised, powerful, and always professional . . . until the fateful night my phone rings.
One phone call from home leads to one drunken mistake. Now I'm staring down at a little blue plus sign and I have no idea where my carefully balanced life will lead next. All I know is that nothing will ever be the same.
Why You Should Read This Book
Tropes
Trigger Warnings
Pucking Sweet
“I’m not asking to date you. I’m just letting you know that you need to be kissed more often, and I’m willing to be the man to do it. Any time of the day or night. You need kissing? You come to me. Understand?”
“I just told you, Lukas. I don’t care what you do. I only care how you do it. If you’re determined to make it your job to party every moment you’re not on the ice, then as your PR manager, it’s my job to ensure you do it with as little damage to your reputation as possible.”
“Call it secret, call it private, call it a fucking fever dream, I don’t care. But so long as Lukas and I are satisfying your every need, you don’t look at another man. You don’t touch another man. You’re ours. Say it, Poppy.”
“Stay with me, Poppy. My goddess, my fucking queen. Come with me. Look at me.”
“Poppy, this is about you constantly lying down and allowing shitty things to happen to you, and I’m telling you it’s enough. Stop accepting less when you know you deserve more.”
“I’m not above treating these grown men like naughty children.”
“Your body is a gift. You tell us what’s allowed, and we’ll thank you for it.”
“One thing to know about me is I don’t fucking share, Poppy. Did I not just tell you I’m a jealous person? I don’t care if there’s been other men. Fuck a thousand other men. But when I ask you if there are others, you will tell me no. Understand?”
“This position being philandering manwhore. Just say it, Poppy.”
“I’m a freaking jellyfish. I’m a Poppy-fish. I’m a pushover.”
“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad for you.”
“I’ve died and come back three times over, Poppy. I know with a clarity most others lack that sometimes you only get one shot in this life. You have to be ready to take it when it comes. You have to be ready to fucking cherish it.”
“And you’re a ball-busting harpy witch. But you’re also so gorgeous you knock the air out of my chest when you walk in the fucking room.”
“Just call me Buddy the Elf because I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it.”
“I am going to burn the memory of him from your soul. Do you understand? When I’m done, there will be nothing left of him but a fucking echo.”
“Such a good fucking girl. A queen on her knees. You’re ours. Branded with our cum. We’ll take such good care of you.”
“Obvious? Lukas, you just hard-launched our love triangle to my sister and all her friends! Without telling me first! Do you have any idea the shitstorm that little joke is gonna swirl me in?”
“Now, be a good girl, and get on your hands and knees for me. Let me show you how you deserve to be worshipped, body and fucking soul.”
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