Fighting Love: The Iced Series, #5

By Kristine Allen

Fighting: Engaging in a physical altercation with an opposing player, usually involving the throwing of punches with gloves removed or worse.

 

I'm Mikko Heikkinen, winger for the Austin Amurs. Fighting is my penalty. I'm not a violent guy, but I won't let someone push me around.

 

Hockey is not only my job, it's my first love. Nothing will come between us.

 

Until Sutton.

 

From two different worlds, we met on a plane. I was going home to Finland in the off season, she was on her honeymoon. Alone.

 

I didn't expect to see her again. Yet fate had other plans. Unable to deny the chemistry between us, we decided on one rule—don't get attached. Unfortunately, I'm known for breaking the rules.

 

I'm going to make her mine and I plan to pull out all the stops. I've never backed down from a fight and I sure as h*ll don't plan to now.

 

 

Watch for other books in the Destination Romance Collection!

Release details ⬇️

June 21: DL Gallie - Secrets and Sunrises

June 23: Kristine Allen - Fighting Love

June 28: Jackie Wheeler Dasen - Stealing the Mounties Love

June 30: Brooke May - German Wanderlust

July 5: Xana Jordan - A Viking Wedding

July 7: S.K. Lansing - Island Time

July 12: Tracie Douglas - Dragonfly Inn

July14: Jaime Russell - Finding Home

July 19: Chelle C Craze - title coming soon

July 21: Letha Gene - Kane's Redemption

• Language: English
• Publisher: Demented Sons Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jun 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201630478

Kristine Allen

Kristine Allen lives in beautiful Central Texas with her adoring husband. They have four brilliant, wacky and wonderful children. She is surrounded by twenty-six acres, where her seven horses, six dogs and three cats run the place. Kristine realized her dream of becoming a contemporary romance author after years of reading books like they were going out of style and having her own stories running rampant through her head.  She works as a nurse, but in stolen moments, taps out ideas and storylines until they culminate in characters and plots that pull her readers in and keep them entranced for hours.

Book preview

FIGHTING LOVE, 1st Edition Copyright 2022 by Kristine Allen, Demented Sons Publishing, LLC.

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN-13: 9798835841400

Published in the United States of America. First published in June, 2022.

Cover Design: Tracie Douglas, Dark Water Covers

Photographer: Eric McKinney, 6:12 Photography

Cover Model: J.D.

Editing: Hot Tree Editing, www.hottreepublishing.com

The purchase of this e-book, or book, allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. This does not include the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. For information, contact the author at [e-mail]. Thank you for supporting this author and her rights.

Warning: This book may contain offensive language, violence, adult and sexual situations. Mature audiences only, 18+ years of age.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

About This Book

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Acknowledgements

Other Books by Kristine Allen

About the Author

This one’s for you, Shelby. You alone are responsible for Sutton’s name—I can’t tell you how much I love it! Thank you and I hope you enjoy her story.

Fighting: Engaging in a physical altercation with an opposing player, usually involving the throwing of punches with gloves removed or worse.

I’m Mikko Heikkinen, winger for the Austin Amurs. Fighting is my penalty. I’m not a violent guy, but I won’t let someone push me around.

Hockey is not only my job, it’s my first love. Nothing comes between us.

Until Sutton.

From two different worlds, we met on the plane taking me home to Finland in the off season, while she was on her honeymoon. Alone.

I don’t expect to see her again. Yet fate had other plans. Unable to deny the chemistry between us, we decide on one rule—don’t get attached. Unfortunately, I’m known for breaking the rules.

I’m going to make her mine and I plan to pull out all the stops. I’ve never backed down from a fight, and I sure as h*ll don’t plan to now.

Mikko Heikkinen (signed from Finland—Left Wing/Forward)

To the Reader:

I did take artistic liberties and changed a few of the amenities of the Sky Ounasvaara Hotel as the outdoor fireplaces don’t exist and to my knowledge, there isn’t an outdoor play area for children.

Bitter  Taste—Three  Days  Grace

The season had ended without us making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. It sucked, but freaking Nashville edged us out in the last few games.

Though I wanted to stay in the States a while before flying back to Finland for a couple of months, my mother had begged me to come home as soon as I could. My grandmother’s health was rapidly declining. Why she thought I wanted to go home, I had no idea. My dad’s mother hated me simply because my mom was American and hadn’t spoken a word of Finnish in the beginning. The only reason I was going home ahead of schedule was for my dad.

"I’m boarding my flight in Dallas now, Äiti," I told her as I walked down the ramp toward the plane.

I’d caught a last-minute early-morning flight out of Austin and had a two-hour layover in Dallas. They were the only flights available, and beggars couldn’t be choosers. The problem was, the whole trip already had me exhausted, and it had barely started.

Laying my head back on the headrest, I closed my eyes. People were still loading, and with the size of the plane, it would take a while before we were ready to take off. Thankfully, there had been a first-class seat available on this last-minute trip, because making the flight to Finland in economy would’ve been a bitch. I’m not a small guy.

Excuse me. Um, I think that’s my seat, a husky, soft voice said nervously. Unsure if they were talking to me or to the guy across the aisle, I sighed. My lids lifted and I looked up to see a woman staring down at me. Despite her slightly swollen eyes and the pink tip of her nose, she was pretty as hell.

Oh sure, I murmured before I stood up and moved to the aisle to let her past. The faint scent of her perfume drifted over me as she slid past and into the window seat. It was sultry and hit a part of me that wasn’t prepared for it.

Fucking hell, it had been too damn long since I’d had sex.

Goddamn Jordan Beck. Thanks to the shit he went through, I was a little afraid of random hookups. You never knew when a chick would turn out to be a psycho like his ex had been.

As she settled in, I sat down again and returned to my previous position. In other words, trying to take a nap.

Are you from Finland? she timidly asked, and I fought the sigh building within. Despite her attractiveness, I was tired and a little grouchy about the last-minute trip home.

Opening my eyes, I rolled my head in her direction. Fuck, she was more than pretty—she was hot. Yes.

I thought so. I thought I noticed an accent, she offered with a small smile. She was right—though my English was flawless, thanks to my mother, I’d been raised in the north of Finland and therefore retained my Finnish accent.

Giving her a placating smile, I faced front and closed my eyes again, hoping she would get the hint that I wasn’t feeling talkative. Any other time, I might’ve tried to talk her into joining the mile-high club with me, but I was in a pissy mood and not up to visiting with strangers.

No matter how pretty they were.

I must’ve dozed off, because I jolted awake when the flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder. Sir, you need to buckle your seat belt.

Right, I mumbled. The short nap had done wonders for me, and as we taxied down the runway, I actually began to look forward to seeing my family. At least my parents, my brother, and my sister.

A subdued sniffle came from the woman next to me. Glancing her way, I took in the elegant profile she presented as she stared out the window. A slightly upturned nose, high cheekbones, plush lips that made me reconsider the whole mile-high thing, blonde hair in a messy, thick braid that hung over one shoulder, and the longest fucking lashes I’d ever seen.

That little sniffle, coupled with the signs I noticed earlier, made me feel like shit for being rude. My mother would’ve beat my ass.

Are you okay?

Startled, she jumped, and her bright gaze darted to collide with mine as the plane shook and lifted into the air. She blinked rapidly to clear away the tears that shimmered in her pale green eyes. Yeah, I was definitely a dick for my earlier behavior.

Me?

Um, yes. You’re the only one next to me, I teased, trying like hell to lighten her mood.

Her chest rose as she took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. After a brief moment, she pasted a determined look on her face, and a reluctant curve of her mouth resulted. Yes. I mean, I will be.

What is taking you to Finland? I found myself asking. Honestly, I wanted to drop my head and kick myself in the rear. I was the one who hadn’t been in the mood to talk earlier, yet there I was initiating conversation.

Well, it was a dream of mine since I was a little girl. She shrugged as if it was no big deal for her to have been wanting to go to Finland, of all places, ever since she was young.

The chuckle that escaped me sent a flush over her cheeks, and she glanced down at her hands. They were fidgeting with the excess of the seatbelt.

Sorry, you just took me by surprise. Most kids don’t dream of going to Finland. It’s usually France, or Hawaii. Somewhere exotic.

You don’t think Finland is exotic? Her wide-eyed surprise caused her lips to part, and I found myself staring at them a bit too long.

Flattening my mouth, I thought about her question. Imagining the sunrise over the water in Helsinki, the sparkle of fresh snow in the morning, the crisp, clean air year-round, and the northern lights rippling in the winter night sky near my home, I could understand what she was thinking. My country was truly beautiful.

Well, by definition, exotic is characteristic of a distant foreign country, so no—because Finland is home. But yes, Finland is stunning, beautiful, and captivating. A smirk found its way to my face, and when her surprise morphed to delight, I found myself lost in her smile.

"This will probably sound crazy, but my mom found a book at a thrift shop when I was young. It was called Louhi, Witch of North Farm. I would always tell her that I was going to visit Louhi. Which is crazy, but it is what it is. Um, and it’s supposed to be the official home of Santa Claus. It’s childish, but…," she explained with a shrug and a soft sigh. Her cheeks flushed pink as she studied her hands.

I actually know the book you’re talking about. The mischievous witch stole the sun, and the moon and locked them away. It’s a retelling of a story from the Kalevala. And yes, I know Santa’s home well. The grin that stole over me was from fond memories of my own mother reading me the story. "But I can’t believe a children’s book and Santa Claus are propelling