I needed five words from him for my front page.He'd never given me more than four.Harper Kincaid learned a long time ago where she ranked.Behind the ice. Behind the team. Behind the chiller her father chose to fix the night her mother died on the kitchen floor.She spent five years trying to un-understand it. She never could.Now she's a sports reporter with one shot left, and her editor's ultimatum is brutal: land the story by 7 a.m., or lose the beat to the rival who's been circling for years.The story is Liam Farrow.The Wolves' golden boy. Game-winning slapshot. A smile for the cameras and a wall of silence for her.Grumpy, guarded, impossible.And carrying a debt he never mentions, a brother who's trouble, and a secret that could end his career if it ever hit print.The kind of secret a journalist is supposed to chase.The kind a falling heart is supposed to protect.One kiss nobody saw coming, and suddenly the line between the story and the man starts to disappear.She tells herself she can keep them separate. The byline and the boy. The job and the way he looks at her when the rink goes quiet.She can't.Then the feature she fought for vanishes. A rival's trap snaps shut. And Harper is left holding the one truth that could save Liam or burn them both, with a deadline screaming and her father's old voice in her head telling her the work always comes first.On the ice, in the dark, Liam finally says the thing he's never said to anyone."You want the story? Fine. But I'm not giving them you. Not for any headline."Harper can write the truth. Or she can keep him.And she's spent her whole life learning that you don't get both.Cross-Check is a steamy forbidden sports romance about a grumpy-sunshine pairing, a hockey star with a secret, betrayal, a career on the line, slow-burn desire, and the heart that wouldn't forget.Perfect for readers who love hockey romance, grumpy-meets-sunshine, forbidden workplace tension, an emotional heroine with grit, and a hard-earned happily ever after. A standalone sports romance with a satisfying happy ending.