OneManAdvantage (5 page)

“Yeah. You know the city. See what he wants to do—rent, buy,
whatever—scope out some good places and take him to have a look. We need to get
him settled in.”

“That’d be ‘other duties as assigned’?” she asked dryly.

He laughed. “Exactly. Okay. Logan’s meeting with us at ten.
I’ll let you know if there’s anything else he needs after that. You look after
him, okay? We want to make this transition for him as seamless as possible. He
doesn’t need a lot of hassles to take his mind off his game.”

Oh yeah, she’d like to look after him all right.

Tabarnac
, she had to stop thinking things like that!

She was typing up an article for Faceoff, the game-day
publication for the Caribou, when Logan Heller arrived for his ten o’clock
meeting with Matt and Scott. After the meeting, he’d be skating with the team
for his first practice with them. First game would be Wednesday night, at home.
In fact, their next five games were at home, which was probably good for him
and would give them time to look for a new place.

She looked up when he walked in and her tummy did a flip.
God, he looked good, wearing jeans with a black leather jacket and gray striped
scarf. When their eyes met, she struggled to keep her composure and gave him a
warm and professional smile. “Hi,” she said. “Welcome!”

“Thanks.”

“You’re here to see Matt and Scott,” she said. “I’ll show
you to Matt’s office. Come on this way.” She led the way down a hall, acutely
aware of him following right behind her. She rapped on Matt’s open door and
stepped inside. “Logan’s here,” she announced.

Logan followed her in.

“Come see me when you’re done,” she said to him, all polite
and professional as she moved out of the office. “We have a lot of things to go
over.”

He gave her a hot stare and her tummy did another flip-flop.
“You bet,” he said.

Oh-oh.

She sat back down in front of her computer and stared
blankly at it. There were a lot of sparks zapping between her and Logan Heller
and now she was going to have to spend time with him, getting him all set up
with the team and helping him find a place to live. This could be dangerous.

Maybe she should rethink quitting her job. She pressed a
hand to her stomach where butterflies swooped. No. She was not quitting her
job. She was a strong, professional woman. She could totally do this. It would
be fine.

She determinedly focused on work until the men emerged from
Matt’s office nearly an hour later. Logan carried his jacket now, the loose
blue-and-white shirt he wore untucked over the jeans.

“I’ll leave you with Nicole,” Scott said. “Nicole, can you
bring him over when you’re done?”

She smiled again. “Of course. Have a seat,” she said,
nodding at a chair in front of her desk and reaching for some papers she’d
printed out. She began going over the business items she needed to review with
him. “And Breck wants to do a press conference tomorrow,” she finally said.
“We’ll schedule it before practice. It will be here in the media room. And
that’s about it. Other than somewhere to live.” She beamed another fake smile.
“They asked me to help you find a place, since I know the city.”

“Um. Yeah. Thanks.” He didn’t even look a little overwhelmed
with all the information she’d just laid on him. “I do need to find a place.”

“I assume you want to rent something.”

He shrugged. “I guess that makes sense. I need to sell my
place in California. I don’t want to rush into buying something here.”

“Are you thinking you won’t be here that long?” She nearly
closed her eyes. Why had she said that?

He rubbed his forehead. “It just doesn’t all seem real yet.”

Sympathy tugged something inside her. It did suck having
your whole life uprooted and moved across the country in the space of a few
days. “Well, I’ll try to make it as easy for you as I can,” she said. “Any
thoughts about where you want to live? Apartment? House? Townhouse?”

“No. Jesus.” Their eyes met again and Nicole felt that snap
of attraction again. He had beautiful eyes, dark-brown with long, thick
eyelashes. She wanted to reach out and rub her fingers over the scruff of
whiskers on his square jaw. She felt almost as if she was leaning forward in
her chair, drawn toward him. She gripped one arm of the chair. “I don’t know,”
he continued. “I had a condo on the beach in California. I guess there’s no
beach in Minneapolis.”

She smiled. “Well, not ocean beach, for sure. But there are
a lot of lakes.”

“Where do you live?”

She sat back a little. “Uh…I have a little townhouse condo
not too far from here. But I’m sure you can afford something much nicer.” His
multimillion-dollar contract was no secret.

“Yeah.” He grinned, clearly unconcerned about money. She’d
been like that once. “That neighborhood Fedor lives in seems nice.”

“Very nice,” she agreed. They talked about prices and things
he liked.

“A hot tub,” he said. “I’d really like a hot tub.”

“Um. Yeah. You could always get one put in though.”

“Not if I’m renting.”

“True.” She’d gone all warm inside thinking about him in a
hot tub. And he was looking at her as if he was thinking the same thing about
her. Her skin tingled all over under his hot gaze. “I’ll do some research and
come up with some options. We can talk more tomorrow either before or after the
press conference.”

“Okay.”

“I guess that’s it for now.”

“Well.” He set his hands on his knees. “Um. Matt said you’d
show me around. I’m supposed to find Scott in the dressing room.”

“Oh. Of course.” Yeah, she knew that, but damn, she did not
want to leave her office. She still felt acutely aware of everyone’s attention.
If only she could hide in the office for a while longer. Over in the arena
she’d have to face the coaching and training staff and possibly some of the
players.
Merde
. “Hold on one sec. I just have to send out this weekly
schedule advisory to the media.” She finished off the email and sent it to
sports editors and media reps. “Okay, let’s go.”

She did a couple of quick clicks on her computer to lock it,
then stood. “We can get to the arena through the tunnel,” she said. “It runs
under Bismarck Avenue.” Once again, she was conscious of his bulk behind her as
she led the way out of the offices and into the elevator.

“That was fun last night,” he said as they walked through
the short tunnel. “I didn’t expect…that…my first night in town. Figured I’d be
sitting in a hotel room all alone.”

“It’s nice of Fedor and Taylor to let you stay with them.”

“Yeah. I appreciate it. Fedor’s a good guy. I don’t want to
impose on them too long, though.”

“You could live in that house with them for a year and never
see them,” she said. “It’s so huge.”

He laughed. “True that.” After a short pause, he said, “You
know a lot about hockey.”

She slanted him a look as they walked. “You sound surprised.”

“I guess I’ve never met a girl who knows that much. I mean,
there are girls who like hockey, but…”

“I played hockey,” she said. “In high school. I was pretty
good, but my parents didn’t think it was a worthwhile career choice. For a
girl.”

“Women’s hockey hasn’t quite reached the same level as
men’s.”

She bristled. “That doesn’t mean we should just give up on
it.”

“I never said that.” He shot her a look.

She sighed. “Yeah. I just mean…well, never mind. I still
love the game.”

“That’s why you work for the Caribou?”

“Yes.”

“What did your parents think you should do for a living?”

“My dad thought I should be a model.” She rolled her eyes.

“You could be.”

“Oh yeah. Sure. Or maybe an astronaut. That’s just as
realistic.”

He blinked with surprise.

Wait, what? Had he been serious with that comment? She’d
thought he was just sucking up with gratuitous flattery.

“My mom pointed out often that I wasn’t ever going to be a
model, pretty much as often as my dad pointed out I was never going to have a
hockey career. Actually, I don’t think he really cared what I did. He was
pretty focused on my brother and his career. He didn’t have much time for a
girl, even if she did play hockey.” She made a face. “Sorry, that sounds as if
I’m whining. I’m not.”

“You didn’t sound as if you were whining.”

They walked into the bowl of the arena right near the
loading docks. Huge trucks were parked there, unloading boxes, some containing
merchandise for the Caribou store up on the concourse level, others with food
for the commissary. The faint smell of exhaust fumes lingered in the cool air
and the rumble of the HVAC and ice-making equipment forced her to speak louder.
“Dressing room is this way.” She turned left and used her access pass to open
the doors. The noise faded as the doors closed behind them.

“Hi, Travis,” she greeted the assistant equipment manager,
who avoided her eyes. She cringed inwardly but kept a smile in place. “Have you
met Logan?” She made introductions and they shook hands.

“Got your gear all ready for you,” Travis said.

“I’ve been in this arena before,” Logan reminded her as they
moved on. “As a visitor, of course.”

The visitors’ dressing room was farther down the hall.

“Yes.”

“Hey, Nicole.” Logan stopped again and touched her arm.

She stopped too and turned to face him. “Yes?”

“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

Her stomach twisted into knots as she stared at him.

He’d just asked her out.

And
tabarnac de câlisse,
she
so
wanted to say
yes.

There was no denying the attraction between them. It had
been there last night when they’d met. It had sizzled back and forth all
evening. Every time their eyes met, she’d felt a jolt like a small electrical
shock, a sudden burst of heat in her lower belly. Beneath the easy, lazy smile
and the deceptively uncaring way he shrugged those big shoulders, he had an
intense way of looking at her that made her just want to give into it, just
surrender to him and do whatever he wanted.

But she couldn’t.

Tempted as she was, standing there in the depths of the
arena surrounded by rumbling ventilation equipment and guys pushing dollies
loaded with boxes, however much she just wanted to throw herself into his arms
and let him kiss her into next week, she could not do that again

She became aware her mouth was hanging open. She snapped it
shut and glared at him. “Oh my god,” she said. “You did not just say that.”

Chapter Five

She looked as if she wanted to punch him. Her hands curled
into fists at her sides. Today she wore a pair of gray tweed trousers and a
black turtleneck. Plain and simple, but she made it look elegant and sexy,
especially the rear view he’d noticed in the office, the way her pants hugged
her hot little ass.

“What?”

“I…I…” She just glared at him, eyes shooting sparks. “I’m
just going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Uh…” Now it was his turn to be at a loss for words. Women
didn’t turn him down very often. Or, well…ever. “What’s the problem?”

Her eyes widened. She muttered something under her breath
that he didn’t understand, then lifted her chin. “I think we should keep this
strictly business.”

“Oh.” Disappointment flooded him. He was a social guy, liked
going out and having friends. Like he’d said, last night had been fun with
Fedor and his wife and Nicole. He’d felt as if maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, if
he had friends there in Minneapolis. Yeah, he was hugely attracted to Nicole,
but that was a pretty normal thing to happen between a guy and a girl, right?
No? What had he done wrong?

“Hey, you’re here!” Scott emerged from the dressing room and
greeted him. “You two done for now?”

“We are,” Nicole confirmed with a taut smile for the coach.
“I’m going back to the office to start researching some places for Logan to
live and getting some things set up for him.”

“Great, thanks, Nicole. Logan, c’mon back into my office.”

With one last glance at Nicole, during which their eyes met
and the connection briefly sizzled, he followed Scott through the home dressing
room for the Minneapolis Caribou, which was pristine, the carpet with the
Caribou logo on it meticulously vacuumed, all the players’ gear—including his
own, now—hung perfect and neat in their cubbies.

He had to put Nicole and his strange fascination for her, as
well as his letdown at her reaction to his invitation, out of his head and
focus on hockey. On his career. Which was the most important thing.

He and Scott had a good talk. He’d always liked and
respected Scott, from what little he knew of him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t
want to play for him, but it was always an adjustment to get used to a new
coach with a different style. Scott was pretty frank about the problem on the
team and his frustrations, and also what he expected of Logan.

“You have a good work ethic,” Scott said. “We need someone
like that. We need some leadership.”

Logan nodded. “Yeah.” Christ they were looking to
him
for leadership? He wasn’t like Tag, who’d been team captain for years, or even
Jase, who’d just been named assistant captain of the Wolves. And this team
already had a captain. He mentioned that to Scott.

“Yeah.” Scott rubbed his face. “You know Ron’s been
struggling with some injuries this year. It’s been tough for him. He’s got a
lot of good qualities. I’m not putting this on him, not at all. And yeah, he’s
the captain. But there’s leadership that comes from the role you’re given―from
the C on your chest―or leadership that comes from within. I’m just saying, you
have some natural qualities that we need here.”

Logan nodded. No pressure at all. Huh.

As they talked, some of the other players began arriving for
the practice, and Logan joined them when he and Scott were done. He greeted all
his new teammates, trying for easy and friendly and happy to be there, even
though he felt like a total outsider and truthfully still wasn’t all that happy
to be there. On the ice, though, under Scott’s direction, he relaxed and focused
on the game he knew and loved―the feel of the ice beneath his blades, the speed
and power of skating, the sweetness of handling the puck on his stick.

He loved working his body hard, pushing himself to his
limits and beyond, and even though mentally this change was tough, he knew from
experience that by getting into it physically, his head would follow. He could
shut everything else out and just be himself, trusting his muscles, trusting
his skills, trusting his intuition. His body knew how to move. He had agility,
speed, strength and flexibility, was able to race from end to end of the ice,
move side to side, turn in sweeping circles or tight circles, change direction
in an instant and burst from a dead stop. He could cup the puck on his stick
and maneuver it with finesse. His instincts and experience helped him know what
angle to shoot from and how hard, where the puck was, where his teammates were.
Christ, if someone in the crowd got up to go for beer, he knew it.

He was determined to show them his best in this first
practice.

By the end of the practice, sweaty and on a pretty good
adrenaline high, he remained on the ice after the others had left. He skated in
a slow circle, on one foot, then the other, stickhandling the puck just for the
fun of it, and gazed up into the rafters of the cavernous arena, the banks of
lights blazing down on him, the dark rows of seats empty. He breathed in the
chilled air, the scent of the ice and sweat.

This was it. This was going to be his home from now on. For
how long, who knew. He’d thought he was a Condor for the long haul, but that
wasn’t the case. He wasn’t likely to be traded again tomorrow, but you never
knew. But whatever. This was where he was now and he had to make the best of
it.

He lined up, drew his stick back and aimed a perfect
slapshot at the goal. The crack of his stick on the frozen puck vibrated around
him and the puck shot into the net, damn near going right through it. He
smiled.

As he walked into the dressing room, he heard the song
Pumped
Up Kicks
being playing on the sound system. He couldn’t help but move to
the catchy beat and did a little dance over to his cubby.

Fedor laughed at him.

“You’d better run, better run, outrun my gun,” Logan sang,
grinning, and the other guys laughed too. “Turn it up, it’s a good song.”

Tyler Gladstone moved to the music too as he yanked his
practice jersey over his head and some of the other guys boogied a little too.

After he’d showered and dressed, then joked around a little
with the other guys, he found his way back to the office where Nicole sat at
her desk, sipping from a giant cup of coffee as she clicked with a mouse, her
eyes on her computer screen.

Damn.

He’d never been one to give up easily when he wanted
something, but he must be crazy. He’d just arrived in town and was ready to
jump pretty much the first girl he’d met. Maybe he should just heed what she’d
said and keep it business, while he went out and hit the hotspots in
Minneapolis and met girls who’d be more interested in him than Nicole was.

But he got the feeling she
was
interested. Things had
sparked between them last night, and not just because he’d been naked. He was
pretty sure she’d felt the same heated awareness, the way she’d checked him
out, the way their eyes kept meeting while they were making dinner, then
eating. So hey, that was enough to encourage him not to give up. He grinned as
he approached her desk.

She looked up and he didn’t miss the flicker in her eyes
when she saw him. Yeah, there was something there.

“Hey,” he said, leaning on her desk. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” She pushed her chair back so she wasn’t looking way
up at him. She picked up a piece of paper from her printer and handed it to
him. “Here. These are the things I’ve got lined up so far. A couple of photo
shoots. Press conference. Interviews.”

He looked it over and nodded. He was going to be busy the
next few days. He had other things to do too, like lease a car. Find a place to
live.

“Find any houses for me yet?” he asked.

She frowned. “I haven’t had much time,” she said, her voice
a little testy. “I’ve just gotten back from a week’s vacation and I have a ton
of work to do. Besides looking after you.”

Ooh. She was still pissed.

“There are all kinds of media requests for interviews with
you,” she said. “There’s a game tomorrow night and a million things to get done
to be ready for it. I’m trying to prioritize things and I think the game being
tomorrow takes precedence over your housing situation, since you do in fact
have a bed to sleep in tonight and are not homeless.”

He lifted his eyebrows, wishing she hadn’t mentioned
sleeping and his bed. Because his mind went straight there, wanting her in his
bed. And not sleeping. Preferably with those sexy boots on. “I understand,” he
said mildly. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you. Just asking.”

She licked her bottom lip and dropped her gaze, which was so
profoundly sexy, blood rushed to his groin. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t
mean to be bitchy.”

He laughed. “You’re not a bitch, gorgeous. But you’re
obviously stressed. What can I do?”

She lifted those pretty blue eyes and his entire body went
hot and tight. “Nothing, of course,” she said. “I apologize. I’m supposed to be
making things easy for you, not complaining to you. What do you think about
lofts?”

He blinked. “Lofts?” What the hell?

“There aren’t a lot of upscale homes for rent in
Minneapolis,” she said. “I thought you might be interested in some of the loft
condos. There are some really nice ones and some aren’t that far from here.
You’d be close to work.”

“Huh. Yeah. I guess.” It wasn’t oceanside, but whatever. He
had to let go of that.

“Okay. I’ll do some more checking and set up times to go see
them. I know your schedule.”

“Okay.” He didn’t move off her desk.

She gave him a look with raised eyebrows. “Is there
something else?”

Reluctantly he stood. “No.” He glanced at the paper in his
hand, then lifted it. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She gave a cool, professional smile. “Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Great.”

Okay. Much as he wasn’t used to having to convince a woman
to date him, he knew when to back off. He headed out. He’d go buy himself a new
car. Something nice. Maybe an SUV for dealing with Minneapolis winters,
something he was well familiar with, having grown up not far away in Winnipeg.

Which reminded him that he should call his parents again and
update them on how things were going.

He used the GPS map on his cell phone to locate a Jeep
dealership and studied the directions, then called his Mom.

“Do you want me to fly down to California?” she asked, his
Bluetooth in place as he drove. “I can pack up the things in your house and
have them shipped. Get the place ready to sell.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

“Who else is going to do it?” she asked. “You don’t have a
wife to look after you.”

He frowned. A wife to look after him? Jesus. He sighed. “No,
I don’t. But that’s a lot of work for you, Mom.” And dammit, did he want his
mother packing up all his stuff? Christ, he just hoped she’d think the steel
suspension bar was for working out. At least he’d brought the cuffs with him.

“I can handle it. I don’t mind a little trip somewhere warm.
But I want to go now, because Jase’s baby is due in a few weeks and I’ll want
to go to Chicago when the baby’s born to see him or her and help.”

Logan frowned. “Really?”

“Of course. It’ll be our first grandchild. The MacIntoshes
have two already, and if things keep going the way they have been with Tag and
Kyla, they’ll have more.”

“What!”

“Kyla’s not pregnant,” Mom hastened to assure him. “But
they’ve been spending a lot of time together. He might as well move in with
her, with how much time he spends there.”

“I thought he was going to buy a house.”

“Well, he looked around a bit, but he didn’t want to rush
into things, and then he started spending so much time with Kyla…I think he’s
given up on that idea. For now.”

“Huh.”

“It’s so nice,” Mom said, her voice warm. “I don’t know if
I’ve ever seen him this happy. And it’s Kyla!”

Logan rolled his eyes. Okay, Kyla was already like part of
the family, having grown up with them as one of the kids of his parents’ best
friends, but geez, you’d think his mom had always wanted a daughter or
something.

“It’s just so exciting and romantic,” she added. “And Remi
and Jase too…” She sighed happily. “And a baby.”

As usual, Logan couldn’t live up to his two older brothers,
who’d led the way with their hockey talent and now were thrilling their mom
with their girlfriends and babies. “Not to put a damper on your excitement,”
Logan said dryly. “But Jase won’t have full custody of the baby. And we’re
still not certain it’s his. Don’t get too excited about it, Mom.”

After a short pause, she said, “I suppose you’re right.”

Damn. Now she sounded sad. He sighed. “I just don’t want you
to be all disappointed and heartbroken if it turns out to be not even his
baby.”

“He’s pretty sure it is.”

“I know, but…never mind.”

“Okay. Back to me going to California. I’ll check into some
flights and see what I can arrange.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll pay for the flight.”

“Of course you will.” She laughed.

It would take a huge load off his mind to have all that
stuff looked after. How else was he going to do it? They had a steady schedule
for the next few weeks. “Okay, I gotta go. I’m at the Jeep dealership.”

* * * * *

Nicole was running around the arena Wednesday night during
the game, attending to various things—ensuring there was enough food for the
media up in the press box and for staff downstairs, making sure Ryan had the
list of game shots required by both the team and the NHL, making sure
everything was set up for the post-game media scrum—so she didn’t have time to
watch a lot of the game. But she did stop a few times to watch. There was a
feeling that this was a pivotal game for the team after the trade, Logan’s
first game. She found herself looking for him on the ice and on the bench.