It was just after seven in the evening when Laurel Saunders walked into her condo, kicking off her heels and tossing her purse on a chair in the living room. It had been a long day. She’d been up at five to get an on-ice workout in and then showered, changed, and headed across town to the arena where she coached girls’ hockey. She’d been in high demand after coaching the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team to a gold medal, but she wanted a break from that kind of pressure and working with younger girls was a nice change. The money wasn’t great, but thanks to her ex-husband, she didn’t need it.
Though their divorce had been a long time coming and they’d been legally separated for years prior to filing the final papers, he’d continued to deposit money into her checking account, no matter how many times she’d asked him to stop. At one point they’d had a huge fight about it and he’d threatened to tie her up in court for years if she fought him on giving her the money he insisted was half hers since they’d been married while he’d made it. It had been easier to give in than keep fighting and it also afforded her the ability to do anything she wanted professionally. She could take jobs like the one she had now without worrying about paying her bills. Her condo and car were paid for, she had a nice nest egg, and she had the ability to donate to charities that were important to her. On the surface, life was good.
Too bad she was lonely, horny and still pissed at the man who’d shredded her heart so many years ago. He’d tried to make it up to her with money, and while it afforded her a lifestyle she wouldn’t have otherwise, it didn’t come close to healing the pain from the past. Seeing him during the Olympics last year had been so fucking hard, especially afterwards at the wonderfully thoughtful party he’d thrown for the team. She’d been on edge through most of it, trying to forget those steely gray eyes, his rock-hard body and how beautifully he filled out a suit. Well, he filled out pretty much anything he wore, but she loved him best in a suit. Or naked. Naked was definitely a sight to behold with Gage Caldwell.
Shaking her head, she pulled out her phone to listen to whatever message he’d left her earlier today. He’d begun calling once a month or so since the Olympics last year, with some trumped-up reason to talk to her, so she’d learned not to answer and instead listen to whatever messages he left after the fact. A few times had been legit, pertaining to players or something hockey-related, but most of the time he just wanted to talk, which kind of pissed her off even more. As if he hadn’t lied to and hurt her more than anyone had a right to. Unfortunately, it also made her remember everything she’d once loved about him. He seemed to be working extra hard to rebuild a friendship, if nothing else, but she couldn’t allow it. Getting over him had been hard enough, and being friends again wasn’t an option, much less anything else.
She put her phone on speaker and rested it on the arm of the couch as she let her head fall back, steeling herself for whatever ruse he was using to get her attention.
“Hey, babe.” He still insisted on calling her babe.
“It’s me.” As if he had to identify himself.
“Listen…big shake-up with the team today and I need your help. I fired my entire coaching staff. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you everything when you call me back. I’ll be getting on a plane in about an hour, but I’ll be home late tonight. I need a head coach for the next three weeks and if you’re interested, I’ll need you here ASAP. I know you want to do this, Laurel, no matter what our history is. Call me. Please.”
She stared at the phone for a full minute before anything registered.
Fired his entire coaching staff?
He wanted her to be the head coach?
Of an NHL team?
Holy shit.
She was pissed about the past, but not that pissed. She’d be an idiot to turn this down. She just had to slow the wild beating of her heart and the excitement shooting through her veins. She’d never been a drug user, but if this was what it felt like when you shot up, no wonder people got addicted.
She took a deep breath, promised herself she’d keep everything about the relationship and the conversation professional, and hit the call back button. As usual, he answered on the first ring.
“Hey, babe.”
“I wish you’d stop calling me that.”
“I’ve been calling you that for fifteen years. It’s a hard habit to break.”
“If I come up there to coach, you’re going to have to.”
“Of course.” He paused. “Will you come, Laurel?”
“Gage, I need to know what happened. I mean, this is crazy.”
“I’ve suspected something was amiss for a long time and had my eye on Coach Sylvester and the others for months. I hired a professional to follow him on this road trip and we hit pay dirt big-time. Coach Sylvester and Coach Pierre literally sold to a player on the other team and my guy got it all on film, with audio, no less.”
“Jesus. What kinds of drugs?”
“Both cocaine and some illegal steroid compound.”
“How are they passing the no-notice tests?” she asked in amazement.
“We’re not sure. I think at least one player on the Blizzard is using, and though I didn’t get into specifics when I told the team what happened on the flight back to Anchorage, I plan to talk to him soon.”
“This is insane,” she murmured softly.
“Laurel, I booked a flight for you in the morning. It leaves at nine. Can you be on it? You’ll want to bring everything you need for a month or more, depending on the playoffs. We have three weeks left in the season and we can still make it. We’re one point out of a wild card spot.” He hesitated. “Please?”
“Why me?” she asked softly. “You know there are no female head coaches in the league. This is going to bring all kinds of media attention on top of a drug scandal. Why would you do that to your team?”
“I’m bringing in the best coach I know on extremely short notice. I think I’m doing something pretty fantastic for my team. And no one will know about the drugs unless they decide to sue me for breach of contract or some other stupid thing. Right now, the official announcement is conduct unbecoming.”
She swallowed. “They’re going to say it’s because we were married or that we’re sleeping together again. Or something.”
“Every time they say something like that, I can start reading off your résumé. Shall I begin now? Four-time Women’s Frozen Four Championship team player. Two-time Olympic medalist. Coach of the gold-medal-winning Olympic team just one year ago. Shall I mention all your other accolades?”
“No.” She chuckled. “Are you sure, Gage?”
“Absolutely.”
“I can’t do it alone, though.”
“For one game, you may have to. Do you have any ideas?”
“Danielle Petrov.”
He laughed. “Why am I not surprised? Yes, of course, I’ll let you borrow one of my trainers as a coach for a game or two, but she’s young, Laurie. We need more experience, especially if we make the playoffs, which is still a possibility, though not likely.”
“What about the coach from your minor league team? Will he hate being under someone so much younger, not to mention a woman?”
“If he does, he can go back to the minors.”
“Gage, I can’t just…” Her voice trailed off. Of course she could. When else would an opportunity like this arise? Even the prospect of being around Gage day and night didn’t dampen her excitement.
“Can’t what?” he prodded gently. “Leave your current job? Pack up your stuff and leave in the morning for an indeterminate amount of time? Spend time with me?”
She bit back a retort. He was the reason she had an opportunity like this. Being bitchy was pointless. “Gage, if I say yes…”
“If?”
“If I say yes, there will have to be ground rules.”
He chuckled, a deep, velvety sound she still loved. “Babe, this is a legit job offer, and the idea of requiring you to sleep with me, or whatever ridiculous thing you’re imagining, is almost offensive.”
“Offensive?” Now she was offended. “What does that mean?”
“It means, we’ve had sex a thousand times. Including just over a year ago, when you told me in no uncertain terms, that it was a one-time thing. Which is also what you said the time before and the time before that.”
She huffed out an annoyed curse word under her breath. “Did you seriously just throw that in my face?”
“I’m not throwing anything at you. The last three times we’ve seen each other, all since the divorce was final, we’ve slept together. I have no need to try and bribe you or force you or anything else. We’ve never been able to keep our hands off each other, but this is business, Laurie, and there isn’t going to be a hell of a lot of time for extracurricular activities since your first game as head coach will be the day after tomorrow.”
She wanted to be annoyed—hell, she was annoyed—but he was right. They fell into bed together almost every time they saw each other. One of many reasons she stayed as far away from him as possible. And they absolutely couldn’t do any of that if she was coaching the team. That had to be a hard line in the sand.
Didn’t it?
“Gage…the past is the past, but if I’m going to do this, it has to be strictly professional. We’ll make sure we’re open about the fact that I’m your ex-wife and we’re still friends, but this is a business relationship. It’s a few weeks, maybe even a month or two if we get into the playoffs. But for my sake, we have to keep it professional while I’m doing this. Please, Gage. It’s important to me.”
“Whatever you want, Laurie.”
“And please don’t call me Laurie in public. Not Laurie and definitely not babe.”
“I can refrain from calling you babe. Laurie is going to be harder.”
“Try?”
“You’ll take the job?”
“Yes.”
“See you tomorrow. I’ll send all the information to your email. And thank you.”
He disconnected before she could respond and she put the phone down slowly. What the hell had just happened? She’d just signed a deal with a devil in a perfectly tailored Armani suit. This was going to be an epic clusterfuck, but those proverbial wild horses couldn’t keep her away from a head coaching position in the NHL. Even if it had disaster written all over it.