“You guys played amazing last night,” Sam said after they’d settled down for lunch at Sam’s favorite steak restaurant.

“Yeah. The team was on fire. Just need Calgary to lose a few games so we can slip into the top three. I think we have a good chance at making a run in the playoffs. I’m itching to hoist Stanley,” Ethan said. The team was flowing, and he was racking up points, almost even with goals and assists.

Sam chuckled. “Aren’t you all?”

“Of course. I just feel like I’m starting over with the Strikers. I made a few finals in New York, but this team hasn’t been to a final in decades,” Ethan said. The trade had felt like a demotion. Sure, his behavior had encouraged New York’s hand, but the final nail in the coffin had been a misunderstanding at best. Something he hadn’t instigated in the slightest. Just the last excuse to boot him across the country, even if everyone on the team knew the truth.

“You’ll get there. Your numbers are up from last year. You’re gelling with your linemates. You’ve been on fire since early November,” Sam said.

“I feel good about the team and where we’re headed, but the trade still stings. Six years with those guys and a misunderstanding with the trainer’s wife and I’m out,” he grumbled.

“You were caught in the trainer’s office kissing his wife,” Sam said. Ethan bit back his grimace.

“She kissed me out of nowhere. I wasn’t even touching her.” He’d always liked Ivan. The man’s wife, not so much. Ivan had been the team trainer since before Ethan had joined the team. And he’d married Melody before the start of the last season. The woman had thrown advances Ethan’s way for months, but he’d shrugged her off. Until the afternoon she’d planted one on him. He shuddered at the memory. Ivan had caught them and lost his mind. Not that Ethan could blame the guy.

Melody had quickly placed the blame on Ethan, and even after the truth had come out, the damage had been done. A few well-placed rumors, that Ethan knew she’d started, combined with his partying ways, and management finally had an excuse for the trade. He’d played like shit last year, so that hadn’t helped his case.

“I know. And everyone who matters knows the truth. New York was looking for a trade. Cap space was getting tight, so you were an easy decision,” Sam said.

Ethan bristled. New York had a young star forward who was moving from his entry level contract, so they’d needed the space to keep him and give him the salary he deserved. It was part of the business of signing top talent. Ethan just wished he hadn’t been the one left behind.

But he was proving his worth to his new team. With every point and every hit, he was showing New York that he still had it. Now he just had to get the Strikers on board for the long haul.

“Last I heard, Ivan had ditched the social climber and already found someone else. And he never truly believed her to begin with,” Sam said.

“Still pisses me off.” Sure, the list of women he’d dated—and he used the term loosely—might be a little long, but he only hooked up with single women. Why deal with the drama when there were plenty of unattached women around him?

“Put it behind you. It happened. It’s done. And you’ve moved on. If you keep this up, this could be your highest scoring season in the last three years. Which leads me to why we’re here,” Sam said, swiping his phone on.

“Wait. We aren’t here just to hang out and for me to buy you a ridiculously expensive steak?” Ethan said.

“I’ll buy.”
“And put it on my bill,” Ethan said, and Sam chuckled.

“It’s a business lunch.”

“Anyway, so I’m hoping you’re going to tell me you have a massive deal for me to sign.” He wanted everything settled before they went into the All-Star break later this month.

“I have a preliminary contract. I’m not happy with it, but you are getting up there.”

“What the hell, man? I just turned thirty.”

“Which is like sixty in hockey years,” Sam shot back, and Ethan knew it, but he was healthy and playing at the top of his game so he’d hoped for a big deal.

“So what is it?”

“Three years, ten million.”

“Definitely wanted more. My playing this season should get me more.”

“I don’t disagree. You’re playing great. I’m going to counter. Just wanted to tell you where we are right now. Your numbers are up, and you were acting like a monk since the trade.”

Sam’s emphasis on “were” stopped Ethan. “What is that supposed to mean? I haven’t been out partying. My sole focus has been on practice, games, and getting to know the guys.” And spending time with Penny, but he wasn’t bringing her up to Sam. He was enjoying the bubble he currently existed in with her. It almost reminded him of being with her in Italy.

“Quite a few pictures have popped up on social media with you and the same girl recently. Not a ton, and they don’t have her name yet, but is it serious?”

Shit. He’d known this would happen eventually. Usually he was able to spot the amateur photographers, but Penny kept him distracted when they were together.

“What pictures? And how many?”

“Just a few so far. Why do you care? Not that you stick around with the same girl more than a few times,” Sam trailed off. Ethan knew his M.O. He didn’t need the reminder from Sam.

“I’m not sure what it is just yet.” That was total bullshit. He knew exactly what they were, and when she’d referred to him as her boyfriend in front of her ex, a thrill had shot through him.

“Would she really care? Most of the women you dated wanted their pictures out there, some of them posted the pics themselves. A benefit of dating an elite athlete,” Sam said as he cut into the steak the waiter had just dropped off.

Ethan bit back his growl of irritation. “She’s not like that.”

Sam looked up. “Holy shit, you care.”

“Leave it alone.”

“No. This could be good. How serious is it? She’s hot, but also looks like a normal woman. Not your usual type. And she isn’t an attention seeker. Where’d you meet her?”

Ethan took a bite of his lunch, not wanting to get into this with Sam. He wanted to stay in his protective bubble with Penny. He wasn’t ready to be hounded again.

“This could work for us.”

“This isn’t a game anymore.”

“Shit. You really do like her. Not going to tell me how you met?” Sam asked.

“She works for my uncle.” The truth was better than another lie.

Sam chuckled. “Really? As what? Doesn’t he run an accounting firm?”

“She’s one of the senior accountants.”

“Wow. So she’s smart, too. Yeah, this could really work. How serious is it? And can you—”

“Wait. What the hell are you talking about?”

“Make it official. Put it out there that you’re in a serious relationship with an accountant. I mean, an accountant, really? Star NHL forward falls for the tax lady.” Sam continued to chuckle. “It’s perfect. You’re settling down. Your numbers are up. Your game is on fire. This could definitely work in our favor.”

Ethan’s fork clattered against his plate, his meal forgotten. He truly hated Sam at some moments, and this was up there at the damn top. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to exploit my relationship with Penny. Not to mention that she works for my uncle. Who doesn’t know about us. I’m not doing that.” She meant something to him, and Sam had turned it into a fucking promotional stunt.

“Her name is Penny. Good to know.”

He glared at his agent. Sam hadn’t listened to a word Ethan had said aside from Penny’s name. “And you are going to forget every bullshit idea that just ran through your head, along with her name.”

“Don’t you want more money, more years? This could do it. And it’s not like I’m asking you to keep dating someone you don’t like. You like this girl, right?”

“Yes. But for pure and honest reasons. I’m not going to make this into a game. And if she thought for one second that I was playing her, she’d bolt.” He knew that for a fact. She’d already been through a lot in the last year, and she’d perfected her running. He refused to give her another reason to leave.

“Just think about it. And don’t get pissed at me. This is what you pay me for,” Sam said.

“I pay you to get me the good deals because you’re a shark, and I deserve the best contract. You shouldn’t have to exploit people I care about to get me that,” he shot back.

“Fine. We’ll play it your way for now. Just keep it in the back of your mind and focus on your playing.”

“That’s all that should matter,” Ethan muttered.

“You’re right, but we all know it’s more than just skill. You have an image that desperately needs repair. You’re working in the right direction.”

Ethan nodded and turned back to his meal. The food no longer held any appeal, and they finished lunch talking about his upcoming game. Comments about his contract and Penny were off the table for now. He refused to drag Penny into fixing his image. He’d kept the real reason for his trade from her, wanting to put the entire incident behind him. But how long could they go before she heard the gossip and the truth came out? And how long before their protective bubble popped a hole?

“So, do you always watch the games from here?” Penny asked Klara as the woman rocked her youngest daughter, Elin, against her chest. Klara was married to Johan Svedberg, known to the team as Sveddy, a forward who’d been on the team for a decade.

Klara looked over at her two other children playing with the rest of the kids, and nodded. “It’s much easier than wrangling up the group to sit closer to the ice. And she’ll be out by the second period.” Klara motioned toward Elin.

“Awake, Mamma. I awake,” the toddler stated, her pale blue eyes bright with mischief.

Klara rubbed her daughter’s back, and Elin snuggled deep.

“Second period,” Klara mouthed with a smile, and Penny chuckled softly.

This was Penny’s first time in the WAGs room. Ethan had brought her up here before the game and introduced her around. Guess that made them official. She was trying not to freak out about that. Was she really ready for this?

She was officially dating a client. Had been sleeping with her client for a full week. It was a clear conflict of interest, and they needed to tell Robert. She needed to give his account back. Ethan told her not to worry, and she went along with it because confessing to Robert made it real and she was still waiting for something to go wrong.

And then she felt guilty. They’d been going along just fine. Not putting a name to anything, until they’d run into Michael. She’d staked her claim on Ethan, introducing him as her boyfriend.

She was still pissed about how delusional Michael was. How did he not understand that they were over? And when were her parents going to back off? It frustrated the hell out of her. The pure panic that had rushed over her when Michael had mentioned Christmas in front of Ethan. At least Ethan’s anger had been directed toward Michael and not her for keeping that secret.

Stop.

They were in a good place now. And she was going to tell Robert on Monday. No more hiding behind what-ifs. Hopefully it wouldn’t blow up in her face, but moving forward in her relationship with Ethan was something she wanted more than she’d thought possible. And the feelings appeared to be mutual.

So, here she was, in the wives’ and girlfriends’ room surrounded by people who probably knew a lot more about hockey than she did.

She pulled her book from her purse.

“Hockey Made Easy?” Klara asked, leaning over her daughter, a grin on her lips.

“Umm. I don’t really know that much about hockey, so I’m trying to learn,” she said.

“Just show up to games. You eventually pick it all up. I’ve been watching since I was a kid. Johan and I grew up together in a small town in Sweden that everyone calls O-vik. When he came here to play, I followed him.”

“Wow. He’s always been a Striker, right?” Penny had done some research on the team. If she was going to be a fixture here—and, oh how she wanted to be—then she wanted to know about his teammates.

“Yes. In the National League for ten years. He played in the Swedish Hockey League for a few years prior to that,” Klara said, slipping the pink noise cancelling headphones over Elin’s ears as the music kicked up and the players hit the ice.

“Anytime you have questions, just ask me. Hockey has been my life longer than I can remember. We’re a family here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Klara said, giving Penny a smile.

“Thank you.”

“Looks like your Ethan is in the first shift tonight. He had a rocky start at the beginning of the season, but he’s been on fire recently. How long did you say you guys had been dating?”

Penny’s cheeks heated. “About a month, I guess. Probably more. He says I’m his good luck charm.”

Klara laughed. “These guys and their superstitions. The stories I could tell you about them. But if that’s what he needs to win games, then I expect to see you at every home game. I want to see them in a Stanley Cup Final.”

“Me too. And I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Penny said, staring down at the ice. She swore Ethan looked over at her and grinned. She held up her book and blew him a kiss.

After the anthem was sung and the ceremonial puck drop was complete, Ethan headed to the center dot and won the face-off. Hopefully they’d grab another win tonight. She liked being his good luck charm. And that he wanted her here, fully immersing herself in his life, in his hockey family.

***

“Who let you back here?” Ethan asked, the grin splitting his face doing all sorts of things to her belly. She clutched her book in front of her to avoid lunging at him after the game.

“Some guy I made out with. He was pretty hot,” she teased as he approached.

He pressed a light kiss to her lips. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him, knowing that there were reporters nearby, and she wasn’t ready for her picture to be splashed up anywhere. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for that.

“You were amazing. Two goals. Almost a hat trick. Just missed that empty net.”

“Yeah. Hit the damn pipe,” he said, shaking his head.

She pulled her book open, and flipped to the empty net page. “But I have a question. I mean, I understand the whole empty net thing, but I’ve also heard of a lot of empty net goals. It seems like a waste of time to pull your goalie if your team is down, just to get an extra player on the ice, since so many empty net goals are scored by the team already winning. What do you think the percentage is of empty net goals for the team that’s already winning versus goals scored by the other team gaining an extra player? I bet it’s not favorable to the team that’s down. So why bother pulling your goalie?” she asked, pointing to her book. She’d already removed the flag since the explanation of empty nets had been obvious.

“Have I mentioned how cute you are?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her nose.

“It’s a real question,” she said between kisses. How she was forming actual sentences right now was beyond her, but she wanted to know.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close into his body. The heat from his recent shower seeped through her clothes.

“Because at that point, what does the losing team have to lose? Might as well try to tie it up, even if it backfires.”

“I guess, that does make sense,” she said, pressing a hard kiss to his lips. Reporters be damned.

“So what other questions do you have? I see that book still has flags in it.”

“I’ve only had it for a week. I need to go to a lot more games before I know everything.”

“Well, that’s perfect because I want you at every game. Was everyone nice to you upstairs? They seem like a nice bunch, but I’ve never brought someone in to infiltrate their ranks,” he said with a smirk.

“Yes. Very nice. I spent most of the game with Klara and her kids, but she did introduce me around.” And they had been friendly for the most part. A few had eyed her, probably wondering how she’d landed Ethan since she wasn’t part of their model ranks, but she brushed them off and stuck with Klara and a few others. Hopefully the cliquey girls were temporary.

“Great. Now, what do you say to getting out of here? The things I want to do to you might be frowned upon in public.”

His eyes darkened, and heat bloomed in her body at his words.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said, stifling a laugh as he spun on his heel, wrapped his arm around her waist, and power walked her out of the arena.