The day of the party was bright and sunny. Dani and Sergei had gone to the gym and she focused on her upper body to give her thigh time to heal while he did cardio. They kept it short so they had time to get home and get ready. The agency had sent a sitter they both liked, and though the woman wasn’t available for overnight or long-term stays, she was happy to come for afternoons or evenings.

As Sergei got her settled with Niko, Dani looked in the mirror skeptically. She didn’t wear dresses very often, and though she didn’t consider herself a hardcore tomboy, her lifestyle had never really included dressing up like this. She’d called Tiff to ask for advice since Tiff had been the wife of a coach and was now engaged to a player. Tiff had sent her pictures of what to look for and Dani had texted her photos of herself as she’d been trying on different outfits. They’d agreed on a beige, cold-shoulder dress made of eyelet lace. Her slender neck and shapely shoulders were on display without the dress itself being overly tight around her torso.

The loose fabric flowed around her trim waist while still showing off her nice figure. It covered the muscular thighs she was self-conscious about while accentuating her shapely calves, and the outfit was finished with high-heeled strappy beige sandals that were a shade darker than the dress. The heels would make her the same height as Sergei, but as a tall woman herself, Tiff had assured her that any man worth his salt wouldn’t mind.

The look on Sergei’s face when Dani descended the stairs filled her with warmth. She sent a mental thank-you to her brother’s fiancée for steering her in the right direction and closed her eyes when he leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“Absolutely stunning,” he whispered against her ear.

“Thank you.”

“That’s a beautiful dress,” Marj, the babysitter, said warmly. “I wouldn’t have thought a blonde could pull off beige, but I would’ve been wrong!”

“Mama D, you look pretty!” Niko gushed, his mouth full of Cheerios.

“Thank you.” She hugged him. “You be good for Marj, okay?”

“We’re going to watch Doc McStuffins.”

“You’ll tell me all about it tomorrow?”

“Okay.”

“See you later, buddy.” Sergei kissed his son’s head.

“Bye, Daddy!”

---

The drive to Gage Caldwell’s house was quiet. Dani seemed preoccupied and Sergei was simply in a lust-filled haze. He wanted to turn around and go right back to the house, tell Marj to keep Niko downstairs and then lock the door of his bedroom—with Dani naked in his bed. That was probably a little too Neanderthal even for him, but he was beginning to second-guess this idea of taking her to the team party. He wasn’t worried she would embarrass him or that he would have to answer difficult questions about what she was to him—he was more concerned with the single guys on the team going after her. She had no idea how gorgeous she was and a group of randy hockey players would be pushing each other out of the way to get to her. If he didn’t stake some kind of claim on her, she would have a dozen dates set up by the end of the day.

The problem was he didn’t understand why he cared. She wasn’t going to be around for anything long-term, so he should’ve been happy she might get involved with someone else. Except he wasn’t. Not even a little bit. He wasn’t sure what he wanted but the idea of someone else being with her made him a little crazy. A casual fuck definitely wasn’t in the cards, but if he didn’t want a relationship, what else was there? He didn’t want to start a relationship with a woman who could not only hurt him, but Niko too. Did he? Technically, they were already involved. What else could he call what they’d built over the last two months? They’d become friends gradually, and since moving to Alaska, she’d become an integral part of his life. Even without sex, he was as happy as he’d ever been when spending this much time with a woman. Except for the lack of sex, it was very much like being married.

Wait. What?

He shook his head, as if trying to shake the thought away. Where had that come from? He wasn’t interested in getting married again, and definitely not to a woman leaving in less than two months. This was just fun, a casual reintroduction into dating life as a widower. Right? God, he hoped so.

“Are you nervous?” Dani’s voice brought him out of his reverie.

“No.” He frowned. “Well, maybe a little. Not nervous exactly, but I’ve played on quite a few teams in my career, and the seven weeks I played with this one were…different.”

“In what way?”

“The guys are kind of uptight. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like everyone walks on eggshells. The only guy I’ve met so far who’s been laid-back is Aaron, and he was out with a broken hand for the end of the season. The team captain, Jake Carruthers, is okay but everyone seems out of sorts, as if they’re constantly worried about something. It’s a strange vibe. I’m hoping with the new owner—”

“New owner?” Dani frowned. “I know the original owner passed away in December, but I thought it had been taken over by his corporation or something?”

“Not exactly. He willed everything to his nephew, but this guy’s young, around my age, with no experience in hockey. There was a lot of talk in the locker room about him. I don’t really know him, so I was a little surprised when he called to invite me to this.”

“He called you personally?” Dani glanced at him. “Wouldn’t he normally have his assistant do that?”

“You’d think so.”

They glanced at each other and chuckled. “So today should be interesting, right?”

“For both of us. You’re going to meet everyone and maybe you’ll get a different vibe than I did. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts.”

“I’m intrigued.”

He reached for her hand. “Every guy on the team is going to be intrigued with you.”

She flushed, lightly squeezing his fingers. “Don’t be silly. I’m sure they’re all married to supermodels and stuff.”

“Is your brother married to a supermodel?”

“They’re not married yet, but Tiff’s beautiful enough to be a supermodel.”

“She has a Ph.D., though, right? Did he fall for her because she’s a wonderful woman or because she’s pretty?”

“Point taken, but even if they think I’m great, they’ll find out who my older brother is and run.”

He laughed. “I can’t argue with that because it would certainly be a deterrent for me.”

She glanced over at him. “Actually, since we’re out on a date, I don’t think it is.”

“Your brother and I are friends, so he knows I would never disrespect you. Those other guys don’t have that relationship with him.”

“True, I guess.” She sucked in a breath as they pulled up to the gate of a huge, sprawling estate. The gate was open, with a security guard checking the names of the passengers in each car as they pulled up.

“This is something.” Sergei whistled through his teeth. “I’ve been to some swanky houses for parties, but this is…wow.”

“Wow is right.”

There was valet service available, so Sergei turned over the keys to his car and he and Dani walked through the massive entranceway into what looked like a palace. Everything was gilded, overstated, decorated to scream extreme wealth. There wasn’t time to see much, however, as a uniformed butler led them out back to where the party was in full swing.

“Sergei! Dani!” Aaron was the first to greet them, his curly blond hair blowing in the breeze as he approached.

“Hey, man.” Sergei shook his hand, watching as Aaron leaned over to kiss Dani’s cheek.

“Sergei.” Gage Caldwell approached with his hand extended. “Welcome to my home.”

“Thank you for having us.” Sergei shook his hand, a little taken aback at the handsome man who was not only his boss but who owned the entire organization and this ostentatious house. “This is Danielle Cloutier.”

“What a pleasant surprise.” Gage turned assessing gray eyes to her, a smile creasing his features before he kissed her on each cheek. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Lonnie Finch is quite fond of you.”

She smiled back. “I know he was close to your uncle. I didn’t realize you were friends as well.”

“I grew up watching Uncle Mac and Lonnie playing golf. I’ve known Lonnie all my life, but please, we can talk later. Help yourself to something to drink, the first round of steaks is coming off the grill now, and feel free to use the facilities.”

He strode off, leaving Sergei, Dani and Aaron staring after him.

“Force of nature, eh?” Aaron chuckled under his breath.

“Interesting,” Sergei nodded.

“Hot,” Dani murmured, staring after him.

Aaron laughed. “Yeah, and he’s single from what I understand.”

“That won’t last long,” Dani grinned. She nudged Sergei. “Come on, I’m ready for a drink.”

“Sure.” Sergei put his hand on the small of her back as they walked and was gratified to see almost every guy that saw her do a double take. Though he was a little possessive of her, he hoped she noticed and stopped thinking something was wrong with her because she was tall, strong and athletic. She was fucking sexy as hell and the only person who didn’t realize that was her. These guys were real men, not insecure college boys who couldn’t appreciate a woman like Dani, and the looks on their faces told him they all wanted to know who she was.

Mine.

The thought was a tiny whisper of a word through his subconscious and though he tried to ignore it, he found himself unwittingly sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her to his side as one after the other of his teammates nudged each other. Oh yeah, these guys wanted to know more and since he’d been unabashedly single at the end of the season, they had to be wondering if she was a friend, a one-time date or someone more important.