Sergei got her a glass of wine and grabbed a beer for himself as they walked towards a group of people. The tallest of the group, a ruggedly handsome man of about thirty, turned with a grin.

“Hey, Sergei!” He held out his hand and they did a complicated handshake that made her want to roll her eyes. Did all guys do this shit?

“Hey, Jake. Good to see you.” Sergei pulled Dani forward. “This is Danielle Cloutier. Dani, Jake Carruthers is our team captain.”

“Nice to meet you. This is my wife, Adrianna.” Jake gripped the hand of a pale blonde with hair so light it was almost white. She had bright blue eyes and a sweet smile as she shook Dani’s hand.

Dani was introduced to half a dozen other players as well as a few wives and girlfriends, and she hoped she would remember at least some of their names. She wished she’d studied the team roster beforehand so the names would be familiar, but other than Jake, Aaron and the team’s star forward, Kane Hatcher, she didn’t recognize any of the names.

“Cloutier?” Kane looked at her. “You’re Zakk’s sister, right? You played for UND.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Do you know my brother?”

“We hung out during the All-Star weekend a couple years ago. He bragged about you nonstop.”

“That was the year we won the Frozen Four. He’s my biggest fan.”

“You’re a hockey player?” Adrianna’s eyes lit up. “That’s so exciting. Do you still play?”

“Dani’s been chosen for the Olympic team,” Sergei interjected when Dani hesitated.

“Fuckin’ A, that’s awesome. High five!” Colt Matthews held up his hand and Dani slapped it with hers.

“The Olympics.” Jake was nodding. “That’s incredible, Dani. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“When do you leave?” Adrianna asked. “I assume you have to be in some central location to practice with the rest of the team?”

“Yes. We’ll be at the main facility in Colorado Springs. I leave the first of September.”

“For how long?”

“Until the Olympics.”

“That’s a long time,” the other woman responded quietly.

“It is, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so it’s a worthwhile sacrifice.”

“How do you feel about losing your girl for such a long time?” Kane asked Sergei.

“Oh, we’re—” Dani began.

“This is new between us,” Sergei interjected smoothly. “We’re taking things one day at a time and we’ll see what happens when she’s gone.”

“How does Zakk Cloutier feel about you bangin’ his sister?” The vaguely familiar voice of Matt Forbes nearly made Sergei wince. Matt had played for the Sidewinders and had just been traded to Alaska. Sergei had heard the news but hadn’t had time to process it since it had only been a couple of days.

“Last time I checked,” Dani spoke before Sergei had a chance, “I was a grown woman free to make her own choices about who she bangs.” She met his gaze unflinchingly, cocking her head slightly.

“Dude, don’t be a prick.” Jake gave him a hard stare. “I’ve heard all about your bullshit in Vegas and that’s not gonna fly here in Anchorage; knock it the fuck off.”

Matt snorted. “You gonna get me kicked off the team, Carruthers? You don’t have to like me but my record on the ice speaks for itself.”

“If your record on the ice was that important, you’d have been traded to somewhere like New York or Chicago, somewhere with clout instead of the team that finished last in the league.”

Matt winced. “Whatever.” He turned and slid his arm around a lean brunette.

“Hello, Sergei. Donna.” Veronika gave them both a sinister smile.

“Hey, Victoria!” Dani shot back, her smile warm and genuine despite her veiled insult.

“It’s Veronika,” the other woman responded tightly.

“Sorry! Donna, Victoria…all the same, you know?”

Dani took a long sip from her wineglass and felt Sergei’s warm breath against her ear as he whispered, “It’s kind of hot when you put her in her place like that.”

She turned with a mischievous smile. “Is it? Shall I do it some more?”

“Absolutely.” They laughed together and he lightly kissed her cheek.

The crowd dispersed at that point, with Matt and Veronika moving off by themselves and Aaron, Jake and Adrianna staying with Sergei and Dani.

“That’s the nanny I told you about,” Sergei told Aaron.

“The one who was hitting on you?” He shook his head. “How the hell did she hook up with Forbes? He literally got here yesterday.”

“Women like that will do anything to hook up with a player,” Adrianna murmured. “Makes the rest of us look bad.”

“She was gross,” Dani muttered. “I would’ve killed him if he’d hired her to take care of Niko.”

Adrianna shuddered. “Gross is right. I’m assuming he made a better decision?”

“As of right now I don’t have a nanny,” Sergei admitted. “Dani’s leaving in September and the women the agency has sent haven’t been a good fit at all. But one of Dani’s friends from college is willing to come if we don’t find anyone.”

“If you’re ever in a bind,” Adrianna said softly, “please don’t hesitate to call me. I don’t go to all the games so I’d be happy to help.”

“Thank you,” Sergei nodded. “I may have to take you up on that.”

---

More people started to arrive and Jake wandered off to talk to everyone while Aaron hung back chatting with Adrianna, Sergei and Dani. They grabbed plates of food and talked, enjoying the warm day and good company. Sergei was beginning to feel better about the team now that he was spending quality time with some of them. The arrival of Matt Forbes was a big disappointment—the guys on the Sidewinders hated him for some of the things he’d said and done while in Las Vegas—but Sergei planned to keep their relationship purely professional. Matt wasn’t the kind of guy he would ever get close to. Seeing him with a woman like Veronika just reinforced everything he’d already heard about him.

On the plus side, as they sat and socialized, he found himself unable to stop touching Dani. Every time she laughed, he wanted to bask in her glow, and so did every other guy around them, even the married ones. She, Aaron, and Kane had been talking about hockey nonstop, and to everyone’s surprise, Gage joined them as well, asking about her training regimen in Colorado and what preparation for the Olympics would entail. It was hard to give it a name but Dani was the kind of woman who made men wonder. Who she was, what made her tick, what it would take to get in her pants. In college, that had probably been more of a turn-off than her muscles, though he figured that might’ve played into it too since guys that age weren’t mature enough to handle a woman like her.

Oh, this wasn’t good. He had a thousand other things to think about, but Dani was the only thing on his mind and he couldn’t seem to help it. Bringing her to this party had definitely been a mistake, but he wouldn’t have changed his decision regardless. He was in so much trouble.

---

They drank and ate until well after the sun went down and someone started a fire in the fire pit. Supplies were brought out to make s’mores and Sergei couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun. Not since Tatiana had died, for sure. If he was honest, it was because of Dani. She was so damn easy to be with. There was no drama, no clinginess, not even the typical boredom with hockey talk. Tatiana had inevitably gotten bored at these types of events and wandered off with the other wives and girlfriends. Unfortunately, they had bored her, too, because she rarely found anyone who could talk medicine with her and she’d never been the type for mindless chatter. She’d been an intellectual snob, even with Sergei, and it was relaxing to be with someone who didn’t demand anything of him, who didn’t exhaust him far more often than she enthralled him.

When had he started thinking that way about Tatiana? Part of him was mortified, but when Dani shifted closer to him, her lean body pressed against his, it was hard to focus on why. For the first time since Tatiana’s death, he was aware of the stirrings of…something. Life. Desire. Fun. He wanted those things again, and it was because of the beautiful blonde beside him. She was laughing at one of Jake’s stories, interjecting her own take, making everyone else laugh too.

Watching her out of the corner of his eye, Sergei felt something shift. He was so tired of fighting his attraction to her, keeping her at a slight distance. If he was honest with himself, the real reason he’d asked her to come as his date today was as a kind of test, to see how she would interact in his world. In retrospect, it had been a dick move. She deserved better from him and had never done anything to warrant being tested; she was a hell of a lot more honest than he was.

He absently stroked his hand over her thigh until he caught her peeking at him from under her lashes. He paused, wondering if he’d been reading her signals wrong, so he was surprised when she put her hand on his and moved it back to where it had been.

“Are you teasing me, Ms. Cloutier?” he murmured in her ear.

“Not at all, Mr. Petrov. I’m merely encouraging you to continue.”