Authors: Jecca Bartlett
"What are the terms?" Eva sighed. It would have to be a lot to make her change her mind.
"I told you, this much money," Colette said, waving the paper she had shown Eva earlier in her face
"and we rehab the RV to your specs."
Colette smiled and lit a cigarette. "Stunning, right? There's a lot riding on hockey boy here, and they're very willing to pay. Plus, like I said we'll fix up that house on wheels you've got, to your liking, and you get half a year to play. And, you have seen him right? Sex on blades!"
Eva sat up straight. Well hell. This crazy job was the answer to her prayers. "Fine. I'm in."
"Well then, congratulations on your engagement, Eva, I hope I get invited to the wedding!" her boss winked at her, and just like that Eva was assigned, pretend engaged, and off to tour with the CoyWolves hockey team.
**************************************************************
"Justus, man, what a night!"
"Yeah, yeah, Nate, whatever. Hey, have you seen my pants? I need to go get some coffee." He scrubbed his hands through his hair and stood and stretched. It had been a wild night, one for the books, and he needed to grab some coffee then go sweat in the gym for a while. Get rid of the alcohol. Maybe use the sauna.
"Yeah, your pants are on top of the desk over there, underneath the bucket of popcorn and the two empty whiskey bottles."
"Oh, right, I see them, thanks," Justus said as he retrieved them from the desk. He hopped around on one foot, sliding one leg into his jeans, and then leaned against the wall while he put the other leg in. He found a sock peeking out from under the bed and another one hanging on the lamp.
"You want anything?" he asked his roommate, as he pulled a tee shirt over his head.
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks. I'll be down soon."
"Okay, cool, see ya." Justus opened the door to the hotel room and ambled out. Trying to ignore the pounding in his skull, he headed toward the elevator. When the doors slid open, the last guy he wanted to see was standing there. Coach.
"Good morning there, sport."
"Morning coach," Justus said as he ducked his head and hoped this wouldn't be a long conversation.
"Rough night?"
"Nah, not especially," Justus lied. He felt like shit, and it had just occurred to him that he hadn't seen the girls they had brought back to their room last night. He hoped like hell they had left the building, coach needed exactly no more ammunition is his quest to get Justus to, in his words, 'settle the hell down'.
"Funny, cause you look kinda rough like you was rode hard and put up wet."
"Nah, I just want some coffee and some food. I'll be fine. Gotta go hit the gym, sweat it out, I'll be good as new. "
"We need to talk. This ain't the place," he gestured at the elevator, "the walls have ears, you know what I mean?"
Justus nodded, even though he strongly suspected that the elevator was not, in fact, bugged. Who would bother with some random hotel elevator in the middle of nowhere?
"Come to my room after the gym, we'll talk," the coach said, stepping off the elevator. The doors slid closed behind him and Justus leaned back against the cool metal wall of the elevator.
He didn't have to wonder what coach wanted. He knew it was about his partying. They were headed into the final games of the season and if they were to win the playoffs, they'd have to be at their best. Of course.
And he would be. He always was. He'd just have to convince coach of that. As he stepped off the elevator in the lobby he stepped aside for a striking blonde who was headed into the elevator car. Tall,
curvy, her green eyes caught his and held them for just a minute.
He felt something like a surge of electricity as she held his gaze for just a beat too long.
Holy shit. He knew her. But what was she doing here?
Justus's brain was foggy and he couldn't think of what to say. Then she stepped back into the elevator and the doors slid shut.
He reached for the elevator button to try to catch her, but then changed his mind. He'd never find her, it was just a coincidence they were in the same place. He needed coffee. Coffee then the gym, that was the mission. Maybe he'd run into her again, or maybe it would be better if he didn't.
**************************************************************
Coach Marlow stood aside and let Eva in, she glanced around and headed for the sofa, smoothing her skirt and crossing her legs as she sat down.
"Thanks for meeting me here. I asked him to come to my room later this morning. Do you have any questions for me?"
"No, I don't think so. I watched the game last night, thanks for the tickets. He's amazing."
"You like hockey?"
"I kind of do, but I really like great skating. And he's very good. Where I grew up we used to say we were a drinking town with a hockey problem. Skating was everything. I was in like, 15 or 20 ice shows with the figure skating clubs there."
"You must be pretty good then?"
"No," she laughed, "it's just that it's pretty much a rule that everyone learn to skate."
The coach smiled then sat across from her. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I'm all set, let's just go over the details before he gets here."
"Okay, well I think we're on the same page. He needs a babysitter to..."
"Minder," she interrupted, "we call ourselves minders."
"Right," the coach looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes. "Anyway, he needs a
uh...minder, to keep him sober and keep his mind on the game."
She nodded. "That's what we do, although being billed as his fiancée is unusual. Usually, we go with best friend or trainer or something."
The coach nodded, "Right, but those won't work in this case."
"Yep, so fiancée it is!" she said, just as Justus pushed open the door to the room.
"Oh, hi boss, I didn't know you were busy. I can come back."
"No, no, have a seat, I'd like to introduce you to Eva. She'll be traveling with us for the next few weeks."
Justus blinked as he recognized the curvy blonde from the elevator. And then his eyes widened in recognition. He had been right, it was Eva! It was an all grown-up Eva, with curves and subtle makeup and fancy clothes, but it was her.
"With us? Did I hear you say she was someone's fiancée?"
"Yes, I'm your fiancée. Good to meet you," she smiled cooly and met his eyes, as she extended her hand.
"My what! What the hell is going on here coach?" Justus was floored. This was too much. Fiancée!
"Yes, we've um, we've got a babysi...um, minder for you, to you know, help you on the straight and narrow until the playoffs are over."
"What? I don't need any help! I'm the most serious player you've got. Jesus, coach, what are you thinking?"
"Justus, it's not me. It's the owner, well actually, it's the insurance company. Your last few headlines have made them sit up and take notice. They've threatened to pull your insurance if you don't have this minder. You're not a good risk going into the finals if you're a loose cannon."
"This can't be happening," Justus roared. " A fiancée? Who's gonna believe that anyway?" He looked from one to the other, "I don't even believe it." He turned to Eva, "No offense, you're lovely and all, but I'm not the engagement type."
"So I've heard," she responded with only a slight eye roll. Remarkable restraint really, she congratulated herself.
"The thing is," Eva jumped in, "you need a companion according to your insurance company. Now, me? I usually go as a personal trainer, or a bodyguard, or even the best friend from home. Those scenarios aren't going to work here, so we decided on fiancée. A girlfriend you can leave home, but the fiancée can go on the road and it won't look too suspicious."
Justus paced. "But I don't need a minder. Coach! You know me, who's more serious about the game than I am?"
"I know, but this isn't only about that, the team management sees you as someone who could be compromised, the opposition will be gunning for you. Any wrong move could put you in the tabloids and out of commission."
Justus paced furiously, "This just can't be. It's ridiculous and embarrassing. I don't need a nanny!" and with that he stormed out of the suite.
"Well, that went well."
"He'll come around," said coach, with a grim shake of his head. "He has to."
"I'll get him," Eva stood.
"No, no, I think you'd better let him cool off first. I'll send him to see you later."
******************************************
More than an hour later
Justus walked into the lobby of the hotel and headed for the elevator. Coach had let him know in no uncertain terms that this was happening, no matter what. And he was going to have to deal with it. Free Agent my ass, he thought ruefully. There was nothing free about working for someone else, no matter how good the money was. He was tempted to walk away from it all and go coach kids for a while.
God, they made him mad. He was still so furious he felt like he would burst. Justus remembered feeling like this as a kid, it was one of the reasons his parents had gotten him into hockey in the first place. They were hoping it would exhaust him and use up his energy. The house had taken a beating when he was a kid, and that wired energy and served him well on the ice. Off the ice, not so much.
Justus was pretty sure the fury was still rolling off of him in waves, and instead of the elevator he took the stairs, just to vent that much more steam.
He knocked on her door and Eva opened it slightly, just enough to see who it was. The chain was still across it, and the door held taught at the end of it.
"We need to talk," he said gruffly. "Have you told him?"
"Him who?"
"Him anyone! The coach, your boss? Does anyone know the truth?"
"No, and they're not going to either. I need this job."
"Unhook that thing, I'm coming in!"
Eva unhooked the door and stood back and Justus fairly exploded into the room. Words were tumbling out of his mouth so fast she could barely understand what he was saying.
That was fine with her, she knew why he was pissed off and she didn't blame him. But they each had a job to do, and dammit they were going to do their jobs and do them well, she'd make sure of it.
He was pacing and shouting, but looking at him was distracting her from his torrent of words. Justus was damp from a shower, but he was in workout clothes, shorts and one of those fancy technical material t-shirts. His height was matched by his muscles, hours of working out and skating had produced an amazing butt, powerful legs, and even with a shirt on she could see his chest and arm muscles ripple and flex as he stormed around her room.
Who knew he'd turn out so damn hot? Maybe she'd have stayed in....no, no, she shook off the thought. That would have been completely inappropriate.
She could even see his jaw muscles working, although that was probably because he was clenching his teeth or maybe biting his tongue so he didn't say anything worse to her.
"What are you thinking?" he yelled at her as he crossed the room. Then he kicked the sofa, spun around and sat down on it. One leg crossed over the other his foot tapped on his knee with a staccato beat. She wasn't sure she had ever seen anyone move their foot quite so fast.
"What do you mean? I have a job to do, and I'm going to do it. And that job is to make sure you do yours."
"There's so much wrong here, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I'm, well I was, your brother..."
She held up her hand. "Stop right there. Step-brother. Ex-step-brother to be technical. For God's sake, they were only married for a hot minute." She stopped to calculate, "thirteen months, and for half of it they lived in apart. No one is going to remember it, no one."
Justus squinted at her. "You realize that if you're wrong,
if they do, it will be an even bigger story than whatever bullshit the team owner, oh, sorry, the insurance company, thought I was going to get up to. He's engaged to his sister! I can see the headlines now."
"No one is going to find out," Eva was pacing now. It had definitely occurred to her, but Colette had been so insistent, and she needed the money, and a place to stay, and the RV fixed up, and time off, she shook her head as if to shoo the thoughts out, "it won't happen. No one will know."
"You're kidding, right?" He stared at her, we're from the same town, there's what, like 3500 people there? And between the two of us we probably know 2000 of them! Hell, I can't drive into town without someone calling dad to let him know I'm there before I get to his damn house! A trip for groceries is a half an hour of conversation in the vegetable aisle. You think no one in town will remember?"
"It was so long ago, and for such a short time, yes, that's what I think, no one will remember. And if they do, it won't be until after the season is over. It's just four weeks, that's all, one short month. Then you'll have your trophy, and your life back, and I'll be on my way."
Justus shook his head with a deep sigh, "What's in it for you, anyway?"
"Justus, it's my job, that's what. I didn't even know for sure it was you until I went to the game the other night."
He squinted his eyes, "You didn't know it was me?"
"Well no, I mean, it's not like we stayed in touch, and well," she waved her hands, "I just didn't realize until after I agreed to do the job."
"And would you have agreed if you'd known it was me."
Eva blinked, and looked at him. She told him the truth, "I don't know, I really don't."
His eyes clouded for a moment, and she didn't know if that was the wrong answer because he wanted her to say yes, or because he wanted her to say no.
"So, have you thought this through?" he asked. "I mean really given this some thought? Traveling with the team, staying in the same hotel..."