OneManAdvantage (4 page)

Wasn’t her mother some kind of supermodel back in the day?
He seemed to remember Jacques Lambert being married to a gorgeous model.

“Yeah, I guess Logan Heller being traded is pretty big
news,” she said. She knew who he was. His chest warmed.

“Unfortunately,” he said, unable to stop the bitter word
from leaving his lips. Then he pasted his smile back on.

“You’re not happy about it.” She said it as a fact.

“Nobody likes to be traded.”

She nodded. “True. But it’s a really good organization to
play with.”

“Riiiight. With an injured list as long as my arm, a jerkoff
mouthpiece defenseman who got himself suspended and a record of two, nine and
one, I’m sure it is.” Shit.
Shut the fuck up, man.
He knew better than
to let uncensored remarks out to anyone he talked to. Especially someone who
worked for the Caribou.

“Okay, well, we have some challenges,” she said. “I gather
we lost to BC the other night?”

“Oh yeah.”

She made a face. “I was trying to avoid the news while I was
gone,” she said, sitting back a little in her chair. “So I didn’t hear about
the game. Or the trade.”

“You work for the Caribou.”

She nodded. “I’m their Communications and Publications
Assistant.”

He nodded. “Cool.”

“For now.”

He tilted his head. “For now?”

She sighed. “As long as they don’t fire me.”

His chin jerked down. “Why would they do that?”

“Do you even have to ask?” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve caused
the team all kinds of embarrassment. They don’t need that.”

“You didn’t do anything,” he said slowly.

“Whatever.” She waved a hand. “It’s going to be awkward. I
wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to get rid of me. I know what people think
of me.” She bowed her head, her long, shiny fall of gold hair obscuring her
face. Then she looked up, her chin once again in the air.

“Um…what do you mean? What do people think of you?”

“You tell me,” she challenged him, blue eyes flashing. “What
do you think of me?”

Chapter Four

Logan grinned. “I already told you. I think you’re hot.”

She scowled. “Yeah, see, that really doesn’t help.”

His smile faded. “Um. You lost me, gorgeous.”

She blinked at him.

At that moment the front door opened, the alarm pinging
softly, and the scrabble of paws on hardwood floors filled the air. They both
turned toward the foyer and the mutt he’d met earlier hurtled into the room and
threw itself at Nicole. She opened her arms and let the dog jump onto her lap,
gathering it up in a wriggling, licking embrace.

“Silvia! My baby! I missed you so much!”

He sat back and watched with amusement as she lavished love
and affection on the dog.

“You’re here!” Taylor rushed in, unwinding a thick scarf
from around her neck, her cheeks flushed from the cool November air. “Sorry,
Nic! Oh wow! Look at you.” She paused and studied Nicole. “You look great! Love
the hair. When did you get in?”

“Not long ago.”

“So you met Logan.” She looked back and forth between them.

“Yep,” Logan said, not mentioning how they’d met. “We were
just chatting while Nicole waited for you.”

“Good, good. Sorry we weren’t here.” Taylor tossed her
jacket onto an ottoman and sank down on the couch. “We took her for a walk and
it was so nice we just kept going.” She looked up at her husband, who’d
followed her in. “I think we need to get a dog.”

Fedor groaned. “Oh no.”

“What? You liked having her around. Last night you were
playing with her.”

Fedor grinned. He was an ugly son of a bitch but had a heart
of gold. People might wonder how the hell he’d landed a hot babe like Taylor
for his wife, with his crooked nose, missing teeth (albeit not noticeable at
the moment, as he was wearing perfect dentures) and scarred forehead and chin,
but obviously Taylor had fallen in love with the man inside the battered body.
“Yes,” he admitted in his still slightly accented voice. “She is fun.”

Taylor gave a satisfied smile. “It will be good practice for
us.”

“Practice?” Logan asked.

“For when we have kids.”

Fedor choked and Logan laughed.

“I should go.” Nicole stood, the dog still in her arms.

“Oh don’t rush off!” Taylor stood too. “Stay for a drink or
something. Dinner.”

“I shouldn’t. I have to get home and unpack and…I have to
work in the morning.”

“Oh just one drink! I want to hear about New York and what
you did all week. And I haven’t packed up Silvia’s stuff yet.”

Silvia’s stuff? This
was
like having a kid,
apparently.

“Okay,” Nicole said. She sat and lowered Silvia to the
floor. She slipped her jacket off.

“I’ll get some wine,” Taylor said. “Fedor, can you find
Silvia’s bag? I think some of her toys are in the den and her dishes are in the
kitchen.”

Taylor and Fedor both disappeared, leaving him alone with
Nicole again.

“So you’re staying here,” she said, crossing her long legs.
She wore black trousers and his eyes dropped to her feet in pointy-toed,
high-heeled boots. Just the kind he liked. Naked with those sexy boots…favorite
fantasy. Well, one of several. His gaze tracked back up, over the teal-blue
turtleneck sweater that hugged her body. She was slender, but with strong
shoulders, still feminine, especially those nice breasts outlined by the soft
sweater.

“Yeah. Fedor was nice enough to offer a place to stay since
I was shipped out on such short notice.”

“How do you know him?”

“He used to play for the Condors. ’Til he got traded about
three years ago.”

“Oh that’s right. That’s when I met
Taylor and we got to be friends.”

Taylor returned with a glass of wine, which she handed to
Nicole, then turned to Logan. “Logan, what would you like? Probably a beer?”

“Yeah. But I can get it.”

Nicole watched him stand, his big feet bare on the plush
carpet. Her gaze moved back up over long legs and powerful thighs in those
faded jeans, then over the long-sleeved navy-blue T-shirt that hugged his chest
and shoulders. When he turned to walk away, she couldn’t help but watch his
tightly muscled butt. Her pussy gave a warm squeeze.

Oh he was just delicious.

He disappeared and she looked at Taylor, who watched her
with one eyebrow lifted.

“What?”

Taylor shook her head. “Nothing. How are you? Really?”

“I’m okay.” She straightened her shoulders and smiled at her
friend. “You know.”

“Did you see Cody’s apology?”

Nicole blinked. “Noooo. I didn’t.”

Taylor made a face. “I’m sure the league made him do it, but
he sounded sincere.”

Nicole pursed her lips. “He should have been flogged.”

“Oh, you and your kinky toys,” Taylor said with a laugh.

Nicole couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t have a flogger.”

“No, you just like guys who do. Seriously,” Taylor said. “It
was good that he did it. You can probably find it on the internet somewhere.”

“Yeah. Maybe some day. So. You have a house guest.”

“Yep.” Taylor smiled. “He’s a good guy. Not all that happy
to be here right now. Fedor’s really happy, though, he thinks Logan will be
good for the team. Things have been really tense.”

Guilt stabbed Nicole in the gut. “Have they?”

“Not just because of Cody,” Taylor said. “The trade kind of
shook everyone up. Which might be a good thing. They lost again the other night.”

“Yeah, Logan mentioned that.”

“Your brother got two goals.”

Nicole smiled. “Good for him.”

“The team needs something,” Taylor continued. “Hopefully
Logan is it.”

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on one man,” Nicole said
slowly.

“Hmm. Yeah.”

That one man walked back into the room carrying a beer,
followed by Taylor’s husband. Nicole’s breath caught a little in her throat.
She watched Logan sit on the couch again, leaning back casually, legs spread
wide, and once again she couldn’t seem to stop herself from looking at him, her
gaze going to the bulge at his crotch. And once again all her girl parts drew
up into a squeeze.

When she looked up, he was watching her too, amusement
tipping the corners of his mouth up.
Ostie
. She tugged at the turtleneck
of her sweater.

“Did Silvia behave herself?” she asked Taylor.

“She was a perfect angel.” Taylor stroked Silvia’s head with
a smile. “I really do want a dog of my own.”

“Dogs are special,” Nicole agreed. Awareness of Logan
watching her made every nerve ending in her body tingle.

“So tell us about New York,” Taylor said brightly. “What did
you do?”

* * * * *

Taylor convinced Nicole to stay for dinner. They all ended
up in Taylor and Fedor’s huge kitchen, sitting at the big island drinking wine
and cooking. Logan wasn’t much of a cook, but Fedor jumped right in to help
peel shrimp while Nicole chopped vegetables. Taylor directed everyone and Logan
found himself slicing a crusty loaf of bread and spreading it with the garlic
butter Taylor had whipped up.

After Nicole told everyone about her trip to New York, talk
turned to hockey.

“Jacoby’s just started skating again,” Fedor said, going
through the injuries the team had recently had. “He had a broken foot. Dewey
missed nine games because of a broken thumb. Now Cody’s suspended. Not that he
was doing a lot for the team anyway.” He shook his head as he tossed another
shrimp into a colander.

“Burney got off to a bad start this season too,” Nicole
added, referring to the goaltender. “He has some personal stuff going on that hasn’t
helped him.”

Logan looked at her, sitting there deftly chopping tomatoes.

“We have some good players,” she continued, unaware of his
scrutiny. “Things just aren’t clicking.”

“Distractions don’t help either,” Fedor said. Then he
realized what he’d said and shot a glance at Nicole. “I…uh…didn’t mean you.”

Nicole looked up at him and shot him a smile. “I know. The
team was in trouble before that even happened.”

“I think Scott should put you on a line with Dewey and
Tyler,” Fedor said to Logan.

“I don’t know.” Nicole shook her head and set down her
knife. “Dewey’s been struggling too since his injury.”

“Playing with Logan might help,” Fedor said.

“Maybe. With all the new guys brought up, it’s been hard to
find good match-ups. Scott’s been juggling the forward lines so much, trying to
find some chemistry, but it hasn’t been working.”

Logan realized he had stopped spreading butter and was
staring at Nicole, his jaw a little slack.

“I’m thinking Logan would work well on a line with Adam and
Danny,” she continued. “Danny’s got almost twenty assists this year. I can see
him feeding Logan the puck really well.” She shrugged. “Of course, they’ll have
to see you guys skate together. Chemistry’s a hard thing to predict.”

Jesus Christ. He was in love.

He blinked at Nicole as she picked up the cutting board and
carried it to the stove where Taylor stood stirring some chopped garlic in
sizzling olive oil. He’d thought she was attractive when they’d first bumped
into each other in the hall. Now…he was in love. Seriously.

She had to have been reading his fucking mind, because he’d
already been thinking about who the coach was going to put him with, examining
the possibilities and thinking that, yeah, Danny Mohan and Tyler Gladstone and
he would make a pretty powerful offensive combination. But she was right.
Sometimes you couldn’t predict chemistry. Huh.

“Talbot’s line has been doing a pretty good job,” she
continued. “They’re pretty strong defensively, but they do create some good
offensive chances.”

Something expanded in Logan’s chest, big and warm, as he
listened to her. They talked more hockey, Nicole participating in the
discussion with such confidence and knowledge that he felt himself sliding
deeper and deeper into…something. Okay, maybe it was crazy to think he was in
love with someone he’d just met, but he was definitely in lust with her, and
holy crap, it wasn’t just wanting to get her naked and wrap that long hair
around his hands, it was…attraction. Serious attraction. To more than just her
hot body and pretty face. Jesus. This was kind of crazy.

Why the hell had she been dating a loser like Cody Burrell?
Logan didn’t know him well personally, but on the ice, the guy was a loudmouth
who liked to take cheap shots, and apparently he was just like that off the ice
too, judging by his treatment of Nicole.

“If only we were the ones making the decisions,” Nicole said
with a grin. She met his eyes and he smiled back at her. She blinked a little
and looked away.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I think Scott has a good head on his
shoulders.”

“I respect him,” Fedor said. “He’s been frustrated like the
rest of us.”

Finally Taylor made them change the subject and talk about
something else. Logan listened politely as they tried to sell him on the city,
although he couldn’t help but think regretfully of his beachside home in
California. In some ways it was shitty, but it was the reality of his life and
he was going to have to make the best of it. And maybe having Nicole Lambert
there might make it a little easier to adjust.

* * * * *

The next morning, Nicole arrived at the Halstead Center and
this time no media swarms greeted her. She kept her chin up and a smile in
place as she greeted other Caribou staff, even though she was hyperaware of
their looks and hearty smiles, and the glances they exchanged as she settled in
at her desk. She took a deep breath, her skin hot and itchy. The atmosphere in
the office was thick with undercurrents. But she could do this.

After a week away, she had a ton of emails to go through,
many of which led to items being added to her to-do list—research,
proofreading, office supplies to order, photography requests to deal with. It
was good to be busy.

“Welcome back!” Breck greeted her when he came in. “How was
your holiday?”

She forced a smile. “It was fine. I went to New York.”

“You look great. Like the hair. Come on into my office, we
have a ton of stuff to go over. I just need coffee.”

“I’ll bring it for you.” She poured him a cup and added the
milk and sugar he liked, then carried it into his office, along with a notepad
and pen.

“Thanks. Did you hear about the trade when you were away?”

“Um. Yeah.”

“There’s a lot to do,” Breck said, throwing himself into the
chair behind his desk. He grabbed the coffee she’d set there and took a big
gulp. “A lot. As you know, Logan Heller is joining the team as of today.”

“I met him last night.”

He lifted one eyebrow.

“He’s staying with Fedor and Taylor,” she hastened to
explain. “Taylor was looking after my dog, so I, um…ran into him…” Her cheeks
heated. “When I went to pick her up last night.” She was probably being way
oversensitive, imagining that he was thinking something else of her.

“Ah. So. We need to arrange for photographs for him. He
needs security access, we need his photo added to the website, Faceoff, you
know all the stuff.” He waved a hand. She nodded. “Other things on the website
need to be updated with the changes. There are a ton of media requests we need
to deal with that piled up while you were away.”

She scribbled notes on her notepad.

“We’ll want to hold a press conference ASAP to introduce
Logan to the Minneapolis media. We want new team photos done. Also we want to
add him to the billboard campaign, so we need another photograph to match the
ones of Burney and Mohan. You can set that up with Ryan.” Ryan Sender, the team
photographer.

“Okay.”

They went over some other things that needed to be done, and
then he said, “And you can help Logan find a place to live.”

She blinked. “A place to live? Me?”