Skating on Thin Ice: Seattle Sockeyes (Game On in Seattle Book 1) (3 page)

Lauren nodded. Getting rid of the Sleezers seemed almost too good to be true.

Which was exactly why it made her nervous.

Chapter 2—Playing His Game

Ethan never went into a situation unprepared, especially a potentially volatile one.

Before he walked into the building on Monday, he knew everything about every staff person down to the security guy and the janitor.

He stood at the head of the table in a packed conference room consisting of Giants’ management and coaches. He made eye contact with each and every person there, mentally checking off their names based on pictures and video he’d studied. They stared back at him with hopeful expressions on their faces as if he was their savior not their dismantler. Ethan felt a twinge of guilt, even remorse, over what he was about to do, but he tamped it down. There was no room for emotions in business dealings, and he’d never allowed them to color his decisions in the past. They wouldn’t now.

None of the research done by his Seattle staff had prepared him for Lauren Schneider—the woman he’d secretly handpicked to be his team liaison. Lauren was smart, ambitious, and as a woman in a man’s world was bent on proving herself in this male-dominated sport. Best of all, she had a brilliant hockey mind. All perfect qualities for the type of person he needed to give him an insider’s knowledge.

She didn’t look a thing like her father, but she did have his attitude, and Ethan liked attitude—to a point. Lauren wore a functional pair of shoes and a conservative business suit with a knee-length skirt. No stilettoes for this woman. Her brown hair was confined to a tight bun at the back of her head.

Actually, she’d be quite pretty if she played up her assets, instead of downplaying them. He’d like to see her brown hair fall in soft waves about her face; why he was even thinking that, he hadn’t a fucking clue. The minimal makeup and business suit did nothing to hide the attractive woman sitting before him, arms crossed over a nice pair and a scowl on her pretty face. He almost laughed, but laughing at her bad-ass façade wouldn’t exactly earn points with her, and he needed to win her over to his side.

He’d have to relax her a little so she’d fit in in Seattle—if she went to Seattle with the team. A true Pacific Northwesterner dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, even wearing good jeans to nice restaurants. Northwest casual they called it. Ethan liked casual. With Lauren’s buttoned-up style, he wasn’t sure if he liked her—not yet, but he didn’t give a shit. As long as she did her job and furnished him with the required information, he’d be fine with that.

She watched him with more wariness than the others, as if she wasn’t as easily won over. He was fine with that, too. As long as she did her job, he didn’t care if she liked him or not.

Brad didn’t take a seat but stood against the wall at the opposite end of the room, getting a view of the group Ethan didn’t have. His partner appeared to be paying attention and watching with an unusual intensity. Sometimes Brad surprised him, and the work his buddy had done to secure the arena and this team went above and beyond with an enthusiasm Brad rarely displayed for activities outside of partying and women.

Ethan pulled his attention back to the hopeful faces gazing up at him from around the room. “I’m Ethan Williams, and I apologize for calling you in so early on a Monday morning. As you know, the league has long been interested in seeking new ownership for this franchise. I’ve been hired as an independent consultant to assess the value of this team and report back to the interested parties.”

Ethan paused, swept his gaze around the room, and did a quick assessment to determine the receptiveness of the staff and coaches. Lauren’s direct stare was more of a challenge than anything, seeming to say, prove to me you can help this team.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth because of her intensity, as if this was the most important thing on earth—and to her it obviously was. He’d done his research, and she appeared to be the type of employee he wanted to retain. Not a “yes” person or a member of the good ol’ boys, but an employee who’d give him the straight scoop whether he liked what she had to say or not.

He’d made the right choice when it came to her.

“I’ll make this short, as you have playoffs to concentrate on.”

A small smattering of applause sounded around the room. He’d earned a few points with that remark.

He turned his attention back to Lauren. Despite her librarian appearance, she was easy on the eyes. Let his sister get ahold of her and Rebecca would turn her into a stunner. Realizing he was gawking, Ethan cleared his throat. “I’m going to need a staff person to take me under her wing and show me the ropes. It was suggested that Lauren be my guide.”

He nodded at Lauren. She pursed her lips, and her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Several of the men murmured their agreement, probably glad they didn’t have to babysit him.

Ethan spoke briefly about not much of anything in an attempt to put them at ease, maybe mislead them a bit regarding his hockey knowledge without actually lying. After all, his mere presence here was a big enough lie.

As everyone filed out, he signaled for Lauren to stay. She approached him with that same wariness, yet he must have won her over slightly because he also noted hopefulness in her expression.

“Mr. Williams,” she nodded. “Where would you like to start?”

He liked that. Straight and to the point. “Lauren, call me Ethan.” He shot her one of his woman-melting smiles, but she froze instead. “I’m a huge fan of your father’s. I’ll never forget his winning goal in the Gold Medal game against Canada.”

Lauren nodded tersely, as if no amount of flattery would get him anywhere with her. Fine, he’d prefer to keep it strictly business and dispense with the niceties.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we? I understand you’re quite the evaluator of hockey talent.”

“I hold my own. I was raised in a hockey rink.” Lauren looked up and met his gaze. For the first time in their brief conversation, she seemed caught off balance, as if his words of praise were unexpected and uncommon. Not surprising for a woman fighting to make it in a man’s world.

He knew she was the youngest of three and the only girl. Her parents were divorced, and she’d traded time between her mother’s home in Florida and her father in New York. She’d graduated with a bachelor’s in sports management from the University of Michigan. She had the credentials and the bloodlines to be a great asset to a hockey team, but she’d been passed over time and again because of her lack of a penis. As a favor to her father, the Giants hired her years ago as an administrative assistant, and she’d worked her way up. She was a fighter, this one, just like her father and brothers. And her name sat at the top of his initial keeper list.

“I’m a hands-on guy. I’m going to be living and breathing this place for the next month or two or at least until the team’s season ends—hopefully with the Cup.”

“Wonderful.” She stared at him as if trying to figure out what made him tick, most likely assessing him for weaknesses she might need to exploit. “You’re not a hockey guy, are you?”

Ethan bristled, fully aware he wasn’t part of the good ol’ boys’ hockey club. “What makes you think that?”

“Because I know everyone in this league and I don’t know you.”

Ethan opened his mouth to defend himself then thought better of it. If she believed he didn’t have hockey knowledge, she could let valuable information slip, information she might not normally give in order to protect the people she worked with and the team she supported.

No one knew he played adult hockey with a fervor that matched an NHL player’s. No one needed to know he’d lived and breathed hockey for years, having been initiated into the sport by a Canadian bachelor uncle who lived in Vancouver.

“I don’t consider that relevant. I’m evaluating this team from a business and an investment point of view. You’re here to help me get to know the players, stuff I won’t learn from game tape or reading online articles. I assure you, what I lack in hockey knowledge I’ll make up for with sheer dogged determination.”

She stared at him open-mouthed, completely at a loss for words for once.

“I need to meet with the coaching staff. When I return, we’ll go over each player’s strengths and weaknesses. A high level but accurate assessment. I’m a big picture person. For example, where do these guys fit in the organization? I pay others to handle the details.”

“Like me?” She nodded, but he could tell she didn’t appreciate him ordering her around.

“Yeah, just like you.”

He left her office, feeling a bit like an ass for his high-handedness, yet aware this situation could get out of control pretty fast if he didn’t squelch the first sign of concern from the team or the staff.

Still, her dark eyes staring at him, almost fearfully, didn’t make what he had to do any easier. Very few of these people would be going to Seattle with him. He valued loyalty above all else, and his staff needed to be one-hundred-percent loyal to him and his cause, not to the good-ol-boys’ club which had been controlling this team for close to two decades.

* * * *

Lauren had stepped over the line. She’d possibly insulted this man, and his blue eyes had blazed, not with anger as much as a challenge, one she didn’t wholly understand.

The next several weeks would be pure, absolute torture. Not only was Ethan an enigma, but he was attractive as hell. With that same sixth sense which made her a wizard at evaluating hockey talent, she sensed there was more to Ethan than he’d revealed. He was hiding something, and that unknown made her uncomfortable and intrigued at the same time, not to mention she was hot for him. She’d be a liar to deny it.

As she pondered this bewildering mess she’d found herself immersed in, Kaley, her friend and the coach’s administrative assistant, peeked around the door. “What did you say to him?”

“Probably too much. I don’t trust his motives.”

Kaley glanced over her shoulder and then back. “You don’t trust anyone’s motives.”

Lauren shrugged. Kaley spoke the truth.

“Did you see the hot guy with him?”

Lauren thought Ethan was pretty damn hot for a businessman, not her normal type. “Uh, I hadn’t noticed.”

Kaley narrowed her eyes and studied Lauren. “Don’t you dare go crushing on Ethan. He’s trouble; I have a sixth sense about guys like him.”

“Look at you. Warning me when you’re drooling over his partner in crime.”

“I am not, even if he is sexy as hell, and I have an orgasm looking at him. But orgasmically sexy doesn’t mean anything. It’s all look and no touch. I don’t date rich pricks with an ego bigger than Cedric’s.” Cedric was their charismatic forward, who played as hard off the ice as he did on it.

“So you just date poor pricks or what?”

“I do have soft spot for them.” Kaley shrugged one shoulder and studied her fingernails.

“You have a soft spot for good-looking men in general, forget about their personalities.” Kaley was a serial dater, and Lauren lived vicariously through her since dating didn’t seem to be her forte or even one of her sins. Her life revolved around hockey, and unless the man was on skates, had a wicked slapshot, or an even more wicked right hook, she wasn’t interested. Of course, she didn’t date hockey players, at least not anymore. She’d taken a few for a spin around the rink in her college days and decided they made better friends than lovers, except for the one she’d married. That biggest mistake of her life drove home the no dating of hockey players, which she’d amended to any man involved in hockey just to play it safe.

Kaley wagged a finger at her. “Just remember, play nice. The league has been trying to land a buyer forever that would keep the team in Florida. So let’s hope this guy gives a favorable report to his bosses, or we’ll be sold to that Seattle group who’s been circling like a shark. Next thing you know, we’ll be sipping lattes on the waterfront, watching ferry boats putter around.”

“In the pouring rain.”

“Well, there is that,” Kaley acknowledged with a toss of her black hair.

“How do we know this guy isn’t working for the Seattle group?” Lauren frowned as she put to words fears she’d been harboring since Sunday.

For a moment a cloud passed over Kaley’s face, then she smiled, slipping back into her create-my-own-reality mode. “Because Ike said he wasn’t.”

Just thinking of Seattle shot dread through Lauren. She didn’t have a thing against Seattle, but she was an East Coast girl through and through. Moss and mold made her sneeze. Huge trees and mountains gave her claustrophobia. And the geeks Seattle was famous for didn’t buy hockey tickets, did they?

A tall man with dark blond hair and dancing blue eyes poked his head in the doorway. “Hey, I’m looking for Ethan.” He turned his panty-dropping smile on Lauren but it lingered on Kaley. As usual, most men couldn’t get past her long black hair, curvy body, and dark, mysterious eyes. “Hey, hi, again.”

Kaley literally purred as she stopped next to the guy and wrapped her fingers around his arm. “Hi, yourself. Brad, you know Lauren Schneider, our assistant director of player personnel?”

Brad smiled at her, a player this one and obviously good natured and fun-loving. “So you’re the poor girl who gets to babysit
the man
. Good luck. He’s a handful.”

“I’m sure I can handle him just fine.”

Kaley, in full flirt mode, batted thick eyelashes at Brad. “Let’s see if we can find Ethan. Lauren has work to do.”

Brad laughed, a full-throated laugh. “As long as she’s the one doing the work, and it isn’t us.” He came across as the type of guy a girl couldn’t help but like—gregarious, fun, and not a mean bone in his body.

Together Brad and Kaley strolled down the hall in the opposite direction of where Ethan happened to be meeting with the coaches.

Lauren shook her head. Leave it to Kaley to hustle the hot guy. But anything that helped their cause was more than worth it, as long as it wasn’t Lauren doing the hustling.

With a sigh she went back to work on her statistics and spreadsheets, making notes here and there and jotting down items for Ethan’s attention, items which painted the current team and staff in a positive light.