Strictly for Now by Carrie Elks

CHAPTERTWELVE

MACKENZIE

“We’re going to have an exhibition game,” my dad says through the phone line. I blink at the clock beside my bed. It’s six a.m. and I was dead to the world when my phone started blaring incessantly. I’d answered it thinking there was something wrong with Gramps. While I’m here, I’m the first point of contact for the nursing home.

“A what?” I croak, trying to blink the sleep out of my eyes.

“To raise money for the IRS. We’ll have a big exhibition game. Charge premium for the seats. An all-stars versus the Mavericks game. It’ll be fantastic.”

I sit up in my bed, my sleep-heavy mind reminding me it’s a Saturday morning. The one day I let myself sleep in until I wake up naturally. Which is usually by nine, anyway. I have yoga at eleven and this afternoon I need to do some grocery shopping and drop in on Gramps for dinner.

It’s been two days since Eli asked me out on a date and I haven’t seen him since. The Mavericks had an away game and I was kind of thankful for that.

I need time to think.

The truth is, I’m attracted to Eli. But I also know it’s a very, very bad idea to get involved with somebody at work. The fact that he’s a hockey player makes it worse.

Ex-hockey player. Whatever.

But really, I want to say yes to his offer. I want to spend time with him. I want him to touch me. I can’t stop thinking about him.

It wouldn’t be forever, anyway. I’m leaving for New York as soon as Gramps’ IRS matter is settled. And he’s clearly here for the long term.

Would it be so wrong to have a fling?

“So that’s great, right?”

I blink. I’d forgotten about Dad. “Um, you cut out for a minute there. Can you tell me again?”

“I said I’ve already got a team in mind for the All-Stars side. I have connections, so we’ll make sure the best come to Morgantown. We’ll sell it out in no time.”

“We’re in the middle of the season,” I tell him. “We can’t fit that kind of game in between our fixtures.”

“We’ll do it during Bye Week.”

Every team gets a week off mid-season. “Most of the team will want to go home then,” I tell him. It’s their one chance to decompress during a hugely over scheduled season.

My dad sighs, letting me know I’m annoying him. “I know the owner. We’ll make it work.”

“We don’t have the staff to do this,” I warn him. I know I’m being a Negative Nancy but the kind of event he wants to put on is huge. “To deal with ticket sales and publicity and then to man the stadium.” We’re small fry compared to the NHL. We don’t have the steward and security that those big guys have.

“I’ve got that covered.”

“How?”

“The production company is going to do all that.”

“The production company?” I say slowly, my skin prickling. “What production company?”

“I, ah, they’re interested in making a documentary. About me and your mom and the family business.” He gives a little high-pitched laugh. “Skating, I mean.”

“It’s going to be filmed?” Alarm washes through me. There’s no way this team or this stadium is fit for public consumption. “Is that a good idea?”

“It’ll mean all the profits we make go straight to Gramps’ IRS bill.”

I let out a long breath. I hate to admit that staging an exhibition match is a good idea. But it is. Better than any I’ve had. It could actually come close to paying the government off in one lump sum, especially if filming rights are involved.

But somewhere along the line I’ve become a little protective of this team. I don’t want them to be used for publicity. I’ve had too much experience of how it can go wrong.

“Let me talk to Gramps when I see him today.”

“Sure.” He doesn’t sound at all perturbed. “He’ll be fine with it.”

Yeah, he will. But I still need to get my head around it. It’s one thing having my parents be famous while they’re over in L.A. But to have them where I work? That’s something different.

Especially since the team has no idea I’m related to them.

So now I have two things to think about. Eli’s offer of a date and my dad’s plan to invade Morgantown. And somehow they feel linked in my brain.

* * *

ELI

“You haven’t charmed this woman into bed yet?” Liam asks. “You’re losing your touch.”

“I don’t have a touch,” I tell him, placing my golf ball on the tee. Myles – my eldest brother – has decided the three of us need to spend some time together now that I’m living closer to him and Liam. So we’re playing a round of golf at Liam’s club just outside of Charleston.

Myles is already in a bad mood. He’s currently trying – and failing – to hit his ball out of a sand trap. I don’t know why he decided playing golf with us was a good idea, because he’s spectacularly bad at it.

I’ve got a pretty good handicap. Golf was one of the few pastimes we were insured to play during the NHL season, so I’d have a round most weeks when I was living in Boston. And Liam’s spent half his life on one course or another making business deals.

Myles, on the other hand, has spent way too much time staring at a computer screen.

“Yeah you do,” Liam says. “There was a time when I never saw you without a woman.”

“In my twenties,” I tell him. “And you were no better.”

“Who was no better?” Myles asks. He’s finally hit his ball onto the fairway. We all climb into the golf cart and head toward it.

“Liam,” I tell him. “Remember his little black book?”

“I remember you asked if you could have it after I started dating Sophie,” Liam retorts.

“I was joking.” I really was. I never have and never will be interested in my brother’s ex-girlfriends.

“Yeah, well it wasn’t a book, anyway. I just had a lot of friends.” Liam’s jaw is tight. He taps his fingers on the wheel as he drives. We drew straws to see who would drive, and I’m still kind of annoyed that Liam won.

That’s the problem with being one of six brothers. The competition is intense. As kids we’d fight about anything. It used to drive our mom crazy. And our dad, when he actually had time to spend with us.

Myles ended up inventing the Salinger Olympics so we could compete against each other for real every summer at our dad’s estate in Virginia. An organized way for us all to beat the hell out of each other.

“Anyway, stop changing the subject. Why haven’t you gotten this woman to fall for you yet?”

“What woman?” Myles frowns.

“If you’d hit your ball onto the green occasionally you’d know,” Liam tells him. “Eli’s falling for a woman.”

“I didn’t say I was falling for her. I said I liked her.”

“You gave her your hoodie.”

Myles turns around from the seat next to Liam and lifts a brow. “You gave her your hoodie? That’s awesome!” He says it in a Californian accent, as though we’re all at middle school.

I put my hands up in exasperation. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. “She was cold and I had a sweatshirt she could wear. We’re not fifteen, it meant nothing.”

“Yeah,” Liam says. “It’s not like he gave her his sperm.” He draws that last word out, making Myles wince.

“You make it sound like a sordid transaction,” he mutters. “Ava and I are married.”

“But you weren’t when you first gave her your little tadpoles,” Liam grins. He’s enjoying himself. He’s never happier than when he’s riling our oldest brother.

“I was in love with her. She wanted a baby.” Myles gives him a pointed look.

It’s a long story, but Myles and his wife met at work. And at first they hated each other, but somehow Myles found out that Ava was trying for a baby alone and offered to help. Between donations they fell in love.

“I’m not in love with Mackenzie,” I say.

Liam stops the cart abruptly.

“Then why are you chasing her? You’re forty-years-old, aren’t you getting tired of no-strings sex.”

I groan because that’s not what I meant. “I like her,” I tell him. “And I want to get to know her better.”

“And you want to bone her.” Liam smirks.

“Can we go to the green now?” I ask him. “I’d like to be out of here before dark.”

“Myles needs to get out of the cart first,” Liam says.

“Why do I need to get out?” Myles asks. Is he pouting?

“Because your ball is there,” Liam says, pointing at the fairway. “And ours is on the green. So go hit your ball and we’ll see you there.”

“I’m not walking to the green,” Myles says. “Wait for me here.”

“Didn’t you hear what Eli said? He wants to get out of here before the sun sets. If we wait around for you it’ll be tomorrow by the time we’re done.”

Myles reaches over him, muttering to himself as he grabs a wedge from his golf bag and stomps to his ball.

I miss Holden. He’s the peacemaker in our family. He’d have butted their heads together by now.

Liam whistles as we watch Myles look at the ball and then at the green. “He’s gonna take all day,” he says. “Just to piss me off.”

“Are you two this bad at work?” I ask him. They run a company together in Charleston, and I can only imagine the way they must bitch at each other in the boardroom. I feel sorry for the staff they’ve recruited to work for them.

“Nope. We save it for when we’re with you.”

“Gee, thanks,” I say. I love these guys but I want to be at home. Or at the stadium. I idly wonder what Mackenzie is doing.

Liam gets out of the cart and stretches his arms up, letting out a groan. “You know where I should be right now?” he asks me.

“Where?”

“In bed with my damn wife.”

I glance at my watch. “It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“Exactly. Nothing better than Saturday afternoon sex.”

I wrinkle my nose. I don’t need to know about their between the sheets activities. “Can you stop?”

“Nope. She’s too beautiful.” He has the grin of a man who’s made all the right choices in life. “And I’m gonna say something to you now, but you can’t tell Myles.”

“I hate secrets,” I remind him.

“It’s not a secret. I just don’t want him butting in. This is between us. Man to man.” He points at his chest then mine.

“You’d better hurry up then.” We watch as Myles swings the club high above his shoulder, then stops mid-movement. He takes a step back and inspects the grass. He’s slower than a snail in molasses. “Okay, scratch that,” I say, trying not to sigh. “Take your time.”

Liam’s face turns serious. He rolls his shoulders then looks me in the eye, clearing his throat. “There comes a moment in a man’s life when he has to stop messing around.” He frowns and shakes his head. “Actually no. When he wants to stop messing around. When he meets the woman he knows he can’t live without. And I don’t know if this woman is it for you, or if it’ll be somebody else, but she’s out there. And you need to be ready.”

This might be the most bizarre conversation I’ve had with Liam to date. “Um, okay.”

“I mean it. If she’s it, don’t give up. You need to woo her until she’s yours.”

“What if she doesn’t want to be wooed?” I ask him, thinking about my conversation with Mackenzie the other night. “What if she doesn’t even want to go to dinner with you because she thinks it might cause problems with her job?”

Liam whistles again. Long and low. “Oh, that’s a Myles question.”

“Myles,” Liam calls out just as he swings again. His wedge hits the ball awkwardly, sending it flying out to the left, toward the trees.

“For fuck’s sake,” Myles shouts. “I’m sick of this game.”

“Tell you what,” Liam says. “Get back in here and we’ll pretend you hit it on the green.”

I look at him and Liam shrugs. Then we both smile because it’s actually nice to find something Myles isn’t good at.

“Eli’s girl works with him and isn’t sure it’s a good idea for them to date,” Liam says as Myles climbs in next to him. He doesn’t bother trying to find his errant ball.

Myles looks over his shoulder at me again. “Are you going to let that stop you?”

“No.”

“Good.” Myles nods.

And it’s weird but also a relief to say it out loud. I know that she’s worried but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal if I take her out to dinner. Or do more. I’ll just run it past Wayne first, since it’s his team.

In fact, I’ll do it on the way home. Because I want this woman and I won’t let anything stop me.

I’ve spent my life competing in order to get what I want. If I have to compete with her job, I will.

“Now, can we finish this round so I can get the hell out of here?”