The Athletic Groom: Billionaire Marriage Brokers

by Lucy McConnell

  “Welcome home.” Thomas grinned. Since Thomas was over the house, he naturally took pride in its appearance. The exterior was a combination of stone and stucco with the red tiled roof so common to the area. Several colors of rocks were used for landscaping instead of grass, and ornamental flowers dotted the area.

  Isaac got out first, followed by Logan and then Harper. Logan eyed the large wood and stone entryway from the driveway. To the right, a circular window bubbled out, showcasing a black grand piano set against cream walls and carpet. To the left of the door was another set of windows that wrapped around the corner of the house. The windows to either room could darken for privacy at the touch of a button. Of course, the guys didn’t know that. Harper checked her grin. The guys. She kind of liked the way that phrase held equal parts familiarity, pride, and possessiveness. As if they were her guys.

  Logan hiked his backpack up on his shoulder. “After the jet, I was kind of expecting something … bigger.”

  Isaac coughed. “It’s a lovely home.” He turned to Harper. “If you know of any manners classes or seminars in the area, I’d love to sign up my son.”

  His son.

  And just like that, the guys were no longer her guys. Feeling a loss, Harper headed towards the front door. “My dad built this place as his retirement home. He was going to turn over the real businesses to Seth and I and just run the team, hike the narrows, fish and golf. It is smaller than our family home, but it suited his needs.” She picked her way up the long steps.

  “So where is he?” Logan asked.

  Harper smiled sadly. “He passed away two months ago.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Logan’s cheekbones brightened to a hot pink. It was adorable against his dark skin. She shook her head—the local girls had better watch out for this guy.

  Isaac was quiet, his jaw set. The light-hearted optimism that had followed him into the car was gone. She’d put her foot down about him changing the team and she must have ruffled his feathers.

  “Besides, it looks smaller on the outside than it really is.” She pushed open the front door to reveal a spectacular view of St. George at night. The three-story house was built into the cliff with the whole back wall made of thick glass. Following the hardwood flooring, she led them past the piano and library rooms, through the open theater space to the sweeping staircase that turned as it descended to the second floor, where their living quarters were located.

  “This is the living room.” She gestured around them to the leather couches and chairs, the opulent furnishings, the textured walls, built-in entertainment system, and the plush flooring. “Through there is the kitchen—fully stocked.” She winked at Logan. “The suites are this way.”

  “Suites?” Isaac asked.

  Hoping to bring back some of his positive outlook on the situation, she continued. “You two will share the sunrise suite.” She motioned for them to enter the sliding barn doors. Obviously Mom hadn’t had a say in the design, or they would have been swinging French doors with decorative glass. Inside was a seating room. “You are welcome to any area of the house, but I thought this would be a great place for Logan to do homework.”

  “Ugh—don’t say that word.” Logan rolled his eyes.

  She chuckled. Isaac looked around but didn’t make eye contact. Harper pressed on. “This is the master bedroom and bath—Logan, your room is through there and there’s a bathroom next door.”

  Logan went in and inspected each corner. There was also a solid wood, king-sized bed with matching nightstands and dresser. The bedspread was navy blue with an orange stripe, and a fuzzy orange blanket was folded at the bottom. Kind of bare for her standards, but for a guy it must have been just right.

  “The closet is huge and there’s a washer/dryer in here.” Logan’s voice echoed against the bare walls.

  “There’s one in every closet,” Harper informed them. “The maids come through once a week, but we’ll up that to twice a week now that there are more of us here. They’ll do laundry and cleaning, but you’ll have to pick up after yourselves.”

  Logan came back out, wearing a ball hat that must have been put in his closet. “Okay, now I’m impressed.”

  “Good to know.” Harper laughed as she put her arms around him, giving him a quick hug that squished his arms to his sides. “I’m glad you’re here.” Something about Logan, maybe his youthfulness or the way he said things that popped into his head, made him easy to be around. And he’d filled an emptiness in the house. Like he was meant to be here.

  “Thanks.” He dropped his bag inside the door. If Harper knew Thomas, he’d already unpacked Isaac’s clothes and stored the suitcases.

  She turned and found Isaac watching her, his face unreadable. If Logan set her at ease, then Isaac set her off kilter. On the one hand, his quiet strength and intelligence were as hot as the red cliffs at noon. On the other hand, he didn’t seem to be as affected by her as she was by him. It wasn’t fair. Nor was it productive, because her awkwardness made it difficult to be normal. Like when she’d talked about following her dad’s plan—she’d come across as demanding because she’d had to force the thoughts through a cloud of hubba-hubba.

  That same cloud got thicker the longer she locked gazes with her husband. “Let’s finish the tour.” She stepped back into the hallway. “So that’s the sunset suite.” She pointed to her own barn doors.

  “Your room?” Isaac asked.

  Did I detect a husky note there?

  Yeah, right. Stop wishing. “Yes. They’re mirrors, but instead of an extra bedroom I have an office.” By now they were back in the family room. “You are welcome to use the office through those doors.” She’d debated whether or not to let Isaac use the space; it still smelled like her dad—green grass and Old Spice. But she had the team to remember him by and no doubt Isaac would need a work space. Still, passing it off to anyone was difficult. And even though she’d married him—heaven help her—Isaac was a near stranger.

  Isaac checked it out. “It’s great.”

  “I’m glad you like it. Just—” She cleared the emotion clogging her throat. She’d almost asked him not to disturb anything, but that was ridiculous. He needed to live here too. “Never mind. There’s also a billiards room, a sun room, an art studio, and a sauna.”

  “Are you an artist?” asked Isaac. His jaw was no longer clamped shut and he walked beside her.

  “My mother. Dad wanted her to have a place to paint when they were here.”

  “That’s sweet of him.”

  “That was Dad.” They headed down the staircase to the bottom floor.

  Isaac gripped the railing. “Do I even want to know what’s holding this house up?”

  “Steel beams and a lot of prayer,” Harper quipped.

  He leaned closer to the exposed rock. Logan scoffed. “Have a little faith, Dad.” He jumped down the last three stairs.

  “There are two more suites on this level.” Before she could finish the tour, her phone trilled. Thomas’s name popped up. “Hello?”

  “I’ve assembled the requested staff in the music room.”

  “Perfect, we’ll be right up.” She hit the end call button. “Are you ready to meet the staff?”

  Isaac exchanged an incredulous look with Logan.

  “They’re waiting in the music room.”

  “All the way upstairs?” Logan tipped his head back, following the windows up all three floors.

  “Sure, but if you’re tired, we can take the elevator.”

  Logan’s jaw dropped. Isaac shook his head. “I’m never going to get him to leave this place. You know that, right?”

  Harper smiled. “That’s fine by me. I’d take him any day.” And she would. And she sort of had. No one had mentioned becoming a stepmom to a teenager before she married Isaac, but once they met, she was thrilled with the idea. Sure, he wasn’t that much younger than her—more like a nephew’s age than a son—but maybe that was part of the charm between them.

  Isaac wore that look she
couldn’t decipher. The one that was part fear, part panic, and part determination.

  Confused, Harper showed them to the elevator doors, which looked just like all the other doors in the house, except for the call button recessed into the molding. She couldn’t understand why Isaac was against her kindness to Logan. After all, they were going to live together for the next twelve months; they might as well get along.

  Harper generally got along with people. Except in the baseball world. For some reason, everyone from the other owners to the coaches and the players to the press didn’t want her there. Okay, she knew the reasons. For one, she was much younger than the owners, in some cases half their age. For two, she was a woman and this was a good ol’ boys club. Isaac was part of that world. Maybe, deep down, he didn’t think she should own a team. Well, it was too bad for all of them, her new husband included, because she didn’t have any inclination to leave.

  And if Isaac didn’t like that, then this was going to be longest year of their lives.

  * * *

  Isaac shook hands with each member of the household staff, their names swirling around and through his mind, exiting right out his ears. With him and Harper putting in long days, the maids were a necessity. Though he wanted Logan to be responsible for keeping his own room clean. He needed to have some sense of responsibility.

  The mechanic was a bit much, but hey, if Harper could afford to keep one on staff, he wasn’t going to complain about regular oil changes for his Harley. The bike was his one splurge on himself. BMB had arranged to have it shipped in and he couldn’t wait to take it on some of the winding roads in the surrounding area.

  The maintenance guy probably had his hands full with that elevator and who knows what else. A house the size of a hotel had to have people to run it. He had spent many a weekend changing the furnace filter, vacuuming the air vents, cleaning the gutters. To have that weight lifted from his shoulders was huge and he was extremely grateful for every one of the people standing in front of him.

  Until he met the last guy—Zeek.

  Harper grinned like she’d won the season opener as she introduced Logan to his assistant.

  “He doesn’t need an assistant.” Isaac folded his arms. “He’s fifteen.”

  Harper’s confidence dimmed but didn’t disappear. “He’ll need an adult around when you and I are at work, and Zeek’s local. He knows some great hiking and mountain bike trails. He will make sure Logan gets home from school and keep an eye on his homework load.”

  Isaac shook his head in disbelief. “I keep an eye on his homework load and I will make sure he gets to and from school.” They’d done fine in the past. If Isaac was working late, he let Logan know. And Logan always texted the minute he walked through the door after school. If the team traveled, Logan was his plus-one. Being a single dad wasn’t easy, especially with his varied schedule, but he’d made it work.

  This time, the smile did disappear. Harper glanced apologetically at Zeek. “We can call him your assistant, Isaac, if it will make you feel better.”

  “It’s not the title,” Isaac insisted. The mechanic shifted his weight and the maids exchanged a look. “I don’t need help being a dad. I’ve managed just fine on my own up until now. You’re not a parent—you don’t get it.”

  Harper ignored his verbal jab and focused on Logan. “You’ve obviously done a wonderful job.” Harper looked at Logan with that tenderness that defied Isaac’s understanding. Was she faking it? He didn’t think so, but how well did he really know her?

  “Dad, it’s no big deal.” Logan’s eyes pleaded with him to back off.

  He was embarrassing his son. He could live with that as long as he believed that what he was doing was in his kid’s best interest. “The answer is no. No offense,” he told Zeek. He felt kind of bad about firing the kid, but he’d learned long ago that he was Logan’s best advocate and that sticking to his guns was a must.

  Harper’s Barbie-doll smile appeared—the same one she’d had for the cameras that afternoon. He didn’t like that smile as much as he liked her real one. In fact, being on the receiving end of that smile made him feel like a complete jerk. But he couldn’t back down. “I’m his dad,” he said simply, as if there was no argument that could beat that.

  Harper turned her shoulder to him and spoke to Zeek. “We’ll figure something out. Can you be back tomorrow morning?”

  Isaac stepped forward. “Wait a—”

  Harper held up a hand. “This is my house.”

  Isaac bit back his retort. If she wanted to throw money away, let her. “Fine.”

  Harper spoke to the group. “Thank you, everyone, for staying late tonight. Have a wonderful evening.” Most of the staff dispersed. Thomas and the cook stayed behind.

  The cook, a short man with a barrel chest and a flattop, spoke first. “Dinner is waiting for you on the sidebar in the dining room.”

  “Thank you, Danny. What’s on the menu?”

  “Barbeque ribs, baked potatoes, ham, steamed vegetables, fresh berries, cornbread, coleslaw, and brownies.”

  Harper ran her hand down her hair. “Why the change in menu?”

  Danny looked to Logan and Isaac. Logan was practically drooling on the carpet and Isaac’s stomach was already halfway down the stairs. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had barbeque ribs. Man, that sounded good.

  “Thomas said we’d have some hearty appetites tonight. I know it’s not your usual …” He cleared his throat.

  “It sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to dig in. Thank you for thinking of them.” Her head tipped towards Isaac and Logan. Isaac was contrite. Here he thought Harper was trying to turn his world even more upside down than this crazy marriage and relocation had by hiring someone to help out with Logan. All he’d done was grouse about it. Then, when she experienced a change on their behalf, she accepted it graciously. Granted, it was one meal, but how much more was she giving up for him? A whole wing of her house was now his personal space and she’d opened up the rest of the home to them as well. He was a louse. That didn’t mean he was going to change his mind about Zeek, but he didn’t have to handle the situation the way he had.

  Thomas waited until Danny left, then his hands clasped behind his back, his lips pressed together.

  Harper heaved a sigh. “I know what you’re going to say, Thomas. I promise to be on my best behavior from here on out.”

  He lifted his palm. “Given the circumstances, I completely understand.” He motioned to Isaac and Logan. “Do you mind if I fill them in?”

  “By all means. I’m going to freshen up. I’ll meet you in the dining room.” Harper left, her steps slower as if her strength had melted as the staff left. Or she’d let her guard down and was willing to let Isaac see the real her. The her that had a long, hard day where she’d made a difficult hiring decision, taken a huge risk on him, gambled a marriage, fought a dragon at the press conference, put in a full day’s worth of work at the office, unofficially adopted his son, made that same kid feel welcome in her home, and had her husband question her judgment in front of her staff. Through all of that, she’d been a rock.

  Not now. Now she was a woman who could use a real husband to massage her shoulders and encourage her to face it all again tomorrow. Part of him wanted to be that man for her—the husband she really deserved, because she deserved a guy who was much better than him. A guy who could actually find the dining room—was it on the second floor? Maybe Logan remembered …

  Thomas cleared his throat. “A harmonious household is best run by keeping disagreements within the family between the family. In the future, I recommend holding private conversations.” Though his words were a censure, they were spoken with respect and kindness and more than a little teaching.

  Isaac nodded, his head heavy with shame. “I know. I should have known better. I’m sorry.”

  Thomas clapped him on the back. “Did you meet Lauren today?”

  Isaac pressed his lips together. The name was familiar.

&
nbsp; “Harper’s assistant,” Logan filled in.

  “Oh, yeah. She’s great.” Lauren had brought in a sub sandwich around two and answered a couple questions. His office assistant started tomorrow.

  Danny nodded. “Zeek is her nephew. His parents make enough to disqualify Zeek for financial aid, but not enough to pay his tuition to Dixie State. He’s worked several jobs, including selling solar panels door to door in the summer heat to be able to continue his schooling.”

  The guy was tan. “So working for Harper would be a good thing for him?” Isaac was beginning to see the whole picture. He didn’t get the sense that Danny was trying to guilt him into hiring Zeek; more like he was pointing out that Isaac had been a selfish jerk, without actually saying those words.

  “It would be a good thing for all of you.” Thomas nodded once and made his way out of the room.

  Confused, Isaac rubbed the back of his neck. What he’d said was true: he didn’t need help being a dad. But how many times had he wished that he did have someone to share the load with? Logan often caught rides with friends to parties or the movies because Isaac had a Friday night game and had to work. His work schedule wasn’t going to change—for the first little bit, it would be worse. Not to mention the away games. Logan was headed into high school—those grades counted towards scholarships. He needed to be in class and Isaac needed to be on the road. He turned to Logan. “What do you think?”

  Logan shrugged. “It would be cool to have someone to hang out with. He seemed chill.”

  Isaac battled the guilt. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m handing you off to someone.”

  “I know that.”

  “You’re my first priority—that doesn’t change just because my job does.”

  “I know that too.”

  Isaac dropped his hands. “I’m glad you’ve got it all figured out.”

  “One of us has to—you’re bombing this.” Logan shoved him.

  “I think I did okay today. The press conference was a little rough, but—”

  “Not work work. I’m talking about your other job.” Logan gave him a pointed look.