by Anya Nowlan
The coach went on to talk about the details of the travel over there, but Crash was barely listening.
“The suits must have been impressed with us if they’re giving Ben his own assistant and everything,” he whispered to Connor.
“I hope she doesn’t end up getting in the way,” Connor replied.
“I hope she’s hot,” Crash winked, getting a chuckle and fist bump from Eddie.
The meeting was pretty much over after that, with Ben reminding everyone passing him by on their way out the door that they needed to be at the airfield by eight the following morning. The team filed out, with Ben remaining behind with the suits. Crash spared a thought at what they might be discussing, but didn’t really care that much.
All he wanted was to play the game. The politics of it didn’t concern him. As long as he got to put on his skates, he was good. Connor looked more suspicious, though, dragging his feet when they left the room and the door was pulled shut after them.
“What, you going to stay and eavesdrop?” Crash asked.
“I’m pretty sure that room is soundproof,” Connor replied, his brow furrowing.
“Spirits above,” Crash sighed. “Remind me to get you a tin hat for our birthday.”
With the rest of the team already rounding a corner ahead of them, they lazily trailed after their teammates, walking along the empty hallway leading back to the locker rooms.
“Do you think we’ll get to meet the Shovelers? Those guys are legends. We could learn a lot from them.”
“I doubt they’re falling over themselves to give away their secrets to their rivals,” Connor remarked. “But maybe they’ll sign your jersey if you ask real nice,” he jeered.
“Hilarious,” Crash scoffed.
He was working on a better comeback when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Connor’s phone did the same only a second later. Throwing each other a curious look, they fished out their phones, only to both stop dead in their tracks, eyes glued to their screens.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Crash asked, feeling trepidation settle into the pit of his stomach.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Connor ground out, his angry tone more than answering Crash’s question.
“This could be a problem. A big fucking problem,” Crash said, slicking his tongue over his teeth.
“I think it’s safe to say Alison is a lot more unhinged than we realized,” Connor replied.
“Or a lot smarter. Did you scroll past the picture, to the caption?” Crash asked, turning the screen towards his brother.
“Pay up? This is even worse than I thought.”
And I thought getting stuck in Idaho for two weeks was bad…
Four
Lily
From what Lily had managed to find out, the huge house she was now roaming had belonged to some trust fund manager who thought Shifter Grove would be a great place for a holiday home, a place he could go to get away from it all. In the end, it had turned out to be more isolation than he’d bargained for, and the locals had been none too impressed by his haughty attitude and demands for special treatment.
After the businessman decided renting the place out would be his best option to recover his investment, the building had stood empty for a while. Until now, when the management of the Denver Predators, her new employers, had rented it out for their players.
Some of the rooms still had the original furniture, gaudy and over the top, but most of the house had been refurbished to be more rustic and laidback. Something more befitting of the future inhabitants.
Lily had already stowed her stuff in her room, tucked away on the third floor. Most of the guests soon to be arriving would occupy the first and second floor, giving her some privacy.
This job is going to get complicated, I just know it.
There were a lot of moving parts to contend with, and Fiona, the woman who had ambushed her outside her office and offered her the assignment in the first place, didn’t have a lot for Lily to go on. But the money had been too good to turn down.
Who would have known managing a shifter hockey team was so lucrative? Definitely not Lily. She was aware of shifter sports, of course, but not being much of a fan of any sport, she wasn’t up to speed on what was going on in that world. Or how much money moved in that world.
Not until now, at least. She had done her homework, even though she hadn’t been given much time to do it. Rush jobs were a pain in the ass, which was why she rarely took them. Being well-prepared was key.
Fiona is a persuasive woman, I’ll give her that.
With only the coach, Ben Landon, knowing what she was really doing here, she’d have to be extra careful not to tip her hand. Being a new addition to the team’s dynamic, she would already be under scrutiny, which was the last thing she wanted. Her job was to blend in, not stand out. Which might become a bit complicated, seeing as she’d be one of the few women tied to the team to begin with.
If the team didn’t relax and let their guard down around her, she’d never find out what she was tasked to uncover.
Maybe I should have taken the same plane over here as the rest of the team. That would have given me some more time to get to know the guys, she pondered.
There was nothing she could do about that now, though. Getting to know the house was important as well. She’d already mapped the place out in her head, paying extra attention to all the nooks and crannies and the smaller, out of the way rooms scattered about.
How many offices does one person need? she thought as she continued her trek, sticking her head into yet another small room with a large desk and mostly empty bookcase.
The sound of cars approaching outside made her shut the door she was standing at and stand up straighter, perking up her ears. The team had arrived earlier than planned, and she was still in her jeans and t-shirt. That was hardly something a professional assistant would wear to greet the team.
She quickly climbed upstairs and went to her room, zipping open her suitcase. It was time to leave private investigator Lily Decker behind. Now, she needed to be personal assistant Lily Douglas. And Lily Douglas kept her auburn hair in a tight bun and didn’t wear sneakers or comfy boots everywhere.
Fixing up her wild hair, she could already hear voices and footsteps roaming around the house. Rushing to undress, she pulled on a pair of dark gray slacks, running her palms down the front of the pants to make sure they weren’t wrinkled.
The heels she slipped on next were definitely not her style, but she was used to putting her personal preferences aside. She had worn more than a couple of unflattering uniforms lately. And if she’d never have to wear a hairnet again, it would be too soon. Sliding her arms into the sleeves of a white dress shirt, she could hear heavy steps approaching her way.
No one was assigned a bedroom on this floor, she thought.
She didn’t have time to mull that over, though, as her door was suddenly swung open, just as she was in the middle of buttoning up her shirt.
“Excuse me,” she exclaimed, covering her breasts with her hands as two hulking men stood at the door, staring right at her.
It only took her a second to recognize them as Crash and Connor Rawlins, twins and rising superstars. Now also proud members of a relatively small club of men who had seen her boobs in a state of semi-undress.
Despite the awkward circumstances, she couldn’t help but think the pictures she’d seen of them did not do the men justice. With their chiseled features and clear, green eyes, they were movie-star handsome, and entirely too good to look at.
“Sorry, we didn’t think anyone would be in here,” Crash said.
That’s a lie, she thought immediately, catching the way Connor dragged at the air with his nose.
They must have been able to smell that someone was close by.
Despite the apology, he didn’t move to turn or look away, letting his gaze sweep over her instead. For some odd reason, it didn’t feel leering. It seemed like he genuinely couldn’t look
away. And the shiver that ran down her spine at the hunger in his eyes was entirely involuntary.
“Well, do you mind?” she asked after a moment of loaded silence.
“Yeah, our bad,” Connor quickly replied, nudging his brother. “We’ll go now.”
But they didn’t go. Instead, they both just continued looking at her, with a grin slowly spreading across Crash’s face.
“You’re the coach’s new assistant, aren’t you?” he asked.
By that point, Lily was growing more frustrated than anything. Both with herself, and the men. Usually, she would have either kicked them out or kicked their asses by now, but somehow she felt as stuck as the brothers seemed to be.
Something about Crash and Connor made her feel like she wasn’t standing on solid ground anymore, and it had nothing to do with her high heels. It was entirely unsettling. So to snap herself out of it, she grabbed the first thing she got her hands on out of her suitcase, and threw it at them.
“Get out!” she said forcefully, realizing way too late she had just chucked her bra at Connor’s face.
Why couldn’t I have grabbed a shoe or something? she groaned internally.
The blue, lacy number fell to rest on Connor’s shoulder. The image would have struck her as hilarious if she hadn’t also been so mortified. Yet, the gesture did bring the men out of whatever trance they had been in.
“Leaving, we’re leaving,” Crash said, rushing over his words, as both the brothers turned around and left, closing the door after them.
She didn’t miss the lopsided grins both of them were wearing as they scooted out, though.
That was quite the first impression. Not exactly how I wanted to kick off my new assignment...
Five
Connor
“Okay, what just happened?” Crash asked as they walked into his assigned bedroom.
“We made the new assistant think we’re complete perverts?”
“That, too. To be fair, we’re only partially perverted. But did you see her? She’s amazing. What did the coach say her name was… Lily?”
Crash looked like he’d just seen a vision, and Connor had to assume he looked much the same.
Letting his back rest against the door, Connor let out a long sigh. He didn’t think he could be reduced by a drooling idiot at the mere sight of a woman he didn’t even know, but it was clear he had been wrong about that.
Lily, with her soft, rounded features, lush lips, and sharp gray eyes had caught him entirely off guard. Not to even speak of that curvy body, which he’d gotten a good eyeful of. His bear was standing up and paying notice as well, softly growling at the image of Lily, and how her button-nose crinkled when she got angry.
“I should have given this back,” Connor groaned, noticing he was still clutching the bra she’d thrown at him in his hand.
Crash grinned.
“Don’t sweat it. This gives us an opportunity to go back and explain. How were we supposed to know she was already here, changing in one of the rooms? We’ll return the bra, and properly introduce ourselves.”
It all sounded reasonable enough, but Connor could see his brother grinning to himself as he said it. And besides, they had both smelled her before they stepped into the room. It was just… well, he couldn’t help himself from following that scent the moment he stepped in, and he got the feeling Crash had had the same problem.
“Oh, no. I see what you’re thinking. Haven’t we gotten ourselves in enough trouble when it comes to women? And have you forgotten she is going to be working with us?”
Office romances never ended well. And while this house on the outskirts of Shifter Grove wasn’t exactly an office, the principle stood. Even if they didn’t have the whole Alison mess to deal with, getting involved with someone they were supposed to have a professional relationship with was a bad idea.
“I wasn’t thinking anything. Except maybe that my wish came true. She’s totally hot,” Crash shrugged, putting on an innocent face. “This might make the whole Idaho thing not suck so much.”
“You really want to try and start something with some woman we don’t even know? Because that’s worked out great for us so far,” Connor replied, an edge of bitterness creeping into his tone.
Pursing his lips, Crash sank on to the bed in the corner of the room.
“You don’t have to remind me,” he muttered, his excitement deflating.
Connor nodded, satisfied that his younger brother was catching the drift here.
“We have to deal with Alison before this whole thing gets out of control. We’re on a new team, the last thing we need is a scandal. They might even kick us off if she goes through with what she’s threatening to do. Our focus needs to be on getting her to see reason.”
Running a hand over the back of his neck, Connor paced the room. If he were being completely honest, he was having trouble focusing on anything else but the delicious new assistant, just like Crash. But it was a distraction they couldn’t afford.
“We need to handle this as discreetly as we can,” he added, lowering his voice as he heard someone pass by the room.
“That’s going to be fun, in a house full of people, in the middle of a training camp,” Crash replied.
“I hate this as much as you do, but we got ourselves into this mess. We should have been more careful. At least now we know not to be as stupid.”
A knock on the door made both of the brothers perk up. Connor strolled over and opened it. Sal popped his head in, looking from Connor to Crash.
“Team meeting in the living room in five,” he said.
His black hair and dark, prominent brows, along with his angular features made him look more severe than he actually was. You wouldn’t know just by looking at him that Sal was actually the team prankster, and also one of the most upbeat and positive people Connor had ever met.
“I bet we’re going to be meeting that new assistant,” Sal added, winking at Crash before rushing off.
“She’s got to know we didn’t mean to barge in on her. Right?” Crash asked.
“Didn’t we, though?” Connor asked, giving Crash a tentative look. “Seems we’re not going to get to explain ourselves either way. Unless she brings it up in front of the whole team, which I seriously doubt.”
“Okay, let’s get this meeting over with,” Crash groaned, getting on his feet. “Then we can start looking for a spot in this damn house that actually has cell service so we can talk some sense into Alison.”
All the memories Connor had of Alison were now tainted. She was an attractive, bubbly girl, and the three of them had had some fun together. Being around her had been easy, and she was always down for a good time. Now, he couldn’t help but put every interaction they’d ever had under a microscope, looking for red flags he had missed that would have alerted him sooner.
But that was the thing about rose-tinted glasses. Through those, all the red flags just looked like flags.
She had been eager to get the brothers into bed, but that wasn’t so unusual. Being the rising stars of the Denver Predators, they had their share of puck bunnies vying for their attention. Nothing about Alison has seemed particularly suspicious, not that he had been looking for any signs that she might be a blackmailer.
I was too trusting. I won’t be making that mistake again.
“Something tells me words aren’t going to cut it. She’s looking to get paid,” Connor replied grimly.
“Then we’re going to have to pay her. No way am I taking a chance on her crazy ass setting my career back five years. Not to mention, mom and dad would have a heart attack if this shit hit the news.”
Crash looked determined, but Connor wasn’t sure he was quite there yet. Crash definitely had a point about both their parents, and their career, though.
“I hate that we’re cowering to her demands,” Connor growled.
“Yeah, I’m not doing cartwheels over here, either. But what choice do we have, especially when we’re stuck here in Idaho?” Crash asked wit
h a shrug.
Connor hated it when his brother was right. Since when had that become a thing?
“You’re right. Let’s just get through these two weeks the best we can.”
He didn’t like being on the defensive like this. He was nothing but proactive, and now he had no other course of action than waiting and hoping everything worked out. At least he had his brother to lean on.
We can fix this, the told himself.
Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to convince himself of that.
And the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about Lily in the midst of all of this gave him more cause to worry than ever.
Six
Lily
Standing in the middle of the room, next to Ben and assistant coach Wyatt, Lily could feel the weight of the team’s gaze on her. It was expected they would be curious about her, the newcomer she was. But she hadn’t expected just how intimidating being stared at by a bunch of hulking shifters could be.
She was consciously avoiding looking at Connor or Crash, fearing her confidence might waver if she did. If there was one thing she knew about herself, it was that she liked to be in control. Having let the twins see her in a vulnerable state was something she didn’t like.
Nor did she like the way her heart beat a little quicker every time she thought about them. They had barely even spoken, yet something about the brothers had left a mark on her. And it wasn’t just the fact that they’d walked out with one of her bras.
Whatever it was that had her this out of sorts, she wasn’t eager to delve into it. She was there to do a job, and that’s what she was going to focus on.
Ben was running through the schedule for the next couple of days, what times they were supposed to be at the ice rink and other arrangements like that. He ended that part of the meeting with an announcement they would all be going into town for dinner that night as a way of kicking off the camp.