by Kat Mizera
Chasing Charli
Kat Mizera
Copyright © 2020 by Kat Mizera
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editing: Tera Cuskaden, Ashley Martin
Cover Design: Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs
Cover Photographer: Christopher John
Cover Model: Phillip Glass
Created with Vellum
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
EXCERPT FROM AXEL (Royal Protectors Book 3) - Unedited, subject to change
Also by Kat Mizera
For Jaana Vanhanen, who helped me with all things Finnish and my quest to bring Miikka’s character to life…
1
Flights from the U.S.’s East Coast to Anchorage, Alaska, were long, and Miikka Laasonen checked the time on his laptop repeatedly. He just wanted to be home already. Well, he’d be down for a few drinks with the guys if they didn’t land too late, but it was already ten o’clock local time and they had another hour in the air.
The team he played hockey for, the Alaska Blizzard, had just finished a long road trip and they had a handful of home games coming up. Then hopefully the playoffs. There would be a lot going on and he was ready. It had been a long season, between coaching changes and a few players getting traded, but he lived and breathed hockey. Normally, he loved it, but he’d noticed in the last year he was a little lonely.
He had friends on the team and his friends and family back home, and his life was pretty good in general, but the breakup with his longtime girlfriend last fall hit him harder than he’d been expecting. The irony was that it wasn’t because he had a broken heart; it was the realization that he’d spent more than a decade waiting for a woman he hadn’t loved for a long time. It was disheartening and frustrating, considering all the potential girlfriends he’d missed out on along the way. They’d had an open relationship since they spent nine months of the year thousands of miles apart, but he’d always assumed they would be together so he’d stuck to the occasional hookup.
In retrospect, he’d been naïve, and the loneliness he felt now that it was officially over surprised him.
“Miikka.” One of the team’s assistant coaches, Drake Riser, sank into the seat next to him.
Miikka looked up in surprise. He liked the burly coach who’d just retired from playing last year, but they didn’t usually hang out on flights. “Hello, Coach.”
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
“It’s come to my attention that you haven’t done any of your community outreach obligations.”
Miikka groaned. A native of Finland, he didn’t speak much English and when he did, he tended to mix up words, phrases and grammar. He kept telling himself he needed to learn, but between games, practices, meetings and working out, when he had free time, he liked to relax. Learning English was too much like school and he’d never liked school in the first place.
“I know it’s a hassle, but you have to do it, Miikka. You’re the only guy on the team who doesn’t do any appearances, visit the hospitals, attend the season ticket holder events… It’s not optional.”
“But…” His voice trailed off. “This is difficult. My English…no good.”
Drake nodded. “I understand, but take one of the other guys and go to one of the hospitals. The kids don’t care if you can speak English as long as you have goodies to give away.”
Miikka only understood half of what Coach was saying, but he got the gist of it and nodded. “Yes, okay. But season is almost over now?”
“There’s always opportunities for community outreach, my friend.” He patted him on the shoulder, got up and moved to the back, leaving Miikka grumbling under his breath.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but it was so hard for him to talk to fans. He should have done something about learning English a long time ago but he’d put it off and now it was going to be a problem.
Leaning forward, he nudged his teammate and roommate, Logan Pelletier.
“What?” Logan pulled his headphones off and looked back at him.
“Go to Henley’s?”
Logan shook his head. “I’m wiped, man. Let’s go tomorrow night.”
Miikka wanted to protest but finally nodded. “Yes. Okay.”
He leaned back in his seat again and closed his eyes. He’d figure it out. He always did.
Walking towards her car in the parking lot of the school where she was a kindergarten teacher, Charlotte “Charli” Bartosiewicz was running late. She’d taken half a day off for an appointment with her optometrist and then had plans for an early dinner with a girlfriend, but it was hard to leave with crying five-year-olds clinging to your legs. She loved her students but they were a little needy sometimes and now she was barely going to get to the office in time.
“Miss Charli, are you leaving?” The loud little voice made her turn and she smiled fondly at Niko Petrov, one of her students, and his mother, Dani.
“I’m going to a doctor’s appointment,” she told Niko. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I was at the dentist.” Niko frowned. “And now I’m here but you’re leaving. It’s not fair.”
“I’m sorry, buddy.” She smiled at Dani, who was gently tugging Niko’s hand.
“Come on, Niko. Miss Charli has to leave and you have to get inside.”
“Bye, Miss Charli!” Niko waved, following his mother inside and Charli pulled out her keys.
She’d just gotten to her ten-year-old Toyota when she saw the rear passenger-side tire was flat.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she grunted.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’d changed a tire, but she was already running late so the timing sucked.
Pulling out her phone, she quickly called the optometrist’s office to explain she’d be late and was glad to hear they would wait for her. She put her purse and laptop in the car and got out the lug wrench and jack. It was February, so cold and dreary, but luckily it wasn’t snowing. She crouched down and attempted to get the lug nuts off. When the first one didn’t budge, she went to the next, finding it also stuck.
“Shit,” she muttered, wiping her hands on a towel she’d found on the back seat. She managed to get off the third and fourth, but the fifth was also stuck and she sat back in frustration.
“Come on, you bastard,” she hissed, getting to her feet and stepping on one side of the X-shaped wrench in the hopes her body weight would help turn the lug nut.
It didn’t budge and she growled in annoyance.
“Dirty, no good, rotten, ugl
y-as-fuck piece of shit!” she yelled, kicking the tire.
“Wow, that’s a lot of hostility for an innocent tire,” Dani said, coming up behind her.
Charli grimaced. “I stood on the damn thing and those three lug nuts aren’t moving!”
“Do you have a roadside assistance plan?” Dani asked.
Charli shook her head. “No. I can’t really afford it and I’m usually more than capable of changing my own tires… But I’m just not strong enough to get these lug nuts off.”
“Let’s see if we can do it together.” Dani crouched down and they worked side by side to attempt to release the lug nuts, but after another ten minutes with no progress, Dani sat back and shook her head. “I think we’re going to need reinforcements. Lucky for you, I have a team of professional hockey players at my disposal.”
“I feel terrible, putting you out like this,” Charli said, worrying her lower lip nervously.
“It’s no big deal.” Dani stood up and pulled out her phone, calling what appeared to be her husband. She spoke for a minute or so, smiled and hung up. “Okay, he’s in the middle of something but one of our friends is on the way. He’s bringing WD-40, so it shouldn’t be a big deal at all.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” Charli said gratefully. “I’m just annoyed I’m wasting half a day off to change a tire.”
“I’m sorry.” Dani looked apologetic. “I hope it wasn’t for something super fun.”
She laughed. “It was my yearly optometrist appointment. I was going to get fitted for contact lenses.”
“Oh.” Dani cocked her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your glasses.”
“It’s been a long time,” Charli said softly. “But I was hoping for a change. Not today, I guess.”
“That sucks. And unfortunately, I’m going to have to abandon you because I have an appointment as well.”
“Oh, please don’t miss anything for me,” Charli said. “I’ll wait for your friend to get here. And thanks again.”
“Let me know if you need anything!” Dani smiled and waved.
Charli watched her go a little wistfully. Dani was one of those women other women loved to hate. Tall, beautiful, married to a hot, rich guy, and nice too. Not to mention she had a great kid. Charli tried to never play favorites in her classroom, but there was usually one child every year that got closer to her than others and this year it was Niko. He was a well-behaved, intelligent kid with a quirky sense of humor and a tiny streak of mischief that made him delightful.
Whenever he was upset, he would revert to his father’s native language, Russian, and say “nyet” in the most insolent voice she’d ever heard. Luckily, that didn’t mean anything more nefarious than “no,” and she laughed about it to herself, though she always reminded him that saying words in another language wasn’t an acceptable way of dealing with things when he was upset. Unfortunately, many of the other kids in the class soon learned “nyet” as well and some days it was all she could do not to pull her hair out when twenty-two five-year-olds alternated saying the word for hours on end.
Those were the exceptions, though. Normally, she loved teaching kindergarten, and this year’s class was exceptionally well-behaved and cute. Niko was still her favorite, though, and she’d become friendly with Dani and Sergei.
A black truck pulled up and a red-haired man she’d never seen before stopped in the spot across from her Toyota. He stuck his head out the window and looked at her.
“You are Charli?”
He had an accent she couldn’t quite place but she nodded. “Yes.”
“I am Miikka.” He got out of his truck and for a moment she couldn’t do anything but blink. He wasn’t traditionally handsome, but he was tall and built and had an air of athleticism that was unmistakable. As he approached her, the muscles in his thighs visibly flexed even through his jeans and she couldn’t help but let her gaze travel up to what appeared to be a wide chest beneath his bomber jacket.
Wow. He was nice to look at.
He gave her a little grin and held out a can of WD-40, forcing her eyes up to his. “This will fix.” For a moment, their gazes locked and her heart skipped a beat as they looked at each other. Then he turned and squatted beside her, spraying the remaining three lug nuts liberally.
“That’s brilliant,” she breathed. “Thank you for coming. Where’s Sergei?”
He said something she didn’t catch and she frowned. Had that been another language? Not Russian, but something Scandinavian maybe?
Miikka whistled as he worked, replacing her lug wrench with one of his own and cheerfully removing the lug nuts.
“Oh, thank you,” she said happily. “I can change a tire. I just wasn’t strong enough to take off the—”
He interrupted her with a torrent of words that meant nothing to her.
She blinked.
He stared back.
Then he laughed. “Sorry. I forget.” He scratched his head and then pulled out his phone. He typed into it and then seemed to be reading what was on the screen. “I am already here and…happy to change tire. My mother would not be happy if I let a lady change her own.” His accent was thick and he stumbled over several of the words, but it was no less endearing and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“Then thank you. Let me get the spare.” She moved to the trunk and reached for it just as he gently nudged her out of the way, shaking his head.
“Is okay.”
She watched him with a secret smile, trying not to notice the way his T-shirt rode up and exposed a flat, firm stomach. As he started tightening the lug nuts again, his biceps flexed and since he’d taken off his jacket, she had an excellent view of them through his long-sleeved T-shirt. He was pretty damn sexy stretched out on the ground, and she had to avert her eyes to keep from licking her lips. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d met such a gentleman, and one that was incredibly hot had to be a first.
“Hmmm.” He was muttering to himself in whatever language he spoke and didn’t look happy.
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly, crouching down beside him.
“No okay.” He put the tire on the ground and frowned.
Charli glanced down and sighed. Well, this was going to suck.
Her spare tire was flat.
2
Miikka had been happy to jump in and help when Sergei had asked him to give Niko’s teacher a hand changing a tire, but he wasn’t prepared for someone as cute as she was. She wasn’t flashy or built like the strippers at the clubs he frequented, but there was something captivating about her, especially the blue eyes lurking behind her glasses. Too bad he couldn’t get a closer look.
“Is okay,” he said finally. “We fix.”
“I just… Shit.” She put her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky, muttering something about bad luck, but he didn’t catch most of it.
“Come. We go to fix.” He gently touched her arm.
“I guess I don’t have a choice.” She seemed irritated but gave him a little grin. “You know that saying, if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all?”
He had no idea what that meant so he stuck to what he knew. “We go?” He motioned to his pickup truck. “We fix, come back?”
“Yes, okay.” She didn’t seem to have any qualms about getting into the truck of a stranger, but since she was friends with Dani and Dani had sent him here, he figured she wasn’t too worried about it.
He pulled onto the street after putting her spare tire in the back and cut a glance at her. She seemed lost in thought and since he didn’t have much English to draw on, he didn’t try to engage her. He kept glancing at her in his peripheral vision, though, because the more he looked at her, the prettier she got.
It only took a few minutes to get to the tire place and Miikka carried the tire for her as they went inside. One of the employees greeted them and looked over the spare with a grimace.
“I don’t think I can fix this,” he said, turning it. “Your
spare is shot.”
“Shit.” Charli made a face. “Can I buy another? How much would it cost?”
“Another spare is going to cost almost as much as a new regular tire,” the man replied. “You’re better off just getting a new full-size one.”
“But I can’t drive the car the way it is and…” Her voice trailed off.
“How far away is the car?” the man asked.
“Maybe seven miles?”
“I can probably get your spare into good enough shape to make it ten or fifteen miles, but if you try to drive beyond that, especially if we get any bad weather, it’ll be dangerous.”
“Yes, okay, do that, please.” She sighed heavily. “And will you have time to put on the new tire for me if I bring it back here? I have to work tomorrow and don’t have any other way to get there.”
“It’ll be a few hours, but sure, I can get it done before end of day.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
She sank into the nearest chair and Miikka sat beside her.
“Sorry if I’m ruining your day,” she said after a moment. “I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.”
“My English bad,” he said after a long hesitation.
“Is it?” She peered at him through big, round tortoiseshell glasses. “It seems okay.”
He shook his head, typing into his translation program and letting her read the result. No, it’s terrible. That’s why I’m using a translating program. Otherwise, it would be impossible to understand me. My teammates tease me about it all the time.
