by Kat Mizera
It had been a couple of dates and now he’d offered to marry her. Sure, it was a marriage of convenience, but whose convenience was it? Having her in his house, and hopefully his bed, sounded pretty damn good to him. It might be kind of sappy, but he’d missed being married. Hell, he’d missed being married while he’d been married, and getting another shot at it felt right with Tara. It made no sense, considering they’d gone on two official dates and hadn’t even had sex yet, but the minute she’d said she was going to marry Logan, he’d known he couldn’t allow it. Not that it was his place to tell her what to do, but she didn’t want to be with Logan, and he planned to do anything he could to make her want to be with him.
Although this could become even more complicated if he got traded. Now that he was starting and having a good stretch of games, he hadn’t given getting traded a lot of thought, but he hadn’t told his agent to stop looking, either. Deep down, he hoped this would be his chance to prove himself to Coach Saunders, and even when Aaron came back, they could potentially share the starting position.
Aaron was so damn good, though. He was one of the elite goalies in the league, despite playing for a team like the Blizzard, who’d struggled since their inception. It would be a massive hill to climb if Donovan wanted to be Aaron’s equal, which was why he’d figured it was time to get traded instead. Not that he wasn’t good enough, but it took time to find yourself as a goalie, and most guys didn’t hit their stride until their late twenties. At twenty-seven, he was almost there, but he needed to play. If he was going to get to that next level, going from professional athlete to superstar athlete, he needed to be out on the ice more than just during practices.
He stripped down to his boxers, packed his things for morning, and then slid into bed. He was still tired, even after sleeping well last night. He didn’t mind travel, but he missed his bed. Hotel beds just weren’t the same. And he’d always hated sleeping alone.
Impulsively, he pulled out his phone and texted Tara.
DONOVAN: Hey.
TARA: Hi. Congratulations on another win. You looked great out there. I would never have known you were skinny dipping just forty-eight hours ago.
DONOVAN: You’re hilarious.
TARA: Sometimes.
DONOVAN: So how was your visit with the team? Did you meet the coach?
TARA: I did. Can I call you? It’s a lot to write.
DONOVAN: Sure.
Oh, yeah. Hearing her voice would be much better than texting.
11
“Hi.” He answered on the first ring, and Tara smiled to herself.
“Hi yourself.”
“Tell me everything,” he said.
“Well, I went up there around three o’clock and watched them practice. They’re really good, Donovan. It’s not a big school or a well-known team, but these women are strong, fast, and talented. They’re a bit rough around the edges and need discipline, but I saw so much potential on the ice, it was fantastic.”
“That’s awesome.”
“I spoke with Coach Azure when they were done. We went into his office and he admitted that it’s hard to find coaches because no one wants to work for what they can pay. Which is admittedly a very small amount, but as we got to talking, he also said that if I was interested in working in the English lab—which is specifically for those for whom English is a second language—he could potentially get me more money.”
“Holy shit, Tara, that’s perfect for you,” he said enthusiastically. “Are you pumped?”
“Absolutely. Even when I told him that I’d only coached one season, for a team of ten-year-olds, he said it didn’t matter—coaching was coaching. And growing up both playing the game and having a brother who’d gone pro, I probably had a much better handle on coaching than even some players. He seemed really excited to help me learn the formal ins and outs of being a coach.”
“So why aren’t you bouncing off the walls?”
“Because he would have hired me today if I had a visa or green card, but even if we get married as soon as you get back, it’s still going to take a while for the paperwork to go through so I can legally work.”
“Oh, shit, I forgot about that, but honestly, the visa stuff aside, this is great news. It sounds like the perfect job for you.”
“Yes. In fact, Coach Azure invited me to come watch practice again later this week and take some notes. He wants to talk again next week and see if there’s any word. He said there are no other applicants, so hopefully that won’t change until we figure out the visa situation.”
“That’s fantastic!”
“I don’t have the job yet, Donovan. Or the visa.”
“Well, we’re going to take care of that as soon as I get back, okay?”
“Donovan, I’ve been thinking…if we do this, we can’t tell anyone.” She kept her voice low.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if we tell everyone we’re married, people are going to ask a lot of questions, expect parties and honeymoons and all kinds of stuff. Our families—oh my god, I’ve never met your parents and you’ve only met mine in passing. I think it will make everything crazy. Gage and Miikka will have to know, because they know what’s been going on, but no one else. I feel strongly about this.”
“Okay, but how are we going to explain living together? And you’ll have to move in, because immigration might show up. I don’t know for sure how it works, but I think it’s illegal to get married purely for a visa, so we’ll have to make sure it looks legit.”
“That part is easy. We’re young and horny and dating, so people won’t think twice about me moving in.”
“I’ll have to tell management, though, because I’ll need to get you on my health insurance and all that. Plus, the league can probably help with the visa, right?”
“There are so many details to work through.”
“It’s going to be okay. We’ll deal with all of them.”
“I think the biggest thing on my mind is why are you doing this? I mean, yes, we’ve been having fun together, but this is a completely different situation. If we get married, that’s…important. Serious. A commitment. Even if we’re only getting married so I can stay in the U.S., there are parts of this that are going to be very real.”
“I’ll be honest and say this wasn’t on my radar,” he said after a moment. “I haven’t even been divorced a year and even though I like you, Tara, I’m nowhere near ready to use the L word. So that’s something we have to consider.”
“Believe me, I’m not ready, either. I got out of a seven-year relationship just under a year ago.”
“Then we’re on the same page with that.”
“Absolutely.” She paused. “And if we do this, we’ll need a lawyer. You make a lot of money, but I don’t want anything from you when we split, so there has to be a pre-nuptial in place.”
“Agreed.”
“Are you sure?” she asked slowly. “This is a huge step, and once we do it, we can’t just change our minds.”
“The way I see it, it wouldn’t be a real marriage. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other and see what happens, but if it doesn’t work out, it’s no big deal. Once you’re working and everything, we can reassess. In the meantime, I’ve got hockey and you’re still going to be doing some nanny stuff, so it’s not like we’d just be hanging out every minute of the day.”
“Like you said, I’d have to move in.”
“Works for me if you’re okay sharing a bed.”
She chuckled. “I think that was going to happen regardless.”
He chuckled too. “I was thinking that, too.”
“Also, I’m not really able to donate much financially to the household. I can always ask my brother until I’m making something significant but…” She took a breath. “Oh my god, are we really doing this?”
“Whoa, slow down. First of all, I don’t need you to contribute to the household. I make plenty of money for that. If you don’t want to tell peo
ple, I’m okay with that, we just have to be careful because there are going to be details like wedding rings.”
“I didn’t even think of that.” She groaned.
“We have plenty of time to talk it out and make sure we’re not forgetting anything.”
“I might be freaking out.”
“Don’t be. It’s just a piece of paper. Nothing will change except that you’ll move in with me and will hopefully be able to take that coaching job and stay in the U.S. You and I will continue dating, getting to know each other, and having fun. It’s going to be fine.”
“I think there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”
“Like?”
“I don’t even know where you were born or grew up or anything like that.”
“I was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, played in the Major Juniors in Quebec. I was drafted by Pittsburgh at eighteen, played for their farm team for a year, then moved up for two more before I got traded here.”
“Did you go to college?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No. I finished high school and went right from Major Juniors to the NHL.”
“Did you ever want to?”
“Go to college? I would have liked to, and I applied, but my grades sucked, and I didn’t get in, so I just went the pro route.”
“Do you have siblings?”
“A sister. She’s two years younger and engaged to some guy she met in college. I don’t like him.”
Tara chuckled. “Why not?”
“He’s smarmy and kind of an ass. Just finished law school and is letting her support him while he studies for the bar. But she loves him, so I keep my mouth shut.”
“Is she in Michigan?”
“Not anymore. She followed him to Chicago after college. She’s a graphic artist.”
“And your parents?”
“Still in Ann Arbor.” He paused. “What about you?”
“I was born and raised in Savonlinna. I’m the oldest of three. I’ll be twenty-seven in February, Mikka just turned twenty-five, and Leon is nine. He was a late-in-life surprise for my parents.”
They talked about the details for another hour until they’d relaxed back into their usual lighthearted banter. He would talk to his attorney tomorrow, Tara would start packing, and he’d make sure the team knew that he was getting married but didn’t want any press releases or attention drawn to the matter.
“It’s going to be okay,” Donovan said. “You’ll get the job you want, I’ll be focusing on hockey, and our personal relationship will be status quo.”
“But what if it’s not? What if we decide we hate each other? Or don’t want to be together anymore?”
“Then we work on finding a solution for you to stay in the U.S. and quietly get a divorce. With a prenup in place and no one aware we’re married, it’ll be quick and easy. Worst case scenario, you have to go back to Finland, but you’d have to do that now if we don’t do this.”
She nodded even though he couldn’t see it. “Yes. Right.”
“Look, we may not know each other that well, but we’re not strangers. We’re already friends and would have been lovers if we hadn’t gotten so drunk on Halloween.”
“I have a feeling I won’t be living that down for a long time.”
“Probably not.” He chuckled. “Now, I need to get some rest, so I’m going to go to bed. You okay?”
“I think so.”
“Good night, Tara. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“Hyvää yötä, Donovan.” Good night.
Despite how calm Donovan was and how easy it was to talk to him, Tara’s stomach was in knots when they hung up, and she didn’t know what to do. Mostly, she wanted to talk to her mother because she wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing. What if this was a colossal mistake? Maybe she should just go home to Finland and stop this insanity. But they’d just agreed not to tell anyone except Miikka, Gage, and Laurel, which meant she had no one to talk to.
Except Charli.
If Miikka knew they were married, Charli would have to know, so she could talk to Charli. She called her before she could change her mind.
“Hi!” Charli sounded so happy to hear from her, Tara burst into tears.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Charli’s voice dropped. “Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m just…” She blurted out the whole story.
“Oh, wow. So, you and Donovan…” Charli seemed thoughtful. “You like him, don’t you?”
“I think that’s what’s so scary. I do like him. With Logan, marrying him would be easy because we’re buddies. There is no attraction between us, no chemistry, just friendship. With Donovan… This could become serious, at least for me, and what happens if he doesn’t feel the same?”
“That’s a risk you would take regardless, don’t you think? The marriage part of it isn’t real, so it’s like you’re still dating, but now living together. If you fell in love and he didn’t, you’d be hurt even without a piece of paper making it legal. So what’s the difference?”
“That’s essentially what he said, without me talking about the potential for falling in love.”
“It sounds like he’s pretty chill about the whole thing. Why are you so upset?”
“I don’t know. I guess getting married is a big deal even when it’s a fake marriage. And really, even if we’re not in love, it’s not fake because we’re friends, and I’m positive we’re going to be lovers either before or as soon as we get married. Doesn’t that complicate everything?”
“It does. But what’s the alternative? Going back to Finland?”
“I know. That’s the problem.”
“You might want to think about things for a few days and do some soul-searching. You need a husband to stay in the U.S. and Donovan is willing to do it. And the fact that you already like each other is a bonus. Imagine if you married Logan and started having feelings for him but he was just doing his normal thing, sleeping with you because it’s convenient, and then walking away when it was done? I don’t believe Donovan is like that, you know?”
“I don’t think he is, either.”
“So relax. Take a deep breath. Think about all the reasons you already like him. Remember that doing this means you get to stay in the U.S. with us. And it gives you a chance to see if there’s something there with him.”
There was definitely something there. Tara just didn’t know what it was.
12
Tara and Donovan talked or texted every day while he was gone. Sometimes it was just a quick conversation late at night after he was back at the hotel. Other times, they texted for hours while he was on planes or buses, and she was either watching Matthew or hanging out. She loved talking to Donovan, and their conversations were often the highlight of each day. Listening to him made her smile because his voice was deep and a little gritty, as if he were a smoker, though he swore he wasn’t and never had been.
He would be back in Anchorage tomorrow, and she was looking forward to seeing him again even though she was getting nervous about their upcoming marriage. They decided to do it the week before Thanksgiving. There was a five-day waiting period, so they would get the license this coming Monday, make sure they had all their plans in place, and get married the following Monday. He’d already gotten the prenuptial agreement from his attorney and they would both sign it this week, and once the waiting period was over, they were going to elope. No fuss, no fanfare, just a quick walk in and out of the courthouse.
It seemed a little underwhelming, but Tara had to remind herself that she and Donovan had already been dating, already liked each other, and that piece of paper wasn’t going to change anything. That’s all it was, a damn piece of paper. Yes, there were some legal ramifications, but it represented her freedom more than anything else, and her ability to leave Finland.
She repeated that to herself over and over, so by the time she saw Donovan she wouldn’t be as on edge anymore. Perhaps they
could even enjoy each other’s company until the big day. Which wasn’t actually that big of a day. One of many things she had to remember.
The team had a day off that Sunday, so Miikka and Charli put together a group going to the movies. Though Tara would have liked to be alone with Donovan, going out in a group might be easier with everything going on between them, and there would be plenty of time to be alone after the movie. They were going to an afternoon show and then to dinner, which was oddly ironic. Donovan hadn’t hesitated at all when she’d called him, and he’d said he would meet her at the theater since she’d been over at Miikka and Charli’s anyway.
He kissed her lightly on the lips when he saw her and slid an arm around her waist as the ten of them stood in line at the snack bar.
“This baby better come soon,” Dani rumbled, looking down at her stomach. “I’m tired of being pregnant.”
“It’ll all be worth it,” Sara told her with a smile.
“Let me know your feelings after you’ve done it,” Dani said, laughing.
It was a fun group, with Miikka and Charli, Sara and Aaron, Dani and Sergei, Jake and Whitney, and of course, Tara and Donovan. They probably could have done something else, but when they’d spoken on the phone they’d both wanted to see the movie, so they were going to watch it with the group and perhaps do their own thing for dinner.
“Miss me while I was gone?” he teased. He closed one of his large, warm hands around hers and Tara forgot all about visas, the coaching job, and to some extent, even the movie.
She playfully elbowed him in the ribs. “Not even a little.”
“I think you’re lying.”
“Maybe.” She smiled. “What about you? Did you miss me?”
“Not telling.”
She laughed. “Fine. I might have missed you a little.”
“Then I might have missed you a little, too.”
The lights went down, and Donovan squeezed her hand.
