Defending Dani

by Kat Mizera

Dani was in a sour mood when she left the Las Vegas Sidewinders’ offices a little after four. She normally left at two, but today she’d stayed late, answering phones and hanging out with the rest of the staff. It was busy right now with the team in the playoffs, and since there was a game tonight it seemed silly to go home just to change clothes and come back.

  Her older brother, Zakk, was a forward on the team, and she’d come to Las Vegas to live with him and his wife back in December. She’d only had a few classes left to get her master’s degree, and all three had been available online, so she’d been able to leave North Dakota. There were only three weeks left in the semester and though she was excited about graduating, she was floundering. She didn’t know what she was going to do with her degree, where she was going to work, or where she was going to live. Throwing the Olympics into the mix left her at the biggest crossroads of her life.

  Changing into jeans and her Sidewinders jersey in the ladies’ room, she smiled despite her dark thoughts. She loved wearing Zakk’s jersey. It was as close to the big leagues as she’d ever get and since they shared both a last name and a number, she sometimes liked to pretend it was the real thing. She’d played hockey, too, and people often said she was as good as her brother. The problem, of course, was that there was no viable professional option for women, at least not in her opinion, because she refused to play for the pittance women in the National Women’s Hockey League were paid. It was embarrassing and wrong, but while her decision kept her pride intact, it didn’t keep her from missing hockey.

  She headed down towards the locker rooms. Though she only worked part-time in the sales department, she was an employee as well as the sister of one of the players on the team. She stayed away most of the time, but the guys never seemed to mind if she stopped by to say hello before a game, and she made sure she left relatively quickly so she didn’t overstay her welcome. Zakk had said it was okay, so she occasionally wandered down around the time the guys started arriving at the arena.

  “Hey, sis.” Zakk was already in the hallway.

  “Hey.” She smiled at him.

  “How was your day?”

  “Pretty good. You ready for tonight?”

  “Hell yeah.” He caught the soccer ball that came flying through the air as he grinned at her. “Wanna play?”

  She shook her head. “No thanks, I’m going to—”

  “Dani! Just the young lady I was looking for!” Sidewinders’ team owner Lonnie Finch approached her with a broad grin. Looking up at her, since she was a good six inches taller than he was, he held out his arm and she had no choice but to take it.

  “Have a good game!” she called over her shoulder to her brother.

  “See you tonight!” he called back.

  Though part of her was a little concerned that the team owner wanted to see her, she couldn’t think of anything she’d done wrong. She only worked part-time and her job was basically answering phones. As long as she wasn’t rude to anyone—and she was fairly certain she hadn’t been—there wasn’t much to screw up.

  “How have things been going, my dear?” he asked as they took the elevator up to the executive offices.

  “Okay,” she responded. “I’ve only got a few more weeks left until I finish my master’s degree, so I’ve been working on my resumé.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said, letting her walk into his office ahead of him.

  “Okay.” She sat in one of the chairs by his desk and he sat beside her.

  “You hate working in the sales department.” He met her gaze directly, though there was no censure in his eyes.

  “It’s not what I’ve studied for,” she said quietly. “Sales isn’t my thing, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to work for the team.”

  “Have you given up on hockey?”

  She sighed. “Sir, I can’t work for that kind of money. All those women either have day jobs or wait tables to survive and it’s unfair.”

  “I agree,” he nodded. “What about the Olympics?”

  “I don’t know.” She looked away. This was a touchy subject for her.

  “You made the team.”

  “Yes.” Tryouts had been last week.

  “Are you going?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What’s the hesitation?”

  “I’ll have to go to Colorado in September and stay there, with the team, until the Olympics in February. I’m about to get my master’s in kinesiology and exercise science. I have student loans, bills to pay… I don’t know how much longer I can afford to keep this up.”

  “Keep what up?”

  “Mr. Finch, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but are you telling me I don’t have a job here anymore? I’ve pretty much decided I’m done with hockey, even though I’m planning to go to the Olympics…”

  “I thought you didn’t want to go?” he pressed gently.

  “Zakk wants me to. Everyone wants me to.”

  “But do you want to?”

  She blew out a breath. “Yeah. My heart wants me to even though my brain says I’m an idiot.”

  “How old were you when you started playing hockey?”

  “I don’t even know,” she admitted. “However old Zakk was. I’m three years younger, so essentially that’s when I started.”

  “I’ve seen you play. You’re every bit as talented as your brother. I’m sorry there isn’t a career choice for women that equals the ones afforded to men, but the Olympics is something special, something very few people can say they’ve done.”

  She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Zakk asked you to talk to me,” she said after a moment, shaking her head.

  “He may have mentioned that you’re unwilling to accept financial assistance from him for that time period and therefore considering not going. I’d like to change your mind about that. Perhaps offer you some incentive.”

  Dani couldn’t help but chuckle. “My brother is nothing if not persistent.”

  “He loves you.”

  “And I love him. But I’m going to be twenty-three this summer and it’s time for me to take care of myself. Zakk sent me money all through college to cover things my scholarship didn’t, and then he paid my living expenses so I could stay and start my master’s. Now I live with him and he helped get me my job here on the team. At some point, I have to do something on my own. Do you understand?” She met his gaze imploringly.

  This time he was the one to sigh, reaching out to pat her hand. “Believe it or not, I do. I just don’t think this is the time to spread your wings. Not yet. Eight or nine more months of hockey, Dani. What will it hurt?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Tell me this, then. What are your plans if you decide not to join the Olympic team after all?”

  “I’ll start looking for a job as an assistant trainer.”

  “For a hockey team?”

  She chuckled. “Well, yes, that’s my specialty so that would be my first choice. Since the trainers here in Vegas are solid, I’ll be putting out feelers to all the other teams in the league.”

  He leaned back. “There may be something opening up.”

  She froze, turning in surprise. “Here?”

  “If you join the Olympic team, I can hold the position until you get done.”

  Her mouth opened but nothing came out at first. “Mr. Finch, that’s not how this works!”

  He burst out laughing. “Of course it is, little one. You’ll have a graduate degree in exercise science shortly, which is exactly what you need for the job, and what you’ve been studying for. You also played the sport and come with excellent recommendations. If working here in that capacity is what you want, I can arrange it.” He gave her a quick, almost paternal, wink. “Come see me after the Olympics, Dani, and we’ll make this happen.”

  There didn’t seem to be anything else to say, so Dani nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Finch. I appreciate it.”

  3

  Sergei was checking email on his phone
as he waited for the elevator doors to open, so he didn’t notice her right away. He was immersed in a note from his mother in Russia as he stepped inside, and it wasn’t until he heard his name that he looked up. He froze when he found big green eyes intently focused on him. Jesus, had Danielle been this pretty yesterday? How had he missed those eyes? It was like staring into a pool of the shiniest, most sparkling emeralds he’d ever seen, and for a moment he couldn’t remember why he didn’t particularly like her.

  “Are you going up to the owner’s box?” she asked, cocking her head when he didn’t respond right away.

  “Er, yes. Mr. Finch invited me to watch the game from there.”

  “I get off on the floor before,” she said, pushing a button on the panel.

  “Do you have seats?” he asked.

  “I sit with the WAGs,” she responded, referring to the wives and girlfriends of the players.

  Damn, he needed to stop staring, so he cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize,” he said hesitantly. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did yesterday. It caught me off guard since I don’t even know you, but I’m genuinely sorry for raising my voice.”

  “Is it Toli or Zakk who’s forcing you to apologize?” she asked, those green eyes still burning into his.

  “What?” He made a face. “No one forced me to do anything. But Toli explained how much time you’ve spent with Niko and how helpful you’ve been to Tessa, so I thought—”

  “You thought you’d make peace since I’m the sister and you’re the brother.” She made an impatient gesture. “No worries, it’s all good.” The elevator came to a stop and she took a step towards the doors as they slid open.

  “No. Wait.” Sergei wasn’t sure why everything was so difficult with this woman. He was trying to be polite and she wasn’t making it easy. “Will you please come up to the box with me so we can talk?”

  “I’m meeting friends.” She stepped out and turned to look at him. “But if you’d like to talk tomorrow, meet me at the practice rink on Hellman Street. Ten o’clock. You have equipment you can borrow?”

  He blinked. “Hockey equipment?”

  “No, rugby equipment.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course hockey equipment. A group of us play several times a week. You want to talk, be there. If not, I understand.” The elevator doors closed and left Sergei staring blankly at where she’d been. What the hell had just happened? And where was he going to get hockey equipment that fit by tomorrow morning?

  * * *

  He’d had to scramble, but with Toli and Zakk’s help, Sergei managed to put enough equipment together for an informal hockey game. From what Toli had told him, Danielle played with a group of mostly male players from the local university team and a few retired NHL players who lived in the area now. She was one of only two women who played, and there was no checking allowed, but they played hard and fast. It kept her in shape since she’d made the Olympic team—which he hadn’t known—and Sergei had looked her up online last night to get a feel for how good she was.

  To his chagrin, he’d discovered she was fantastic. Watching video of her during last year’s Frozen Four championship game had been mind-boggling to him. He’d had no idea Zakk’s sister was so skilled and couldn’t help but wonder why she wasn’t playing professional hockey. There was a woman’s league now, though he admittedly didn’t know much about it. Zakk had said they didn’t offer much in the way of salaries, and when he’d looked it up, he’d been surprised at the pay scale. Ranging from ten to twenty-six thousand dollars a year, none of those women could make a living wage playing full-time, especially in cities like New York and Boston. The more he read, the less sense it made, especially if they played anywhere near as well as Danielle did. These women were athletes just like him and anyone he’d ever played with, yet the salaries were unbelievably low. How could anyone work as hard as they did in hockey and still have to work another job to have money for rent? He had no idea what that was like and made a mental note to be a little more grateful for the career he had.

  He got to the arena early, wanting to get a feel for the place and see who his teammates were. His gut told him Danielle wanted him to apologize somewhere she felt comfortable and he was okay with that; he honestly hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings. Maybe if they played on the same team he could make it up to her by helping them win. She was good, but he didn’t know what the others were like, so he wasn’t expecting much in the way of competition.

  “Good morning.” She came out of the locker room in form-fitting bike shorts, a sports bra and sandals, her blond hair pulled up in a ponytail.

  “Good morning.” Sergei had to catch himself so he didn’t do an obvious double take, but he’d never seen a woman with a body like hers. She had six-pack abs, with a torso so sculpted he wanted to reach out and run his hands over it. Then there were her legs, long and lean, but with muscular thighs and perfect calves. She didn’t have much in the way of breasts, but that was okay since the rest of her was essentially perfect. Holy shit, who was this woman?

  “The guys change in there.” She motioned to a door down the hall. “We’ll start warming up in about twenty minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m sure Toli told you, but there’s no checking. We play three twenty-minute periods but we only take five-minute breaks in between. There’s a ref, but it’s hit or miss on whether or not whoever we get will actually call much.”

  Sergei snickered. “Sounds about right.”

  “You’ll play for the Wolves, so light jerseys.”

  “Who do you play for?”

  “The Glaciers.” She flashed a smile as she turned to go back into the locker room. “See you on the ice.”

  “I’ll be there.” He watched her go and had to snap his mouth shut to keep from gaping at her ass. It was about as perfect as a woman’s ass could be, and if it was anything like the rest of her, he’d be willing to bet it was rock solid, too. Round, toned and probably muscular—he didn’t know when he’d last wanted to take a bite out of a woman’s backside.

  “Hey, you must be Sergei.” A tall, skinny man with glasses and a friendly smile held out his hand. “Kincaid Lawrence.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Sergei shook his hand and fell into step beside him as they headed towards the other locker room.

  “It’s an honor to play with you today,” Kincaid said, letting Sergei walk into the room in front of him. “We play a pretty high-level game, but I’m sure you’ll up the intensity.”

  “I’m always happy to play, but mostly I’m here as a favor to Danielle,” Sergei hedged, suddenly unsure what he was actually doing here. It had almost been as if she’d dared him to come and now he was questioning whether or not he’d made the right decision. He did owe her an apology, though, and this seemed to be the way she wanted it even though it didn’t make much sense.

  “Well, you’d better tap into your NHL skills because Dani and Sara don’t mess around, and now that Dani’s going to be on the Olympic team, she needs us to push her limits.”

  Okay, maybe it did make sense. What better way to push her limits as a hockey player than by practicing with an elite player from the NHL? It was a little odd to think of himself from what might be her perspective, but it’s not like he said that kind of thing out loud, even though it was technically true.

  “Who’s Sara?” he asked as they started changing.

  “She and Dani are good friends. They played in college together.”

  “So she’s pretty good?”

  “Sara? Yeah. Not like Dani, but she can hold her own, for sure.”

  “Sounds like a good time. You play anywhere?”

  “In college,” he nodded, “but never professionally. I’m an attorney—went straight to law school, and I wasn’t that good. I still enjoy it, though.”

  A few other men arrived and once Sergei was introduced, conversation drifted to his team in Alaska and other random hockey topics. By the time they got onto the ice to warm up, Sergei
felt comfortable with his teammates, confident it would be a fun morning doing the one thing he still enjoyed. If it somehow bought him some brownie points with his brother and sister-in-law, that would be a nice bonus since Tessa was still annoyed with him about the whole thing.

  Stepping out on the ice, Sergei didn’t think about skates that were half a size too small, equipment that was unfamiliar, and a stick someone else had taped. These were minor annoyances, nothing he couldn’t play through, and he focused on watching the other team as he circled the ice.

  Danielle was slender but strong and fast, moving smoothly as she shot puck after puck into the net as she warmed up. She was accurate as hell and he was briefly distracted by how great her shot was. He was momentarily annoyed they were on opposing teams; it would be a lot of fun to play on a line with her, watch her move the puck and see what kinds of plays she made. Some people were more fun to play with than others, and from what he’d seen so far, Danielle would be one of them.

  “She’s hard to ignore, eh?” Kincaid skated up beside Sergei and followed his gaze.

  “Our brothers are friends and I’d heard of her, of course,” Sergei admitted. “But I had no idea she was so good.”

  “Yeah, we’ve gone from playing once a week to three times to help her get ready for the Olympics. She’s having a hard time making a decision on whether or not she’s going to go in September.”

  “Why?” Sergei cocked his head.

  Kincaid hesitated. “That’s her story. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He skated off and Sergei followed thoughtfully. Why would she have doubts about playing in the Olympics? Who wouldn’t want to win a gold medal? He had one and so did Toli. There was probably more to the story, but he didn’t know her well enough to be able to come up with a reason to ask.

  * * *

  It had been a long time since Dani had been nervous on the ice, but Sergei had her so self-conscious she barely remembered warming up. Now that she was sitting on the bench, waiting for the game to start, her heart was still racing a little and it wasn’t because she was out of breath. Why did someone as good-looking as Sergei have to be such a jerk? He hadn’t done anything since their initial awkward encounter yesterday but she still had a bad taste in her mouth from the way he’d shouted at her. She probably shouldn’t have responded the way she had, but she’d been caught off guard as well, since they’d all tried to get Niko to call her something other than Mama D. It didn’t seem fair for Sergei to assume she was trying to replace Niko’s mother.