Decidedly with Luck (By The Bay Book 6)

by Stina Lindenblatt

“What if you become a scout?” I pointed out. “From what Stephen told me, that job requires a lot of traveling, too. As does being a coach.”

  “That’s true. But by the time I’m ready to hang up my skates, I’ll want a career that doesn’t involve traveling all the time. Someone has to make sure Livi isn’t dating until she’s at least thirty.”

  I laughed.

  Next on the tour?

  “Wow, this is your bedroom? I can’t believe Stacy decorated this place. She did an incredible job.”

  Not exactly what you’d expect an ex-wife to do.

  “If it weren’t for her, I’d no doubt be living out of boxes for the next two years.”

  Nothing about Logan’s bedroom or condo suggested a woman lived in it.

  It looked…handsome (because beautiful and gorgeous didn’t exactly apply here). It made a statement. A statement that said he wasn’t interested in having a woman in his life to disrupt his manly domain.

  I didn’t know if that was the message Stacy had consciously been aiming for, but she’d certainly succeeded in conveying it.

  We continued our tour. Every room, including the bathroom and the kitchen, was as impressive as the living room.

  “I can’t remember the last time I ate Thai food,” I said, walking over to join him at the dining table, practically drooling. The rich, spicy scent hadn’t faded any since I’d arrived. It only made me hungrier.

  Stephen hadn’t been a fan of Thai food.

  “You want red or white wine?” Logan asked.

  “I’m fine with water, thanks. I have to drive home.”

  Not exactly a lie.

  Why not tell him I was pregnant?

  It wasn’t like it would be a secret much longer.

  While that might’ve been true, I also wasn’t ready to lie to Logan about who the father was—and I wasn’t ready to contact Grayson yet. I wanted to do that before I announced my pregnant status to Logan. Admitting that I got knocked up by a one-night stand who I couldn’t even identify in a lineup wasn’t high on my priority list.

  “I was talking to one of my teammates about doing fundraisers,” Logan said. “His wife organized one a few years ago to raise money for the center where she volunteers. It helps underprivileged kids.”

  “What kind of fundraiser did they do?” I took a bite of the cashew chicken and almost purred in contentment, although part of that might’ve had something to do with Logan being so willing to help me.

  Like when I had convinced him to dress as an elf in college and help hand out gifts to the kids at the women’s emergency shelter. He had been so sweet and adorable with the children.

  He’d helped them forget for a short time about the sad hand they’d been dealt.

  “Some of the guys on the team did a PG-rated Magic Mike number.”

  That was something I would’ve loved to see. For a heartbeat, I imagined Logan ripping off his T-shirt, baring his magnificent abs, and tossing the piece of clothing at the gawking women.

  My hormones sighed at that image, too.

  And without warning, a desperate need stirred between my legs.

  Oh. Damn.

  Not what I needed right now…or ever.

  Ava’s warning paraded through my head, with balloons, banners, and dancing dildos.

  Maybe I’d find a good use for that baby gift after all.

  As soon as I got home.

  Assuming I lasted that long.

  “I was thinking of maybe doing a silent auction.”

  Except, I had no idea what kinds of things I could auction off.

  It would have to be something exciting.

  Something that would get people talking.

  “Travis suggested you could talk to his wife about what she did. She also had a silent auction. He figured she would be happy to talk to you about it. She grew up in foster care.”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  “Do you have any idea what kinds of things you want to auction?”

  Even to my ears, my sigh sounded super dejected. “Nope. I want to do something exciting. To have prizes that are unique and will generate lots of interest. But that means asking people to donate prizes, and I’m not good at that kind of thing. I can convince second graders to practice their math equations, but I suck at convincing people to donate prizes for an auction.”

  Plus, I didn’t know enough people and businesses I could approach.

  “I could ask my teammates if they’d be interested in donating something—like signed Rock jerseys.”

  I smiled. “I bet that would be popular.” It was definitely a start.

  “Let me talk to them tomorrow and see what I can do.”

  My smile widened, my pulse quickened, and my insides vibrated like a bee drunk on pollen. And for once, it had nothing to do with Logan.

  Much.

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  15

  Logan

  Three days later, I was sitting in the dressing room with my teammates and coaching staff, waiting for Coach Fusco to finish the team meeting. We had a game that evening against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and we had to win it if we hoped to remain in the wild card position.

  Our playoff aspirations were dangling by a weathered thread.

  “Does anyone have any questions?” Fusco asked, standing in the center of the team’s logo on the carpet in front of us. A reminder of what we were made of.

  Metaphorically speaking.

  In the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, I was positive Rock crushed Penguin.

  As long as Penguin didn’t peck Rock to pieces, we were gold.

  We shook our heads, adrenaline pumping to get on the ice…after we went home and napped, which was the standard pregame ritual.

  “All right, Logan has something he wants to discuss with you.” He nodded for me to go ahead.

  I thanked him with a returning nod and stood. Thirty men watched me, curious about what I had to say.

  Even Travis and Eli had no idea of my reason for wanting to address the team.

  “First, I’ve already talked to Don McDonald.” The general manager. “He’s given me the okay to discuss this with any of you interested in helping out.” I’d spoken to him on Monday, but he’d wanted to confer with the legal department before giving me his okay. “A friend of mine is organizing a fundraiser to provide book box sets to foster kids.” I explained Kiera’s rationale for wanting to give the kids the box sets.

  “Are you asking us to do another striptease?” Mark Milone performed a dance move I could only guess had come from the fundraiser Travis’s wife had organized. His antics elicited a round of laughter and wolf whistles.

  “Move like that on the ice tonight,” Eli called out, “and we’re bound to beat Pittsburgh.”

  Coach Fusco looked mildly panicked at the suggestion.

  “No, I figured that’s already been done. This fundraiser will be a silent auction that will occur after the playoffs and will have nothing to do with the team. But I wanted to see if any of you were interested in donating anything.”

  “Could we auction off Eli?” Milone asked with a laugh. “The highest bidder gets to go on a date with him.”

  Was he joking?

  Absolutely.

  But his suggestion also had merit.

  Coach Fusco’s mildly panicked expression shifted to horror.

  A smirk slid onto Eli’s face. “You’re only saying that because you know the women will be clambering for a date with this.” He gestured at his body. “Whereas no one would be interested in your ugly mug.”

  “You got that right,” Milone said, grinning and ignoring the part where he was happily married.

  From what Stacy had told me, her friends thought both men were hot. I had to take her word for that. But if that was the general consensus among women, that meant there must be some who’d be willing to bid on Eli for a date.

  “By date, don’t you mean fuck?” Kai Korhonen asked. “You don’t date, Lawson.”


  I could’ve sworn Coach Fusco was going to pass out, his blood now pooling in his feet.

  I took pity on him. “I can guarantee the team and the league would be against that version of a date, even if the fundraiser has nothing to do with the team. But as long as the date includes the stipulation of no sex, it should be fine.”

  “What if the lucky woman and I want to fuck on the date?” Eli shrugged, open to the possibility.

  “Then I suggest you ask her out on a second date for that. Remember, this is a fundraiser to benefit kids in foster care. It’s got to be kept clean, or else my friend could find herself being dragged through the media in the worst possible way.”

  Eli’s smirk turned downright mischievous—or evil, depending on your take. “Even if I could raise more money by prostituting myself out?”

  The men around him chuckled.

  “And that’s my cue to get out of here,” Coach Fusco grumbled. He stood and left.

  I shook my head at Eli, doing my best not to grin. “No prostituting yourself.”

  “Well, now you’re taking all the fun out of this. But either way, count me in.”

  “You honestly want to auction off a date with you?” Yep, that was definitely incredulity in my tone.

  But underneath it, I was mentally high-fiving myself at the brilliance of talking to these guys.

  “Sure, why not? I take a woman out on a date, strictly platonically, of course”—he hastily added the last part—“and it benefits a bunch of kids when it comes to reading. I’d say that’s a definite win for all concerned.”

  “Is there anyone else who’s interested in donating to the silent auction?”

  “What about two hours of one-on-one coaching?” Travis asked. “My wife would definitely not be okay with me auctioning myself off for a date—and she’s the only person I’d want to date. But I’m all for offering my services when it comes to coaching.”

  Four other players said they, too, would be game for that.

  I wrote down their names. Two players figured that if Eli could auction himself off for a date, they could do the same.

  Several other suggestions were put forth: a gourmet dinner for the lucky winner (with up to four guests) cooked by Sean Burrows, a fair number of players were willing to donate signed jerseys, and our strength and conditioning coach offered to donate an hour and a half of personal training.

  When I’d initially told Kiera I’d ask my teammates if they would be willing to help out, I thought maybe I could convince a few of them to donate signed jerseys. I’d never expected anything like this.

  Everyone left shortly after, and I checked the time. Livi was due to finish school in four hours. Enough time for me to squeeze in my nap first.

  I texted Stacy: Okay if I pick Livi up from school?

  I wanted to tell Kiera the great news in person.

  Stacy: I know she’ll love that.

  Typically, if I picked Livi up from school, I would wait with the other parents near the front doors. This time I entered the building and headed to the office.

  “Hi, Jeanine,” I said to the receptionist. “Could you let Kiera Ashdown know that I’m here and would like to talk to her once class is over?”

  I smiled brightly at her. Experience had taught me with women of all ages that this smile usually got me what I wanted. It was like magic.

  Stacy had once described it as my panty-dropping smile. As long as it worked in my favor, I didn’t care whether that was true or not.

  Jeanine smiled at me from behind her computer. “Let me check if she can see you. Give me a moment.”

  “Thanks. Can you also let her know that I’m picking up Livi while I’m here?”

  She nodded, and a minute later she gave me the answer I was hoping for. “Just wait for the bell to ring, and then you can head to her classroom.”

  The bell rang several minutes later, and I made my way through the sea of giggling and chatting students streaming toward the two main exits.

  Livi was talking to Kiera when I entered the classroom. As soon as she saw me, she squealed, “Daddy,” and raced over to me. Her skinny arms wrapped around my waist, and she peered up at me. “I didn’t know you were coming to get me.”

  I ruffled her hair. “I need to talk to Mrs. A, so I told your mommy I’d drive you home.”

  I turned to Kiera. She looked as beautiful as she usually did, but there were also light shadows under her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  “A little tired, but other than that, I’m fine.” She smiled softly at me. “So, you needed to talk to me?”

  “I spoke to my teammates about the auction.”

  “You did? How did it go?”

  I told her the list of things that were being donated. And for a second, her breath appeared stalled, her eyes as big as a new roll of hockey tape.

  The air in her lungs rushed out in a squeal. “I can’t believe you got all those players to agree to donate those prizes. Thank you, Logan.” She shifted slightly as though to hug me, but then seemed to change her mind. “Thank you so much for arranging that.”

  Several memories of when she had hugged me over the years paid me a brief visit, like a whisper on the wind. They tugged at my heart, reminding me of how much I missed that Kiera. The Kiera who had been happy to hug me—even though it had only been as a friend.

  “You’re welcome,” I said, quickly pushing the sentiment aside. Pushing aside the memory of her soft floral scent.

  “Did three players really offer to auction off a date with them?” Her expression said she didn’t know if she should laugh or be shocked. It could have gone either way.

  “Yep, that surprised me, too.” For my daughter’s and Kiera’s sakes, I skipped the rest of the conversation that had accompanied Eli’s offer.

  “The Rock are flying out east tomorrow and I’ll be gone for a week, but I thought you and I could get together once I return to discuss the fundraiser some more.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. I talked to Emma Hamilton last night, and she and I are meeting for lunch on Saturday to discuss what she did with her fundraiser.”

  “I’m glad you had a chance to call her.”

  An odd, satisfied feeling stirred in me at Kiera’s news. Usually, an NHL player only introduced his new girlfriend to the close-knit group of hockey wives and girlfriends once she hit serious girlfriend status.

  Casual relationships didn’t usually make the cut. It was tidier that way.

  Kiera wasn’t my girlfriend, yet it couldn’t have felt more right, introducing her to my teammates’ wives and girlfriends.

  Yes, I know, it wasn’t quite the same thing.

  She was meeting with Emma to discuss the fundraiser.

  A fundraiser that Emma’s husband was donating a prize for. But knowing that didn’t change the satisfied feeling—the feeling that everything felt right in the world.

  For now, anyway.

  The urge from the other day to tell Kiera the truth about the ball bit at my ass. Until that night, I’d never lied to her before…if you didn’t count how I had felt about her in college.

  Which I didn’t—because before she met Stephen, my inability to tell her the truth was due to me being chicken.

  I hadn’t wanted to wreck our friendship if she hadn’t felt the same way about me.

  And then after she met Stephen, it was too late.

  So, not telling her about my feelings for her in college didn’t count as a lie.

  But while I hadn’t outright lied about knowing Kiera the night of the ball—since it had been her idea to keep our identities a secret from each other—I should probably tell her I was actually Grayson.

  I opened my mouth to fumble my way through that awkward conversation.

  “Daddy,” Livi said approaching us, reminding me that we were still in the classroom, and Kiera and I weren’t alone.

  “What, sweetheart?”

  “I don’t feel well…” That was as far as she got before puke cov
ered my shoes.

  16

  Kiera

  Aphrodite’s Boutique.

  I’d heard about the store back when Stephen was alive, but I’d never stepped inside. Ava had recommended it because a friend of hers was the owner.

  What she had failed to mention was that her friend was the wife of a San Francisco Rock player.

  The store was like nothing I’d seen before. A large fountain with a stone statue of the Goddess of Love stood in the center. The rest of the store displayed an array of lingerie—everything from innocently sexy to sultry siren—candles, toiletries, love-themed decorations. Soft, romantic music played in the background.

  I couldn’t believe this was the first time I’d been here. Now that Chloe was in a serious relationship with a man who worshiped her, I could see her having a lot of fun in this store.

  Me? I would’ve loved to come here when Stephen was alive. Now, it was a reminder of just how alone I was.

  Well, not completely alone.

  My hand cradled my baby bump, hidden under the loose dress I’d bought the other day after my doctor’s appointment.

  The appointment where she confirmed that I was, without a doubt, pregnant.

  I’d even heard Love Bug’s heartbeat for the first time.

  And in case you’re wondering, yes, I did tear up at the sound.

  It wasn’t a sad tear. It was a tear of awe at the miracle growing in my belly.

  A miracle who I’d get to see in three weeks when I went for my ultrasound.

  If Stephen were alive, he would have done everything in his power to be there for all my prenatal appointments.

  I couldn’t feel sad that he was missing out on any of those things, because Love Bug wasn’t his. Grayson was the one missing out on the appointments—and he didn’t even realize it.

  On the other hand, he might not have cared either way.

  A small bronze plaque on the fountain wall proclaimed that all coins tossed into the foundation were donated to The James Bell Youth Center. I removed my wallet from my purse and tossed in a handful of coins.