Chapter 23: Chapter 23

KATE

Hockey was pretty big in the United States, but in Canada, hockey was God. Canada’s blessed the NHL with some of the best all-time players, my personal favorite being Tyler Carlson.

Parading around Toronto with one of the best hockey teams in the league was going to be fun, I had no doubt about that. I did have a few doubts about my outfit choice though.

When I’d sent Piper to buy the jersey, my plan had been to wear it once I was alone with Tyler, not when out in the town, drinking. As always, Piper had talked me out of it.

She claimed that my going viral because of my interview had actually made me more valuable. I denied every talk show request, making them want me even more. Oddly enough, I was flooded with investment deals too.

“The more your name is brought up, and the more you ignore everyone, the more you’re worth,” she said. I didn’t understand at first, but I was beginning to.

I had become interesting to the world’s eye because no one knew anything about me. I was private.

My best friend along with the Martin Financials public relations team had decided that I should keep making a ~splash~. The PR team seemingly believed that there was a fascination with my non-traditional business behavior.

I went out to party, I was young, I didn’t dress in pantsuits, and there were rumors of me dating one of my players. It all screamed scandal.

Those were all the reasons why I wanted to take my team out for New Year’s Eve wearing nothing but a New York Blades jersey, specifically sporting Tyler’s name and number on my body. At least for then.

There were some cities where NHL players could walk around and be barely recognized, but that wasn’t Toronto. From almost the moment we’d stepped into the bar, we were bombarded by fans.

They weren’t fans of my team though. Just fans of the game itself. The guys made an effort to small talk. Tyler was asked to sign more items than the others, but only because he used to play for Toronto.

I slid past my team and sauntered to an opening at the bar. “Vodka cranberry, please,” I yelled to the bartender. He grinned at me before mixing my drink. He then handed me the glass, but kept his fingers resting on it.

“That’ll be eleven dollars,” he said. “Opening a tab?” He finally let the glass go.

I glanced behind me and leaned my upper body across the bar counter, bringing myself closer to him. “Open a tab. All the Blades players,” I said, gesturing behind me. “They’re with me.

“I spoke with Mr. Giroux earlier this evening about our arrival.”

He nodded knowingly. “I didn’t realize you were the famous Kate Martin.” His blue eyes sparkled.

I laughed, feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah, well, more like infamous.”

“My shift ends in an hour. Save a few minutes to have a drink with me.”

I raised a brow. ~Is he hitting on me?~ Perhaps he just wanted to pick my brain. Either way, to the world I was a single woman, so I’d save time for him. I agreed and told him to find me when he finished his shift.

I worked my way through the crowd. Many of the fans were rude to my players. I shoved through them, feeling that motherly instinct despite knowing my boys could take care of themselves.

I reached Hans and yelled into his ear, “Should we all head to the VIP section?”

“Yeah, once these drunk assholes are done yelling at our young guns,” he said. “They can’t shrug it off the way I can.”

He wrangled up the other players, and we moved to a secure area. Of course, once we were away, they all claimed they didn’t need to be pulled from the crowd.

I assured them it was only until the crazy Maple Leaf fans calmed down and decided to stop talking trash, especially to Tyler.

Tyler had surprisingly kept his distance from me all night. I searched for him and found his dark, gorgeous eyes staring right back at me.

My lips lifted, and he winked. That same annoyingly hot wink he’d shot in my direction that very first night.

A few more drinks were brought to each of us before the bartender made his way over to our section.

“Oh hey!” I said upon his approach.

He stuck his hand out. “I forgot to do this. I’m Kyle.”

“Kate.”

He looked nervously at the muscular men watching the exchange. When I looked at my players, I couldn’t help but laugh at the don’t-fucking-touch-her look they all had glued to their faces.

I attempted a pleasant grin, but my smile soon faded, and my stomach dropped upon seeing Tyler’s face. He was fuming.

I could almost see the steam coming out of his head, which was~ almost~ funny because he’d never shown a jealous bone in his body.

“I’m going to borrow her for a drink, alright?” Kyle said to the pissed-off faces glaring at him from behind me.

Kyle was about my age, a little taller than me, muscular but not hockey-player muscular. Beautiful blue eyes and light hair added to his attractiveness, but he was no Tyler Carlson.

When none of my players responded, I turned to them, their faces still unpleased and glaring.

“I’ll be right back, guys.” Hans was closest to me so I leaned in to speak quietly. “Tell the guys it’s business and I’m fine.”

By “~Tell the guys~,” I really meant tell Tyler. I had already spotted many patrons with phones out to take pictures.

Granted, I was supposed to be fueling the fire with the jersey on, but I wasn’t supposed to be kissing Tyler or anything like that.

My outfit and hopefully being photographed having a drink with this other guy would imply that I had worn the jersey just to raise suspicions.

Kyle walked behind the bar to grab us drinks, then I followed him to the outdoor patio. Only a few others stood outside, smoking. It was too cold to actually enjoy the night air.

He looked around us and made small talk until the smokers returned inside. There was something on his mind, I could tell.

“I must say your outfit is…sexy.”

“Thank you,” I replied. He looked me up and down but tried not to make it obvious.

“Risky business wearing that jersey into a Toronto bar.”

I nodded. “So why did you want to have a drink with me?” Kyle looked around again.

“Well, besides the fact that you’re beautiful, successful, and just plain sweet, I wanted to make you aware of something.” I took a sip of my drink, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

“The very charming Mr. Giroux doesn’t exactly have you here for the reasons you may suspect.”

At that point, we both glanced around us, making sure no one was near. “Alright,” I said, feeling a little drunk but not drunk enough to let that information pass. “He was kind of creepy. What does he have planned?”

“For starters, he called Don Garrity, informing him you were here and intoxicated.”

I laughed. I wasn’t noticeably intoxicated; I’d only had a few drinks and wasn’t slurring words or falling over. I also laughed because we were referring to Toronto’s team owner.

Well, he wasn’t exactly the owner; he was the president of the corporation that owned the team. I wondered what he was possibly planning to do.

“That I can handle. Anything else?”

Kyle nodded. “There’s now a long line of reporters waiting out front.

“He’s hoping for an argument to break out between you and Garrity so that your players can be charged with suspensions or fines. Everyone knows those guys would stand up for you. But if not, he has backup.

“All night, he’s been having people photograph you and Carlson together. He’s going to sell it if he can get the picture.”

I took in his words. I was grateful that he had made me aware of the club owner’s scummy schemes.

One picture, even if truly innocent, could be turned against Tyler and me. Photoshop or even the right angle could make something chaste look bad.

The door to the patio shoved open. Tyler, who looked angrier than I’d ever seen him, waltzed up to us. “Get inside,” I told him.

His breaths deepened. “Why the fuck would I go inside?” he shot back.

Kyle moved in front of me, and Tyler’s response was to clench his fist. He was going to punch him.

“Listen to her,” Kyle told him. “We’re out here just so I can tell her that the management is trying to snap you two together to sell to the media.”

Tyler moved his eyes between the two of us, debating if he was telling the truth. Five seconds later, he relented and spun on his heel. Once the door closed behind him, Kyle looked at me with wide eyes.

“The rumors aren’t just rumors, eh?” he asked.

~Shit.~ “I’m very close with all of my players. Many of them I’ve known for years, I suppose that’s what happens when your dad owns the team.” I smiled, hoping my answer worked.

He lifted his glass, tapping it against mine. “Thanks for having a drink with me, ~in~famous Kate Martin.”

“Hey,” I called to stop him just before he walked inside. “How can I give my thanks for what you told me?”

“Next time you’re in Toronto, you can have another drink with me.”

I agreed and we separated after walking back through the doors. My nerves rang my insides as Tyler watched me like a hawk. I held his eyes, making my way back to the team. A hand gripped my arm, scaring the hell out of me.

“Ah, Ms. Martin. It’s a pleasure,” he said, holding his hand out.

“Mr. Garrity, the pleasure’s all mine,” I lied.

I’d seen him before in press conferences, and he looked the exact same in real life. I noticed his expensive suit, black-as-night hair, ~and~ eyes. ~Creepy.~

“If it’s even possible, you’re more beautiful in person than on television.”

This man was a sexist asshole, and he was there looking for an argument.

“Well, I could say the same for you, Mr. Garrity,” I replied, matching his gross smile. “If you’d please excuse me, I have people waiting. I’m looking forward to our match tomorrow evening.”

He grabbed my arm again. “Stay, please. Have a glass of wine and let’s chat about my all-star player you stole.”

A chill coursed through me. His black eyes radiated a mixture of hate and cockiness. “I do apologize but I need to be leaving,” I said. “It was lovely meeting you.” I practically ran over to the VIP area, still creeped out.

“You guys ready to head somewhere else?” I asked my team. No one answered, but they all stood to their feet. Surely, most of them had seen Don Garrity chatting me up. “We have a slight problem, though.”

“What’d he say to you?” Jaromir stepped up and asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I told him. “But reporters are everywhere, so we can either walk right through them like we don’t care, or we can come up with a backup plan.”

Jace Crocker, the team’s rookie, came up with an idea. “I don’t know if this is stupid or not,” he said once we were ready to exit.

“It’s the best idea I’ve heard all night.”

I slipped away to the bar and signing my name on the credit card slip, I rushed away. Tyler stood a good twenty feet away from me, but his eyes always found a way to keep me in his line of sight.

Hans rested his arm around my shoulder. “You ready, kid?”

“Yes, of course.” I laughed and looked up at him with a large smile. I wrapped my left arm around his waist, and we walked out front.

If the Kyle guy hadn’t given me a heads-up, I’d have been shell-shocked. A ridiculous number of reporters stood out front, waiting in the freezing weather. Some didn’t even have jackets on.

Once the cameras were directly in our faces, I smiled up at Hans again. We easily looked like a loving couple. Hans and I did love each other, like siblings or friends.

“Ms. Martin!”

“Were you ever dating Tyler Carlson?”

“Is it true you’re in a relationship with Hans Weber?”

“Is it true that there’s tension between the two teammates?”

I ignored their questions. They kept the cameras in our faces.

“Mr. Weber! Are you dating Kate Martin?”

Hans threw his head back and laughed a throaty laugh. On cue, Jaromir ran up to my right side, slipped his hand around my waist, and started whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

I giggled as he said, “The media is fucking stupid.” His adorable Czech accent was even better when he cursed.

Jace stood at the side, calling Hans’s name. He squeezed my arm and walked toward Jace. A second later, Tyler swooped up on my left, placing his arm around my shoulders where Hans’s had just been.

He leaned into my ear. “I’ve been waiting to put my hands on you all night.” Then he turned his head and talked to Chris, who walked directly beside him.

After another minute of pushing through the paparazzi crowd in front of the limo, the driver opened the door for us. Tyler and Jaromir stepped away, motioning me to climb in first.

Once inside the safety of the car, I began laughing hysterically. “You’re brilliant, Jace,” I said to our rookie. He smiled shyly.

“Really,” Jaromir said, “They were so confused by the end. They didn’t know where to put the cameras.”

“Thanks, guys. For everything.” I looked around at the bulky men. All the protectiveness they offered, just because of my dad, warmed me. They loved him so much that they’d do anything for me. ~How did I get so lucky?~

“Nah,” Hans started. “Don’t get all sentimental. You look out for us. We look out for you. That’s all there is to it. We’re family.”