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It was refreshing to have a woman eat a meal without a care in the world. So many women pick at their meals or get stuck with salads. Calliope was making quick work of two huge slices of pizza.

“I wanted to talk to you in person about a couple of things before we head out west for pre-season,” I said before digging into my lunch.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I know Sam has a strict requirement that you don’t get involved with my teammates.”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, waiting for me to continue.

“I don’t think it will be that easy to keep them away from you.”

Calliope stopped chewing and met my gaze. “Well, I’m okay with being rude if I have to.”

“Yeah, that’s not likely going to be enough. I had an idea about how to make it a little easier for you. It would also give you an in with the other WAGs.”

“WAGs?” she asked as I realized the hockey world was completely foreign to her. It was tough for even seasoned players to navigate with their significant others and families.

“Wives and girlfriends of the players,” I explained.

Calliope stared at me as I tried to figure out how to ask my next question. She’d stopped chewing, and the rest of her pizza hung limply in her hands.

“I thought we should tell my teammates you were my girlfriend. This would make you strictly off-limits.”

“Uh, how is that going to work? Won’t Sam and Kelsey have an issue with this?”

“Hopefully, the two of them will never know. This is strictly something we would tell only those affiliated with the Blizzards. We might need to tell Monica. Do you think she’ll have an issue keeping this from Sam and Kelsey?”

“I don’t like the thought of putting her in that position. Monica puts all her work into her work, and I would never want her to risk her career to help us lie. I’m not understanding why we would need to fake date.”

“I guess I realize Sam’s demands that you not get involved with teammates is well-intentioned but might not be easy to follow. Several of the guys live in my condominium unit, and the second they know that a beautiful single woman lives there, they are going to be a pain in both of our asses.”

She swallowed the rest of her first slice of pizza and washed it down with a sip of her soda. “Have you thought about where I would sleep when I travel with you and Crew to away games?”

Uh. Nope. “I think we’d be able to manage with a suite. I could share it with Crew, and you can have your own room. It wouldn’t be much different from when we’re at my place.”

“Or when I’m in Boston?”

“They know I share custody. Most of these guys were here with me last year, and not all the WAGs stay in Denver. Some live and work across the country. We could easily say you are traveling with him because Kelsey can’t.”

“What’s our story? Have you thought about that? A meet-cute? Friends to lovers? Ooh, how about enemies to lovers since we can’t use the nanny trop.”

Confused, I just stared at her as she rattled off a whole bunch of words I didn’t understand. “What does any of that mean?”

“Sorry, my mom is a romance writer. She writes women’s fiction under her own name - and filthy dark romances under a pen name. Those are just some of the more common tropes in a romance book. I figured if we are writing fiction, we might as well create an interesting story while we’re at it.”

“I guess I never thought people would care about how we met,” I said, but I remembered the night we’d all gone out with the WAGs, and all the women shared the stories of how they met their husbands and boyfriends.

“Ah, yeah. People love those stories. Especially the women hoping they’d end up with the hot new hockey player. People are nosy. Heck, I’m nosy too.”

“We could say I met you while you were playing at an open mic night,” I said, thinking that had she not already been hired as my nanny, I would have made a move on her.

“I don’t know; it’s messy, Tom. I never aspired to be a nanny, but the more I think about it, the more I am looking forward to this job. Crew’s a great kid, and I respect Sam and Kelsey. I don’t want to risk this job.”

“I also don’t want you to risk this job.

And we need you as much as you need us. This season is going to be worse than last year.

Last year, Kelsey and Sam bent over backward to work with me so I could establish a relationship with Crew.

As much as they want to this year, they can’t with the new baby.

Putting aside how hard that transition will be on Crew, I need this to work.

I don’t know if you’ve looked in the mirror lately, but I can’t have you walking into that situation with any of these guys thinking you’re available. ”

“Will any of them know it’s fake? Meaning, your teammates and the other WAGs?” she clarified.

“Yeah, Damon and Alex know we hired a nanny. Damon’s single, but not really.

That’s a long story there. Alex is married, and we’d make sure his wife knows.

Mariana is incredible, and she’ll be right there for you, helping you adjust and introducing you to all the other WAGs.

They have two kids, both older than Crew. She’d help you get acclimated.”

“And we’d pretend around Crew? Aren’t you worried about him spilling the beans? He’s talking a lot now; we can expect his language skills to explode over the next year.”

“I don’t know, there won’t be a lot of PDA in front of him. It would be a normal nanny/boss relationship when we're alone.”

She swallowed another gulp of soda. “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this. First off, I know nothing about hockey or baseball, and I’m going to need to navigate working with two pro athletes. Crew is my priority, and I don’t want this to distract me from him.”

“That’s the thing. I hope this will prevent distractions.”

“I’ll think about it. But honestly, I’d hoped we were meeting to go over what I should expect and tell me more about what Crew does and doesn’t like. I’ve been skiing out west but never stayed in Denver. What’s it like? How am I going to keep Crew busy?”

Here she was, thinking about my son while she so distracted me that all I could think about was how to keep her from screwing my teammates. And if I had to be honest, I would have made a move if I’d met her outside of a nanny interview. Was I projecting my desires on my teammates? Maybe.

“Funny story,” Calliope said, “but the house Sam and Kelsey bought in Concord makes them my parent’s neighbors.”

“Small world.”

“That’s the type of thing that happens all the time in New England, which brings me back to Denver. You mentioned you’re in a condo unit. Are there any amenities there?”

“I’m outside of Denver in Cherry Creek. It’s a walkable suburb with lots of parks, restaurants, and coffee shops.

The condominium I own is in a development where several other players live.

We’ve built a small community there during the season.

The WAGs have support since most don’t have families nearby.

Many are from Canada, and several are from the Czech Republic. ”

“How far is it to the mountains for skiing?”

“Do you ski?”

“I do. My family has a house near Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont. We’ve also been out west several times for spring skiing.”

“Echo Mountain is the closest. If you want to go to Aspen, you’d probably want to plan an overnight trip.

It’s about four hours away. You can get to Vail in about two hours.

I’ve been figuring out how long to wait to get Crew on skis and skates.

I know I can teach him to skate, but I’m not as strong on skis. ”

“I could get him out there at least for foundations. I’ve seen kids his age start; if he can walk, he can ski. I can’t remember a time I couldn’t ski.”

We spent the next forty-five minutes with Calliope, sharing stories about her favorite ski mountains.

Her eyes bright and animated as she talked about something she so obviously loved.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her, more convinced that there was no way I wouldn’t stand guard between her and my teammates.

I just had to let her come to the realization that my plan was the best one for her.