Page 16

Chapter 16

Windows Shutdown Sound

Nora

T here were at least seven better ways to spend my morning than voluntarily walking into a conversation that could torpedo my career. Dental surgery. Jury duty. Getting a bikini wax from someone named Helga with no sense of mercy.

But instead, I was walking shoulder to shoulder with Miles toward Coach Lovell’s office, trying not to look like I was seconds away from throwing up. Spoiler alert: I was absolutely seconds away from throwing up.

“Stop fidgeting,” Miles whispered, his breath warm against my ear. “You look guilty.”

“I am guilty,” I hissed back. “We’re about to commit fraud.”

Miles chuckled like he hadn’t volunteered to pretend to be the father of my unborn child. “Fraud is a bit dramatic. We’re rearranging some facts.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?” I rolled my eyes but relaxed slightly at his easy grin.

Which was another problem entirely. Miles looked unfairly good today in a simple blue henley that made his green eyes pop. His red hair was slightly tousled, like he’d run his hands through it a few times, giving him that effortless attractiveness that belonged in commercials for expensive cologne, not standing in a hockey rink pretending to be my baby daddy.

As we stopped outside Coach Lovell’s office, my brain helpfully provided a list of everything that could go wrong with this: I get fired, Miles gets traded mid-season, I throw up on Coach’s shoes.

Miles nudged my shoulder with his. “Hey. Earth to Nora. It’s going to be fine. Are you ready?”

“Ready?” I whisper-shouted. “This is your plan. We’re lying to the head coach about a nonexistent relationship to cover up the fact that I’m pregnant with his other star player’s baby.”

When I said it out loud like that, it sounded like the plot of a bad movie.

Miles shrugged, unbothered. “When you put it that way...”

“What other way is there to put it? I need a minute to gather my thoughts before we go in.” Should we have made an appointment? What if he was grumpy today and not the understanding man I’d grown to know?

Coach Lovell wasn’t unreasonable and had a heart. He would completely understand why we kept our pseudo-relationship under wraps for as long as we had. And he would completely be okay with me being pregnant. He had to be.

“We’re informing management about a pre-existing personal relationship. That’s all.” Miles rested against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, giving me the full effect of those shoulders I’d tried not to notice during training sessions. “Relax.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who might get demoted to coaching peewee hockey in rural Saskatchewan if this all went south.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” I pressed a hand to my stomach, which was churning with a combination of carrying a baby and paralyzing anxiety.

Miles placed a gentle hand at the small of my back. “Remember, I’m right here with you, okay? Partners in crime.”

The door to Coach Lovell’s office swung open before I could respond, and there he stood, all six-foot-whatever of him, eyebrows raised at finding us lurking outside his door.

“Hastings. Collins.” Coach Lovell’s gaze darted between us. “You two going to come in, or are you going to admire the paint job on my door all day?”

“We, uh…” I started, but my throat closed up like I was choking on the lie before I even told it.

Miles smoothly stepped in. “We wanted to talk to you about something, Coach. Got a minute?”

Lovell checked his watch. “You’ve got exactly ten. This better be good.”

He stepped back, gesturing for us to enter his lair—er, office. Miles placed his hand at the small of my back again, guiding me in with a confidence I desperately wished I could borrow.

Coach’s office displayed a modest collection of trophies and framed photos of past teams. Behind his desk hung a massive whiteboard covered in play diagrams, player stats, and a detailed breakdown of every opposing team’s weaknesses.

I perched on the edge of a chair like it might bite me, while Miles sat next to me looking utterly at ease. Coach Lovell lowered himself into his chair, folded his hands on the desk, and fixed us with his patented “cut the bullshit” stare.

Coach Lovell rubbed his chin. “So? Is this where you tell me you’re both quitting to start your ice dancing career?”

I would have laughed my ass off at that if I hadn’t been scared shitless. I opened my mouth, but what came out was a noise somewhere between a squeak and a cough. Great. Very authoritative and confident.

Clearing my throat, I managed to speak. “We wanted to discuss a personal matter that might have professional implications.”

Coach’s eyebrows inched higher.

Miles reached over and took my hand, threading his fingers through mine. “What Nora is trying to say is that we’re together.”

There it was. No going back now. The lie was out, and I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat.

Coach Lovell’s face remained perfectly neutral, which was somehow worse than if he’d started yelling. He looked between us, gaze calculating, before settling back on Miles.

“Together,” he repeated, testing the word like he wasn’t sure it meant what Miles thought it meant.

“Yes.” My voice was stronger now that the initial shock of hearing it said aloud had passed. “We’re in a relationship.”

“Since when?” He didn’t need to elaborate on what he really meant. It was a completely different issue entirely if a relationship started after I was hired.

Miles brought our connected hands to his lips, kissing the back of my hand with such natural ease that, for a moment, I almost believed our own lie. “May of last year. We didn’t disclose before now because it wasn’t serious, but we wanted to be upfront about it now, given the circumstances.” Miles spoke with such confidence that it was almost alarming.

Coach’s eyes narrowed fractionally. “And these circumstances are...?”

My free hand instinctively moved toward my stomach before I caught myself and redirected it to fidget with my jacket zipper instead. “We’re getting more serious, and with how small the hockey world is, we thought it would be better to tell you directly rather than have you hear it through the grapevine.”

Miles’s thumb stroked the back of my hand in what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring gesture. Instead, it sent a completely inappropriate tingle up my arm.

“We met years ago through my parents. Nora used to train at the same rink they coached at sometimes.” Miles looked over and smiled at me like I’d hung the moon. Instead of playing hockey, this man needed to be an actor.

I nodded, latching onto this kernel of truth within our web of lies. “We ran into each other at a bar after a game last season, and one thing led to another.”

Coach Lovell leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. His expression remained frustratingly unreadable. “So you’re telling me that this relationship predates Nora’s employment with the team?”

“Yes, sir,” Miles and I both answered at the same time.

“Hmm.” Coach’s eyes flickered to our joined hands, then back to our faces. “And you’re just now deciding to mention this because...?”

I swallowed hard. “Well, sir, see… I’m pregnant.” I hadn’t planned on telling him today, but it was going to eventually affect my ability to skate.

Coach Lovell’s silence stretched long enough that I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. He didn’t look convinced as he stared at me, then at Miles.

My palm was sweating in Miles’s grip, but he didn’t let go; he just gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I love her, sir.”

I whipped my head toward Miles so fast my neck twinged. He said it so convincingly, like he’d said it to me a million times before. Even as my brain short-circuited, a tiny voice in the back of my mind reminded me this wasn’t real.

Coach stared. I stared. Miles’s own expression faltered, like his brain had only now caught up with his mouth.

Coach Lovell leaned back in his chair and muttered, “Well. This complicates my morning even more.”

Even more?

There was a sharp knock on the door, followed immediately by it swinging open. Richard Kessler, one of the team’s owners, walked in. And right behind him? Carter.

I did a double take. What the hell was he doing here?

“Sorry if I’m a bit early, I was too excited.” Richard ushered Carter in. “It looks like I have perfect timing. Carter, this is our skating coach, Nora Hastings, and our team captain, Miles Collins.”

“Nice to meet you.” Miles stood and extended his hand to Carter, not having a clue that it was the Carter I’d mentioned several times.

Richard clapped Carter on the shoulder like they were old friends. “Carter here bought out Timothy’s shares in the team. We’ll be making the announcement on Friday.”

I’d done extensive research on standard disaster scenarios: tsunamis, earthquakes, alien invasions. But nowhere in any survival guide had I found instructions for what to do when your fake baby daddy meets the guy you had a threesome with who now owns part of the team you work for.

My brain blue-screened so quickly I could practically hear the Windows shutdown sound in my head.

Carter. The Carter who decided he wanted to be part of my pregnancy regardless of who the father was. The Carter who knew Dominic was the father of my baby. The Carter who had no idea I was now pretending to date Miles.

That Carter had bought part of the team.

“Nora? Are you okay?” Miles’s voice floated toward me from what felt like the bottom of the ocean.

I blinked rapidly, trying to focus as Carter extended his hand to me with a polite, professional smile that betrayed absolutely nothing. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Coach Hastings.”

Officially meet me? OFFICIALLY MEET ME? I’d had his tongue in places that would make Coach Lovell spontaneously combust if he knew, and now we were doing the nice-to-meet-you charade?

I shook Carter’s hand on autopilot, praying my face didn’t betray the highlight reel of bad decisions flashing through my mind.

Carter turned his attention back to Miles. “I’ve been following the Titans for years. Your offensive strategy last season was brilliant.”

“Thanks, man. It’s great we’re going to have another owner who loves the game.”

A fan of the game? The same fan who didn’t even watch hockey?

“I played a bit in college. Nothing like your level, but I’ve always loved the sport.” Carter was so full of shit.

The laugh bubbled up before I could stop it. A small, strangled sound at first that quickly escalated into the full-blown kind of hysteria that comes right before tears or a complete breakdown.

All four men stopped talking and stared at me.

“Is... everything okay?” Richard looked genuinely concerned for my mental health. Fair enough.

“Fine! I’m fine!” I wiped at my eyes. “Just thinking of a really funny... hockey joke.”

Coach Lovell’s expression suggested he was mentally reviewing my contract for clauses he could use to fire me.

Miles swooped in like the fake boyfriend hero he apparently was. “Sorry about that. She’s been working overtime with the rookies.” His hand found mine, fingers intertwining with practiced ease. “And with the pregnancy, she’s pretty exhausted.”

Carter’s eyes dropped to our joined hands, a flicker of confusion and surprise crossing his features before his professional mask slipped back into place.

“We should probably get going. It was great meeting you, Carter. Looking forward to having you on board.” Miles was already leading me to the door.

I caught Carter’s gaze one last time. The slight tilt of his head and the questioning look in his eyes told me this conversation was far from over.

The door closed behind us, and I finally remembered how to breathe. Well, sort of.

The second we were out of earshot, my knees started to buckle underneath me. Miles caught me by the elbow, steering me down the hallway with the smoothness of someone who regularly escorted people on the verge of panic attacks.

“I think that went well,” Miles whispered, completely oblivious to the apocalypse happening inside my brain.

I made a sound like a kettle reaching full boil, and Miles glanced down at me with concern.

“Miles,” I hissed, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed helium. “That was Carter.”

“Yeah, I know.” His eyebrows drew together before realization dawned. “Wait. That Carter? Threesome Carter?”

“No, the other Carter I’ve mentioned repeatedly who knows I’m pregnant!” I whisper-screamed, flailing my arms so wildly I nearly hit the wall. “The one who now apparently owns part of the team I work for!”

Miles’s eyes widened to the size of hockey pucks. “Holy shit.”

“Holy shit is right! He bought into the team! Who does that?” I paced the hall, my brain hitting the escape button with each step.

Miles ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, let’s not panic.”

“I’m way past panic. I’ve left panic behind in the dust. I’m currently in the questioning-my-entire-existence phase.” My hands couldn’t decide whether to pull at my hair or cover my face, so they alternated between the two. “He knows we’re lying. He knows there’s no way you could be the father or my boyfriend.”

“We’ll figure it out. We can?—”

“Nora.”

The voice from behind me turned my blood to ice. I spun around to find Carter standing right behind me, looking unfairly good in a charcoal suit.

Miles instantly placed himself slightly in front of me, his shoulders tensing. “Hey man, do you mind? We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

Carter’s eyes never left mine. “I think I’m entitled to a conversation with one of the coaches of the team I just bought into.”

“At least buy me dinner first before you stalk me,” I snapped, my brain-to-mouth filter completely offline.

“I have bought you dinner. Several times. And I wasn’t stalking you.” Carter’s expression softened slightly.

Miles glanced between us, his protective stance unchanged. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but now is not the time or place for this.”

“I did it to protect you,” Carter continued, ignoring Miles completely. “This way, I have a say in team management decisions. I can make sure you keep your job.”

The genuine sincerity in his voice made something in my chest flutter traitorously. For a split second, I softened. It was... sweet? In an absolutely over-the-top way.

Then reality crashed back in.

“I had it handled,” I hissed, anger flaring hot and bright. “I don’t need you to swoop in and save me like some damsel in distress.”

Carter’s eyebrow arched skeptically as his gaze shifted to Miles. “Did you? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re creating an even bigger problem.” He gestured between Miles and me. “He’s definitely not Dominic.”

Miles stepped forward, jaw tensing. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I know who the real father is.” Carter’s voice remained calm, but his eyes held a challenge. “And what’s the plan when the baby comes?”

The tension in the hallway became so thick I could have cut it with a dull hockey skate. My eyes darted between the two men. Miles was practically vibrating with protective energy, and Carter radiated a calm confidence. It was all too much.

“You know what? I can’t do this. You two figure it out. This mess just got bigger, and I need air that doesn’t smell like testosterone and my poor choices.”

I stormed down the hallway, leaving them both staring after me because sometimes the only logical response to your life turning into a three-ring circus was to walk away from the clowns, even if you were the ringmaster who invited them in the first place.