Conner: A Hockey Romance (Glendale Magic Book 1)

Chapter 1

Sasha

Sasha sat down at her desk, taking it all in. From the Glendale Magic logo on her laptop, to a little notebook with a cup of colorful gel pens, and a picture frame of her family including all seven of her siblings, everything was in its place and shined with the promise of a fresh start. Her heart beat with the excitement of this new opportunity.

A ding sounded from her phone.

Hillary - Happy first day Sasha! Once you”re settled come by my office and we can talk about your vision.

Her vision. She had one and she was excited to talk about it.

She looked across to her office mate. Bill was a man old enough to be her father with a look of perpetual grump on his face. He was in charge of the team’s website and had been in charge of social media before Sasha came to take over. While he was happy to be rid of that portion of the job, he didn”t really understand why they hired Sasha. But she wouldn”t worry about that, she could do this job and was excited to start.

“Hey Bill, when you get a chance, I just emailed you some official links for some of the team”s social media pages. Could you put the links on the website?”

“We already have those,” he said with confusion.

“Yeah, but I started a few more. I”m just waiting for the verification.”

“A few more?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

“Yeah, I am starting an account on a few other apps where there is a lot of traffic.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Sure, whatever you need,” he grumbled.

“Thanks! I”m going to meet with Hillary. I”ll be back.”

As she walked, she took in her new building. She still couldn”t believe she was working at the Magic”s Center. On her way to Hillary”s office, she walked right by Wes Darling and Ethan Yellowtail, the star shooter and the goalie, no big deal.

She poked her head into Hillary”s office. She was on the phone but waved and smiled, holding up a finger as a sign she’d be with her in a moment. Sasha nodded and sat down on the bench in the hallway waiting for her to finish up. With one more moment to collect herself before meeting, she opened her laptop and reviewed her five-point plan for social media engagement.

As she sat there, Conner McPhee walked by. She couldn’t help it; she was star struck. He was that kind of attractive that was distracting. People this handsome shouldn’t be allowed to exist in real life. His perfectly tousled red hair, his strong jaw line covered in the perfect amount of stubble, his kind hazel eyes, and that smile, he was handsome in an old movie star way.

Crap. She was now standing, and he was smiling at her. She needed to do something, but what? Her brain had just gone blank.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly as he walked by. Embarrassment was already creeping in.

“Hi,” he stopped to say with a disarming smile.

He put out his hand to shake hers. As she took it, she felt like her entire body was lit up like a Christmas tree. The electricity she felt was like nothing she’d experienced. She just stood there looking at their hands. When she did finally manage to look up at him, she found he was staring at her as well, mouth slightly parted, and damn if she didn”t need to clench her thighs. Working around all these hockey players was going to be fun, but if they all had this effect on her it was going to be harder than she thought.

”I”m Conner,” he said, regaining his swagger.

”I know who you are, I”m Sasha.”

“Well Sasha, it”s nice to meet you,” he said with a slight head nod and an almost unperceivable lick of his bottom lip. “What brought you to the center today?”

“I have a meeting with Hillary,” she stuttered out.

“Nice, well if she doesn”t offer you any tickets. I can get you some. Here,” he said, passing his phone, “put your number in here and I’ll make sure to leave you some tickets.”

She didn”t know why she was doing that. She would be at all the games from now on, would even be traveling with the team, but she just smiled at him and put her number in his phone. What was wrong with her? It was like she was hypnotized by his remarkably handsome face.

“Well Sasha, hopefully I’ll be seeing you around,” he said as he winked at her and continued his way down the hallway.

She collapsed onto the bench with her head in her hands. What the hell just happened? How did that man just turn her into a bumbling idiot by smiling at her? She was going to have to get better at this. And it looked like she might be able to test that theory, another hockey player was making his way down the hallway, Cash Hawthorn, the Magic”s enforcer.

She smiled up at him, “Hi,” she said as he walked past.

He slowed down and said, “Hey, are you new here?”

“Yeah, it”s my first day. I”m a new social media manager for the team.”

“Oh, welcome aboard! Between you and me, Bill never did much there.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, the team”s presence has been pretty minimal at best on social media, I”m here to fix that and hopefully boost sales.”

“I didn”t catch your name,” he said with a smile.

“Sasha, Sasha Maloof.”

“Nice to meet you, Sasha. I”m Cash. I”m sure I”ll see you around.”

“Yeah, I”ll see you,” she said, smiling confidently. Then he turned and continued down the hall. See, she had been perfectly normal that time. She was capable. Why Conner McPhee flustered her was a mystery, but she could do this.

“Sasha, I”m so excited to meet with you,” said Hillary, standing in her office doorway. “I got your email and I”m excited to see what you can do.” They both walked into her office and took a seat.

“I’m looking forward to this opportunity and I think I can really improve the team”s online presence. Having a social media strategy is important for all organizations in this day and age. I think the five-point plan of Community, Family friendly, Education, Behind the Scenes, and Expanding fanbase is a good place to start,” Sasha said.

“I agree. I”m willing to just let you do your thing, but can you walk me through some of your thoughts to start out?”

“Of course. I”m hoping to get to know the players and the management and find out where everyone fits in the best. I’ll be posting promotions obviously, but then I was thinking about doing different series about getting to know the players, coaches, and trainers. To start I was thinking a player who would be good at teaching tips and tricks.”

“That all sounds wonderful! Conner McPhee might be a good one for the tips and tricks. He”s great on camera and a crowd favorite, plus he”s captain.”

“That”s a great thought! Thank you,” she said, making a note of that. The part she was about to bring up would be new and as of right now, not many hockey teams were doing it, but Sasha believed in this idea. “As far as growing the fanbase, I think I might try some strategizing to try to bring more women into the fanbase and in extension into the sport.”

“Hmmm,” Hillary nodded and thought about it. “I think that would be good. This is why we hired you, Sasha. We’re excited to see what you can do for our online presence. And in that vein, try not to let Bill bother you. He doesn”t understand why we hired you and thinks social media is silly.”

Sasha nodded. “I get it. My dad is still surprised I can make an actual career out of it. I think he thought I was going to be an influencer forever. He thought I was wasting my degree. I”m sure I can prove to be valuable to the organization with time,” Sasha said.

“There is no doubt in my mind.” Hillary looked down at her watch. “Why don”t I introduce you to the team? They are just about to start their meeting. I can introduce you before that and then maybe we can chat about some of the players and where they might fit into your plan.”

“That sounds great!”

The two of them left her office and started down the hallway she had just watched all the players walk down. Hopefully she would have more interactions like she had with Cash and be able to fully form thoughts. The thought of the interaction with Conner still made her cringe, but she wouldn’t let it happen again.