10. Chase
Chase
For the second time today I’m laughing hysterically.
And it takes me a good couple of minutes to realize Natalie isn’t laughing at all.
Sucking in a breath, I stare at her.
Her mouth is tight but loose, if that makes any sense at all. Her eyes are steely, but not like earlier. There’s a hint of… challenge and determination, and dare I say, you’re-stupid-if you-don’t-see-I’m-right, flashing in them.
This is the face I imagine she wears in board meetings or when dealing with players and agents. It’s her general manager of a professional hockey team face, her billionaire business owner face.
“You’re not joking,” I say incredulously. Why the hell is she not joking?
“No.” Shaking her head slightly, she keeps her gaze on mine, never once losing her confident-this-is-right expression. “I know it sounds unconventional?—”
“Unconventional?” I snort. “It’s fucking crazy is what it is.”
“Hear me out. It would be in name only, so you have a backup for the girls. And later, when you find someone you want to be with, we’ll get divorced, but I’ll still be the second parental figure for the girls.”
“Candace won’t be an adult for eighteen years. Why would you tie yourself to us for that long?”
“You and I might not be tied that long. As I said, when you find someone?—”
“I hate to break it to you but I’m not stepping out on any vows I make to a woman, in name only or otherwise, so there would be no finding someone.”
“Right. Okay. Well. Let me tell you a little more about me so you can understand why I’ve put forward this unconventional suggestion.”
I snort-laugh at her emphasis of unconventional but otherwise remain quiet.
“I come from money, a lot of it, but it was tied up in trusts for most of my life. The only way to unlock them was to turn a certain age or get married. At twenty-two, with billions of dollars and multiple companies at stake, I married Johnathon Whitman to secure them all. In name only. I’m in the process of divorcing?—”
I jerk back, almost toppling my chair. “You’re married!” Why this shocks me I don’t know. She’s in her late twenties—“Wait. How old are you?”
“Thirty-four.”
“I’m twenty-one in two months.”
“I know.”
“Then you know how that’s going to look.”
“No one will know we’re married except you and me unless something happens to either you or one of the girls, and I’ll be praying nothing does and I’m not religious.”
I lean back in my seat, making sure all four legs are on the floor, and study her. She’s completely serious and I can’t quite wrap my head around it.
Why would a woman who looks like her, who has money and success, want to tie herself to a twenty-year-old and his three underage sisters?
“If you took me up on my suggestion, we couldn’t get married until I sever ties with my ex and I have to warn you, he has been difficult so far.”
“Why is that if your marriage is name only?”
“Money. He has none of his own and after we divorce, he won’t have an unlimited supply of it. All he will have is the amount I give him as part of our settlement.”
“And how much is that?”
“Two hundred and two million. Plus, a couple of houses around the country.”
“Two…” It’s my turn to shake my head because what the fuck? “You’re giving him that as a settlement?”
“No. I’m paying him that to sign the papers.”
“You’re buying him off?”
“If you want to look at it that way, yes, I’m buying him off.”
“Why?”
“Because for the entirety of our marriage, he hasn’t upheld our vows the way you say you would.”
“Prick.”
She grins. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Okay. So let me get this straight. To ease my mind about the girls and their lack of a second parental figure, you’ll marry me and provide them with one.”
“Yes.”
“And the union would be in name only and no one would know?”
“Correct.”
“Huh.” I scrub a hand over my head, fist my fingers in the over-long strands of hair. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I want you to play for the Rogues, but at this point, after spending the day with the girls, I want to give them the security of another adult in their lives. I’d treat them the way you do, as younger sisters.”
“You must know that Candace is going to look at us as her father and mother. She’ll have no others in her life.”
“I’m aware of that. But I assume Cassidy and Crystal calling us by our names would deter that.”
“It might, it might not. I’m okay with her thinking of me as her dad but I intend to discourage her from calling me dad.”
“I’ll take your lead on any parenting matters.”
I shake my head again. “Natalie. I have to be honest with you. The offer to play for the Rogues was blindsiding, but this? This is…hell, I don’t even know what this is.”
“You want security for the girls. You want to be able to live your dream, the one you’ve worked your whole life for. I can help you achieve both of those things.”
“So you say.” I study her again.
It seems to be all I’m doing tonight. I can admit she’s hot as fuck and I’m not sure being married to her would be a smart move when I think that.
“This would be complicated as fuck,” I mutter.
“Not if we set boundaries.”
“I assume we’d be living together.”
“Yes. The girls would have one home with the two of us living in it?—”
“Then how do you plan to keep this proposed marriage of convenience a secret?”
“I’ve recently purchased a house that has an in-law suite that I would reside in, you and the girls would have the rest of the house.”
“We’d still be living together.”
“Yes, but we’d play it as I’m helping you with the girls when you need it. And it’s not like I plan to make a media announcement about our marriage or living arrangements. We don’t have to tell anyone anything. I don’t plan to tell the other three KAW partners.”
I can’t see how that would work. “How can you keep this a secret from them?”
“It doesn’t affect either of us work wise. It’s a purely personal business arrangement.”
“I don’t see how we can keep this quiet. And what would we tell the girls?”
“Exactly what we’ll tell anyone else who asks, I’m helping you with the girls while you settle into Baton Rouge and your position with the Rogues.”
“I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“No. But you want to. I can see it in your eyes, Chase, you want this more than anything.”
“Not more than anything but the thing I want the most is impossible.” I see it in her eyes that she understands what I mean.
“Your parents would want you to go after your dream. And I haven’t had anything to do with your father for a while, but when I first approached him years ago about stocking our products in his stores, he talked about his family. He’d be proud of you no matter what you decide to do with the company or your life.”
“You met him?”
“Yes. When we started Rogue sportswear. He was one of the first to take a chance on four college women with more money in their trust funds than most people earn in a lifetime.”
There’s a story there. I can only imagine Natalie and her friends going after what they wanted. She came through our front door and took charge. Helped a drowning man take a moment to refresh his energy and spent time with three girls she has no ties to other than she wants me to play for her hockey team.
If her friends are anything like her, they’d be a formidable team. And I can’t imagine the Rogues being anything but successful.
Do I want in on that? Fuck yes. But is it really possible?
“You’ll do anything to make sure the Rogues are a success.”
“Not anything.”
“But you’re talking about tying us together for years.”
“I am. But that isn’t about the Rogues.”
“Then what is it about?”
“You and your sisters getting everything you deserve.”
“Why are you determined to help with that? You know I’m going to do everything I can to make their lives what Mom and Dad would have. And I’ve got the money to do it.”
“You do. And money can buy a lot of things. But it can’t buy you family or a spot on a Cup-winning national hockey team.”
“I’d say you’ve got tickets on yourself for that last comment, but I don’t think you do.”
“No. I have a support system and employees and coaching staff and players who all believe, or soon will, the same thing. The Baton Rouge Rogues are going to hit the ice and win. And when we lose, we aren’t going to do it easily.”
Her confidence is inspiring, and in some ways encouraging. She seems to be one hundred percent sure of herself and her team. And from what I know about Rogue sportswear, she’s come by that confidence from experience.
She knows she can succeed, and she knows what it takes to do it too. I can’t even comprehend her going into owning a national franchise without knowing exactly what it takes to make a winning team.
“Okay. I’ll look at the contract. But”—I hold up a hand to stop her from speaking—“I won’t make a decision on my own. The twins will need to weigh-in, and I’ll need to research schools and see your house.”
“I can help with the school, and I have pictures of my house on my phone but if you want, we can take a trip to see it in person.”
“Is that wise? Won’t that draw attention to us?”
“I can make it happen without anyone knowing.”
“How?”
“Private jet.”
“You have a private jet? Wait. Of course you do.”
I scrub a hand over my head again. My mind is spinning but I can’t deny I want to say yes to playing for the Rogues without any of the other stuff.
But I can no longer make snap decisions like that. I need to consider how they affect the girls and my need to parent them as our parents would have.
“Think about what I’ve said.” She taps the pile of papers on the table in front of her. “Read this. Make notes or highlight whatever you have questions about.”
Natalie has it all set up. Contract, highlighters, sticky notes. I hadn’t even noticed it when we sat down. Sure, I saw it but seeing it didn’t happen.
“What’s that?” I point to the business card on the other side of her.
“Drake Morgan’s contact information.”
“The agent?”
“Yes. He represents a few of our players as well as our head coach.”
“Walker Alcott, right?”
“Yes.”
“And Blake Watts is assistant coach?”
“Yes.”
“Can you name other players? I understand if you can’t.”
“I can tell you a few. Others are in final negotiations. The ones we’ve already signed who have been announced are, Beckett Higgison, Branton Lattimer Watts, Ryder?—”
“Lattimer Watts?”
“When Branton married Blake, he took her last name.”
“Lattimer married Blake?”
“For someone who has spent his life working toward playing in the NHL you aren’t up on the recent media attention.”
“I don’t need to know about the personal lives of players or coaches to work for a spot in the league.”
“I guess not.” She pushes her chair back. “I’ll head out. The twins said they need to be dropped off at nine tomorrow. I can be here at seven to help with the morning routine and drop off if you want.”
“You”—I shake my head—“Is this what you mean about being the other parent in their life?”
“Yes.”
As much as I don’t want to think of myself—or Natalie—as their parent, it’s what I am, what she would be if I take her up on her offer, no matter our connections to the girls.
I watch her as she gathers a laptop bag I haven’t seen before. “Where’d that come from?”
“My car. I ducked out to get it when you were asleep.”
“You worked this afternoon? While Candace and I were asleep?”
“Yes. And when the twins came home.”
“So, you worked around taking care of them.” It’s not a question even though my tone suggests it is. It makes my attempts to do the same seem even more pitiful.
“I answered a few emails. Made a few calls. Nothing too detailed or urgent.”
I don’t need her to say she’s appeasing my disgust with myself, but she is. I know she is. She’s pointing out her success was limited due to the level of difficulty of the work. I appreciate her efforts, but I don’t like them.
“I don’t need you to placate me.”
“I’m not.” Her gaze locks with mine for a beat before she adds. “Fine. Maybe I was, but it wasn’t intentional.”
“I know the adjustment to our new life should take time. And I know I shouldn’t feel guilty or inadequate or angry that I can’t manage everything the way my parents did. That knowledge doesn’t stop the emotions from being there.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
“I want to say yes to the Rogues’ offer. Except I can’t. I can promise to give it serious consideration and thought. But I have to be honest. If the girls tell me they don’t want to move, my answer will be no. They have just as much say in this as I do.”
“I understand that. And I respect that. But remember, teenagers don’t necessarily make decisions with logic or reasoning the way an adult would.”
“I’d argue some adults don’t either.”
“True. I’m not going to rush any of you into this life altering decision, but I will try to talk you into it. The twins too. And I’d like you to consider taking advice from someone outside of the situation.”
“Who might that be?”
“I don’t know. Someone without a stake in the outcome?”
So much to think about. And I haven’t even read the offer yet.
“Let’s table it for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow morning, and we can discuss it more.”