Page 46 of The One Timer

“Don’t say that. You’re far more than hired help.” I step closer, cornering her near the counter where she’s placed some vegetables. She looks away from me, and I touch her cheek, prompting her to face me again. “I’m not going to pretend you’re not here. To be honest, your being here is the reason I’m here.”

She opens her mouth but doesn’t speak. Then Uvi, the housekeeper, bustles into the kitchen, shouting her name. Em slides away from me, putting a respectable distance between us.

“Emery, where are you? I need some help with—” Uvi stops short when she sees me. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were still here, Chase. Good morning.”

“What do you need, Mrs. Uvi?” Em says as if she works for the woman who’s been the household manager since I can remember.

“I need help changing the sheets in Mrs. W’s room and with turning the mattress. Hurry up, then. No dawdling in the kitchen. She’s waiting on you.”

Em nods and opens the fridge to put the food back while Uvi frowns, hands on hips, watching her.

“Gran said to give her twenty minutes, Uvi. No hurry.” I smile because I know the woman’s heart is in the right place. She's concerned with keeping the place pristine when that job must be getting hard now that she’s close to sixty years old.

“Time must be up by now, and we can’t be dawdling.” She retains her scowl and folds her arms across her chest.

“If there’s been any dawdling, I’m afraid that’s on me. How about if I make up for it and help you with the mattress while Emery does her meal prep.”

Em turns to me, surprise mixing with trepidation on her face and not marring its beauty one bit. “You need to get to practice, don’t you?”

“I can spare ten minutes.” I wink at her.

“It’s not your place to be doing the housework,” Uvi grumbles as she leads me from the kitchen up the back stairs.

“Didn’t you know, Uvi? I’m the master of the house, and that means I can do anything I want.”

She snorts a laugh. Em follows us and looks taken aback. She whispers, “You’re a miracle worker because I don’t think I’ve ever seen her come close to a laugh before.”

I slow down, falling further behind Uvi, and lean near Em’s ear as we climb the stairs. “I am a miracle worker—and don’t you forget it.” The sweet, complicated scent of her wafts over me, and the temptation of touching the soft, perfect skin of her face almost wins out. She quirks an eyebrow in reprimand, but a slight pink flush gives her true feelings away.

When we reach the top of the stairs, it takes all my willpower not to pull her into an empty bedroom. But she’s made it clear she wants to keep it cool despite the obvious lust magnet between us.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—for her, I’m up to the challenge of changing her mind because it is a challenge, and challenges are something I can’t seem to resist—along with her. If I really thought Gran would be as bothered as Em thinks, I wouldn’t try. And as for her focusing on school, Gran had mentioned that she’s on winter break for two weeks.

Walking into the arena, I square my shoulders and head to the locker room suite, trying to bluff the fact that I’m fifteen minutes late. The guys are in the dining room, so I drop my bag at my locker and head for the smell of food.

As soon as I line up behind Sabien—who’s always last in line—I take shit.

“What?” I say, giving him a mock frown. “You’ve never been late?”

He snorts. “That excuse’ll go over real well. You missed Coach Spence’s speech this morning about the importance of winning at home—and not letting up off the gas pedal.”

Fuck. I groan out loud and spot Coach Spence standing at the end of the line like he’s inspecting each player’s food tray. His hands are on his hips, and he looks up then, like he knows I’m there, and stares straight at me. Double fuck.

I fill my tray with the healthiest breakfast possible, regrettably forgoing the French pastry because I don’t want to get any more flak than I’m already in for.

Wearing his usual scowl, Coach gives nods. “You made it. See me in my office after the morning skate.” He turns to the next guy in line, who happens to be Danny, one of the junior assistant equipment managers, and I’m dismissed.

Shit. But there’s nothing I can do except take it and apologize.

I sit at the table with Sabien, Jason, and Link. “Why do I feel like we’re in the army?”

Link snorts. They’re all concentrating on eating for the moment, but I know they’re going to give me shit, a different kind of shit than Coach.

I lingered longer than I should have at home, but I don’t regret it. After turning the mattress with Em and giving Uvi a break, I stayed to watch Em brush out Gran’s hair because the sight mesmerized me, bringing back memories of when Grandpa used to do it and my mom before that. They’ve all done it with such love and care, gently and thoroughly, and with pleasure, including Em.

That scene was a far cry from the rough edges of the locker room, my second home, and equally cherished. Gran is my family, but so are my hockey brothers.

“Give us the dirt on the girl. The full story,” Sabien says, putting his fork down.