Protecting Her Heart: Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 4

  Protecting Her Heart

  Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 4

  Samantha Lind

  samanthalind.com

  Protecting Her Heart

  Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 4

  Copyright © 2018 by Samantha Lind

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN -13: 978-1729205297

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage or retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, photocopying, mechanical or otherwise, without express permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, story lines and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events, locales or any events or occurrences are purely coincidental.

  Trademarked names appear throughout this novel. These names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intentional infringement of the trademark owner’s trademark(s).

  The following story contains adult language and sexual situations and is intended for adult readers.

  Cover Design by Jersey Girl Design

  Cover Photograph by CJC Photography

  Cover Models Lauren Summer & Daniel Rengering

  Editing by All About The Edits

  Proofreading by Proof Before You Publish

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Laura

  2. Mark

  3. Laura

  4. Mark

  5. Laura

  6. Mark

  7. Laura

  8. Mark

  9. Laura

  10. Mark

  11. Laura

  12. Mark

  13. Laura

  14. Mark

  15. Laura

  16. Mark

  17. Laura

  18. Mark

  19. Laura

  20. Mark

  21. Laura

  22. Laura

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Coming Soon

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Samantha Lind

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Laura

  February

  Two Years Ago

  “Laura, I need that trade paperwork ASAP,” Daniel Johnson, the GM of the Indianapolis Eagles hockey team I work for—and my dad happens to own—calls out to me over the intercom.

  “I’ll have it on your desk in five minutes!” I yell back. The trade deadline for the season is today and because of that, the office has been crazy.

  After double-checking all the trade details, I deliver the paperwork to Daniel, then continue down the hall to my dad’s office. We have a standing dinner date every Tuesday night, and it’s something I wouldn’t miss for anything. Especially lately, with the decline of my marriage and pending divorce to Robert.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” my dad greets me as I enter his office and sit on one of the chairs facing his desk.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  “Daniel finish all the trades?”

  “I just took him the final paperwork to sign and submit.”

  “Good to hear. I know it can be a stressful day. Ready to get out of here and let your old man take you to dinner?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I smile at my dad. “Let me check back in with Daniel to make sure he doesn’t need anything else from me before I leave, and then we can head out. Where are we going tonight?”

  “Your choice,” he says, and I chuckle.

  “You always say that. It’s your turn to pick,” I toss back at him.

  “Not happening, Lo. You know the drill. You pick, and I pay.” He winks at me as I head to the door. We’ve had our standing father-daughter date for as long as I can remember. It started out slowly, only going out once a month, but the past few years, it’s become a weekly thing. I’ve always been a daddy’s girl, and I treasure the time with him. Occasionally, my mom will join us, but she doesn’t usually impose, knowing how much we love having the time together.

  “I’ll decide and let you know,” I call back to him, knowing he won’t cave.

  I enter Daniel’s office and see he’s still on his call, so I take a seat and pull out my phone while I wait for him to finish.

  “I just wanted to check if you needed anything else before I left for the day?” I state once he hangs up.

  “I just submitted the trade details. Have you already taken care of the travel arrangements for everyone involved?”

  “I have everything set up, and the players have all been notified of the arrangements. Mark Lee will be arriving tomorrow. I’ve got a hotel set up for him until he can arrange for his own housing after he arrives.”

  “Thank you for all your hard work today. Go, get out of here,” Daniel tells me as he sits back in his executive chair.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. If you need me for anything, you know how to reach me,” I remind him as I stand and walk from his office.

  After dinner, I make it back to the small apartment I rented just a month ago, when I filed the divorce paperwork. This past year was the worst year of my life. Robert and I had been married for five years, and together since high school. He was my first and only everything for so many years. We dealt with infertility for so long, and then eventually grew apart with the stress that brought to our relationship and marriage. While, with some couples, it would bring them closer, it did the exact opposite for us, and I ended up feeling like Robert blamed me for our troubles.

  After kicking off my heels, I immediately reach under my shirt to unhook my bra as I make my way into my small bedroom.

  When I picked this apartment, I was more concerned with the proximity to the office and not the space. I just wanted a place to call my own, and wasn’t ready to jump into buying a house right now, with everything going on. To say this apartment is a shoe box is almost giving it too much credit. It was cheap and in a decent location. I don’t need much for just me.

  After changing out of my work clothes into a pair of leggings and a large T-shirt, I make my way out to my kitchen and pour myself a glass of wine. I plop down on the couch and turn on the TV to see if anything can entertain me tonight.

  I get sucked into watching a few episodes of Friends while I drink my wine and scroll through my Facebook and Twitter feeds.

  With the trade deadline happening today, the hockey world and fans have been abuzz with all the trades that went through. It’s kind of an exciting thing to be a part of and help make happen. Some guys are looking to be traded while others are just caught up in the business side of the game and are traded to make a deal happen. When a team wants one specific player, they’ll sometimes give up a lot for just that one guy they feel will have a specific impact to their team.

  Once the news got out that we acquired Mark Lee from Colorado, Twitter kind of went crazy, from what I find. This gets me curious, so I decided to Google him to see what I can find out about him.

  I pull up his bio on the league’s website and then his Wikipedia page, reading all about his time in the league. Seeing his impressive stats has me realizing right away why Daniel wanted to acquire him for our defensive line. And he isn’t too bad to look at, either.

  “Good morning,” I call out to my dad as he comes into the office shortly after I arrive.

  “Morning, sweetheart. How was the rest of your night?”

  “Oh, it was good. Just watched TV and did my research on the new player
arriving today.”

  My dad just laughs at me, knowing how I like to know about each guy on the team, and what to expect when it comes to the players. While what I can find about them online won’t tell me everything, it gives me a good idea on whether they are going to be easygoing or if they are going to be demanding assholes.

  “Well, let me know if you need anything today, and when Mark arrives, please make sure I get a chance to meet him.”

  “Will do, Daddy,” I tell him, kissing his cheek before he heads down the hall to his office.

  “Oh.” He stops in the doorway and looks back at me. “Your mother has requested your presence for dinner sometime this week. She’s worried about you.”

  “How about tomorrow night? We’ve got the game tonight.”

  “I’ll let her know,” he says as he turns back around and walks into his office.

  I get drawn into my normal morning routine and before I know it, it’s lunchtime. The car service we use is scheduled to pick up Mark from the airport right about now. They’ll bring him here to the offices for him to meet with Coach and get all his team-provided gear, before he gets settled.

  I peek my head into Daniel’s office, where he and my dad are talking. “I’m going to order in some lunch quickly, before Mark arrives. Can I get either of you something?”

  “Where are you ordering from?”

  “I can order from anywhere. What do you feel like having?”

  “Sandwiches will work. Pick a place and we’ll be good with what you choose,” Dad tells me.

  “Sounds good, I’ll let you know when the food arrives.” I head to my desk and pull out the menus from some of the local restaurants that will deliver to us, pick one, and put in our order.

  I work on some paperwork I started this morning until the food arrives, then take it into Daniel’s office and we sit around his office, eating as we talk. Most often, conversation is predominately about hockey, which I’ve never minded, as hockey has been my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve been able to skate probably as long as I’ve been able to walk. I played through my college years, and I’ve still been known to lace up the skates and get out on the ice for the occasional pick-up game. I also played on a recreational team until about a year after Robert and I got married, but that was one of the things I gave up when we were attempting to start a family.

  “Hello?” I hear a deep male voice call out from the front office area. I jump up off the couch where I was eating lunch.

  “Hi, I’m sorry! You must be Mark,” I apologize as soon as I reach my desk area. “I’m Laura Erickson. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Pleasure is all mine.” Mark accepts the hand I offer him to shake, and I don’t miss his eyes quickly taking me in.

  “Daniel Johnson and David Erickson are both in here and would like a few minutes of your time before I show you down to Coach Martin’s office. After you’ve had a chance to talk with them, I can get you your hotel information. I’ll be your point of contact for anything you need help with as you get settled here in Indy. We’re excited to have you here and joining our team.

  “You can leave your bags where you’ve got them, if you’d like. Just follow me, and I’ll introduce you to Daniel and David,” I say, as I lead him down the hall and into Daniel’s office.

  After hellos and handshakes are exchanged, I leave the guys to talk amongst themselves and head back out to my desk to gather the paperwork Mark will need once he’s done with his conversation.

  Mark

  Getting the news from my agent yesterday that I was traded to the Eagles was news I was expecting and was hopeful would happen. I’d been on the Avalanche’s team for two seasons, and while I was putting up great numbers, I still didn’t feel like it was a great fit. Something was missing, and I just couldn’t put my finger on what that something was. Since I was playing some of the best hockey in my career, I just tried to ignore the nagging feeling, and kept my head down and my focus on the ice and game.

  Change isn’t always a bad thing and with my switch to a new agent this past summer, who also happens to be local to the Indy area, I made my interest known that I was open to moving teams to see if things would click into place. When Madison approached me earlier this week with talk of a potential move, I gave her the go-ahead to make it happen if the terms were favorable. She came through and did just that.

  When I arrived in Indy, the team had a car service pick me up to bring me to the arena. I traveled here with just my two suitcases and my hockey stuff. Being a single guy and having played in the NHL for five seasons already, I’ve learned to only keep the necessities in whatever apartment I’m living in, usually sharing with at least one of the other guys on the team.

  After the car service drops me off at the team’s office, I walk in on an empty receptionist desk, but am not kept waiting for long.

  A woman emerges from one of the offices down the hall, and I can’t help but appreciate how beautiful she is. The lack of ring on her finger also doesn’t go unnoticed, and while I tried to be discreet in my appraisal, I’m pretty certain she knew what I was doing.

  I’ve never been the “player” type who jumped from puck bunny to puck bunny. Have I enjoyed the company of a handful throughout my career? Of course I have. Most guys have, but it’s never been my thing. Most of those women are just in it for one of two things. To say they’ve fucked a professional player or to try and date a professional player for the spotlight. What most women don’t realize is that most of the guys who play at this level don’t do it for the spotlight. They play because it’s their passion and they live and breathe hockey.

  Laura introduces me to the owner and general manager, then leaves us to talk. We discuss what they hope I’ll bring to their D-line and what I’m hopeful to find in a new team. Once we’ve finished up our discussion, I head back out and am greeted again by Laura, who hands me some paperwork, as well as a few brochures.

  “I have the information for you here on the hotel where we’ve reserved a room for you. If you need assistance on finding an apartment, please let me know and I can assist you on that or anything else you need to get settled here in Indy.”

  “Thank you. I might take you up on that help, depending if any of the guys are open to a new roommate.”

  “You’re welcome to leave your suitcases here. I can show you down to Coach’s office and the locker room now, unless you needed to grab some lunch first? We’ve got a couple places within walking distance that have good lunch options.”

  “I’m good. I grabbed something before I left the airport,” I tell her.

  “Then right this way,” Laura says, motioning to the doorway. I grab my hockey bag to take my equipment down to the locker room with us, and leave my other bags where she indicated.

  She leads me down the stairs, then down a hall, and into the arena. She quickly shows me to the normal players’ entrance, and after verifying a badge she was holding works, she hands it to me.

  “This will get you into anywhere in the arena that players have access to if you ever need entrance outside of normal times. The coaching staff wants all of the players to have access to the weight rooms at any time, plus the practice rink,” Laura explains, after I take the badge from her.

  She leads us down to the rink level and points out the locker room and Coach’s office.

  “This is where I’ll leave you. I don’t go past that door often,” she says on a laugh, gesturing to the locker room door. “Coach is waiting on you in his office. Let me know if I can do anything else to help you get settled in. My cell number is on the paperwork I gave you, so please reach out, even if the office is closed, if you need something.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be in touch,” I tell her before she turns and walks back the way we came.

  I can’t tell you the last time I was instantly drawn to a woman, like I am to Laura. Her beauty is mesmerizing. I like that she feels completely comfortable around me and in this setting. She isn’t just in the job to b
e near professional hockey players, but appears to enjoy her job, from what I observed in the short amount of time we were together.

  I knock on the doorjamb of Coach Martin’s office. I’ve known him for quite some time, having played against the Eagles many times over the years.

  “Coach Martin, nice to see you,” I greet as he waves me into his office.

  “Mark, glad to have you here with us. Take a seat,” he says, gesturing to a seating area in his office. I do as he asks and he moves from his desk chair over to sit next to me.

  “How are you feeling? Ready to hit the ice?”

  “Absolutely. Excited to be wearing an Eagles jersey and to find my place here in Indy.”

  “Glad to hear that. We’re on a good run this season and have the cup in sight.”

  “As does every team,” I comment on a chuckle.

  “Well, yes, but we have a fighting chance, and we’re glad to have you with us as we chase that goal.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’m glad to be here to chase it with everyone.”

  “I’d like to get you on the ice, and at least one practice in with the rest of the team before we dress you for a game, so tonight’s game, you’ll be a healthy scratch. Tomorrow, you can hit the ice and plan to play in Friday’s game.”

  “Sounds good. As I said, I’m ready to go right away.”

  “You can head into the locker room. The equipment staff should have all of your team stuff waiting for you in your locker, so you can drop your sticks and things off with them, and get anything else you need to be ready to go for this weekend.”