Page 49 of Gross Misconduct

Orla went away for now. All week long I was trying to wrap my head around the idea that she planned to write steamy romance novels. That was unexpected, but now that I’d talked to her publicist and her agent, I could see why she was planning to hold off on spilling about Lex and the Kodiaks: she planned to tie it in with selling her books. The plan was a sound one.

And while I could appreciate her entrepreneurial skills, I was more interested in how she’d malign the Kodiaks, so I had to pull out nasty Jill to deal with Orla’s publicist. I made it clear that if Orla crossed any lines, she would be dealing with our legal department. Craig, her publicist, seemed to get the message, but who knew. What I didn’t like was dealing with that all week. I looked forward to spending my weekend with Jeremy and Chloe.

I caught myself. Jeremy? He had a few days off before a long road trip, the longest of the season and the last before the holidays. He’d be gone twelve days, and return for another fewweeks of home games before the short Christmas break. I planned to do nothing on the weekend, but Tangi insisted that Jeremy and I come over on Sunday. I said we’d come only if we could bring Chloe. Since both Tangi and Ethan loved dogs, that was an easy yes.

But before that, we finally announced our engagement. We purposely made sure it was a simple announcement with a few pictures that Tangi, Ethan, and a few of the Kodiaks shared on Instagram and TikTok. The media picked up on it, but again, it was all done in a muted and classy way, so much so that no one seemed to question that Jeremy and I were engaged after dating only a few short months.

But I’d been selling our relationship with pictures of us together, and tons of pictures of Chloe. Jeremy did the same, and so our relationship was coming off as sincere, just as I’d planned. We planned to keep that up, but not make it too pushy.

Jeremy had a game Friday night, so Chloe and I watched it from home. Well, I watched it and Chloe snoozed at my side. I tried to stay up until he got to the condo, but I couldn’t do it. I didn’t even hear him come in, but when I climbed out of bed the next morning, I was greeted by the smell of coffee and bacon. I’d also been abandoned by Chloe. She’d clearly dumped me for bacon, and I couldn’t blame her.

I wandered into the kitchen to find Jeremy putting together Chloe’s breakfast. It looked like they’d just come from a walk. Jeremy’s cheeks were a little ruddy, and Chloe’s legs were wet.

“You’re up. Chloe and I have been waiting. We want to know how you like your eggs. I’ve already made the bacon and coffee. I’ve got the potatoes in the air fryer. I don’t make hash browns. I prefer my potatoes air fried.”

I blinked a few times. Why was he so spry, and I was stillhalf asleep. “I usually like them scrambled. I don’t like a runny yolk.”

“That’s easy. Eggs coming right up. Sit down. The paper is ready for you.”

I looked at Chloe who had scarfed down her breakfast. She tilted her head, clearly as confused as I was with what was going on. “Are you all right?” I asked. “Why are you doing this? Why are you happy?”

“Why not?” he said with a shrug. “I have two days off. Do you know how rare that is? And I plan to enjoy it with my two girls. So, we are going to start it off with a hearty breakfast. Then I thought we’d do a hike through Stanley Park. Then we’ll stop for lunch and maybe have an afternoon nap. Maybe tonight we could catch a movie or stay in and watch one. The possibilities are endless.”

“You’re weird,” I said, pouring myself a coffee.

Five minutes later, while I was reading the paper, he placed a plate of food in front of me. Everything smelled delicious. I had no idea what seasoning he’d put on the potatoes, but I couldn’t wait to dive in. And after my first bite, I moaned. Holy crap. Everything was amazing.

“You probably don’t know this, but potatoes are my favorite food,” I said. “And these potatoes are some of the best I’ve ever had. What did you do to them?”

He seemed pleased with himself as he sat down with his own plate. “It’s all in the seasoning. A little of this, a little of that, and poof, you havethebest potatoes.”

“That doesn’t sound very exact,” I said, taking another mouthful. I had no idea he was a decent cook.

“A lot of times I ate whatever I had and made do. I’ve never told you about my first couple of years with the Kodiaks, did I?”

I shook my head, reaching for more potatoes. “Tell me.” Itwas a good thing we were planning the day at Stanley Park. I was going to need to work off this breakfast.

“I played one year in the minors before the Kodiaks called me up after the draft. As you’ve noticed, the cost of living here is pretty high, so I moved in with one of the guys. Great guy, plays in Carolina now, but he was renting and had a spare room. His name was Travis, and we had a lot of fun together, but the guy couldn’t cook if his life depended on it. I would sit on the plane and look up recipes during road trips, I’d bookmark them and try them out. I got pretty good at it, but I’d tweak a lot of them to make them healthier. Before I knew it, Travis was expecting meals all the time. But I liked cooking. Like you, I find it relaxing.”

I watched him while he told the story and couldn’t get over how adorable he was, trying to downplay his culinary skills. “Well, I’m not going to fight you in the kitchen if this is what you can make.”

Did I detect a blush on his cheeks? I had no intention of embarrassing him, so I got up to pour myself more coffee.

Once we were stuffed with food, it was time to prepare for our day at Stanley Park. The sun was out, but it wasn’t an overly warm day, so I put on a warm sweater and a light jacket. I packed my small backpack with a few bottles of water, some snacks for us, snacks for Chloe, and a few other essentials. Chloe was whining at the door and couldn’t wait to get into her harness. She knew we were off to somewhere fun.

The drive was short, and we parked in the lot nearest the Lion’s Gate Bridge. I’d never been this close to it, and it was breathtaking and huge! I hadn’t been on the bridge yet, mostly because I didn’t have a car. I either walked or used public transportation to get places, but maybe I could get Jeremy to take me over the bridge. That was for another day.

Since I’d already done the seawall, this time we did theinterior trails, and there were many of them. Fortunately, I’d printed off a map and pulled that from my backpack. Even with less foliage, the trails were amazing and the trees were massive. I had no idea a city of this size, with its enormous urban footprint, could have such a beautiful park within it.

Chloe was in her element, and as I learned, our girl had almost limitless energy. We did trails for almost two hours before stopping for water and some snacks. Chloe didn’t want to wait too long, and was eager to continue. This time we went to one of the trails that led to the seawall and back to Jeremy’s car. I hadn’t even noticed that he’d held my hand for much of the time because it had become almost second nature. I was acutely aware that friends didn’t do this, but I also didn’t want it to stop.

I realized on our walk back to the car that, just like Chloe, I didn’t want to go home. It had nothing to do with Vancouver being so picturesque with its mountains and oceans. No, it had more to do with starting a new life. While Jeremy had made it a bit of a challenge with his indiscretion with Orla, I’d loved my job and the people I worked with. I had one of my best friends nearby, and I had Jeremy and Chloe.

Wait. I had Jeremy?

“You seem lost in thought,” Jeremy said.

I had been, so much so that I’d nearly walked into the path of a cyclist who gave me a dirty look. I apologized as they rode by. I then looked at Jeremy, confusion niggling at me.

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