Chasing Charli (Alaska Blizzard Book 6) Read online

  She frowned. “That’s terrible. Why would they tease you? Where are you from?”

  “Finland.” He gave her a little shrug. “No time for study with hockey.”

  “Do you play for the Blizzard too?”

  “Yes. I am Miikka Laasonen.” He held out his hand and she shook it, smiling at him.

  “I’m Charli Bartosiewicz.”

  “Charlie? Like boy?”

  She grinned. “Short for Charlotte. But I go by Charli.”

  “Chaaaar-lot…” He drew out the sound of the A and cocked his head. “I like this. Very pretty.”

  “Thank you.” There was a faint blush on her cheeks and he wondered why telling her she had a pretty name embarrassed her. She was adorable in a geeky librarian sort of way. Her chestnut hair was pulled to one side in a long braid over her shoulder, but even braided you could see golden highlights shot through it. She was petite, maybe five-feet-two or so, and though it was hard to see her eyes through her glasses, they were definitely blue and everything about her was fairly delicate. Her features, her figure, even her smile, which seemed shy. And though she wasn’t his usual type, he was drawn to her for some reason.

  “Okay, the spare is ready to go,” the guy who worked at the shop said, approaching them. “If you want your regular tire done today, you’ll need to get back here soon, though, or I can’t promise anything.”

  “It shouldn’t take long. Thank you.” Charli got up and paid him.

  Miikka noticed she paid cash, carefully counting out a handful of bills and then stuffing the rest back in her purse. He took the spare tire from the guy and they headed back out to his truck. She got in without a word, lost in thought again, and it occurred to him that maybe she couldn’t afford a new tire. Hell, based on what he’d seen on her car, she needed four of them, but it wasn’t his place to tell her that.

  He wanted to help somehow, even though he barely knew her; it was the way he’d been raised. He made a lot of money and had a great life, so if this shy schoolteacher needed new tires, he was happy to do that for her. Except he’d learned early on that many women didn’t like that sort of thing and were instantly suspicious of his intentions, so he tended to keep to himself when it came to these situations, no matter how much he wanted to reach out.

  They got back to her car and he quickly put the spare on. As he checked out the other tires, he was positive she wasn’t going to be happy when she got back to the tire place.

  “Thank you so much for your help, Miikka,” she said when he put her jack and wrench back in her trunk. “I have to get back to the tire place so he can fix this today.”

  “You want I come?” he asked slowly. When she started to protest, he raised a finger, indicating she should wait as he typed in his translator and then read the results. “A woman alone often gets taken advantage of at places like that. If I come, and they think I’m your boyfriend, they probably won’t try to upsell you or anything.”

  She shook her head. “Oh, I’ll be okay. I’ve been on my own a long time. I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s just one tire.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I think maybe all tires bad.”

  Charli stared at him. “What do you mean?”

  “All new tires, Char-lot.”

  “Shit.”

  Charli wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

  As Miikka had predicted, she needed four new tires and they weren’t cheap. There went the renovation of her master bathroom. She’d been saving up to gut it and now she’d have to dig into that fund, but mostly she was bummed that she was missing her eye appointment. She’d been so excited about getting contact lenses again.

  She’d worn contacts all through high school, but then her life had imploded and she’d gone back to wearing glasses. After graduating from college, it seemed fitting for a kindergarten teacher, so she hadn’t bothered changing anything. But she was turning twenty-five this summer and it seemed like a good time to make some updates, even if it was something as small as contact lenses.

  Today had turned into a comedy of errors, though, and while she barely knew him, she was suddenly glad she’d taken Miikka up on his offer to come with her. The man at the tire store had tried to sell her a thousand dollars’ worth of tires, talking about all-season this and bad weather that. Miikka had nipped it in the bud, pointing out it was a small, older car that didn’t need anything that expensive. A few negotiations later, her car would soon have four new tires and she was sitting with a hunk of a hockey player who’d been the one bright spot in her day.

  “You are sad?” Miikka asked her as they waited, sinking down next to her and apparently not that anxious to leave yet.

  “It just seems like one thing after another lately,” she said ruefully. “I had to get a new battery not that long ago and the water heater in my house broke two months ago, all while I’m trying to renovate my master bathroom.”

  “You live alone?” he asked.

  She nodded. “And it’s a really old house. My grandfather left it to me but it seems like I have to fix something every other week. It’s better than renting, since I don’t have a mortgage, but I have repairs all the time, so it’s almost the same thing.” She paused, watching a bit of confusion in his eyes. “Am I talking too fast?”

  He smiled sheepishly. “Yes. Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry.” She pulled out her phone and started typing. She found the Google translation program and typed in what she’d just said. Then she handed him her phone since she couldn’t pronounce the words in Finnish.

  He read it and nodded. “Yes. Much work, houses.”

  “And not much money, as a teacher.”

  He seemed to be thinking about something and then cocked his head. “You teach me?”

  “What?” Charli wasn’t sure what he meant.

  “You can teach English?”

  “Well, yes, I suppose, but—” she began.

  “I give money, you teach?”

  “I…” She occasionally tutored children who were falling behind, but she’d never done it for money.

  “I buy—” He motioned to the cash register. “You teach, one month.”

  “I…” Charli was at a loss for words. Tutoring might be fun, and doing it in exchange for these new tires meant she could continue her bathroom remodel without dipping into her savings.

  “Please?” He gave her an impish smile and she laughed.

  How bad could this be? He was a professional hockey player and the best-looking guy she’d met in a long time, so it seemed like a win-win for her.

  “Yes, okay. I’ll tutor you in English. But don’t you travel?”

  He nodded. “Yes.” He pulled up the team’s schedule on his phone and showed her their days off. “Here. After practice.”

  “Remember, I work until three o’clock every day.”

  He typed a response into his translator and she leaned over to read it:

  On days we don’t have a game and we’re not traveling, we can meet after you finish work. When I travel, maybe we can talk on the phone for a little while each night to practice?

  She nodded. “Yes, that works for me. Are you sure you want to give me the money up front, so to speak?”

  He looked at her blankly and she went back to the translator. He read over her shoulder and then nodded emphatically. “Yes! This okay.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome.” He looked around. “We start now?”

  She laughed. “Sure. Let’s talk and I’ll get a feel for how much you know.”

  “I understand, but talking, not so good.”

  “That’s okay. We’ll get there.”

  3

  They talked for two hours while they waited for her car to get done and Charli couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun essentially doing nothing. Miikka was sweet and funny. She didn’t mind his difficulty communicating because it wasn’t hard to figure out what he wanted to say. Mostly, they used the translator, but she was using
their conversation to gauge how she would teach him going forward.

  “Food?” he asked her when the car was finished. “I am hungry. You come?”

  “Oh, I don’t think—”

  “Is long day,” he said gently. “Pizza?”

  She hesitated but then smiled and nodded. “Okay. Yes.”

  They’d just sat down and ordered at a small, local Italian place when Dani’s name flashed on the screen of Charli’s phone. She answered right away.

  “Hey!”

  “Did Miikka get your tire changed?” Dani asked her.

  “Oh, he’s been a lifesaver,” Charli responded. She gave her an abridged version of what had happened.

  “So you’re at dinner?” Dani asked, surprise in her voice.

  “Yeah.” Charli paused. “Why?”

  “Miikka is one of my favorite guys on the team,” Dani said. “I adore him. He just, you know, usually goes for…wilder women.”

  “Oh. Well, that has nothing to do with me. I’m going to tutor him in English.”

  “That will be really good for him,” Dani responded after a slight hesitation. “He’s been complaining about his English since I’ve known him.”

  “Okay, well, thank you so much for your help today and I’ll talk to you soon.” Charli disconnected and looked over at Miikka. The more time she spent with him, the hotter he got, so she had no trouble imagining him with some supermodel or movie star or something. All things she definitely wasn’t.

  “Okay?” he asked when she met his eyes.

  “Dani was checking in to make sure the car was okay.”

  “Dani is good friend.”

  “We got to know each other because she’s the room mom for my class,” Charli said.

  He frowned. “Room…mom?”

  “It’s when a mother of one of my students helps me with parties, special events, comes and reads to the class—oh!” Her eyes widened. “I have a great idea! What if we set a goal for May? It’s only March, so you have plenty of time, but you’ll practice reading and speaking, and then you can come talk to the class. They’ll be so excited—they love the Blizzard. You can read to them.”

  He blinked. “You want I read? In English?”

  He looked so horrified she started to laugh. “That’s what you’re paying me for, right? To teach you? The kids love when Sergei comes, so we’ll plan for you to do it toward the end of the school year. Oh, please say yes.”

  He hesitated but then nodded. “If you think this is good, okay.”

  “So tell me about you. How long have you lived in the U.S.?”

  “I go Canada when I am fifteen to play Major Juniors. QMJHL. I play in Quebec.”

  “You came alone? Without your family?”

  “Yes. I stay with billet family. They are Finnish so easy for me.”

  “But not much practice with English.”

  He shook his head. “No. This bad.”

  “And then?”

  “I play in Nova Scotia, then come to Alaska.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  “Me too. I’ll be twenty-five in June.”

  “For me, October.”

  “I’m older than you,” she teased.

  He grinned. “Is okay.”

  They talked all through dinner and Charli forgot about her disrupted plans, her tires, and even the fact that she couldn’t reschedule her appointment with her optometrist for a week or two. Miikka was adorable, easygoing and really handsome. He had pale blue eyes beneath light eyebrows, a straight nose and full lips that made her think about kissing. He was laid-back, and when it came to his broken English, between the translation programs on their phones and her ability to read between the lines, it wasn’t a big deal at all. She was looking forward to seeing him again.

  “So when do you want to meet next?” she asked him.

  “Two days,” he responded. “Tomorrow we have game so I must go to morning skate, then nap.”

  “I don’t get to many games,” she said ruefully.

  “You want ticket?” he asked.

  She hesitated. He’d already been so kind and it felt like she was getting the better end of the deal, but she loved hockey and normally didn’t splurge on the tickets, so this was a rare opportunity.

  “Yes.” He encouraged her with his quirky smile. “Is fun.”

  “Okay. Yes. Thank you.”

  “I will leave name at gate?”

  “The gate or the will call window?”

  He frowned. “I don’t know. I will tell Dani, yes?”

  “Perfect.”

  He paid the bill and they walked out to their respective vehicles.

  “See you tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yes. Thank you. You’ve been very kind today. I can’t say thank you enough.”

  “One time is good. Hei hei!” Bye. He waved as she pulled out of the parking spot.

  Her students were at lunch the following day when Charli got a text from Dani.

  DANI: So Miikka asked me to get you a ticket. It’ll be at will call. Is that okay?

  CHARLI: Yes. Thank you. He wasn’t sure what the process was. I’m guessing he doesn’t have many guests?

  DANI: No, but it’s fine. I got you a seat with the WAGs so you won’t be alone. My friends Hailey and Whitney know you’re coming and they’ll make sure you don’t feel weird.

  CHARLI: You didn’t have to do that. But what’s a WAG?

  DANI: Wives and girlfriends. Hailey is married to Kane Hatcher and Whitney is married to Jake Carruthers.

  CHARLI: Oh, okay. Well, thank you. Will I see you tonight?

  DANI: Absolutely. Hailey and Whitney will bring you back to the family lounge after the game so you can say hi.

  CHARLI: That’s wonderful. I have to go pick up the kids from the cafeteria, but I’ll see you later!

  Charlie closed her phone and did a mental jig. She was more excited than she should have been over a ticket to a hockey game, but more than that, she was looking forward to seeing Miikka again. It had been a couple of years since her last date and last night’s dinner had felt like one. That it was with a hunky professional athlete made it that much more fun.

  Not that she was expecting or interested in anything long-term—guys like him didn’t go out with mousy little kindergarten teachers—but a little attention from someone of the opposite sex might be good for her. She’d been alone far too long. One terrible high school relationship had changed the course of her life, but maybe it was time to dip her toe in the waters once more.

  Or maybe not.

  4

  Charli got to the arena early and treated herself to a glass of wine. She strolled through the noisy concourse to the section listed on her ticket and went down the aisle towards her seat.

  “You must be Charli.” An attractive brunette stood up when she got to her row and Charli looked up.

  “Yes, hello.”

  “I’m Hailey.” The brunette smiled. “Dani told us to look out for you, so come join us.”

  “Thank you.” Charli squeezed into a seat between Hailey and a pretty blonde.

  “I’m Whitney,” the blonde said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “So you’re Niko’s teacher?” Hailey asked.

  “I am.”

  “That’s awesome,” Whitney said. “You must have the patience of a saint!”

  Charli laughed. “Sometimes. They’re usually very sweet, but there are days when I wonder what I was thinking.”

  “Have you been teaching long?” Whitney asked.

  “This is my third year,” Charli replied. “I was lucky to find a job right out of college, but I had to relocate here from Seattle. Everything kind of fell into place because my grandfather passed away and left me his house here in Anchorage. They had a shortage of teachers when I applied, so it worked out perfectly.”

  “Is your family here?” Hailey asked.

  Charli shook her head. “They’re in Kansas.”

  “Mus
t be hard to be so far away.”

  “Not really.” She shrugged. “We’re not that close. Where are you guys from?” She deftly deflected that line of questioning because she never ever talked about her parents. To say they weren’t close was an understatement, but she hadn’t told anyone here in Alaska, except her friend Kendra, the reasons why, and she wasn’t going to start now.

  “Hi, sorry I’m late.” A pretty brunette with curly hair and freckles, whom Charli recognized, sank down beside Hailey. “We had a lab in labor and I didn’t want to leave her.”

  “Hi, Sara.”

  “Oh, hey, Charli, how are you?” Sara was Niko’s nanny, so Charli knew her fairly well. “How nice you came to a game.”

  “Miikka invited her,” Hailey said with a grin.

  “Really?” Sara’s eyes widened. “Oh, finally! The boy has been so desperate to fall in love…and he finally chose someone normal.”

  “Oh, no,” Charli said hurriedly. “I’m tutoring him in English. That’s all. We’re not dating or anything.”

  “But he invited you tonight, didn’t he?” Whitney asked. “He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t like you.”

  “I think he’s just being kind.”

  “He’s never invited his hairdresser or the woman who cleans his house to a game,” Sara pointed out.

  “He’s just being nice,” Charli repeated softly. “And anyway, it wound up being Dani who got me the ticket.” She wasn’t used to being the center of attention like this and hoped she wasn’t blushing, since she seemed to do it often.

  “Miikka needs a nice girl like you,” Whitney said. “He’s dated some real crazy ones, if you know what I mean. He says he wants to settle down but then he goes after women who are the opposite of that.”

  “And he’s so self-conscious about his English,” Hailey added.

  “Well, that’s why he hired me,” Charli pointed out. “So I can help him speak better English.”

  They all turned to look at her as if she was saying something new.

  “What?” she asked after a moment.

  “You’re in the perfect position to show him—” Hailey cut off mid-sentence. “Wait, you’re single, right? I mean, are we playing matchmaker for nothing?”