Page 35 of Matched with Her Athlete Boss

Not that I know what my style is. Aside from the mint blue and navy blue colors from being on the Breeze, I don’t really have a style. “That would be great. I’ve never really had a place this big to worry about decorating.”

Kenzie laughs. “Where did you live before this?”

“A bunch of my college teammates had a house downtown. It took a while to save up because I have to pay my agent and publicist and all the other people that help with life off the ice. I wanted to have a good amount saved up before I branched out to a place like this.”

“Well, you definitely picked a great spot. Is it weird living by yourself now?” Her expression is thoughtful, which contrasts with the word ‘weird.’

I chuckle and nod. “Yeah, I mean, it’s nice to not get woken up in the middle of the night during a drunken tirade by one of the guys. None of them went on to play hockey after college and most hadn’t understood that people still have to function the next morning. I don’t need much, but I do need sleep.”

Her cheeks turn a rosy color. She spins and walks toward the guest bedroom. “I’m guessing you’re going to need a little of everything in here?” She pushes open the door and her posture changes.

I step up next to her, hoping she won’t back out on me now. “Yeah, so, um, my mom keeps just about everything I’ve ever touched. Let’s just say my dad was excited when I bought this house.”

Boxes line every part of the room, except for one small walkway to get into it. “Um, that seems a bit extreme.” Kenzie opens one of the boxes and I peek over her shoulder, seeing only a mess of papers and awards from my elementary days.

I chuckle and nod. “Yeah. She’ll probably need help next, after you’re done here, I mean.”

She blinks a few times but hasn’t moved since she opened the box. I wave a hand in front of her face and she swats it away with the notebook.

“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Kenzie swallows and nods. “This will be fine. It’s better that it doesn’t come with goop or cockroaches.”

I cringe. “Yeah, my home is cockroach free and I hope to keep it that way.”

She gives me a small smile. “I’m not going to come plant cockroach eggs here, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

I press my hand to my chest. “Thank you for that. I mean, I didn’t think I’d have to worry about that on the walk-thru of my home, but hey, this is all new to me.” There’s a long pause and I start scrubbing at my arms as if the cockroaches are here now.

“Are you okay?” Kenzie asks, giving me a side glare.

“I’m great,” I say, dropping my hands to the sides.

“What’s your vision for this room? A guest room? An office?”

“Yeah. Make it comfortable for whoever comes to stay.” Not that I have a list of people I’m ready to host right now. Life is crazy enough as it is with the long season and then my trainings to stay in top shape. “I guess if any of my friends from past teams come visit. I can’t think of anyone else right now.”

Kenzie’s soft smile at that answer makes me wonder if I passed some sort of unasked question or test.

We go through the rest of the house and I’m surprised by how thorough she is. “Are you sure you haven’t worked with a ton of people before? You’re more professional than my real estate agent was when showing me houses.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she says with a little laugh. “I actually just did this with my dad the other day. Well, not exactly this conversation. He’s got a lot more junk to work with than you do.”

“What do you think? Are you in?”

Kenzie shrugs. “This is a no-brainer, although with that pile of boxes, I can’t promise I’ll be in and out in three days. If they’re all filled with papers, it could be a while. But I can come back when I’ve got things arranged in my calendar.”

For some strange reason, I’m a little sad about that. She’s been a puzzle for sure, but I was hoping to have stuff moving along before the docuseries starts. I’m more curious about her every time she comes around. It’s like she’s got this hard outer shell. But crack her open a bit and her personality is snarky and fun. “I’m in and out of negotiations with it being the off-season. Let me know when you’ll be over and I’ll make sure to get here.”

She frowns at me, a flicker of worry in her eyes. “You don’t have to be here for the whole process. That’s why you hired me, right?”

“Right,” I say, thinking that through. “What’s your hourly rate? And do you have some sort of contract we need to sign?”

Her eyes go wide and she says, “Um, great question. I hadn’t really gotten that far yet.”

“Okay, well, let me know. Whatever you need, I’ll pay it.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “You must not have to negotiate a whole lot.”

---