it much thought, but I agree that it starts to lose its allure once you’ve done a few.”
Their eyes met again, and they both chuckled.
“How did we get on this subject?” she asked.
“It’s Logan’s fault,” he said solemnly.
“Absolutely.”
Donovan dropped her off at Gage’s, pulling into the long, winding driveaway and putting his SUV in park.
“Tonight was fun,” he said, looking over at her. “I’m looking forward to Halloween.”
“I am, too.” She turned to him. “I’ll see you after the game, yes?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably get there about nine.”
“Okay. See you then.”
He leaned over and lightly brushed his lips across her cheek. “Good night, Tara.”
“Good night.”
She got out of the car and went inside without looking back, though she knew he waited for her to get inside because the headlights of his SUV didn’t move. She shut the door behind her and made her way upstairs to her room. Their impromptu date had been fun, and she was looking forward to tomorrow night’s date more than ever.
She was also intrigued by the coaching position he’d told her about. As soon as she changed into her pajamas and washed her face, she sat down with her laptop and looked up the link he’d sent her. It was right up her alley, combining women’s hockey, coaching, and an academic setting. Even if there wasn’t any teaching involved, it would put her in a position to network with professors at the college.
Her first issue was creating a resume. She hadn’t needed one in Finland, since all her jobs had been through word of mouth, but this would require some finesse and a lot of help because she had no idea how to do an American resume. Gage would be willing to help, and she’d have to talk to him in the morning, but for now she scoured the internet for everything she could find about the team.
Tudor Community College wasn’t well-known, but they had an excellent though often overlooked women’s hockey team that often fed into teams of the bigger universities. In fact, now that she was studying the roster, she knew one of the players. Cassie Lynch sometimes joined them for their Saturday games, though now that hockey season had started at the college, she didn’t show up very often. Tara had known Cassie played for a college team but had forgotten it was Tudor. She didn’t have her number, but it was possible Dani or one of the others did. She would make sure to reach out to them on Monday because the more she read, the more excited she was about the prospect of the job.
It sounded perfect for her, a job that would keep her active and also involved something she loved—hockey. It probably was a pipe dream because in addition to having limited experience actually coaching, she didn’t know how long it would be until she could legally work. If Gage couldn’t make the visa happen, she didn’t know anyone else who could.
She pulled out a notebook and made a list of things to do in the morning, including talking to Gage about the visa, working on a resume, and hopefully chatting with Cassie at some point.
Between a wonderful evening with Donovan and a lead in the job department, Tara fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. Maybe things were finally starting to look up.
8
The official news that Aaron would be out for four to six weeks with a groin injury meant a lot of changes for Donovan. Though he was serious about staying in shape and staying sharp, there hadn’t been any pressure on him because he knew he would only play once every six or seven games, when Aaron needed a rest. He’d spent a lot of that time reading, catching up on his favorite TV shows, and the occasional hook-up. He’d told Tara the truth that one-nighters weren’t really his thing, but he did them on occasion because being celibate wasn’t his thing, either.
With him being the starter for at least the next month, he had to stay focused on nothing but hockey. Okay, mostly hockey with a tiny bit devoted to the hot redhead he had a date with tonight. Luckily, they’d won another game and he could relax a little and enjoy some Halloween fun. From the chatter he’d heard in the locker room, most of the team was going to be there, but the only person he cared about was Tara.
They’d had fun the other night, and