Taming My Billionaire Hockey Boss

Chloe

My job description said to manage Mr. Maddox's schedule. It didn't say buy breakup bracelets for the women he sleeps with every week.

But here I was, on a Monday at 8 a.m., holding a little blue box from Cartier. The velvet was still warm from my palm.

"Lane?" He didn't even look up from his laptop. The typing never stopped. "Did you send it?"

Cole Maddox is a retired captain of the Chicago Vipers, now the billionaire owner. He is thirty-three, six-foot-four, grumpy, and convinced every woman in Chicago wants to marry him.

Which is funny. Because I don't.

Let me be clear about myself. My name is Chloe Lane. I'm twenty-six. I love my freedom, I love my job when he is not being an ass, and I love sex. Yes, you heard that right. Some people think I'm too much because of it. I don't give a damn what they think. I'm happy the way I am.

My rules are simple. Never sleep with the same man twice. Never do relationships. Because all that is guaranteed in a relationship is heartbreak, and I swore I'd never let another man break my heart again.

So yeah, I don't judge Cole for his weekly women. I judge him for being sloppy about it.

"Blonde named Amber?" I asked.

"No. Amber was last week. This week is Tiffany." He finally looked up. His gray eyes locked on mine. His hair was still damp from his morning skate, and his shirt was pulling tight across his shoulders.

"Did Amber get the one from last week? Because she texted me seventeen times."

I dropped the box on his desk. It landed with a soft thud.

This was my life. I have a degree in PR and I make fifty-five thousand dollars a year, which is barely enough because every cent goes to my father's drugs and supporting my family, and here I was cleaning up his love life while mine stayed completely uncomplicated.

I was about to say more when the door flew open without a knock. Three board members walked in as our eyes all snapped to the door.

"Cole, we have a problem from Bauer." They went straight to the point. No greetings at all. This must be bad.

Mark, one of them, dropped a file on top of the Cartier box. "They love the team but they hate your image. Quote: 'Maddox punches reporter. Maddox with three models in one weekend.' Their exact words: 'We want a family man to represent a family brand. If your image is not stable by Thanksgiving, we pull the fifty-million-dollar deal.'"

I saw the color drain from Cole's face. He stood up, his chair scraping loud against the floor.

"So what do you want me to do? Get married by Thursday?" "We want you to look stable," Mark said. "At least get a steady girlfriend."

They didn't wait for a reply. They filed out, leaving the Bauer file on top of the Cartier box like a verdict. Cole kicked his desk. The Cartier box jumped.

"Unbelievable. I don't have girlfriends." I'll agree with him on this. I don't have boyfriends either.

"Chloe-" Then his phone rang on speaker, cutting him off. He groaned loudly. One ring and I knew exactly who it was. One thing I actually like about him is how he adores his mum. He could leave everything just to talk to her when she called.

"Sweetie," his mum's voice filled the office, warm and loud, "are you coming to the lake house for Thanksgiving?" He dragged a hand through his damp hair. "I don't know, Mum, I can try to make up time."

"Good, because if you come alone again, I invited Sarah. Linda's daughter. She is a dentist, has two cats, and is dying to meet you."

I watched the big, bad hockey boss, the man who wasn't scared of a fight on the ice, freeze. Pure terror. I'm sure Sarah was his personal nightmare.

He panicked. The words just blurted out. "I can't meet Sarah. I'm bringing a girlfriend."

My eyes widened. My mouth fell open. I clapped a hand over it so fast my palm stung. He locked eyes with me. There was dead silence on the line. I'm sure his mum thought she had heard wrong, but then she screamed.

"A girlfriend? You have a girlfriend?"

I stared at him, wondering how the hell he was going to bail himself out of this mess. Not that it's my problem, but it's just so funny.

Cole muted the phone. His eyes never left mine. He mouthed, "Help me."

I pointed at myself, my eyebrows shooting up. _Me? Why on earth should I help you after everything?_

But then the thought hit me and refused to leave - ten thousand dollars, my sister's tuition due in two weeks, that email still sitting unread in my inbox because I couldn't afford to open it. This was actually a perfect opportunity, because all I had to do was pretend to be completely obsessed with this man just to save his fifty-million-dollar Bauer deal and get his mum off his back for Thanksgiving.

I swallowed hard and mouthed the only terms that would make it worth it. "Ten thousand dollars and one week paid leave."

He just stared at me for a second that felt like forever, then he unmuted the call. "Yes, Mum, her name is Chloe. Chloe Lane. You will meet her next week."

"Oh, wonderful! I can't wait to meet her. I'm sure she is beautiful." My face burned. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.

"I'll make her pie. I'm sure your sister will be thrilled..." "Love you, Mum. See you next week," he said and hung up.

He walked around his desk. Now he was so close I could smell his expensive cologne - something clean and sharp, like winter and money. It made my pulse jump.

"You want to be my girlfriend?" he said with a smirk.

All I wanted to do was wipe that stupid smirk right off his face and take back my words. I've always been competent. I won't let just his closeness distract me.

"Fake girlfriend," I said, lifting my chin. "We smile for your mum and for the Bauer photographer. We come home, we break up, you save your deal, I get my money. Period." I said it all at once, like I had already planned it in my head.

He crossed his arms, looking me up and down. That look men get when they think they know what kind of girl I am. He was so close I could see the little white scar on his bottom lip from playing hockey.

"My rules are simple. Rule one: never fall in love for real. Rule two: I don't sleep with the same man twice and I never do relationships, and that same goes for you, so don't worry, boss, I'm not going to fall in love with you," I said with all the confidence I had.

"Rule three..."

"Rule three is mine," he interrupted.

His smirk vanished. For the first time that morning, he looked completely serious.

"You'll find out at the lake house."