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"Betts, I want you to meet Mikael Virtanen, the newest player of the team and the one who's going to take us to the championship again this year."
It wasn't completely unexpected that Todd would bring in new players to the team. But I wasn't quite sure how this changed our marketing plan, except that I'd have to get a picture of Mikael and Photoshop him into the existing marketing campaign.
Mikael took his glove off and thrust his hand toward me. "Hello." He had a thick accent I couldn’t place.
“Hello, Mikael. Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand and listened as he spoke to me in a language I didn't know, but the waggle of his brow and the sparkle in his eye made me feel like he was hitting on me. I glanced at Todd to see if he had a clue what Mikael was saying to me.
"So, I want to build a campaign around Mikael, kind of in the same way we did with Max and Big Ed."
I gaped at Todd. "You didn't have campaigns around Max and Big Ed. If I remember correctly, you built a questionable campaign around Naomi." But then I remembered part of Naomi's campaign was hyping news that she and Max were dating when in fact, they weren't. One news article had her in a love triangle with Max and Big Ed. Naomi had hated it but had gone along with it. She was way more important than I was, so maybe I needed to go along with this too.
"You can get back to work," Todd said to Mikael. Mikael put his glove back on and skated backward toward Connor, blowing me a kiss.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Todd. "We need to talk about this." He hired me to market the team, not one guy.
Todd was either clueless to my irritation or he didn't care. "That's why I brought you here. Let's go back to your office and talk."
As I followed Todd back to the offices, I played out all the different ways that his idea was a bad one. Yes, his idea seemed to have worked with Naomi since he had filled the stands and had taken a team that was on the verge of becoming extinct and took it all the way to the championships. But he had hired me for marketing, so I was going to have to stand up and be the expert and not let Todd get carried away with wild marketing ideas.
When we reached my office, he opened the door but stood aside so I could enter first. He had a friendly smile, and like what happened in the car, I found myself momentarily mesmerized by it. But as I entered my office, I gave my head a quick shake.
Don't lust after the boss, I chanted to myself.
5
Todd
Iwasn't sure what to expect when I told Betts about Mikael and my intention to make him the center of our marketing campaign. What I got was a similar response to that I had gotten from Naomi last year when I talked to her about how we could bring fans to the games by letting the media hype a story about her and Max. She hadn't liked it either, but she had gone along with it, and as a result, we all got what we wanted, her recognition as a great coach and me a team that won a championship and was making money. I didn't see any reason I wouldn't be able to get Betts on board with this new plan.
In many ways, Mikael reminded me of Bo Tyler before marriage, when he’d been the bad boy of the NHL. Mikael was good-looking, which meant women would be interested in coming to see him play. He was athletic and had finesse on the ice, which would bring in the men. And yes, he had the reputation of being a ladies’ man in his home country of Finland, and while I didn't want him to do anything that was offensive or disrespectful, I knew that Bo's antics had made him popular and I was hoping that Mikael would do the same for us.
I held the door open for Betts so she could enter her office, and then I stepped in, closing it behind me. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to shut us off from the rest of the world because even when she was wearing her ice princess persona, she was fascinatingly sexy.
She leaned against her desk and looked at me like I'd grown a third eye in the middle of my forehead.
I gave her an affable smile. "So, what do you think?"
"Do you really want to know what I think?"
"I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't." I braced myself for her negative commentary, feeling confident that I would be able to overcome any and all of her objections.
"I seriously wonder how you've become the bazillionaire juggernaut that you have because this is not a good idea."
I took in a breath to steady the sizzle of agitation. People questioning my business acumen was not unusual, but considering how successful I was, I figured by now, they would notice that while my ideas might be a little bit outlandish, they always worked.
"I know you spent a lot of time on the other campaign, but we really need to switch gears and focus on Mikael."
"Why? Hockey is a team sport, so you should highlight the team. And how do you think the rest of the team is going to feel when they’re pushed aside for an unproven player?"
My jaw clenched because I didn't like what she was insinuating. Maybe it was unfair to the rest of the team, but this was a business, and businesses only succeeded when they brought in money. Without it, there wouldn't be a team.
"And are you really going to put everything behind this kid we've never seen skate? What if you do that and it turns out he sucks?"
I shook my head. "He doesn't suck. I’ve seen him play, and back home in Finland, he is extremely popular. He's the kind of player hockey fans love to watch, and he's got the charisma that's going to make people interested in him, and through him, interested in us."
"Charisma? Is that what it's called now? Because I'm pretty sure he hit on me, and while I don't know what he said, it's quite possible that it could lead to a lawsuit."
I stepped closer to her, partly because I wanted to impress upon her how important this was, but also because I loved the way her eyes fired with heat when I drew near. I wanted to get a better look at them. "That’s why I brought you here. I want you to help him clean up his rough edges. We'll get him into some English classes and give him lessons in how not to be a douche. It's a big job, and I'm asking you to do it."
