One broken heart. One winning bid at a date auction. One hot, grumpy hockey player.

What could go wrong?

According to my best friends, five months is too long to nurse a broken heart. They're determined to push me out of my nest made of sweatpants and sadness. I need to date; they say. They have the perfect plan; they say.

Maddox Graves is the star center of the Minnesota Rogues, and he's every woman's fantasy. Tall, dark, and broody, he's the guy you picture when you're home alone enjoying some self-care. And after my friends win a date with him at a charity auction, he's all mine for one night.

It's supposed to be a fun way to get back into the swing of dating. No pressure, no expectations, and absolutely no chance it will lead to anything more.

It's perfect.

Or it would be, if Maddox Graves wasn't an insufferable, self-absorbed mother-pucker.

I'm just an English teacher, but he thinks I'm a puck bunny after his money and fame. I think he's just another rich prick with an over-inflated ego. One who's using me and this date for a publicity stunt.

Which is why I'm so surprised when he agrees to do something selfless to help me and my students. Only one tiny string attached.

I won the date auction, but will Maddox Graves manage to win my heart?