Page 5 of Icebound Hearts

“Great.” He clears his throat, his fingers digging into the plush stuffed animal that he’s holding in his hand. “That should give us enough time to get ready too.” His phone pings again, and he shakes his head as he checks the new text message. “Shit, I really do have to go. The sitter is waiting, and she already covered for me once this week when I was running late. I’ll see you in a bit?”

I nod, and Reese reaches out to give him a fist bump.

“I’ll catch you at practice tomorrow,” my brother says. “Glad you found Jake’s stuffed animal.”

“Me too. Thanks for letting me borrow your spare key.”

Once again, Sawyer’s gaze flashes to me, and a little zap of awareness runs down my spine. I can’t help but notice that neither one of us mentioned the fact that Sawyer accidentally walked in on me naked. Not that it’s a big deal or anything, and it would probably make for a funny story, but it also feels like something… private, in a way. Something that no one but the two of us ever needs to know.

Reese lifts a shoulder, turning to walk his teammate to the door. “Anytime.”

“See you soon,” I tell Sawyer.

Sawyer gives me a nod over his shoulder as he heads out, the stuffed rabbit gripped in his large hand.

Reese closes the door behind him, then turns and beams at me. “I still can’t believe you’re here, Vi! I’m so fucking happy you came! This is gonna be great. Callie’s gonna be thrilled to see you when she gets home.”

He pulls me in for another hug, and I hug him back, giving him a squeeze. “Thanks, big bro.”

I really am excited to see him and Callie again, and happy to be back in Denver for a while, since it’s always been one of my favorite cities. But none of that is enough to calm the butterflies flapping wildly in my stomach.

I don’t know quite how it happened, but somehow… I think I just became Sawyer’s new nanny.

Chapter 3

Sawyer

The babysitter is impatiently waiting for me at the front door when I walk in, and she’s not happy with me.

“You’re paying me for the extra time, right?” she says by way of greeting, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I pay her well to start with, and I’ve never once stiffed her on overtime.

“Of course. I’m sorry, Brittany. I had to stop by my teammate’s place to pick up Jake’s rabbit, and?—”

“It’s fine,” she interrupts, although she’s clearly still annoyed. Fortunately, her expression softens when she turns to face my son. Brittany might be a bit of a handful for me to deal with, but I never would’ve hired her if she wasn’t good with Jake.

“See you later, Jakey,” she tells him, and he waves good-naturedly.

I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and grab several bills, then hand them over to her. She counts it quickly, checks her watch as if to make absolutelysureshe got paid for every second, then gives me a nod and heads out the front door.

Once she’s out of sight, I huff a wry, exhausted laugh. It’s been hellish trying to piece together enough childcare for Jake with my busy hockey schedule, and I feel like I’ve had to repeat the mantrabeggars can’t be choosersway too often lately.

But maybe that’s all about to change.

Could this really work out? Having Violet be Jake’s nanny?

There’s a slight flicker of unease that rises up in me at the idea. Not because I don’t trust her to take care of my son, but because… well, I’m not exactly sure why, honestly. But it’s drowned out by a rising hope that this could—at least in the short term—solve a huge problem for me.

Jake is on the couch, watching Bluey again. I guess there are worse things he could be doing, but I specifically asked Brittany to limit his time in front of the TV. I suppress a grimace as I sink down onto the sofa next to him.

“Hey, buddy.” I nudge his arm with mine. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“What is it?” he asks, his gaze darting away from the screen. As soon as he sees the rabbit in my hand, he lights up.

“Chewy!” he exclaims, snatching the stuffed animal out of my hands and holding it tight against his chest. He beams happily, Bluey all but forgotten as he fixes me with a wonderous look. “Where did you find him?”

“You left him at Uncle Reese’s, just like we thought. Aunt Callie found him and left him on the couch for me to pick up after practice.”

Jake gives the rabbit another hug, then holds it out to look into its glassy, cartoonish eyes. “Silly bunny!”