Page 38 of Sven

“Say cheese!” said Alice as she skated by with a camera.

Sven smiled that smile that made him so handsome . . . too handsome . . .

“You got a pretty good nanny there, Sven. I mean, the granddaughter of Mr. Roper’s gotta be good with kids, right?” said Alice with a smile before skating off to take more pictures.

“What did she just say?” Sven looked at her, confused.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, trying to drop his hand and skate off.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Sven said, still holding tight to her hand, keeping her next to him. “When she said Mr. Roper... she didn’t me THE Mr. Roper, right?”

Natalie chewed on her bottom lip, looking up at him.

“Oh my god. She did. Your grandfather is Mr. Fucking Roper.”

“Yes, he is, and he would not approve of you swearing in front of a baby,” Natalie said with her hands on her hips.

“I can’t believe it... I think I just hit the nanny jackpot.”

“Being his granddaughter doesn’t make me a good nanny. Trust me. You wouldn’t want my cousin as a nanny,” she said, turning to Winnie. “You might come home to little Winnie here drinking out of a red solo cup beating you at beer pong,” she said, talking to Winnie in an animated voice.

Sven laughed. “Yeah, I got the best Roper.”

Those words caught her by surprise. She didn’t know why they settled so deep in her, but they did.

“Hey, Sven,” Alice called from across the ice. “I think I want a picture of all the Magic dads and kids. What do you say?”

The smile that spread across his face could have lit up the whole arena.

“We’re on our way, aren’t we, sweet girl?” He gave Winnie a little bounce, and she smiled and laughed.

As Sven skated away, Natalie made her way around the ice. She was a little shaky, but for not being on the ice since she was in grade school, she thought she was doing well all things considered. Of course, someone skated by her with a little speed, causing her to stumble. She tried to catch herself, but then two strong hands steadied her.

“I’m sorry about that. I sometimes forget that not all the families are strong skaters.”

She peered up into the eyes of one of the Magic players who was taller and slenderer than the others.

“I’m Murphy,” he said as he made sure she was steady, then let her go.

“I’m Natalie. I’m here with Sven.” A look of confusion crossed Murphy’s face. “I’m his nanny.”

“Oh, right, I heard about that. I can’t believe Sven is a dad.”

Natalie’s eyes searched for him on the ice. She found him holding Winnie, while a bunch of other hockey players all tried to make her laugh. She’d heard rumors about hockey guys and had even seen a couple of these guys fight on the ice, but bring them a baby, and they are all sugar-coated goodness.

“He’s really great with her,” Natalie said, trying to bite back the grin that wanted to creep across her face.

“Where are you from?”

“I grew up in Mobile, Alabama.”

“I thought I heard it. My grandparents on my mother’s side are from Biloxi, but I grew up in Boston.”

“I can tell,” she said, mirroring his earlier statement.

“It doesn’t always come out, just when I feel comfortable around people. You must be people,” he said with a wag of his eyebrows.

Natalie almost rolled her eyes at the blatant pickup line, but she was enjoying the attention. While Murphy was nowhere near as hot as Sven, he was very attractive and, from what she could tell, closer to her age. He may have even been a bit younger than her.

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