Page 40 of Sven

“Yeah, I love my granddad.” She handed Alice back her phone. “There. Call me whenever you want. We should get coffee.”

“It’s a date,” Natalie said with a warm smile.

Sven’s eyes narrowed. “We need to leave, Natalie.”

What the hell was going on with him today? They got their skates off and Winnie situated. Before she knew it, she was on the way home with Sven. Neither had yet to say a word.

“So, do you want to tell me what all that was about?” she asked, folding her arms and looking over to Sven in the driver’s seat.

“What are you talking about?”

She gazed out the window and shook her head. Why was he acting like this?

“Is Mr. Roper really your grandfather? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

She huffed in astonishment. “It didn’t come up.”

“It didn’t come up?” He turned to her and balked.

“No. It didn’t. I don’t know anything about your grandfather.”

“It’s not that same. I just don’t like finding things about you from other people.”

“Well, that doesn’t give you the right to act like a baboon’s ass,” she said.

Sven whipped a double take, trying to keep his eyes on the road. She was as surprised by her own words as Sven seemed to be.

An amused expression flitted across his face before he flattened his lips. “I was not.”

“You were, too! When I was skating with Murphy?—”

“Why were you skating with him?”

She sputtered, “Because he was being nice to me. What was I supposed to do there? Sit and wait for you to be done and not talk to a soul?”

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to date any of the players.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wow.”

Sven just shook his head and kept his eyes on the road. She glared at him as they turned onto his street. The silence filled the car as both seethed. What on earth had gotten into him? He had always been so nice. Sure, he had a cocky air about him, and she knew he was a player, but he had never been a downright ass before.

The tired squealed as Sven turned into his driveway. He got out and opened the back door to get Winnie out.

“You know you don’t have a say in who I date, but of course I won’t date your colleagues. Believe it or not, I’m a professional. But that doesn’t mean you can act like that,” she said as she glared at him over the car.

“We are not discussing this right now. I’m going to go get Winnie down for her nap.”

He turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving Natalie in the car. She slammed her door and headed inside. This wasn’t over.

16

Sven

Sven took Winnie up to her room, sat in the rocker, and got out the bottle from her diaper bag. She grabbed the bottle and drank.

He took deep breaths, knowing he was acting like an ass, but when he saw her skating with Murphy, he just couldn’t seem to help himself. Even he knew he had no say in who she dated and Murphy was a good guy. But when he saw them skating together, he saw red.

This year had been crazy, and it was only the end of February. Natalie had only been here for couple weeks, but somehow, she already felt like an integral part of his and Winnie’s life. He’d been attracted to her since the interview, but he knew he needed a nanny, so he would just have to deal with it. But in the time, she’d been there, the attraction had done nothing but grow.

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