Page 2 of Risky Game

“You’ve already scheduled her flight.” I shouldn’t have been surprised. Of course she did. She knew I wouldn’t say no.

“I’ll text you her flight information, and don’t worry, her flight leaves before ours, so we’ll be with her until she boards the plane. A flight attendant is supposed to sit next to her on the trip and then wait for you to come and get her at the gate. I already bought your ticket to get there, too.”

How very thoughtful of her.

“Bye, Vanessa.”

I hung up before I could do more screaming. It wouldn’t help anything. She’d had this all planned and scheduled before she called to ask, “Hey… would you be mad if…” which was exactly how she started that conversation.

“I can come back,” Jassen said as soon as I dropped my phone to my side. “Sounds like now isn’t a good time.”

Now was the worst time to be a country away from my daughter and my ex-wife, and it wasn’t the first time I’d wondered if I’d done the right thing in taking this job.

A team on the heels of winning the Super Bowl, veteran players who were more like brothers and some excellent rookies and trade deals over the summer, I thought we’d show up for our first preseason game looking like the champions they were.

That hadn’t happened and now the final preseason game was this coming weekend, and they still weren’t playing like champions.

Everyone was frustrated. Me most of all. As much as I loved Amelia and missed her and wanted her in my arms every single day, her coming right now was the worst possible time.

Hell, I hadn’t even had time to decorate a room for her in the house I’d bought.

“It’s fine. What’s up?”

“Cole’s sprained his ankle. Trainer sent me to get you.”

“Shit. PT room?” I was already headed in that direction.

“Yeah.” Jassen hurried next to me, gave me a quick look, and cringed. Looked away. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, which I’m not seeking details about, but it sounds like you need a nanny?”

“Quickly. Yeah.” I gave him the brief rundown. He had two small kids and a pregnant wife, so we’d spent some time talking about our kids this summer and early fall.

“I, um…I have a sister.”

My feet froze to the cement. “She’s a nanny?”

“No. Art history major in college, but she’s just moved in with me and Molly to help with the kids. She’s taking some time off school to pay off her loans before going to grad school. But Molly will be feeling better in a couple of weeks, and she’s great with them… if you need some help…”

It couldn’t be this easy. There was no way. The opportunity to have someone I trusted—well, a family member of someone I trusted—be there to help me? Way too coincidental or simple.

“Give me the day to think about it. And thanks.”

“No problem. Just let me know.”

“Why don’t you just pay off her loans?”

Jassen rolled his eyes. Chuckled. “You meet Ruby and you’ll understand. She’d be living in a box on the street before she took my help like that. Letting her live in my guest house to save her rent money was as much as she was willing to take.”

“Stubborn then.”

“Independent, but yeah. But she loves Luke and Brittney, and they love her, so…”

“Right. I’ll let you know.”

We reached the PT room, and I shoved the door open.

My worst fear hit me straight in the solar plexus when I caught sight of Cole. Up until that moment, I’d hoped Jassen was wrong. Once again, that was me.

Cole’s dark hair was a sweaty mess from practice, and his scowl had to be as large as mine when I was talking to Vanessa.

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