“Here, I can take her.” Mabel had fallen asleep in Adeline’s arms, so I was loath to wake her. But neither could I keep this vibrant woman in my kitchen doing her Madonna and Child impression all night.
We made the transfer without waking the baby. “Worn ragged by my stellar parenting skills.”
She gave a low chuckle. “You’ll get there.”
Maybe I would—with her help.
ChapterSeven
Lars
Where didpeople find the time to have children?
I understood the sex part. Hell, I always had time for the sex part, but the rest. The feeding and changing and cleaning and interviewing.
Several hours into the nanny hunt and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. To force my mind to attention, I thought back to Theo’s call this morning, the one he’d made as soon as word of my request for a leave of absence had filtered back to him.
“Are you fucking kidding me with this, NyQuil?”
At a good thirty-six hours in, I was inordinately sleep-deprived. I had managed a couple of fitful hours last night, unable to fall deeper because (a) Mabel might need me and (b) I was still furious with myself for this mess of my own making. All my life, I’d been careful not to behave in any way that drew comparisons with my father. He was the rabblerouser, the partier, the guy who wasted all his gifts. That wasn’t me.
Yet it looked like the apple didn’t fall far.
I didn’t need Kershaw to tell me I was handling this all wrong. My inner voice was more than up to the job.
“This is the only way forward I can see, T. I don’t want to compromise on the nanny and it’s not fair to expect Elle, Adeline, or anyone else to fix this.”
Theo had uttered a long string of epithets that would have made a nun blush.
“How important is this year, Lars?”
“I know how?—”
“How important?” He sounded as serious as I’d ever heard him. It was likely his last year in the pros. This was it for him.
“Very.”
“There’s only so far you can take this lone wolf act. You’re part of a team. The Rebels, sure, but more importantly, mine. Team Fucking Kershaw. Never mind Mabel, I’m the person you need to be pleasing!” That made me smile. I knew his game, but his argument was mighty entertaining, so I let him run with it. “And you think that taking time off and upsetting the greatest defensive partnership in the league is your best move?”
“Selfish of me, I know.”
“Damn right it’s selfish! And if Mabel knew anything about hockey or could even talk, she’d tell you I’m right. Also, you seem to have forgotten that you’ve never won the Cup.” As if that data point had escaped me. “I’ve already won it four times, so another one is just gravy, but I’m going all out this year to solidifyyourlegacy. I’ll talk to Addy again about taking on the gig.”
“She’s already helping with interviews. That’s the extent of her involvement, so leave it be.”
I had hung up on a grumbling Kershaw and tried not to get hung up on the fact that Adeline as Mabel’s nanny would solve most of my problems, while creating several more.
All because of what I’d overheard a year ago.
I think you’re the sexiest guy alive.
I wasn’t fool enough to think Adeline still felt that way. She’d traveled the world, gained a wealth of experience, probably met some scruffy backpacker closer to her age, and had forgotten all about me. In the bar the other night, she’d been cool about it, mature and even-handed. Since then, she’d given no indication that her crush might be still operational.
In my line of work, I had women throwing themselves at me a lot—witness my current predicament—but rarely did I have womenunthrowing themselves. Denying their intent after an initial showing of cards. I had a feeling that if Adeline stuck around to help in a more hands-on capacity, I might start wondering more about this woman and how sexy she looked in that dress last night.
I couldn’t think about that, not if I valued my career, my sanity, and frankly, my balls.
“Lars?”