Page 45 of Sweet Thing

My mouth fell open. No, that couldn’t be right. I must have substituted my deepest fantasy for that final cry of release, taking the desire to be in Lars’s sexual crosshairs to its logical conclusion. Of course, he would think of me when he came. That was all part ofmywicked fantasy.

I played it back in my mind, rewound to the moment before, and … shit, that really happened.

“Adeline?”

Oh. This time, my name was not spoken as a groan or punctuating an orgasm, but in shock. Maybe even disgust at my creeper behavior.

And this creeper was pretty bad at covering her tracks.

I snapped my gaze to Lars who stood before me, his broad shoulders beaded with moisture, a towel raised to his chest and draped down the center-line. It covered most of the good stuff, but I still got an excellent view of sheer, tightly-packed muscle on either side of it. Those thick thighs I’d dreamed of. The curvature of his rock-solid ass. Hints of the V-cut. All there, for my viewing pleasure.

“What are you doing here?”

“I …” I gestured to the sleeping baby. “Mabel must have pushed Bear out of the bassinet. I brought it back in and didn’t realize you were, uh, busy.”

Busy.What a word choice!

Lars continued to stare, his cheeks darkly flushed, his lips a straight line of disapproval.

“How long were you out here?”

The query was bitten out. He didn’t know how much I had heard, but even if he assumed I’d heard that last part—my name on his lips when he came—then that was hardly my fault.

You stayed, Adeline. You stayed to listen, though you knew it was wrong.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to …”

His eyes darkened, swallowing all the blue. “Didn’t mean to what?”

I barely managed to gut the word out. “Listen.”

I wasn’t sure what I expected. A denial? An apology? A quick ushering me out of the room? Whatever it was, it wasn’t this.

Deathly, accusing silence.

I finally broke it. “I should leave.”

“Yeah, you should.”

Humiliated, I took a step backwards and my heel caught on something. Before I could stumble, Lars and his battle-hewn reflexes grasped my elbow and kept me upright. The movement brought him close, too close, and all that separated us was a towel, a hairsbreadth of erotically charged space, and the flood of embarrassment that was rushing in to fill it.

“Careful,” he murmured, low and husky, more warning than counsel.

His fingers burned through my skin, rivaling my shame in a flush across my body. I pulled away, sidestepped the overnight bag I’d almost tripped over, and fled the room on rubbery legs.

ChapterThirteen

We’re happy to report that the dream team of Kershaw and Nyquist managed to keep New York at bay last night. An inside source tells us that Nyquist wanted to take time off to deal with the surprise addition to his family, but this plan was met with resistance from his captain and the Rebels front office. Despite rumors of a rift between the D-men over the threat these changes impose to Theo Kershaw’s likely final year in the pros, they’ve managed to put that aside as the Rebels org rallied around to resolve Nyquist’s childcare issues.

In an interesting development, Kershaw’s daughter, Adeline, has stepped up as temporary nanny to Nyquist’s love child, a solution that no doubt ensures the Rebels captain maintains control over a volatile situation. Still no word on the mysterious woman who left the typically unflappable Finn in the lurch, but we have to wonder if Lars’s baby drama has more plot twists in store!

- @RebelsInsider

Lars

I had royally fucked up.

Not just the fact I’d jerked off to fantasies of my nanny—what a cliché—but how I’d reacted.