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“Just for a minute,” he told her, but she shook her head fiercely, and Brynn’s heart ached at the helpless look on his face.

“I’ve got it,” Layla said, climbing down into the next row of seats and getting behind him. He lifted one foot, holding it up so she could get at the laces, and she worked swiftly to undo them.

“Be careful of the blade,” he warned when it was loose, and she grabbed the boot by the back of the heel and tugged it off. By the time the other one was off Kara was through the worst of the contraction, so Tommy got to his feet and scooped her up into his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Kara sobbed, burying her face in his neck.

“Baby, I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” he vowed, and with his teammates cheering and banging their sticks on the ice, followed Angela up the stairs and out of the arena in his stocking feet,Layla close behind, her phone in one hand and the bag of candy in the other.

Brynn kept the camera trained on them until they disappeared, then panned back to the ice, where Jude stood hooting and cheering along with his teammates. And when his gaze met hers and he winked again, she was grateful he was too far away to see her thighs tremble.

7

Isobel Carolina Jakes came into the world at three-twelve in the afternoon, in the back seat of the car taking her mother to the hospital. She was born into her father’s hands while he wept tears of unashamed joy, and when he’d passed her safely into her mother’s arms, fainted dead away.

“Did you get it all?” Brynn asked when she’d stopped laughing.

“Every second,” Angela said. “He managed to do it just as we pulled up to emergency, so when the guy with the gurney opened the door, he flopped right out onto it. And since I managed to keep Kara’s vagina out of the shot, the whole thing is usable.”

“Are you going to use it?”

“Oh, Tommy already posted it. The man is impossible to humiliate.”

“And Kara? How is she?”

“A little shellshocked, I think, since she went from zero to baby in less than an hour. But she’s good. They’re keeping both of them in the hospital overnight just to be safe, but they’ll probably come home tomorrow.”

“That’s great. Oh, I sent you the footage from the arena earlier.”

“How’s it look?”

“Hilarious,” Brynn recalled with a chuckle, then sighed. “And sweet.”

“Hilarious and sweet is pretty much Tommy’s brand. I’ll look at it later. Right now I’m rescheduling everything on his calendar, which is why I called. I could use a favor.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

Five minutes later when Jude walked in the front door, Brynn was still taking notes. “Okay, I’ll call them first thing in the morning. Tell Kara hello from me, and congratulations. Tommy too. If you need anything else—okay. Okay, talk to you soon. Bye.”

She hung up the phone and turned to Jude, who was watching something on his phone and laughing so hard he was leaning on the couch to keep from sliding to the floor. Tilly, wanting to get in on the joy, was dancing in place at his feet. “What’s so funny?”

“This video of Tommy,” Jude managed, and turned the phone so Brynn could see Tommy flop backwards out of the door of an SUV and onto a gurney, unconscious, still in his practice gear.

“Uh-huh,” Brynn said, more amused by Jude’s reaction than Tommy’s faint. “Listen, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure.” Still laughing, he circled the couch and sat down. “Hey, Tilly girl. How’s it going?”

Brynn tried not to be charmed by the way he cooed to the dog, putting the phone down to rub her ears with both hands. It was pointless, but she tried, just so she could say she had.

Still petting the dog, he looked up. His hair had fallen over his forehead, half shielding his eyes, a good thing because the impact of that bright blue gaze was heady enough. “What’s up?”

Putting her lustful thoughts aside—a true act of professionalism if there ever was one—she sat down and worked up a smile. “Do you have any plans for this weekend?”

Tilly, annoyed that he was now splitting his attention, went up on her hind legs and barked. He patted her on the head, but his eyes never left Brynn’s. “Why?”

“Angela called,” she began, and he straightened, alarm tightening his features.

“Is everything okay? The baby?”

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