Page 58 of Nanny for the Athletes

“I was going to pay,” Christian said when he finally joined me. “This date was supposed to be my way of thanking you for allowing Claire to help at the kennel.”

“You can pay for the food!” I said cheerfully. “And the beer. This date does include beer, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, sitting down behind the bowling terminal. “I’ll place the order after we enter our names.”

“I already did!” I said. “You’re up first, Chrissy.”

I tried to suppress my grin as he looked up at the scoreboard and saw his name: CHRISSY. But as soon as he glared at me, I lost control and fell into a fit of giggles.

“Just for that, I’m not paying for beer,” he said.

I scoffed. “Wow. The famous Christian Baker is a cheapskate. I’ll be sure to tell your fans over by the arcade all about this when we leave.”

He held up his middle finger at me, which only made me smile wider.

“Nice, the hockey game is on,” Christian said, gesturing to the ceiling-mounted television next to the scoreboard.

“Blues are winning against the Edmonton Oilers, two-to-one,” I said. “The announcer said Logan scored one of the goals.”

“Nice.”

“I haven’t bowled since I was a little girl,” I explained while we put on our bowling shoes. “My grandma used to take me on special occasions.”

“You were close to her?” Christian asked.

“She pretty much raised me for most of my life. My mom died when I was six.”

Christian paused while tying his shoes. He let the laces fall limp and put a hand on my leg. “Beth. I’m so sorry.”

I shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I’ve already worked through all my issues. I guess that’s why I sympathize so much with Claire, since she lost her mom around the same age.”

“What about your dad?”

“He divorced my mom when I was a baby. He didn’t want kids. He’s alive, as far as I know, living out in Minnesota or Wisconsin or something. Stop looking at me like that. I’m not a broken toy.”

He bent back down to tie his shoes. “I’m extremely lucky. I grew up with both my parents. They were about as perfect as a kid could ask for, always loving and supportive. I know how privileged I am, especially when I hear about your childhood, or Braden’s, or Logan’s.”

“How did Braden grow up?”

“His parents divorced when he was a kid. They had split custody. His father lived a few hours away, and would take Braden on the weekends. That got complicated when he started playing football. It was a messy custody situation.” Christian shook his head.

“And Logan?”

There was a commotion on the television that drew our attention. One of the Blues players took a hard hit by the opponent. Logan reacted by skating across the ice and throwing a punch. Another opponent came up behind him and grabbed his arms, which only made Logan angrier. By the time the referees broke up the fight, Logan’s helmet was off and he looked like he wanted to fight the entire team. The sight was sexier than I wanted to admit. I had never been into the bad boy demographic, but now…

There’s something about an angry bearded man that is so attractive.

“I probably shouldn’t talk about Logan’s past,” Christian said.

“Oh? Is it bad?”

“It’s not great,” he replied, standing up and testing his shoes. “But it’s probably best if I let him explain it himself. Okay, a pitcher of beer. What else do you want?”

“Chili cheese fries, please!” I watched Christian tap the order into the computer. “Since you brought up Logan… I have to ask. Is he involved in whatever this is? Because you’ve mentioned your old arrangement with the woman in Indianapolis, and you’ve said that you and Braden want to share me.” I paused to make sure there was nobody who could overhear in the lane behind me. “But is Logan part of that?”

Without looking up from the computer, Christian asked, “Do you want him to be part of it?”

“I asked you first.”

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