Page 24 of Learn Your Lesson

“Hey, she’s pretty lucky she got me, too,” he said with a tug on the lapels of his suit.

“Yeah. Lucky she got you to stop kissing your reflection long enough to notice her.”

Jaxson barely got the words out before Vince had him in a headlock, and then Jaxson was complaining about Vince fucking up his “flow” as I shook my head on a grin. At least the two of them weren’t trying to kill each other on the ice like they were earlier this season. Jaxson had been seeing Vince’s younger sister in secret, and when the truth came out, the whole team paid for it.

Just like I’d warned Jax we would, but that fucker couldn’t think straight at the time.

“Alright, I’m out,” I said, peering up at the drizzly sky. “I’m ready to see my girl.”

“Give her a kiss from us,” Jaxson said.

“I absolutely will not.”

They chuckled as I waved goodbye, stopping where Coach was long enough to confirm when we needed to report for practice on Saturday before I was heading for my car.

I couldn’t drive fast enough across town, the fifteen-minute ride to Davis Island feeling like a lifetime. It had only been one night, but I missed Ava any time I wasn’t with her.

The usual anxiety I felt over what I would walk into at home was present, too. In the rotation of over a dozen nannies I’d had in the last few years, I’d never known what to expect.

Although even before I pulled into the drive, I somehow already knew this time would be better.

Chloe had kept in constant contact with me, texting me updates from the moment I left the house for my flight to Boston. She informed me by the hour what Ava was doing, sent photos of them working on crafts, and even called me so I could talk to Ava before the game.

She was a fucking godsend.

The fact that she was so quick to step in and help me when Uncle Mitch had to bail told me how much she already cared about Ava. And I didn’t have to watch my daughter long to see that she felt comfortable with Chloe, too.

That made my chest pinch, because I had no idea if this was going to continue working, or if I’d have to start all over in nanny-search hell.

Chloe had been sweet to step in this week, but she had a full-time job already. And as much as she insisted it was fine, I couldn’t expect her to teach all dayandtake care ofAva in-between. Sometimes I needed her in the mornings, sometimes in the afternoons, sometimes at night, and many times — all three.

The girl was in her mid-twenties, if I had to guess, and was fine as hell.

There was no way she didn’t have something better to do with her time.

There was no way she didn’t want to go out with her friends, or be taken out on dates.

I couldn’t explain why that last thought made me grip the steering wheel a little tighter, my jaw tight as I turned onto our street. The rain was still coming down steadily, the streetlights blurred above.

And through that rainy haze, I could see Chloe all too clearly.

I could see the home-sewn outfits she wore, the way they always seemed custom fitted to highlight every soft, round part of her. I could see her warm brown eyes, her smile that was bright enough to knock the breath out of me every time she shot it my way. I could see the way her cheeks flushed the prettiest pink when she didn’t think I noticed, the way she’d pin her juicy bottom lip between her teeth out of nervous habit, how her hands would play with that silky red hair of hers.

Every time I watched her fidget, I wanted to give her something better to do with her hands.

And the way she looked at me, I could tell she had a crush, too.

Both of which were a big fucking problem.

Still, she had been nothing but professional. I knewIcould contain my urges. If it meant having her taking care of Ava, I’d happily fuck my hand every night to get out the tension coiled in my muscles. Hell, I’d even suffer through anight at Boomer’s, the local club where the puck bunnies hung out, if it meant I managed to control my desire for Chloe.

I didn’t know if she could do the same.

But she hadn’t given me reason not to trust her — not yet. She hadn’t made any inappropriate comments or advances. She’d kept her hands to herself. She didn’t seem like she had any ulterior motive.

I wondered if there would always be this part of me that would be suspicious of every woman I came into contact with, if the parade of puck-chasing nannies I’d dealt with had fucked me up permanently.

It was nearly two in the morning when I finally pulled into my driveway, and the fatigue I’d been fighting felt like a hundred-pound weight on my shoulders as I climbed out of my Bentley. I entered the door code and tiptoed inside, doing my best not to wake anyone.