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Natalie

N atalie watched Sven disappear up the stairs. She tried not to let her eyes linger too long on his perfect round ass, but, damn. Never had she been around someone that attractive in real life. She sat with her phone and started scrolling. Before long, Sven came downstairs.

“Well, that didn’t take very long,” Natalie said.

“No, she was tired.”

“So, how did today go? Do you have any questions?”

“No, Ms. Malone was helpful with house stuff,” Natalie said as she stood.

Sven went and sat at the kitchen table, and Natalie followed him there. He pulled out his phone. “Here, I’m sending you our schedule, so you’ll have that.”

“Got it,” Natalie said as she checked for the text.

“I’ll have other practices and obligations that pop up, but that is it.”

Natalie looked at the list. It was packed with practices, games, and work-out sessions. “Wow, you have an intense schedule.”

“Yeah, the season can be pretty hectic. The one I’m sending over now is from my agent’s office. This is all my sponsorship meetings and photoshoots and all that stuff.”

The more she examined, the more she understood the complexity of his schedule.

“So, that’s most of it, plus other team obligations. I’m sent a schedule every week, so I’ll share that with you as soon as I get it.”

Natalie nodded, still poring through the schedule.

“Maybe living in the pool house isn’t a bad idea,” she thought.

“What was that?”

Oops—she’d said that out loud.

“I guess I didn’t quite fully comprehend how busy you would be. Maybe I should reconsider the pool house. It might make it easier for both of us, all things considered,” she said, gesturing to the schedule.

“It’s up to you. It would make things a lot easier, but it is whatever you feel comfortable with.”

She thought about it. She did feel comfortable around Sven. He’d been nothing but a professional, and he clearly cared about Winnie... but...

“What about her mom? When will she come back from the trip?”

Sven hung his head and took a long breath. She wasn’t sure she was going to like what was coming.

“I supposed I was going to have to tell you this at some point in time, so I guess it’s now or never.”

Uh oh, was this the other-shoe to this-too-good-to-be-true situation?

She watched him carefully as she blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair.

“Do you follow hockey?”

She shook her head.

“Why not? It’s the best sport.”

“Roll Tide... and continue.” She gestured for him to keep going.

“I should have known,” he said, shaking his head. “Football? American football at that? Hockey is superior.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we don’t have to agree on everything. Now, tell me what you need to tell me.”

He smirked at her, and she tried to ignore the little flutter in her heart.

“Okay... It probably works out better for you not knowing my past anyway,” he said.

This piqued her interest. While her and Sydney’s google search had shown him to be one stylish playboy, there had to be more to his story. She found herself wanting to know it all.

“I’ve been playing professionally since I was twenty. And—well, I was kind of known as a ladies’ man,” he said, looking at the table.

That wasn’t surprising with how attractive and charming he was.

He blew out another breath and slightly drummed his hands on the table. “Over a month ago now, someone showed up and told me I had a kid... That kid clearly being Winnie.”

What a minute. Natalie’s brain was trying to catch up. He’d only known about Winnie for a little over a month?!

“So, when I found out about them and found out where they were staying, I moved both of them in. I started noticing things with her mother were weird... and she was coming onto me. I just wanted to be there for them and take care of Winnie, ya know?” He finally looked up at her, his eyes searching his for understanding.

She nodded and had to stop the instinct to reach out and take his hand.

“A couple days before you came, I woke up one morning to find her gone. Not only that, but she had taken lots of really valuable sports memorabilia and some other stuff . . . and stole my other car.”

Natalie’s mouth fell open. “How did you get Winnie back?”

“She left her here.”

“She did what?!”

Sven shrugged and shook his head. “I know. You’ve met that precious angel. How could anyone leave her?”

“Oh my god, Sven. What a mess!”

This time, she couldn’t help it. Her hand gravitated to his on the table. The moment her hand touched his, it was like time stopped. She wanted to pull her hand back. She would do just that any moment now, but she just couldn’t seem to. But then his other hand closed over hers, and her heart was just about to pound straight out of her chest. He took another deep breath, looking at the clasped hands. He squeezed her hand and let it go, putting his hands in his lap.

“Do you know where she is now, Winnie’s mom?”

He shook his head.

“Did you call the police?”

He shook his head again.

“Don’t you think you should?”

“I don’t know... something doesn’t feel right about calling the police... I mean, she is the mother of my child, after all. I did call my lawyer, and we are working on a paternity test just so I’ll be able to get full custody, and I hired a PI to find her, so I can find out things about Winnie...” he said barely above a whisper, his voice cracking.

He cleared his throat and stood from the table.

“I’m thirsty. Are you thirsty? Can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m good. Are you?”

He deflated, holding open the door of the fridge, and just seemed to slump before pulling out a sports drink. As he closed the fridge, he gazed at her. This time, the smirk and the light that usually lit up his face were gone.

“I’m trying to be. I’m trying to deal with the stress of being a father, which I was not prepared for. But I’m also just so angry she left, not about her taking my shit. I don’t care about that. But I have a little girl who is going to ask questions about her mom someday... This is not how this was supposed to happen.”

He took a deep breath and opened the bottle. “So, there it is... Feel free to run,” he said before taking a swig from his drink.

“Now, why would I do that? You clearly need me more than I even thought you did.”

He gave a rough chuckle, but the darkness was still behind his eyes.

“Sven, what you have done for that little girl in a short amount of time is impressive,” she said.

He just shook his head, breaking eye contact.

“I mean that.” She paused, waiting for him to look at her. “Looking around this house, it looks like that little girl has lived here all her life.”

“Yeah, I’m really good at buying things,” he said as he made his way back to the table.

“It’s not just that, and you know it. I can tell you adore Winnie, and she seems to be thriving here.”

“Well, anyway . . . that’s the truth of it.”

“Okay, slightly more complicated that I thought, but I’m still here.”

He looked at her with his piercing blue eyes, and, fuck, if she didn’t watch it, she would fall in love with her boss. Especially after knowing what she knew now. Yes, this situation was messy, but the way he was handling it made her respect him. Now she respected him and liked him... Not a good combination for not falling in love with him.

“Do you still want to move into the pool house?” he asked.

“With that schedule?” She gestured to the phones before them. “I think it’s for the best.”

“What about time off?”

“One day a week and two evenings off?”

“Done.”

“Well, Mr. Olsson, I think we have a deal.”

He smiled at her. And heaven help her. It settled deep in her soul.

“When are you moving in?”

A couple hours later, Natalie was at Sydney’s, packing up her stuff.

“But, like, why do you have to move in?” Sydney asked as she sat on the guest bed, watching Natalie pack.

“His schedule is intense. It just makes more sense for me to live there.”

“He’s not taking advantage of you, is he?” Sydney asked suspiciously.

“What? No.” Natalie said, giving her a look.

“I’m just saying, Sven has a reputation,” she said, popping another chip in her mouth.

Natalie put her hands on her hips. “I would never sleep with my boss.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try anything.”

She turned back to stuffing things in her suitcase. “He hasn’t been like that with me. He’s a good dad, and he’s in kind of a tough spot.”

“Why is that?” Sydney asked, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Oh.” That seemed to get her attention. “Is it juicy?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“You’re no fun.”

Natalie zipped up her suitcase and looked around the room. “Well, I think that’s it.”

Sydney got off the bed and pulled her into a hug. “Don’t be a stranger. You didn’t move all this way to not see me all the time.”

“Please, I’ll be around all the time. You’re the one busy at the hospital all the time. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

Sydney helped her load her car.

Once everything was in, Natalie hugged her again. “I know I was only here for a few weeks, but it really means the world to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“Let’s do dinner next week.”

“Of course.”

When she pulled into Sven’s house, she rolled into the garage like he had told her to, and he was there, leaning against the door frame.

“Do you need help?”

“That’d be great.”

In a couple of trips, they got all her things to the pool house.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah, I didn’t bring much from me when I left Alabama.”

“Why did you move here from Alabama anyway?” he asked.

“That, my friend, is a story for another day. Will the baby monitor work out here?”

“Yeah, and we have this,” he said, walking over to the intercom on the wall. “I’ll have to make sure it still works.”

“As long as the baby monitor works, I’ll be good.”

As she said that, Winnie’s cries came from Sven’s pocket. “Well, it would seem like it works. I’m going to head in and get her and let you get settled out here.”

“Hey, would it be okay if I invited someone over?”

Sven stilled and slowly turned to look at her. “Who?”

Something about the way he asked made her think this was not only checking to see who she would bring around his kid, but she decided to leave that thought alone for now.

“Sydney, she’s my best friend, and she just kind of wants to see where I live.”

“Oh,” he said with a small shake of his head, and the smooth smile returned to his face. “Yeah, that’d be fine.”

He turned to leave. “Oh, I meant to ask you, how would you feel about coming to family skate next week?”