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15

Natalie

N atalie tightened her laces as Sven skated over to her. It was the Magic family skate, and all the big men and beautiful women skated effortlessly across the ice. Her skating would not be quite as effortless.

“I’m so glad you guys came. Hey there, sweet girl,” he said as he bent down to take Winnie out of the carrier. “See ya out there.” He then skated off with the baby.

She was glad he had her because she hadn’t been on skates since she was a kid. She hoped she wouldn’t make too much of a fool out of herself.

“Hi,” said a girl with purple hair, who came to sit next to her to put her own skates on.

“Hi,” Natalie answered with her own friendly smile.

“I’m Alice.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Natalie.”

“Nice to meet you, Natalie. I haven’t seen you around before. Who are you here with?”

“Oh, umm... Sorry, I’m here with Sven’s daughter.”

“Ooohh,” Alice said, her face full of understanding. “I heard about that. I can’t believe what happened. Are you from the area?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Alice shrugged.

“No, I moved here over a month ago.” Wow, has it really been that long? Time is flying. “Are you here with a player?” Natalie asked, trying to get the attention off herself.

“Kinda,” she said with a smile. “I’m Coach Wagner’s daughter, but I’m also dating Taylor Campbell... Oh, and I’m here today taking pictures. I also work for the team—currently helping out with social media, but I’m just doing that for now. I’m trying to focus more on my art.”

“Oh, really? You’re an artist?”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to be.”

“I’ve always loved art. I met Bob Ross as a kid, and he gave me a painting lesson.”

“Shut up! How did you meet him?”

“My grandfather knew him and took me to meet him.”

“I loved all those old PBS shows. Who’s your grandfather, Mr. Roper?” Alice asked, laughing.

Natalie’s mouth dropped open. This wasn’t usually something she led with. Letting people know her grandfather was a beloved childhood figure for most people in the country was tricky. Kids everywhere had grown up watching his show, and everyone knew his name. Being his granddaughter was amazing, but it also came with lots of preconceived notions.

“Oh my god! Are you serious?”

Natalie shrugged.

“What is he like? Please tell me he’s not an ass. I hate it when famous people you loved as kids are assholes in real life.”

Natalie smiled. She’d been asked this question so many times, but she was always happy to let people know.

“No, with my granddad, what you see is what you get. He’s just that kind and caring in real life.”

“Well, that’s just wonderful,” said Alice before standing. “I need to go take some pictures, but we should hang out sometime.”

“I’d like that,” she said as she finished with her own laces.

She stood on her shaky ankles and made her way to the ice. Sven greeted her with a smile and a happy baby.

“How are you on skates? I forgot to ask.”

“We’ll see,” she said as she took his hand and slowly skated and wobbled.

“You got this.”

“Don’t you think you should focus on the baby in your arms and not the grown woman next to you trying to stand?”

“I think I can confidently handle both of you. I know you don’t follow hockey, but I’m a pretty good skater,” he said with a wink and his signature smirk.

She glared at him and shook her head, even though she loved that cocky side of him.

“Say cheese!” said Alice as she skated by with a camera.

Sven smiled that smile that made him so handsome . . . too handsome . . .

“You got a pretty good nanny there, Sven. I mean, the granddaughter of Mr. Roper’s gotta be good with kids, right?” said Alice with a smile before skating off to take more pictures.

“What did she just say?” Sven looked at her, confused.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, trying to drop his hand and skate off.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Sven said, still holding tight to her hand, keeping her next to him. “When she said Mr. Roper... she didn’t me THE Mr. Roper, right?”

Natalie chewed on her bottom lip, looking up at him.

“Oh my god. She did. Your grandfather is Mr. Fucking Roper.”

“Yes, he is, and he would not approve of you swearing in front of a baby,” Natalie said with her hands on her hips.

“I can’t believe it... I think I just hit the nanny jackpot.”

“Being his granddaughter doesn’t make me a good nanny. Trust me. You wouldn’t want my cousin as a nanny,” she said, turning to Winnie. “You might come home to little Winnie here drinking out of a red solo cup beating you at beer pong,” she said, talking to Winnie in an animated voice.

Sven laughed. “Yeah, I got the best Roper.”

Those words caught her by surprise. She didn’t know why they settled so deep in her, but they did.

“Hey, Sven,” Alice called from across the ice. “I think I want a picture of all the Magic dads and kids. What do you say?”

The smile that spread across his face could have lit up the whole arena.

“We’re on our way, aren’t we, sweet girl?” He gave Winnie a little bounce, and she smiled and laughed.

As Sven skated away, Natalie made her way around the ice. She was a little shaky, but for not being on the ice since she was in grade school, she thought she was doing well all things considered. Of course, someone skated by her with a little speed, causing her to stumble. She tried to catch herself, but then two strong hands steadied her.

“I’m sorry about that. I sometimes forget that not all the families are strong skaters.”

She peered up into the eyes of one of the Magic players who was taller and slenderer than the others.

“I’m Murphy,” he said as he made sure she was steady, then let her go.

“I’m Natalie. I’m here with Sven.” A look of confusion crossed Murphy’s face. “I’m his nanny.”

“Oh, right, I heard about that. I can’t believe Sven is a dad.”

Natalie’s eyes searched for him on the ice. She found him holding Winnie, while a bunch of other hockey players all tried to make her laugh. She’d heard rumors about hockey guys and had even seen a couple of these guys fight on the ice, but bring them a baby, and they are all sugar-coated goodness.

“He’s really great with her,” Natalie said, trying to bite back the grin that wanted to creep across her face.

“Where are you from?”

“I grew up in Mobile, Alabama.”

“I thought I heard it. My grandparents on my mother’s side are from Biloxi, but I grew up in Boston.”

“I can tell,” she said, mirroring his earlier statement.

“It doesn’t always come out, just when I feel comfortable around people. You must be people,” he said with a wag of his eyebrows.

Natalie almost rolled her eyes at the blatant pickup line, but she was enjoying the attention. While Murphy was nowhere near as hot as Sven, he was very attractive and, from what she could tell, closer to her age. He may have even been a bit younger than her.

“What brought you all the way to Glendale?” Murphy asked as they skated around the rink.

“I was looking for a change of pace, and my old college roommate asked me to come stay with her. Her sister’s the one that actually got me the job,” Natalie continued.

“Oh, really? Who is her sister?”

“Hillary?”

Murphy looked shocked.

“Oh, really? You’re Sydney’s old college roommate?”

“Yeah, she’s really the only person I know in the area.”

“Well, now you know another person,” he said with a friendly smile. “We should hang out sometime.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

“Here, put your number in here,” he said, handing her his phone.

She took it and put in her number. As she was handing it back to him, Sven skated up to them.

“Hey,” he said in a tone Natalie had yet to hear from him.

“Hey, where’s Winnie?”

Sven nodded over to Conner McPhee, the team captain, who had her and was busy making silly faces at her.

“What’s going on here?” Sven asked in the same curt tone she did not care for.

“I was just trying to remind myself how to skate, and Murphy here was keeping me company,” she said.

Murphy gave his eyebrows a friendly wag, and Sven scowled at him.

“I think Winnie might be ready to go. We should head home.”

“Oh, okay,” said Natalie.

“Let’s go get her,” Sven said, taking Natalie by the hand and pulling her towards Winnie.

She looked back at Murphy to see him watching them with a questioning look. She just shook her head, trying to convey she was just as baffled by his behavior as he seemed to be.

“Hey, sweet girl, let’s get you home and ready for a nap,” Sven said, taking her from Conner.

“Are you guys heading out?” asked Alice.

“Looks like,” said Natalie, still trying to figure out what had Sven acting so strange.

“Well, let me get your number. We should hang out sometime.”

“Yeah, that sounds amazing.”

She handed her phone to Natalie.

“Why didn’t you tell us your nanny is Mr. Roper’s granddaughter?” Alice asked Sven.

“Whoa. Are you really?” asked Conner.

“I loved that show when I was a kid. I’m a huge fan,” he said.

“Yeah, I love my granddad.” She handed Alice back her phone. “There. Call me whenever you want. We should get coffee.”

“It’s a date,” Natalie said with a warm smile.

Sven’s eyes narrowed. “We need to leave, Natalie.”

What the hell was going on with him today? They got their skates off and Winnie situated. Before she knew it, she was on the way home with Sven. Neither had yet to say a word.

“So, do you want to tell me what all that was about?” she asked, folding her arms and looking over to Sven in the driver’s seat.

“What are you talking about?”

She gazed out the window and shook her head. Why was he acting like this?

“Is Mr. Roper really your grandfather? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

She huffed in astonishment. “It didn’t come up.”

“It didn’t come up?” He turned to her and balked.

“No. It didn’t. I don’t know anything about your grandfather.”

“It’s not that same. I just don’t like finding things about you from other people.”

“Well, that doesn’t give you the right to act like a baboon’s ass,” she said.

Sven whipped a double take, trying to keep his eyes on the road. She was as surprised by her own words as Sven seemed to be.

An amused expression flitted across his face before he flattened his lips. “I was not.”

“You were, too! When I was skating with Murphy?—”

“Why were you skating with him?”

She sputtered, “Because he was being nice to me. What was I supposed to do there? Sit and wait for you to be done and not talk to a soul?”

“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to date any of the players.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wow.”

Sven just shook his head and kept his eyes on the road. She glared at him as they turned onto his street. The silence filled the car as both seethed. What on earth had gotten into him? He had always been so nice. Sure, he had a cocky air about him, and she knew he was a player, but he had never been a downright ass before.

The tired squealed as Sven turned into his driveway. He got out and opened the back door to get Winnie out.

“You know you don’t have a say in who I date, but of course I won’t date your colleagues. Believe it or not, I’m a professional. But that doesn’t mean you can act like that,” she said as she glared at him over the car.

“We are not discussing this right now. I’m going to go get Winnie down for her nap.”

He turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving Natalie in the car. She slammed her door and headed inside. This wasn’t over.