Page 17

CHAPTER 17

GUNNAR

T hese nine days away from home have been rough and with a loss to end our road series, the team is happy to be heading back to Nashville. Once the plane touches down safely, I text Cassie to let her know I’m on my way. Luckily my house is only twenty-five minutes away from the airport, which means I’ll make it home in time for dinner.

I get caught in a little bit of the Monday after work commuter traffic but am pulling into the garage thirty minutes later. The scent of garlic, grilled onions, and other spices weaves its way through my nostrils as soon as I open the door to the house, causing my stomach to rumble with hunger. I walk into the living room and stop dead in my tracks. There’s a huge sign saying “Welcome Home, Daddy” hanging from the wall with balloons on each side. Music is playing from the speakers and Cassie is supervising Izzy, who is pouring sauce into a bowl. My chest tightens with emotions while watching them.

Cassie had zero issues with Izzy while I was away and in fact, she made things so fun for her that Izzy barely wanted to talk to me. Cassie was constantly sending me photos of her when they would go on outings and she made sure I talked with Izzy in the mornings and afternoons. It was such a relief to know she was being taken care of so well that I was able to fully concentrate on my job and not worry about things here.

As if she senses she’s being watched, Cassie looks up and does a double take when she sees me. “Hi,” her voice is raspy with surprise and her smile almost takes my breath away.

“Daddy!” Izzy screams and in her haste to put the sauce down, she spills a good portion of it all over the counter. “Uh-oh,” she says, giving Cassie a worried look.

“Don’t worry about it. Go give your dad a hug and I’ll clean it up.” She helps Izzy off her step stool and Izzy races over to me.

I pick her up and hug her tightly to me. “God, did I miss you so much, Isabear.” I stick my nose in the crook of her neck and do my usual routine of tickle kisses. She screams so loudly my ear drum rings from potential damage. I put her down before she headbutts me by accident from all her squirming.

“Come see what we’ve done in the playroom, Daddy.” Izzy grabs my hand and pulls me toward the stairs. I glance over at Cassie, who has a sheepish grin on her face, before going upstairs. When Cassie asked if she could make some changes to the playroom, I told her she had free reign since decorating was not my forte.

Izzy lets go of my hand when we reach the top and runs to the playroom. She waits for me inside the doorway and when I reach the threshold, she asks “Are you ready for the surprise, Daddy?”

“I’m ready. Should I close my eyes?”

“Yes. Close your eyes and give me your hand.” She grabs my right hand and I cover my eyes with my left. I feel her pulling me into the room. “Okay, stop! Now open your eyes,” she demands.

I slowly open them and freeze, my mouth dropping open in shock. In one week, Cassie has transformed this place into a miniature school room. The walls have some of Izzy’s art hanging in stylish gold frames, a couple of dry erase boards for Izzy to practice her handwriting, and posters of site words are all hanging up. A long table is by the window and on it are two easels next to each other–one for Cassie and one for Izzy–with the paint supplies in between. One of the corners is set up as a cute reading nook with two small bookshelves overflowing with books that were still in boxes when I left and two bean bags are in front of them. I turn in a circle and see the back wall is bare but as I get closer, I can see a light sketch of stencils etched into the wall that looks like it will be a mural of a fairy garden.

“I texted Aly, asking permission to do a mural with Izzy,” Cassie comments from the doorway. I turn to look at her and a blush flushes her cheeks. “I hope you don’t mind what we’ve done in here.”

“Are you kidding me?” I walk around the room in awe. “This room is incredible.” What Cassie has done is turn a boring playroom into a kid’s dream world that will encourage Izzy’s imagination.

Her shoulders visibly sag in relief and her smile becomes brighter. “Izzy helped me with everything and picked out what pieces of her artwork she wanted to frame. She’s really talented for her age.”

I feel Izzy hold my hand and I look down at her, pride shining in my eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Iz. Do you love your new playroom?”

She smiles and nods. “We’re going to start painting the wall tomorrow, right Cassie?”

“Tomorrow’s my day off, but I promise we will start on Wednesday when I return.”

Izzy pouts and I ruffle her hair. “We’re going to have so much fun tomorrow that you won’t be disappointed about waiting one whole day to paint.” I glance at my watch and then at Cassie. “Now that I’m home, why don’t you start your day off early? I can finish making dinner.”

Her eyes widen in horror and she turns on her heel and runs down the stairs. “Oh my gosh, dinner!”

Izzy runs after her and my tour of the playroom seems to be finished. I follow after the girls and whatever Cassie is cooking smells amazing. “Did you burn dinner?”

“Saved it in the nick of time. It’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.” She pulls out a casserole dish from the oven and turns over the chicken to make sure it’s cooked. “Izzy, grab the plates and pick where we each are sitting at the dining room table, please.”

Izzy does as she asked and I feel bad standing here, watching Cassie take care of everything for us while I do nothing. “You didn’t have to cook dinner. I could have easily made something for me and Iz so you could start your time off.”

She shrugs. “I like to cook. But if you do as well, I promise to stop intruding on your turf.”

“God, no. I hate cooking.” That makes her laugh and the whimsical melody of it makes me smile. I try to think of something witty to say to make her laugh again but I’m stumped and don’t want to sound like I’m trying too hard.

“Why don’t you change so you don’t get food on your nice clothes?” she offers while straining the noodles from hot water.

“Are you demanding that I take my clothes off?” I tease, but as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I immediately regret them. The vivid memories of her taking off my clothes that night start replaying like a slideshow in my head.

Jesus, Gunnar, you haven’t been home for more than ten minutes and already you put the conversation in the gutter. She’s going to sue you for sexual harassment and then you’ll be out of a nanny. Izzy will be heartbroken and hate you forever.

“I’m sorry, that was really unprofessional of me.” I shake my head at myself. “I was just trying to be funny.”

She raises her eyebrows in surprise and glances to where Izzy is in the dining room. When she sees she’s out of earshot, she responds, “If we were under different circumstances, maybe I would be trying to take your clothes off.” She casts her gaze downward and my dick hardens from her response.

Shit, I’m in so much trouble.

“What’s next, Cassie?” I hear Izzy’s little voice coming closer and it forces me to focus back on her.

“Dinner is ready, so go wash your hands,” Cassie tells her and brings the food to the dining room table.

“I’ll go change and be right back.” I turn and head to my room, needing some distance so I can adjust myself and deflate my hard-on. I change into a T-shirt and sweats and inspect myself in the mirror.

“You are hungry for food, not your nanny, Gunnar,” I reprimand my reflection while making sure my sweats don’t look too clingy against my semi-erection. I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths before feeling safe enough to return downstairs.

Cassie and Izzy are coloring a place mat when I return. I pull out a chair and sit down. I survey the table to see Cassie made roasted green beans, fettuccini alfredo with baked chicken and garlic bread. “Wow, everything looks amazing,” I tell her as she puts the crayons back in their tin.

“Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.” She gets up from her chair and grabs a plate that was on the counter. “I already made Izzy a plate and cut things up for her.” She puts Izzy’s plate in front of her to eat. She then grabs a cup and fills it with water for Izzy.

I make myself a plate and am about to start eating when I notice Cassie is not sitting back down but is starting to clean the dishes she used to prepare dinner. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Oh, I figured it would be nice for you and Izzy to have dinner together.”

“But you worked hard to make this food.”

She shrugs. “It’s okay. I can eat something later after I leave.”

For some reason, her response annoys me. I want her to sit down and enjoy the meal she made. “Sit down and eat, Cassie,” I demand, giving her a stern look.

“Cassie,” Izzy whisper yells. “Come sit down or you’re going to be in trouble. Daddy might even spank you.” I have to bite the inside of my cheek to refrain from groaning at the image of a naked Cassie, bent over my knee, ready for a spanking. I’m not even into that, so it would be more like me going to town on that beautiful ass of hers.

“Okay, I’ll sit down,” Cassie squeaks out, her lips pressed together as she looks at me with laughter in her eyes. She grabs a plate and starts loading it up with food.

We eat in companionable silence before I ask her what’s on my mind. “What do you usually do on your days off?”

“If there’s no art exhibits to go see, then I’m usually painting or networking to try to get my artwork into galleries.”

“How does one get their art into a gallery?” I ask, impressed that she’s really trying to make a name for herself in the art world.

“You can apply if galleries have open submissions, but you don’t want to just be in any kind of gallery. You want to be in one that gels with your style of painting, who has good foot traffic and does a good job promoting your work.”

“Interesting. I didn’t realize any of that.”

She smiles. “Most people don’t. When you’re just beginning, you’re trying to get yourself into any gallery, thinking the exposure will be amazing, but it can be the exact opposite.”

“Sounds like you know from experience.”

She nods. “The first gallery I was in barely had any events, didn’t promote my work and just wasn’t the right fit. Now I know which galleries would serve me better, so I’ve been building up my portfolio and uploading my art to my website.”

“What’s your website? I would love to see your work.” She tells me the name of her website and I grab my phone from my pocket and type it in. It’s a very professional looking website, with her paintings available to view almost immediately. I start to scroll and am in awe of the beautiful masterpieces she has created.

“Wow, Cassie, you’re really good,” I tell her with sincerity.

“I want to see!” Izzy chimes in and I get closer to her and show her some of Cassie’s paintings. “Wow, those are pretty.”

“Awe, thanks Iz. Keep painting like you do and maybe one day you’ll be a professional artist,” Cassie says and Izzy nods, her eyes shining with awe.

“If you sell your paintings straight from your website, what’s the point in being in a gallery then?”

“Exposure. Good galleries already have a built-up client base who are regulars. Selling on my website doesn’t give me the foot traffic or client base a gallery does. Yes, I get to keep the majority of my revenue, but a well-reputable gallery is worth giving them a percentage of your sales due to the exposure they give you.”

I nod in understanding. “That makes sense. So, how can I help spread the word about your paintings?” I ask because I really do want to help her.

“That’s really kind of you, but you don’t have to do that.” She gets up from the table and takes her plate over to the sink.

“Leave the dishes, Cassie. I will take care of them. And I’m serious, how can I help you?”

She shrugs. “I guess if you hear of anyone wanting some art, then you can give them my name and website.” I make a mental note to send the website to Aly, Valerie, and Sosie to see if they know anyone who wants to commission any paintings.

“Can I have a cookie, Cassie?” Izzy asks her and I sense Cassie is relieved the subject is off her.

“You have to ask your dad.”

I look over at Izzy’s plate to assess how much she’s eaten. “Eat two more green beans and help me with the dishes and then you can have one.” Izzy grabs two green beans and stuffs them in her mouth, causing me to blow out a breath in exasperation. “That’s too much food at once, Iz. I don’t want you choking.” She nods her head while chewing and I laugh.

Cassie walks over and starts to reach for my plate, but I grab her wrist to stop her. “You’re off-duty, remember? I’ve got this.” Cassie looks down at my hand and swallows. Her gaze then returns to mine and we stare at each other for a few moments. Her skin feels just as I remembered—soft, silky and warm. She nods without saying a word and I reluctantly let go of her. She puts my plate back down in front of me and steps back.

“You guys have fun tomorrow. I’ll be back Wednesday morning bright and early.” She gives me a small smile before walking over to Izzy and kissing her on the head. We say goodbye and I watch her grab a tote bag from the living room and leave. I look over at Izzy, who looks sad to see Cassie go.

“How do you think we can help Cassie sell more paintings, Iz?” I ask her, curious to see what that smart, little brain of hers comes up with.

“We can sell them on the street with some lemonade,” she suggests, and I chuckle at her adorable idea. “Why don’t we buy one, Daddy?”

“We can, but I have a feeling she won’t take any money from us. Besides, she’s painting you a whole wall in your playroom.” But Izzy’s suggestion forms an idea in my head. I grab my phone to call my sister-in-law. Aly picks up on the third ring.

“Aly, I need your help with something.” Then I proceed to tell her my idea.