Ben sits to my right with Olivia beside him, and Kate sits to my left with Sutton on the other side of her. The players are out on the ice warming up and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” is blaring over the arena speakers. It’s odd sitting here…in the stands, and watching my teammates out on the ice. It’s killing me not to be down there with them.
I’d come to a couple games while I was out on injured reserve, but I’d always sat up in the owner’s box. I felt so removed from it all up there, and I didn’t have to suffer unwanted questions about my injury or repetitive offers of sympathy over Gina’s death. They pretty much left me alone to watch the action down below.
But sitting out here, among the masses of fans, with Ben jumping up from his seat and banging on the glass as he recognizes my teammates skating by, is actually kind of cool. I’m glad I decided to do this.
Still not sure how I feel about Kate sitting next to me at this very moment, though.
I certainly didn’t need her here, because I wasn’t going to be talking to any reporters. It was an absolute lie for me to tell her that I needed her to come for Ben’s sake. I could handle Ben well enough on my own. I guess I just didn’t want her thinking that there was anything personal about my invite. I justify to myself that it was just a nice thing to do for my employee.
My apparently hot-and-sexy employee that I had no fucking clue was hiding underneath those baggy clothes and thick-framed glasses.
Fuck, when I was standing in the kitchen last night, casually flipping through the mail I had pulled out of the mailbox, and she came trotting into the kitchen? I thought for a brief moment that someone had broken into the house, she was so unrecognizable to me.
Of course, I first noticed her body. How could I not with that white tank top pulled tight across a pair of the most fantastic breasts I’d ever seen on a woman? Or those tiny little shorts that did nothing to hide her curvy hips and tight ass?
And that hair? Jesus Christ…why she kept all that hidden is beyond me. It was long, wavy, and had that windblown look. Long bangs hung over her forehead, stopping just over her eyebrows but in no way hiding those amazing blue eyes that popped brilliantly against that dark hair. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, not that I ever found them especially unattractive, but what they did hide was the rest of her facial features. I just simply hadn’t paid attention before, but in a quick glance I took in her narrow nose, high cheekbones, and full-as-fuck lips.
How in the hell had I missed all that?
I watched spellbound as she did a little dance right in place and then opened the freezer, where she offered up a hilarious prayer of thanks for the ice cream. And when she swayed her hips and bumped the freezer door closed, that’s when it happened.
For the first fucking time since Gina died, I felt a stirring deep in my groin. My eyes hungrily ran up and down her body, letting every bit of the wonder of it soak into me, and my dick started getting hard.
I was actually having an honest-to-God reaction. And it wasn’t just below the waist. My heart started beating fast and I was so stunned by her appearance that I actually felt light-headed. I was practically joyous to be feeling something…anything…even if it was from my son’s dorky little nanny.
When Kate turned and saw me, I quickly snapped my gaze to her face and schooled my features to bland disinterest. It was torture not to let my eyes drop to her breasts or her shapely legs, but I held still and managed to calmly walk forward to pick up the ice cream. I used that opportunity to get myself under control, but then made the mistake of looking up at her. Up close, she was even prettier than I realized, and to add more torture on top, I could clearly see the swell of her breasts peeking over the low scoop of the tank top. Then it was the weirdest thing that really had my cock starting to jump to attention—she put those fucking glasses back on and was now rocking the sexy-schoolgirl look, and there was no stopping my boner then.
There was nothing I could do but turn my back to her and walk up to the counter so she wouldn’t see the erection starting to strain at my jeans. I didn’t want ice cream, but I went through the motions, trying to get my emotions back under control.
Sure, she was sexy as sin, but I practically screamed at my conscience that there was nothing to be done about it. She was Ben’s nanny and, more important…she wasn’t Gina. I may have been out searching the Candi Apples of the world to provoke a physical reaction, but it wasn’t something I did because I intended to act on it. No, I just wanted to fucking feel something because I was terrified I was so far gone, I couldn’t make my way back, and if that happened, Ben would be the one to ultimately suffer.