Page 21 of Game On

“Perfect!” Blaise cut her off and then turned to me. “Lily can help you.”

Lily and I shared a confused look. The way her brow creased made her look so cute.

Stop it, Logan. Don’t go there. She’s off-limits, and you don’t have time to get involved with anyone.

Lily cocked her blonde head at me. “What’s going on?”

I sighed. “Need a nanny. You know of anyone, good?”

“Actually…”

“Really?” I asked.

She nodded. “My sister. I meant to ask Veronica for your number so I could get you her info. Shoot, she’s out of town this weekend.”

I waved her off. “I get it. I’d still like her number, though.”

“When do you need help?” she asked.

No way I was asking her to babysit. She just mentioned having time away from her baby. I felt like a dick asking her to give up her free time to help me with my nephew. But…Liam liked her. He was a chatterbox asking when he could see her again after she watched him during my game. That was rare. Liam didn’t trust easily.

“I can do it. Believe me, Logan, I understand your predicament. Let me grab Mari’s card for you, though,” she said, and then spun on her stiletto heel and disappeared into the back where I couldn’t see her.

I wasn’t sure what had just happened.

“Problem solved!” Blaise cheered. Then as if on cue, his brother brought over our food.

We ate and talked about strategy for tomorrow night’s game, but I was only half paying attention to Blaise. Which was bad. I needed to prove to Coach LaVoie that I deserved my spot on the team.

“Dude, you gotta let that stress go,” Blaise said, pulling me from my thoughts.

I took another big bite of my salad and tried to ignore him. My teammates didn’t understand the pressure I was under. I was twenty-four and had a kid to take care of while trying to figure out my career. I needed to stay put for Liam’s sake. Which meant working my ass off on the ice to make sure I stayed in Philly next year.

“Hey.” That sweet, feminine voice pulled me away from my dark thoughts. Lily stood in front of our table again, and she slid a business card my way.

I picked it up and examined the colorful logo. It read ‘Marigold Mathews — Nanny/Babysitter. References upon request.’ At the bottom was her contact info.

“That’s my sister. She can provide references too. She’s been a nanny for this one family for years, but the kids are older and in school now, so she’s not needed as much.”

“Lily, this is…thanks.”

She smiled at me. “I get it. Single parenting’s so hard. Call me later about what you need for tomorrow.”

“I don’t have your number!” I called after her as she walked away.

“Get it from Blaise! Sorry, I have numbers to crunch.”

As swiftly as she came, she was gone.

“See, I solve problems!” Blaise joked.

I shook my head at him while I composed an email to Lily’s sister. I hoped this worked out.

Chapter Eight

LILY

Should I have said no when Logan needed a sitter? Absolutely. I should have said sorry and spent my Friday night playing Dragonspire and forgetting my problems for a few hours. But I recognized the desperation in his eyes. I saw the way he struggled with the single parent juggle, and I couldn’t say no.