Page 16 of The Keeper

I didn’t see pictures of anyone else other than his parents and Evie. No cousins, friends, or aunts and uncles except…

My gaze snagged on a snapshot of Noah and a pretty brunette. It was buried in the bottom corner of the gallery, right above the baseboard, but their body language made it clear they were romantically involved and not family. They couldn’t be older than seventeen. She was sitting on his lap, and he had his arms wrapped around her waist. They both wore huge smiles.

The girl had brown hair and tanner skin, but other than that, her facial resemblance to Evie was uncanny.

“Is that Evie’s mum?” The question slipped out without thought.

I instantly regretted it.

The temperature plummeted to arctic levels. Noah’s face hardened, and literal goose bumps covered my arms. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to pry⁠—”

“It’s fine,” he said shortly. “That’s it for the tour. I have to leave soon, or I’ll be late for training.”

I followed him silently out of the room and back to the entrance hall. I could’ve kicked myself for opening my big mouth.

No one ever talked about Evie's mother. Even the internet had nothing on her. Whatever had happened, I'd just stumbled into a wound Noah clearly had no interest in reopening.

I exited onto the front steps and turned. “Noah, I⁠—”

“I’ll see you on Sunday for the trial run,” he said.

Right before he slammed the door shut in my face.

CHAPTER 7

CARINA

New plan: keep my mouth shut and do not ask questions about Noah’s love life, past or present.

Although we’d signed a contract, I had to nail the trial run before I was officially hired. I wasn’t going to ruin things for myself by being too nosy, no matter how curious I was.

I showed up bright and early again at his house on Sunday, determined to keep our conversations professional. However, my good intentions went flying out the window when he opened the door.

Shirtless.

Now, I didn’t like to objectify people. It was rude. But...holy shit. Those abs. That chest. Those arms. All covered in a faint sheen of sweat despite the late March chill.

“Good morning,” I squeaked.

Eyes straight ahead. Do not look at his V-line. Or think about where that V-line leads. Knowing him, he’d consider my completely involuntary and very understandable reaction to his naked torso “secret pining” and fire me on the spot.

As if. Appreciation and pining were not the same thing. At all.

“Perfect timing. Evie just woke up.” Thankfully, Noah didn’t seem to notice my not-so-subtle ogling. He grabbed the shirt draped over his shoulder and pulled it over his head.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

“Don’t tell me you were working out this early on a Sunday,” I said, stepping into the house. “I thought today was your rest day.”

The players didn’t have set days off. It depended on their fixture schedule, and this week, they had Sunday off. It worked out well since Evie didn’t have school, so we could have a full trial run.

“Rest days are for active recovery,” Noah said without looking back at me. “They’re not meant for lazing around.”

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, athletes were insufferable.

We entered the kitchen. Evie was already seated at the table, reading a book. Her face brightened when she saw us. “Hi, Carina!”

“Hi.” I grinned, genuinely glad to see her. I was doing the job for money, but I really liked Evie. I had a feeling we would get along great, despite her dad’s attempts to bring the mood down by stomping around like a Neanderthal.