Ever After

by Kat Mizera

  Tessa turned bright red. “It was, uh...”

  “Hot?” Sasha wrinkled her nose playfully. “’Cause I mean, if it wasn’t for the kids I would have put headphones on. Geez, you two were at it for, like, hours!”

  “I’m so sorry,” Tessa whispered. “It was the first time in... well, a long time.”

  “It’s been almost six months for me,” Sasha sighed. “So it was hard to listen and not die of jealousy.”

  “I can get you laid,” Tessa teased. “Just tell me which player you want, and if he’s single, I’m pretty sure I can make that happen for you—you’re beautiful and if they win tonight, the guys are going to be wanting to party.”

  Sasha laughed with delight. “Thank you, but as lovely as that sounds, I don’t want to be the slutty nanny from hell. I’ll just have to wait until I meet someone on my own.”

  “Suit yourself,” Tessa grinned. “Wait until you meet them.”

  Sitting with the other wives and girlfriends at the game that night, Sasha had to admit she loved the excitement of being in a hockey arena. Her family had season tickets and they came to games often, but sitting with the wives of the players was different. Several guys on the team were hot, but she’d never had the opportunity to meet any of them. Tessa had offered more than once, but Sasha was still reeling from her disastrous last relationship and figured she was better off single for a while.

  “So how’s it going with the kids?” Tina Papadakis, who was the sister of one of the Sidewinders and the fiancée of another, asked her. Tina was friends with Sasha’s mother, Casey, even though she was only a few years older than Sasha.

  “It’s fun. Exhausting sometimes, but the baby’s so sweet and the boys are funny as hell, so I enjoy it.”

  “You haven’t been coming to the games, though. You must miss it.”

  “I do, but it’s hard to find a sitter for all of them. We brought Raina and Alex tonight, but Andy and the baby are home with the woman who does overnights for us when Toli’s on the road.”

  “It’s nice that you could get away. Your mom said she hasn’t seen you in weeks.”

  “I’m busy,” Sasha laughed. “Three kids under three is exhausting.”

  “You can’t be all work and no play, though. You need to get out.”

  “I know, and I will. I just don’t want to—” Her voice trailed off as a tall blond with wide shoulders and bright blue eyes slipped into the row behind them, throwing his arms around Tessa.

  “What are you gaping at?” Tina turned her head. A smile played on her lips as she recognized the man Sasha was staring at. “Oh. Yes. Anton has grown into quite the hottie.”

  “Anton?” Sasha gaped at her. “You mean, Toli’s older son?! Oh. My. God.”

  “Yeah.” Tina nodded. “And I think we’ve just found a way to end your dry spell.”

  “What?” Sasha looked horrified. “No way. That’s my boss’s son. Hell no!”

  “You’re both of age and free to do what you want,” Tina chuckled. “And I happen to know Anton needs to get laid just as bad as you do.”

  Sasha wrinkled her nose. “This feels contrived. No no no.” She couldn’t help but glance back at him, though; he was so freakin’ hot she didn’t know what she would do if he was planning to spend the summer with them. She realized he was looking at her and for a moment their eyes locked. She could barely move; his gaze was that intent. She’d never seen eyes quite so blue or shoulders so wide. She swallowed, unable to tear her gaze away.

  “Hey, Anton!” Tina turned, most likely realizing neither of them were going to make the first move. “Have you met your parents’ new nanny?”

  “Hi.” Anton shook his head but leaned over and held out his hand.

  “Hi.” Sasha hated that her face was flushed, but it seemed like his was too. Their hands lingered just a little longer than necessary and she saw the grin that slowly spread across Tessa’s face. Instantly alarmed, Sasha snatched her hand back and gave him a little nod. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “I heard you’ve saved my stepmom’s life and my dad’s sanity,” he grinned, revealing two of the sexiest dimples she’d ever seen.

  “I’m trying.” Sasha smiled back. God, he was beautiful. Taller and better looking than his father, she’d heard he was six-feet-four-inches and played for some university in Boston. She hadn’t realized he was sex on legs, though, with high cheekbones and a slim patrician nose. His eyes were a deep blue with long lashes she could see from here and his light blond hair fell just a tad shy of his collar.

  “I know undressing him with your eyes is fun,” Tina murmured to her. “But I think everyone can tell. You might have just drooled a little.”

  Sasha snapped her head around to glare at her friend. “I did not.”

  “He’s a little young, but I bet you can train him.” Tina laughed.

  “Stop it,” Sasha hissed, focusing on where the Sidewinders were coming out onto the ice. Thankfully, it was time for the national anthem so there wouldn’t be any more talking.

  2

  Anton watched his parents’ new nanny with interest. She was sexy as hell, with wavy dark hair and a smattering of freckles across her pert little nose. Her mouth was full and red, and he had a sudden image of kissing them. He mentally shook his head, trying not to think about her like that, but he didn’t miss the way she kept glancing in his direction.

  He normally shied away from girls who were openly attracted to him; he was kind of cautious when it came to sex. He’d only had sex with one girl, someone he’d dated for a little less than a year at school, and he was wary of girls who knew he’d already been drafted by the NHL. He really didn’t want to get involved with a woman who was only interested in his future bank account, and somehow he’d never been big on casual sex.

  “She’s pretty cute,” his stepmother, Tessa, said with a smile, interrupting his thoughts.

  Anton shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “She’s really great, Anton.” Tessa glanced at him. “You should talk to her.”

  “Why?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Because I saw the way you looked at her and the way she’s looking at you.”

  “She’s your nanny,” he protested. “That would be awkward.”

  “You’re both adults and you both got out of relationships recently; there’s nothing wrong with sex for the fun of it. She’s Casey Hart’s oldest daughter and had a really bad experience with a guy last fall. It would be good for her to go out with a nice guy and good for you to stop thinking about that bimbo that broke your heart.”

  Anton didn’t say anything but gazed down at where Sasha was laughing with Tina. She was awfully pretty. When she threw her head back, her hair bounced around her shoulders and he instantly conjured up an image of what it would look like if she was on his lap. She giggled at something Tina said and he couldn’t help but want to hear more; she was so damn cute. When she turned to ask Tessa something, their eyes met again and his cock twitched in his jeans as her eyes sparkled in his direction. He didn’t know a lot about women, but he had no doubt she was interested in him too. Shit. She was his Dad’s nanny and he didn’t want to do anything that would complicate their life. His father had told him how frustrated he’d been that Tessa fired one nanny after another.

  “Talk to her,” Tessa murmured under her breath. “She’s really great—you’ll like her.”

  “I do like her,” he muttered, watching with interest as she raised her arms above her head, cheering as Toli took the ice. She had awesome breasts, and he mentally chided himself for being such a pig.

  “You’re staring at her tits,” Tessa snorted softly, biting back a laugh.

  He was most likely as red as a tomato as he hissed, “Tessa!”

  Without a word, she moved down several seats so that she was sitting directly behind Tina and Sasha. She motioned for him to move down too, so he reluctantly followed. Could there be anything worse than your stepmother trying to set you up with s
omeone?

  “Sasha, did you meet Anton? We probably talk about him more than we should,” Tessa grinned. “But we’re really proud of him.”

  “We did meet.” Sasha smiled and Anton couldn’t hide his own grin. She was cute as a button and he had to make a concerted effort not to stare at her chest.

  “Raina’s dying to show you how much better she’s skating now,” Sasha continued. “So make sure you tell her how awesome she is.”

  “Are you teaching her? That’s awesome.”

  “I had no choice once she found out I skated.”

  “You play any hockey?”

  “I played field hockey in high school but not ice. I can do one or the other—skate or hockey—not both. I bow down to those of you that do.”

  He chuckled. “I think if you can do both of those things individually, it wouldn’t be that hard to put them together.”

  “Well, I also grew up in Vegas, so there wasn’t a lot of ice hockey for me to play, but I’m willing to learn.”

  “I could arrange that. I’ll be here all summer and I promised Raina I’d get her started.”

  He caught Tina winking at Tessa, and eventually Tessa and Sasha traded seats so that she and Anton could sit next to each other.

  Tessa was trying to hide her laughter and Anton turned to glare at her. She immediately stopped, her eyes wide as she contained her obvious mirth.

  All the wives and girlfriends sitting nearby were biting their lips, trying to focus on the game, but he consistently caught them glancing back to where he and Sasha were now sharing a bag of popcorn. Her left thigh was pressed up against his right and they were laughing about something as though they’d known each other for a long time. They were so involved in their conversation they barely noticed when the game ended.

  “Your Dad scored,” Tessa reached back and smacked Anton’s knee.

  Anton laughed. “I know! I was watching.”

  “All you were watching was Sasha,” Tessa snorted.

  He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Zakk scored too.”

  “It was a great game,” Sasha laughed too. “I had a play-by-play by a pro, so it was awesome.”

  “I’m not a pro yet,” Anton grinned.

  “It won’t be long,” Tessa said fondly.

  “Hey, you want to go get a cup of coffee or something?” he asked Sasha. “It was fun talking to you.”

  “Uh…” She glanced at Tessa, who was nodding emphatically behind Anton’s back. “Sure, why not?”

  They went to a small diner not far from where they lived, skipping the post-game festivities with the team. Sitting across from each other they quickly got back to their conversation about hockey and college life.

  “Do you miss school?” he was asking her.

  “Some.” She frowned. “I loved it, but after what happened…”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I met this guy and we got serious pretty fast. Everything was great, at least I thought so, but it turns out he was only interested in getting my parents to help him with his music career. When my dad said no, he released a sex tape of us.”

  Anton winced. “Shit. That sucks.”

  “Yeah.” She looked away. “It was dumb, but I thought I was in love. I mean, I’d never done anything like that before and I thought it was just for us. I’ll never do that again.”

  “I’ll be honest, the thought of taping myself having sex is horrifying,” he admitted. “I mean, what if there’s a pimple on my ass or something?”

  They both laughed, glad to break up the tension.

  “So, do you like being a nanny?”

  “I like your parents and the kids are great,” she said. “Your dad pays me really well and it’s nice having money I don’t have to ask for, no matter how wealthy my parents are.”

  Anton laughed. “Yeah, Tessa’s been tough on nannies, so it’s nice she approves of someone.”

  “Well, they’re her kids, so I get it.” Sasha took a sip of her milkshake and realized Anton was looking at her lips. Though she desperately wanted to do something seductive, she loved her job too much to take any chances. She quickly pushed it to the side and took a fry out of the basket they were sharing.

  “Do you think you’ll go back to USC?”

  She shrugged again. “I honestly don’t know. I think maybe I’ll transfer to UNLV. I hate letting him win, but practically everyone saw that stupid video so going back would be like ripping off the scab every damn day.”

  “What are you studying?”

  “I don’t know yet. I was taking general ed classes for now. Probably something in communications or PR.”

  ‘Yeah, I’m not sure what I want to do either. I focus on hockey so much it’s hard to think about another career. I’m down with getting my degree, but I need to declare a major sooner rather than later. I’ll probably go with sports management or something like that.”

  “Makes sense.” She met his eyes across the table and wondered why it was so easy to talk to him. He didn’t act like a twenty-year-old college kid; he was smart, funny and a lot more mature than she’d imagined he would be.

  “I thought I wanted to skip college and go right to the AHL,” he admitted. “But my dad talked me out of it and I’m kind of glad. I love college, and not just hockey. I mean, I really enjoy my classes, even without being one hundred percent sure what I want to do. I took a world religion class that was fascinating.”

  “I did too,” she responded in surprise. “It was so interesting…”

  They talked until almost three in the morning, when the diner was empty and the lone waitress dozed on a stool near the cash register. They laughed and joked, told hockey stories and eventually just stared into each other’s eyes meaningfully. Finally, they paid the bill and Anton slipped his hand around hers as they walked out to his truck.

  “Can I kiss you?” he asked quietly, leaning towards her.

  “Yes.” She didn’t know what to expect, but his lips were soft and he didn’t try to devour her with his tongue like a lot of guys their age. Instead, he held back, letting his lips linger on hers until she made the first move and her tongue slid against his. They used slow, tentative strokes at first, their bodies inches apart, just their hands linked. Instinctively, she sensed he wasn’t very experienced even though she loved the way he kissed, so she took the lead. Moving against his strong chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck. At that point, he didn’t hesitate to open his mouth wider and take control of her lips.

  Sasha nearly moaned with delight when he took over. He was big and strong and now that she’d shown him she was interested, he had no trouble guiding the pace. Their tongues swirled together for what seemed like an eternity, his hands traveling down her back and resting on her ass. His erection pressed against her stomach and excitement surged through her as she ran her hand along the length of him. Good God, he was huge and it could be all hers if she wanted it.

  With a groan, she pulled away.

  “What’s wrong?” He lifted her chin gently, his eyes seeking hers.

  “I can’t,” she whispered. “I really want to, but I need this job for reasons that have nothing to do with money and I can’t do anything that might impact that.”

  ‘My dad wouldn’t—”

  “We don’t know that for sure,” she whispered. “I’m sorry—I’m not a tease, I swear. Talk to your dad and I’m all in, but not tonight. Not like this. I have too much respect for your family.”

  He swallowed hard but nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” She leaned her head on his chest and sighed. “Damn, you got me all worked up.”

  “I’m definitely sorry about that,” he chuckled. “I’ll talk to my dad and then I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Anton, maybe we shouldn’t…”

  “Why not?”

  “We’re both just out of relationships. Your dad is my boss. You’re leaving again at the end of the summer. How would this work
?”

  “I like you,” he said calmly. “I’ll talk to my dad and make sure it’s okay, but I promise, no matter what happens—your job is safe. I give you my word on that and I’ll make sure my dad knows too. Okay? Just say you’ll go out with me again and we’ll figure out all the other stuff one day at a time.”

  She met his gaze and couldn’t help but nod. It was crazy, but she really wanted to go out with him; she really wanted to push him back against the truck and make him kiss her again, but she’d wait. She had no choice.

  3

  “Anton!” Raina’s squeal of delight reverberated through the otherwise silent house.

  “Hey, kiddo!” Anton looked up from his coffee and got up just in time to catch her as she threw herself at him. They tumbled to the ground, like they always did, with him tickling her and her squealing amidst laughter and hugging.

  Anton loved being a big brother, especially with the little ones. The baby was happily taking a bottle, oblivious to the activity on the floor, and Toli was watching with a smile of his own. Anton was close to his mother and stepfather in Dallas, but he’d never lived with his father growing up so after turning eighteen, he’d asked Toli if he could live with him for a while. Luckily, Tessa had agreed and there had been no problem bringing him into the fold.

  “Okay, kid, I need to finish my coffee,” Anton chuckled.

  “You’re staying, right?” Raina was asking, her blue eyes wide. “I have so much to tell you!”

  “I’ll go on vacation with my mom in July,” he said. “But yes, I’ll be here almost the whole summer.”

  “Yay!” Raina put a wet, squishy kiss on his cheek before scurrying into the kitchen in search of breakfast.

  “Wow.” Anton just smiled as he watched her. “I have the best little sister in the world. I don’t think any of my buddies get a reception like that at home.”

  “Don’t you get that kind of reception in Dallas?” Tessa asked lightly.