Game Changer: A Single Dad/Nanny Romance (Change of Hearts Book 1)

by Sierra Hill

  Penelope tried every possible thing she could think of to convince me that she’s changed and to give her another chance. She said she was staying with a friend in Mesa for the next few weeks and she requested a few supervised visits with Caleb, which I promptly denied because I don’t have to grant her any such thing.

  I made sure she left before Caleb woke up. I had enough of her drama for one day and didn’t need her riling up my son.

  In the end, my mother got her way, and I agreed to allow her to take Caleb to Disneyland, only for the sheer fact that Addison and Wyatt were already booked to fly out and meet them there and I didn’t want to rain on their parade.

  Needless to say, I let my mother have it, telling her in no uncertain terms that the next time she backed me in a corner like this I would not relent or give in. Fuck her and her manipulative tactics. I would block her ass from my life and Caleb’s if she ever did something like this again.

  After all the drama of the day’s events, all I wanted to do was to find myself wrapped around Brooklyn so I could breathe in her feminine scent.

  She’s the balm to my soul and a light in my darkest corner.

  My body still hums with arousal as I recall how incredible it felt being inside her warmth last night. It feels like it’s been a year when in reality it’s been less than twenty-four hours. My cock stirs just thinking about the haven her body provided me.

  I’m helpless to resist going to her, as I open my bedroom door and pad down the hallway, past Caleb and my mother’s guestrooms, who are both fast asleep, and around the corner to the guest wing where I find her door closed, a light shining beneath the crack at the floor.

  I knock quietly three times. “Brooklyn. Can we talk?”

  She opens the door, swinging it wide, inviting me in with the sweep of her arm.

  Brooklyn is alarmingly beautiful, free of the make-up she wore earlier today and dressed only in her sleep shorts and tank. It dawns on me now what I didn’t notice before.

  “You looked really pretty today. Your hair was different. You were dressed up. I forgot to mention it, earlier, but I did notice. You looked beautiful.” I stop inside the doorway and wait for her to turn and face me.

  When she does, I lift her chin with my thumb, so I can look in her eyes. “But then again, you look gorgeous like this, too. Naturally stunning. You take my breath away.”

  She turns away from me. “Garrett. Please don’t say things like that to me. It’s unfair.”

  “Why? They’re true. I’ve been attracted to you from that day you barged in and took ownership of this household.”

  It’s meant to be a joke, a funny quip but it falls flat.

  “I’m your son’s nanny. That’s all.”

  Reaching for her wrists, I wrap my hands around her heated skin, holding her in place. Hoping she’ll hear and see my sincerity and emotional conviction.

  “Brooklyn, you are so much more than that to us. You must know that. Do you realize how much my son has improved since you’ve come into his life? He’s able to do things he wasn’t able to do before. Like using a utensil to eat by himself. His dexterity and motor skills are so much more refined now, more stable. I don’t know what it is about you, Brooklyn, but you are the sunlight. You’ve brightened our lives. He adores you. And so do I.”

  As if biting into something sour, her mouth puckers with distaste and then she drops a bomb on me.

  “I think it would be better if I leave.”

  The words don’t seem to compute in my brain.

  “What? No. Leave where? Why?”

  My grip tightens until I realize I’m holding on too tight and I let go to drop my hand to my side. But I need to touch her. Know she’s still here and in my corner. In Caleb’s corner.

  Her spine stiffens as I enfold her in my arms, clutching her to me. I’m a fucking grown man who has played against the world’s toughest opponents in the game, but nothing is as imposing as the thought of Brooklyn leaving. Not when the game is going so well.

  As a Coach, I keep what’s working in my line-up. If a specific play works out on the court and gets points on the board, I continue to include it in the game strategy because that’s how you win the game.

  And we were winning this game up until this morning. Things were going in the right direction.

  Until Brooklyn deviated from the winning strategy and gameplay.

  “Brooklyn, please. Give us more time. In fact, my mom is going to be taking Caleb to Disneyland this coming week. Take the week off – paid, of course – to reconsider. Let me…”

  I stop abruptly, uncertain as to where I was going with this. I still have my reservations about relationships holding me back, but if I want Brooklyn to feel valued, and not just as my son’s nanny, then I need to step up and prove to her that I care about her. Not just in the professional role in our lives, but as a woman.

  As a woman I care for deeply.

  “Let you, what?” she prods.

  I clear my throat, but my voice is still raspy and gritty with emotion.

  “Brooklyn, will you let me take you out on a date?”

  She’s clearly caught off guard from my request, rearing back, her jaw dropping open until she snaps her mouth shut again, shaking her head.

  “That’s not a good idea. If I’m going to continue working for you, we should have separation. Not a romantic entanglement.”

  “I think it’s a little too late for that, don’t you?” I lift my eyebrows knowingly.

  Her laugh fills me with some hope.

  “Touché. But Garrett, how is this going to end?”

  “What do you mean? You’re an athlete. You understand how the game works. When you start gameplay, you don’t question how it’s going to end. You don’t create room for doubt. You start the game with a mindset of winning. Not losing. You push hard and give 110%, but you don’t ask yourself what happens if you fail. So, don’t do that with us.”

  She lets out a resigning sigh but nods her head in agreement.

  “You have a point,” she whispers, a slight smile cracking at the edge of her mouth.

  “Right?” I grin, cupping her cheeks in my hands and tipping her head back. “I thought that was a pretty damn good analogy I came up with on the spot. Now, are we in agreement? Will you go out with me and can I kiss you good night?”

  I trace her cheekbones with my thumbs, and she lovingly obliges.

  It’s the first kiss in a game-changing play.

  22

  Brooklyn

  Every head seems to turn in our direction as we walk hand-in-hand into the restaurant. All the interest directed toward Coach Garrett Parker, Associate Head Coach of ASU men’s basketball team and the mystery girl on his arm.

  I knew this would be a bad idea, but he insisted. I refused on several occasions, suggesting we just stay in, but he wouldn’t have any of it.

  “I want to take you out on a real date. You deserve that, Brooklyn. And especially while Caleb’s gone, and we have the whole house to ourselves.”

  “Exactly. We can just stay in and do whatever we want. I don’t care about going out to fancy dinners or the movies. We can have pizza delivered and watch Netflix and chill.”

  “While that plan does have its merits – like eating naked in the living room - I still want to give you the whole experience. I promise, it will be great.”

  Corinne left with Caleb a little over a day ago and while Garrett and I haven’t slept together again, he’s been openly affectionate toward me. Kisses on the neck when I’m sitting on the chair reading, light touches as he passes me in the hallway, and even last night when we had a pretty hot and heavy make-out sesh on the couch as we watched a movie.

  He’s been the perfect gentleman, stating that he wanted to rewind and do things right. But in the meantime, he’s gotten me so horny I haven’t been sleeping very well. He’s made it very clear that until I say yes to an official date, he wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with me. I held out as long as I could, but t
he appeal of sleeping with him won out and I finally said yes to a date night.

  As we wait for our table at the upscale restaurant, I notice a group of men in business suits talking at a table nearby, all of them staring at us with interest.

  One of the men stands and waves us over. “Coach, come on over here.”

  Garrett glances down at me with a wary look. “Do you mind?”

  I smile and shrug. “Of course not.”

  With the hand on the small of my back, he leads me over to the table where introductions are made.

  “Hello, gentlemen. Good to see you all. Let me introduce you to Brooklyn Hayes. She’s a grad student at the school.”

  I notice he steers clear of introducing me as his son’s nanny.

  The men rise to their feet, one by one, shaking my hand in greeting. Mike, Carl, William, and Lucas. The last one seems very familiar, but I can’t quite place him. I think they’re all faculty members at the university.

  “Brooklyn, good to see you again. We actually met a few years back when you were interning for Professor Wilson. I’m in the art history department. I also happen to be this guy’s friend.”

  Lucas thumps Garrett on the back with a large palm and it’s then that I recall meeting him at an alumni dinner event where Professor Wilson allowed me to tag along and gain exposure in the child psychology field by introducing me to a plethora of various people in the industry.

  I shake his hand vigorously. “Of course, I remember now. Nice to see you again, Professor Mathiasson.” He chuckles and throws a wave in my direction.

  “Please. Call me Lucas. And how is my godson, by the way? I hear you’re nannying for him this summer and doing a great job with it. That’s not an easy task. That boy is rambunctious.”

  Caught off guard, I turn my head up to Garrett, who looks back with a slight hint of guilt as if he was just pinned with a crime.

  “Lucas and I went to college together and we go way back. When I hired you, I mentioned it to Lucas here.”

  The three other men get back to their food and drinks, while Lucas remains to continue chatting.

  “And whatever he tells you about his ball skills, is a bald-faced lie. He always thinks he was ‘all that and more.’ You know what they say, those who can’t do, coach.”

  A grin splits wide across Lucas’s mouth, expecting a retort from Garrett, who doesn’t disappoint with his own lob back.

  “Which is precisely why you became a professor and never turned pro.”

  “Oooh, burn.” Lucas slaps his leg at the comeback and we all laugh at their friendly banter and juvenile behavior.

  And then things turn a bit more serious as Lucas brings up the recent situation with Penelope and Corinne.

  “Hey man, did things cool down after Penelope left?”

  Garrett shakes his head, squeezing my hand reassuringly. Whether to bolster his confidence or mine is unknown.

  “What a cluster that was. But I made it perfectly clear to Penelope that there was no way in hell I was ever going to reconsider my position.”

  Lucas crosses his arms and tips his chin introspectively. “You don’t think she could try to contest the court decision, do you? Have it overturned and her parental rights reversed? Have you talked to your attorney yet?”

  While he hadn’t openly discussed it with me, I did overhear a small snippet of his conversation with his mom the other day about what rights Penelope could regain, considering the turn of events over Becca’s death. He was naturally worried about anything that could alter Caleb’s current living situation.

  Garrett sighs. “Yeah, I need to call my lawyer sometime in the next week or so. I’ve just been so busy with the basketball program and just things.” His voice trails off and he glances at me out of the corner of his eyes. I don’t blush easily, but this particular comment has my face turning into a furnace.

  “Well keep me posted. I’ll let you two go, but let’s catch up this weekend, okay? Just give me a call when you have a moment.”

  And then Lucas turns to me, offering me his hand to shake once more.

  “I can’t thank you enough for taking such good care of my godson. And if you can get this guy in line, you’re a winner in my book.”

  “Thanks,” I say, uncertain how to interpret his comment. “I’ll do my best.”

  With a bro hug to Garrett, Lucas bids his goodbyes as the hostess comes over to direct us to our open table.

  As Garrett pulls out the chair for me, he leans down to whisper in my ear. “I don’t want you to think I went blabbing about us to Lucas, but I may have mentioned having a thing for you.”

  Did I mention furnace?

  I gulp down some water to try and quench my thirst and cool me off some. This man seems to know the sexiest things to say to turn me on.

  As we look over the menu, I notice a few gawkers staring at us but trying to go unnoticed. They’re doing a horrible job of keeping their interest hidden.

  “I think you’ve been spotted,” I point out, nodding in the direction of the couple taking a photo of Coach Parker.

  He just nods and holds his menu in front of his face, obscuring the onlookers' view.

  “Does that happen a lot?” I’d never really gone out anywhere with Garrett and had no idea the type of hype and swirl it could create with the local basketball fans.

  Dropping the folded menu on his plate in front of him, he reflects thoughtfully. “Not as much anymore, although I do get more and more ASU fans and alumni recognizing me now and stopping to ask for autographs as a coach, not just a former pro athlete. But there was a time I couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. Becca hated it.”

  His face falls. “Jesus. I’m such an idiot. Scratch that. Note to self. Do not bring up dead wife when on a date with a hot woman.”

  I take a sip of the wine that was delivered and wave my hand. “Garrett, I’m okay with you bringing her up in conversation. She was a huge part of your life and past. You can’t just turn that part of you off. Just like you wouldn’t stop talking about your college or pro ball careers. But my lord, can you please stop always bragging about your ball career?”

  I give him a teasing wink and a roll of my eyes so he knows I’m only joking about that last part. Garrett laughs at my joke, reaching over the table to interlace his fingers with mine.

  “Will you mind being seen in public with me like this?”

  “Like what? Looking so hot in your dress suit?”

  He waggles his brows suggestively. “You think I’m hot, huh?”

  “Nah. My roommate was the one who thinks you look pretty handsome in your game day suit you wear on the sidelines.”

  He leans over the table, his lips teasing into a sexy smile.

  “Just your roommate?”

  I shrug nonchalantly. “I’ll never tell.”

  “Maybe I’ll have to get that suit out when we get home to see if it has any effect on you.”

  “Hmm, maybe you will.”

  23

  Garrett

  Our first official date was everything I’d hoped it would be.

  Brooklyn looked absolutely stunning in a sexy off-the-shoulder sundress that came to her knees and wedged sandals, showing off her athletically trim legs and smooth, sun-kissed shoulders.

  The bodice hugged every curve and had my dick straining behind my zipper with the need to skim her bare skin with my tongue.

  Brooklyn’s dark blonde hair, normally pulled back in a pony or in a messy bun high atop her head, was left down and loose tonight, my fingers itching to wind through the strands and tug them in my fist. She doesn’t try hard to look this beautiful.

  “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” I ask as the garage door closes and shrouds us in darkness, the only light coming from the small bulb above us.

  She steps out of the red convertible sports car I drove tonight, hand clasped in mine as I help her to her feet and she places a gentle palm against my chest.

  The moment our eyes meet, I kno
w exactly where this night is heading. And I couldn’t be happier. I’ve never shared my bed with another woman since moving to Phoenix. I’ve slept with other women, but they were when I was on the road and only one-night hookups.

  Tonight, everything is different.

  For me, everything has changed. I know I want this thing between Brooklyn and me to happen. It’s the first time I’ve felt this way about a woman since meeting Becca. And even back then, it was different. This isn’t a young or first love. It’s a mature relationship where the stakes in the game are much, much higher.

  Brooklyn’s eyes turn silvery in the low light of the garage, hooded by her long lashes.

  “I had the best time tonight.” She licks her bottom lip and all I want to do is kiss her. Use that mouth to bring us both pleasure.

  “I have an idea on a way to make the evening even better.”

  I quirk one eyebrow up. “Oh yeah? Does it require getting naked?”

  She laughs, a smile breaking its way free with a sexy promise. “Well, maybe one of us.”

  “If it’s you, I’m in.” I can no longer stop my advances, her exposed skin at the base of her neck too tantalizing to resist.

  I crowd into her, her back arching over the hood of the car, placing my lips on the sensitive spot at her throat. The vibration of her murmur I feel against my mouth as I nibble at her delectable taste. I allow my tongue to roam freely as she drops her head back against the hood.

  Using the pad of my thumb, I stroke a line over her collarbone, slowly mapping the expanse of skin that has been driving me nuts all night.

  “You looked so sexy tonight. I was hard for you the second I saw you walk out in this tease of a dress.”

  Playfully I bite at the ruffle edging the top of her dress, pulling the material down with my teeth and a pinch of my fingers slowly…ever so slowly…to expose her perfectly round breast. She wears a simple underwire bra that I quickly unclasp, and her tits pop free.

  When I plump the flesh of her breast in my hand, Brooklyn moans with closed eyes and I step into her body, wedging my thigh between her legs. The heat of her body mixes with mine and I know just how hot she’ll be when our bodies converge.