Ice Cold Hearts: A Single Mom, Hockey, Reverse Harem Romance (Forbidden Fantasies)

21. Emily

When I pictured having a driver, I assumed it would be a door to door service type of thing. Sure, I had a little bit of a Hollywood red carpet fantasy, but I knew that wouldn’t be what it was really like. Still, it was an amusing daydream.

Technically, it is door to door, but I wasn’t expecting it to be from back door to back door. It’s inconvenient walking through the wet grass in the backyard to the car, but I promised my men I’d defer to the driver’s expertise and safety plan. So here I am at a back entrance of the hospital surrounded by dumpsters filled to the brim with rotting food.

What a glamorous life I lead.

At the end of the day, though, I’d rather have the rotting food than cameras in my face. It’s much harder for them to find me back here. The past few days with a driver have been frustrating for both me and Audrey as we try to navigate this new normal, especially with the varied routes, but we’re starting to get used to it. Just knowing our driver is one of the biggest reasons they haven’t gotten any good pictures of Audrey yet or found her school is enough to ease the sting of these new changes.

My phone pings, and I see a message in our group chat that turns my blood to ice.

Oliver - Brace yourself. Things are about to get worse.

Against my better judgment, I open the link to the gossip column after climbing into the back of the car. The headline stretches luridly across the page in Comic Sans.

Seriously? Of all the fonts in the world, this chick picks Comic freaking Sans.

Hockey Hat Trick?

How original. It’s not like every other article has had a title like that.

I roll my eyes and scroll down, wondering what all the fuss is about.

There are the usual photos of me entering and leaving work in the slideshow at the top of the web page, and I nearly close the browser when the next photo pops up in the slideshow.

It’s Audrey on my hip as we’re walking into the guys’ house. It’s only our backs, but I’m still furious. I clench my phone so hard I’m liable to break it in half.

The next one is even worse. It’s from the next morning when we rushed out the door to get her to pre-school on time. Audrey is on my hip again, but this time the camera has a perfect view of both our faces. I don’t know where they were hiding out or how long their lens was, but it must have been a pricey one because I’m able to make out the identical sprinkling of freckles across our noses and cheeks. Hank, our driver, has his back to the camera.

He was the guys’ usual driver so I knew him fairly well, but I was still a little miffed that the guys had moved so fast on things. Now, however, I’m beyond grateful. If I’d done what I wanted, they would have managed to follow me straight to her school.

The sight of my baby’s face splashed across the internet for the world to see makes me sick to my stomach. Even though I’ve already hit my breaking point with the article, I have to know what else they said, so I keep scrolling.

Things are heating up for the Cold Hearts and I’m not

talking about their recent winning streak. Things seem

to be getting spicy for our city’s golden boys. Emily

Hayes, a physical therapist at Grace Harbor Hospital,

has been seen entering the house Alexei, Oliver, and Ian

share in the Deer Woods Gated Community and not leaving

until the next morning. I can’t confirm anything, but it

implies quite a lot, don’t you think?

I won’t be able to read the whole thing and be in a good mood when we pick up Audrey from school, so I opt to skim it instead.

… have to wonder about her parenting if she’s bringing

her kid to a romantic tryst…

Do we have another frouple on our hands? (let me know

how you feel about my new term in the comments!)

Then again, Ms. Hayes might just be a genius test driving

the three men to find her next baby daddy…

… and where is baby daddy number one? No one has found

him yet, but if anyone can get to the bottom of this, it’s

going to be your trusty Gossip Gretchen!

I growl at the phone and close the browser.

“Everything okay, Ms. Hayes?” Hank asks from the front seat.

“Yeah, just the stupid media poking their noses where they don’t belong,” I grumble.

He nods. “Vultures, Ma’am. I’ll tell you the same as I told Mr. Corbitt. Don’t waste one minute of your time on them.”

“Thank you.” I smile even though he can’t see it.

By the time we pull up to Audrey’s school, the rage and horror swirling around in my gut have subsided enough for me to greet my little girl with a genuine smile.

“Mama! I had the best day at school today!” She beams. “Hi, Mr. Hank! Did you have a good day?”

“Every day I get to drive you ladies is a great day,” he says.

“You’re so silly.” She giggles.

“It’s the truth,” he says, and then to me, “Home or to Deer Woods today?”

“Home. Actually, hold on,” I say. “I’m getting a call from Alexei, so that might change.”

In typical Alexei fashion, he skips the greeting and gets straight to business. “I just saw the article. One of the hangnails cornered me and held me up or I would have met you after work.”

“Why do you call them that?” I ask.

“They’re annoying, make everything painful, and are a bitch to get rid of,” Alexei says.

I laugh. “Okay, so what’s up?”

“Did you read it?” he demands.

“I read enough of it. Saw the pictures too,” I answer, disgusted.

“Good. We’re having a family meeting. Swing by and get Oliver? He had a meeting with Liza after practice today, so he took the subway instead of riding home with Ian. I just called him. He’s going to wait for you.”

My heart soars when he says family but plummets to my feet when I hear Liza’s name.

“Not a problem. We haven’t left the school yet. I’ll tell Hank. See you soon,” I say, starting to hang up.

“Wait.” His voice stops me immediately. “We’re probably going to be up late. Do you want me to stop at yours and grab some stuff for Audrey?”

I swipe away the moisture in my eyes before Audrey can notice. How did I get so lucky to have someone like Alexei in my life?

“That’s really sweet, but you don’t have a key,” I protest.

I can hear the smug grin in his voice. “I’m texting your mom right now. She’s going to let me in and help me grab the right stuff.”

“I swear I’m going to wake up and find that you and my mom have run off together,” I tease.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He chuckles. “Honestly, this is all on you. Ever since the day at the zoo, that woman has been dropping serious hints about us marrying you.”

“Au contraire, mon ami, she’s been dropping hints to you since the zoo. I’ve been getting them since our first date,” I pretend to grumble.

“I do love that you’re learning French for me,” Alexei says softly. “That was the best surprise I’ve had in a while.”

I smile. “You big softie.”

“Just go get Oliver already,” he orders gruffly.

After we hang up, I give Hank the new plans. On the circuitous route there, Hank and I are treated to a spirited description of everything she’s done today.

“And then, Teacher read us the Three Little Pigs story. And then we builded a tiny hay house. And then we went out and got sticks to make our stick houses. And then Teacher gave us teeny tiny little bricks and we builded a brick house. And do you know what we did next?” She asks, awestruck.

“What?” Hank and I ask.

“Teacher had a stodian bring in the big fan he uses to dry the floor to be the big bad wolf and try to blow the houses down!” she squeals.

“Stodian?” Hank asks.

“Custodian,” I answer.

“Ah, got it,” he says. “So, what happened to houses, Little Miss?”

Audrey wiggles with delight. “The paper houses and the stick houses falled down.”

“No way,” I say in disbelief. “What about the brick houses?”

“They stayed up just like in the story,” she says. “Can I call my giants and tell them?”

Thank goodness for one easy thing today.

“You can’t call them today, Pumpkin.”

“But I…” She starts to pout.

“Because we’re going to have another sleepover with them tonight,” I announce.

“Mama, you tricked me!” She wiggles happily in her seat. “You’re so silly.”

She’s in such a good mood over the news, she skips all the way into Liza’s shared office space.

“Hello, ladies,” the receptionist greets. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No,” I reply. “I’m actually just here to pick up Oliver. Would you mind calling back for him, please?”

She nods. “Of course.”

After her short call to Liza’s office, I hear footsteps in the hallway. My face visibly falls when I see Liza stalking into the lobby. Her eyes immediately lock onto Audrey, and I brace myself for the worst.

“Well, aren’t you just as cute as a button?” she coos, completely ignoring me. “That picture I saw today just didn’t do you justice. You are the prettiest little girl I ever did see.”

“Thank you, Ms. Lady.” Audrey smiles. “I like your pointy shoes.”

“Oh, my gosh, those dimples,” she gushes, eyes glittering like a beetle. “I knew you reminded me of someone when I saw you, and I think I’ve got it now. You’re nearly the spitting image of Ollie’s youngest sister when she was that age.” My stomach twists as she meets my eyes. “The resemblance is just uncanny.”

Fuck, she knows.

She turns toward her receptionist and says, “Phyllis, I have been inspired. Can you just jot this down so I don”t forget? I want to do a throwback campaign on his socials. Put down that I need to get photos of him by himself and then him with all of his siblings as kids so I can do a big then and now. Last thing, write down that I need to get some then and now quotes about him from people he knows.”

It”s terrifying how good she is. She won”t even be risking her job outing me. All she”ll have to do is put the photos out there, and someone in the media will make the connection—with her help, I”m sure.

Don”t freak out. That”s going to take some time, and by the time she does anything, everyone who matters will know already.

It feels ugly for me to be grateful for the rift between Oliver and his family, but I can beat myself up over that in therapy. Right now, anything that makes it harder for her to get those pictures and ruin our lives is a win in my book.

Note to self: do not reschedule therapy with Dr. Feller again this week.

She turns to me with a cat-like smirk. “Come to think of it, I’m fairly certain you knew Oliver before this as well, didn’t you? I think I remember your coming in a little over four years ago. Maybe you can give us a little then and now blurb about Oliver, hmm?”

“Will you tell Oliver we”re here? I”m his ride today,” I say, refusing to give her any kind of reaction.

“Oh, I’m sure you are.” She grins nastily. “But I’m afraid he’s not here.”

“I’m just going to text him,” I say flatly.

I do not have the time or the patience to deal with this today. I whip out my phone and text our group chat.

Emily - Not sure if she told you, but we”re here.

Oliver - OMW.

Liza’s eyes narrow when Oliver appears, but her smile remains plastered on her face.

Audrey plants her hands on her hips. “Giant, I’m here to get you.”

He growls. “Try it, Little Pea, and I’ll eat you up.”

Audrey squeals then launches herself at him. Oliver tosses her up in the air and blows a massive raspberry on her cheek before settling her onto his hip.

“How come you didn’t tell me they were here?” Oliver asks.

Liza affects a concerned tone. “With all the media attention you’ve been getting lately, I was worried. There are some real freaks out there who will do anything to get to you. I didn’t want some deranged fan to come in and hurt you. I wasn’t even sure she knew you until she texted you just now.”

He raises an eyebrow but nods understandingly at Liza. “Well, these ladies have V.I.P. access to me from now on.” He turns to the receptionist and winks. “Make a note of that, Phyllis, and there’ll be a spa basket in it for you.”

She beams. “Yes, Mr. McKenna.”

“So sorry about that mix-up.” Her voice is friendly but her eyes are frigid.

It feels like she’s dissecting me with her glare, and I fight the urge to squirm under her gaze.

Oliver escorts us out with a polite wave to Liza and Phyllis.

As we climb into the car, he says, “I know how you feel about her, but she’s not that bad. She’s just a little too overprotective sometimes.”

If Liza tells him before I do, she’s going to spin it in the worst possible way, and based on his reaction to her “explanation”, there’s no way he’ll ever listen to my side of things.

I have to stick to my plan and tell him, but how?