SWNOVELS Skate the Line: Chapter 10
The flight dragged.
It was an hour-and-a-half, but somehow it seemed like ten hours.
I didn’t even say goodbye to my teammates. I practically ran to my truck and took off without even letting the engine warm. I blew past several yellow lights that had turned red at the last second and put the pedal to the metal. My door barely shut as I parked on the side of the street and rushed up the concrete stairs.
Ginny didn’t answer my phone calls, which was one of my strictest stipulations before I left. I knew that Ellie wasn’t particularly thrilled to have her as a nanny, but she isn’t happy with any of the nannies. Half the time, she speaks in broken Russian, just to confuse them and to irritate me.
“Ellie?” My voice echoes throughout the entryway. I glance down and see a light-pink suitcase near the door and a pair of tennis shoes kicked off to the side.
I bypass them and head upstairs, taking two steps at a time. This house is too big for Ellie and me. But I needed a safe neighborhood with a yard. Those were my requests, and this historical, freshly remodeled home had the biggest yard. It still isn’t anything near what I’m used to nor what I grew up with.
But we’re in Chicago, not upstate New York.
“Printsessa?” I keep my voice low.
A faint glow shines into the hallway from her open door, and I exhale. I’m on edge because either Ginny came to her senses, or Sunny did, in fact, swoop in and save me while in an impossible situation. Though Sunny would be the lesser of two evils, I’m not necessarily prepared for either scenario.
My body is tight from the game, and the added stress from Ellie’s phone call hasn’t made things any easier.
The closer I get to Ellie’s bedroom door, the more I realize that it’s Sunny who’s here instead of Ginny. Her soft, melodic voice flows into the hallway, and it takes me a few seconds to realize that she’s reading Ellie a bedtime story.
It’s late.
Ellie should be sleeping.
But a bedtime story from someone like Sunny is less scarring than being locked away in her bedroom by someone like Ginny, so I let it go.
Ginny proves that not all background checks are foolproof. I’ll have to let my old-time friend, SGT Mel, in on that since he has assured me that they are.
“In order to save Rapunzel, Flynn Rider sacrificed himself with the help of his trusty companion, Pascal…”
Sunny, dressed head to toe in what looks to be merch from the art college up the street, is sitting cross-legged on Ellie’s floor below her bed. Her dark hair is piled on top of her head so high I can hardly see my daughter, but after craning my neck, I see Ellie’s rosy cheeks and closed eyes, resting on her pink pillow.
Sunny, unaware that I’m standing in the doorway, continues to read. She seems lost in the story, almost as if she doesn’t even realize Ellie is asleep, but every few seconds, her head tilts, and she looks at her.
Fuck, fine.
I should have hired Sunny instead of letting past experiences ruin all the rest.
My fucking bad.
I clear my throat once Sunny gets to the happily ever after, and it startles her. The book full of fairy tales goes flying into the air, and her shoulders end up by her ears. By some miracle, she doesn’t yelp and wake Ellie. Instead, she covers her mouth with her hand.
I watch her ribcage deflate when she recognizes me. I flick my chin to the hallway and turn. She leaves the door ajar after she slips out, and if I didn’t look back and see her tiptoeing behind me, I wouldn’t have even known she was there. She’s quiet like a cat.
For the record, I hate cats.
Silence fills the gaping space between us when we’re back downstairs in the entryway. Sunny stares at me with bashful eyes. I should probably thank her for coming to my rescue.
Instead, I insult her.
“You look like a walking billboard for the Art Institute.”
I glance at her maroon sweatshirt with the logo smack-dab in the middle and then move to her black yoga pants that have the same logo printed on her thigh. Since she took her shoes off when she came in, I can see that she’s sporting their socks too.
“Oh, this?” She dips her chin and stares at her clothes. There’s a little bit of pink on her cheeks when she puts her attention back to me. “Next time you need me for a rescue mission, I’ll wear my cape.”
I want to laugh, but it surprises me so much that it comes out sounding like a grunt.
Sunny’s eyebrows shoot upward, and I clear my throat.
“Was Ginny still here when you arrived?”
I tried to access the video footage from my cameras, but with the poor service on the flight, it wouldn’t come through.
My heart claps behind my ribs. I grow angry at the thought of someone locking Ellie in her room.
Sunny crosses her arms angrily and nods. “You should have told me what she did. I would have tripped her on her way out.”
This time, I can’t help it.
I laugh.
Sunny’s lips turn up at the sides. Her angry stance loosens, and she looks pleased with herself.
Again, I should thank her, but there’s another thought on the forefront of my mind.
I glance away, unable to look her in the eye, because although it’s standard for me to ask the question, I don’t like appearing vulnerable in front of strangers.
I don’t like appearing vulnerable in front of anyone, actually.
“Was Ellie okay when you got here?”
Her soft exhale catches my ear. I glance at her from the side. “Mostly. Nothing that a little snack and a bedtime story couldn’t fix after I broke in.”
My blood pressure lowers significantly. She’s fine—well, as fine as Ellie ever is.
I repeat her words in my head. Wait. “After you broke in?”
Sunny’s lower lip disappears beneath her teeth. She rocks back on the heels of her gray-and-maroon striped Art Institute socks.
“Did you break the door?” I wouldn’t care if she did. It’d be nice to have someone else care for Ellie enough to break down doors, honestly.
All Ellie has is me and the team, plus the few wives, like Scottie, that tend to pitch in when they know I need it the most. My mom and Ellie have weekly calls, but she’s too far to be here in a pinch. It never feels like enough. There’s a gap in Ellie’s heart that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fill. No matter how many piggyback rides Kane gives her, or skates on the ice with Malaki, or big, blue Chicago Blue Devils hair bows that Scottie ties in her hair, she still has a withdrawn feel to her.
Sunny is quick to answer. “I didn’t break the door. I used a credit card.”
Ah, so we have a little rulebreaker on our hands.
My arms fold. “And where did you learn to do that?”
There’s a tight hitch in my breath when she smiles softly. “My gramps.”
“Your grandpa taught you how to break and enter with a credit card?”
Her light laugh fills all the empty spots of the foyer. “He did. But it was only because he used to take me with him to work, and some of his older tenants would lock themselves out of their apartments.”
I stand back and watch her without saying anything. I try to spot a lie or some ulterior motive to her response, but instead, all I get are a few flutters of her long eyelashes and warm cheeks. She seems so…genuine?
“So…” Sunny glances at her pink suitcase. “Since the police aren’t here to arrest you for…whatever went through your mind when you learned that Ginny had locked Ellie in her room, does that mean I get the job?” Her face twists. “Though, I would have totally bailed you out. She deserves to be in jail, in my opinion.”
I watch her closely as she recrosses her arms and mutters under her breath about tripping the blonde bimbo.
In an attempt to save face, I rub a hand over my scruff and hide my grin. “If you can agree to my terms, I’m willing to give you a spin.”
A spin.
That came out wrong, and unfortunately, Sunny caught it. Her eyebrows dip, and she squints as if she, too, is wondering if I really just said that.
I did.
I clear my throat and pull out my phone to check my calendar. “Can you meet here tomorrow at ten? We will go over the contract and salary. If you can agree to my terms after tomorrow, then the job is yours.”
If she doesn’t agree, I’m going to have big fucking problems.
My mom has offered a few times to come stay for a while, but with her back in Russia, that’s nearly impossible. I’m not willing to make things more complicated by forcing her to find someone else to take care of her eighty-two-year-old aunt who requires full-time care just so she can come take care of me.
“I’ll be here at ten on the dot. I know how you like punctuality.”
She doesn’t even work for me yet, and she’s already aggravating me with the little teasing evident in her tone.
So what if I like punctuality?
Sunny bends and grabs the handle of her suitcase. I raise an eyebrow when I eye the Art Institute sticker on the side.
“Do you attend the Art Institute?” I blurt. “If you’re attending college while also nannying, that may be an issue. My schedule is unpredictable and—”
A playful scoff leaves her. “You’re underestimating me, Mr. Volkova.” Her flirty eye roll irks me. “But no, I don’t attend the school.”
I watch her turn and say nothing as she moves to leave. Her suitcase thuds with each descent of the concrete steps. Before I twist the lock, I pull the door open farther slightly and call down to her sitting on the last step.
“Sunny?”
She glances at me over her shoulder. The moon shines a ghostly glow over her face, and although the light paints her in a cool color, there’s still so much warmth to her. “Yes?”
I clear my throat. “Thanks.”
There.
I said it.
A little twinkle gleams in her eye, and it annoys me. “See you tomorrow,” she quips.
The door latches, but I keep it unlocked and stay within eyesight until she springs to her feet at the sound of a car pulling down the street. Once she hands off her suitcase and climbs inside the Uber, I head right to bed.