Hip Check (New York Blades) Read Online Free PDF

and himself, which she seemed to like. He showed her an article about the Blades in that morning’s
Sentinel
that said he was one of the key players if the team was to have any chance of winning the Cup. Nell nodded politely, but as soon as she finished her breakfast, she asked to be excused. Esa had no problem with her parking her butt on the couch and channel surfing. But she didn’t. She took a shower, and went back to her room to read. Was that weird? He had a vague memory of Danika reading a lot when they were young, teasing him about being a
tyhmä urheilija
, a dumb jock. Maybe Nell had inherited his sister’s bookworm gene. Or maybe she was scared of him. Or didn’t like him. Or thought he was a
tyhmä urheilija
, even if she didn’t know Finnish. The idea of any of them hurt.
    Esa checked his watch for the hundredth time that morning. Michelle Beck was due in five minutes. He tidied up his apartment a bit; he didn’t want her to think he was taking care of a little girl in some kind of pigsty. He’d have to remember to tell her that he had a housekeeping service already. At precisely ten, the doorbell rang and he buzzed the nanny up to his apartment.
    He opened the door to a petite woman with short black hair and green eyes with lashes that were, in his opinion, a little too mascara heavy. Not his type. He liked leggy blondes.
    She extended a small hand to shake his. “Hi, I’m Michelle.”
    “Esa. Let me take your coat.”
    Michelle shucked her faded denim jacket and handed it to him. Her eyes were sweeping his apartment, making him feel a little self-conscious. “Wow. Nice place.”
    “Thank you.” Esa agreed: he did have a lovely home, but it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Danika, who’d told him that just because he was a cool NYC bachelor, it didn’t mean he had to inhabit a “soulless lair of steel and glass.” A whiz with catalogs and the net, she’d ordered him what looked like furnishings for a real home, with Oriental carpets and potted plants and comfy furniture. The only incongruity in the room was his massive sixty-five-inch wide-screen TV. It stuck out like a sore thumb, but he didn’t care. When all was said and done, this was still
his
lair.
    Michelle smiled politely. “Where’s Nell?”
    The question surprised Esa. “In her room reading.”
    “Oh.” Michelle seemed disappointed. “I was hoping I’d get to spend some time with her today, if you decide to hire me.”
    You are hired
, Esa thought. He smiled graciously. “Yes, of course. I just thought you and I might talk a little first. Coffee?”
    “That would be nice.”
    The small woman followed him into the kitchen. He’d let Danika take care of that, too. English something style. Or maybe it was French. Whatever it was called, it had a wide-planked wooden floor, and in addition to the usual kitchen stuff, there was a wooden island in the middle of the room with a big rack of pots hanging above it. He always laughed at that touch since he never cooked anything that couldn’t be made in a bowl in a microwave. White-windowed cabinets lined the walls. He’d been told he had an amazing amount of counter space. Maybe so. He’d never noticed.
    “This is amazing,” Michelle marveled.
    Esa flushed with pride. “Thanks.”
    She gestured at the hanging pots. “You like to cook?”
    “Sometimes,” he lied. He went to the fridge, pulling out a half-empty bag of coffee. He also had two bottles of Finlandia chilling, and the virgin bottle of champagne he’d hoped to pop last night. He had milk there, too, for Nell to drink and to put on her cereal. He’d done pretty well in the food department for Nell, he thought, getting a bunch of things he was sure kids liked to eat: macaroni and cheese, brownies, hot dogs, soda, cold cereal, chocolate chip cookies, and some breaded chicken bits. He should probably take her to McDonald’s.
    Coffee brewed, he and Michelle sat down at the kitchen table. Michelle