Learn Your Lesson: A Single Dad Hockey Romance (Kings of the Ice)

Will

“Should we grab dinner somewhere before it gets dark?” Chef Patel asked, checking the time on her watch. “Then we could circle back to the rides we haven’t done before the fireworks.”

“Fireworks!” Ava echoed, spinning with her hands up in the air.

“We have a reservation for you at Be Our Guest,” Juan said, eyes on his clipboard. “But it’s not for a couple hours yet.” His eyes flashed to me, and I knew it was because he was unsure of whether he should be the one to reveal our surprise or if it should be me.

I liked Juan. He was a young kid, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed with a view of the world that I envied. He and his family had moved here from Venezuela when he was just a baby, and he had this infectious energy that revolved around making the most of every day. He smiled and told us facts about the park and led us around like this was the best job in the world and he was the happiest man alive.

It made me wonder, for the first time in five years, why the hell I was so grumpy all the goddamn time.

I nodded to him, letting him know I’d take it from here. Clearing my throat, I dropped down to one knee so I was on Ava’s level. “How about we grab a snack, and then… how would you feel about becoming a princess?”

Ava’s eyes grew wide, and I tried and failed to calm the knocking of my heart against my chest as I felt Chloe’s gaze on me from above.

“A princess?” she repeated softly.

I nodded. “You get your hair done, your makeup, and you get to pick whatever princess dress you want. You even get a tiara,” I added.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a beautiful, sparkling crown that sits on your head,” Chloe filled in for me, her voice full of wonder as she dropped to her knee beside Ava.

She was so fucking pretty. Of course, she couldn’t have just worn jean shorts and a t-shirt like the rest of us. No, she’d spent the last week sewing a romper for the occasion. It was a mix of a rich purple and a sea green, the pattern somehow childlike and adorable, yet fitting for an adult. Maybe it was the way it cinched her waist and framed her breasts, modest but in no way hiding her curves. Across the chest, she’d stitched the words Most Magical and there was an embroidered image of the castle beneath the font.

I tried not to focus too hard on the way her thighs stretched against the fabric as she twirled one of my daughter’s pigtails. “You’ll love it, little angel bug.”

Chloe’s eyes found mine then, and I swallowed, nodding in lieu of a smile.

“I can really be a princess?” Ava asked.

“You sure can. But we better hurry. The kind Fairy Godmothers who will turn you into a princess are agreeing to stay later than usual just for us,” I said.

“Really?!” Ava’s mouth dropped open, and then she grabbed me by the hand and tugged me off the ground. “Let’s go!”

“Are they ready for us?” I asked Juan.

He was texting away on his cell phone, but nodded and smiled. “They should be once we get there. Let’s stop and get a snack like you said and we can head that way.”

“I’m going to be a princess! I’m going to be a princess!” Ava chanted the words, skipping around us before she stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at Chef Patel. “Do you want to become a princess, too, Chef?”

“Oh honey, I’m already a queen,” Arushi said, patting her head. “Have been for years.”

Ava giggled.

My heart lurched into my throat, Juan arching a brow at me before nodding encouragingly.

“Actually,” I said. “How would you feel about Miss Chloe becoming a princess with you?”

Ava gasped at the same time Chloe’s head snapped toward me, confusion in her wide eyes as she frowned and tried to make sense of what I’d said.

“It’s… I’m too old,” she whispered, keeping a smile on so as not to upset Ava. “They have an age limit.”

“Sometimes, exceptions can be made,” Juan said for me, since apparently my voice was too unstable to make a peep.

Chloe’s lips parted, her eyes softening as she swiveled toward me. She blinked once, twice, and then her eyes were watering.

“You did this for me?”

Fuck.

“For Ava,” I said instantly. Sniffing, I tucked my hands into my pockets on a shrug. “But I thought she might not want to do it alone.”

Chloe read right through the lie.

Her lips wobbled as she pressed them together, her eyes glossed, disbelief painted in her every feature.

And then she launched herself into my arms, wrapping hers around my neck and squeezing tight as she let out a deliriously happy squeal.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her grip unrelenting. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever…” She shook her head, pulling back but not away. “Well… just, thank you, Will.”

It was impossible not to catalog every point where her body met mine, from her hips in my hands to her breasts pressed against the bottom of my chest. My nostrils flared as I stared down into her impossibly deep brown eyes, eyes that were surveying me as if I was a puzzle she couldn’t quite figure out.

What the fuck am I doing?

The words echoed in my mind as time stretched between us.

I was breaking my own damn rules.

Those rules had been set for a reason. They were to protect Ava, to ensure Chloe and I kept things professional, that we didn’t get ourselves into a murky situation.

They were to protect me.

And yet here I was, asking her about her life, desperate to know her better, relentless in my pursuit to find a way to make her smile and feel cared for for once in her life.

“This is going to be the best!” Ava said, jumping up and down and breaking the spell between me and Chloe.

Chloe broke away with pink cheeks, tucking her hair behind her ear before she grabbed Ava’s hand and let her lead the way toward one of the snack carts. Juan escorted them, reading off some options for food before our appointment, and I hung back for a moment trying to catch my breath.

Chef Patel stepped right in front of me with her arms full of bags, one thick, black eyebrow hiking into her hairline.

“Shut up,” I said, circling her to catch up to the group.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Didn’t have to.”

“No, I certainly did not,” she agreed on a laugh.

I subtly flipped her off behind my back.

That only made her laugh harder.

• • •

An hour and a half later, Ava and Chloe looked like the remnants of a glitter bomb.

Ava was a golden yellow from head to toe, the dress she chose that of Belle. She was admiring the smattering of stars and glitter on her cheeks as the Fairy Godmother assigned to her placed a tiara on her head. My daughter gasped as the final piece slid into place, the crown sitting perfectly on top of the little bun they’d fastened at the top of her head with a yellow ribbon.

She looked up at me as if I’d hung the moon.

“Daddy, look!”

“I see,” I said, smirking a bit as I came up behind her. She turned back to the mirror and I placed my hands on her shoulders. “You look absolutely beautiful, Pumpkin.”

“Oh, no pumpkin unless she’s out past midnight,” the Fairy Godmother said, ever in character.

“Let’s get a picture of you,” Chef Patel said, helping Ava out of her chair.

“What about Chloe?!”

“She’ll be right out,” one of the other Fairy Godmothers assured her. “She’s almost dressed.”

Juan had pulled some big strings for this. The boutique was normally booked out weeks, if not months, in advance. But he’d somehow convinced a few of the employees to stay late and make room for us. I tried to tip them — not just once, but several times — but they declined every single one of them.

They seemed genuinely happy to help us, though; the Fairy Godmothers smiling as they watched Chef Patel snap photo after photo of Ava, who was striking poses and giggling at Chef’s commentary as she did.

Not only had they made an exception for us timing wise, but they’d also let me book a service for Chloe. The boutique was meant for little girls — not adults — which meant there were no adult-sized chairs or costumes. But like their reputation suggested, the employees made magic happen. They dolled Chloe up just the same as Ava, and then came in last minute with a surprise princess gown covered in a white garment bag.

At least they let me pay for the dress.

As we waited for her reveal, I watched Ava, heart heavy and slow as I wondered what had happened to her over the last few months.

She had completely transformed.

Just a year ago, she was barely speaking. Months ago, she was barely smiling, never laughing.

Now… she was a kid.

She was happy and smiley and carefree. She didn’t wear the weight I unintentionally put on her. She didn’t emulate me the way she had for so long.

No, it seemed she favored Chloe’s energy now.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

That struck me like a bat to the head. Chloe had swung into our lives so unexpectedly, and she’d done so with a mission. She hadn’t just taken on the job as Ava’s nanny with pity or with the mindset that she could make a buck. She didn’t want anything from me — not fame or a quick ticket to money or a relationship past the professional one we had.

She didn’t want anything at all other than to make Ava happy, and me by proxy.

That was a kindness so pure and selfless that I couldn’t quite understand it.

But I was thankful. I was grateful for her time and her energy, for the way she knew how to get my daughter out of her shell better than I ever could. I would never be able to truly pay her enough for how she’d knocked sense into me, too — how she’d brought to light the ways I could introduce Ava to her mom without wanting to hurl myself off a cliff in the process.

Chloe was healing us, just by existing.

That thought was dancing in my mind when Ava and Chef Patel stopped their dance party on a gasp, Ava’s hands flying to cover her mouth as they stared at something behind me.

When I turned, I understood why.

Chloe appeared to glide out of the dressing room, the mirrors all around the boutique reflecting her in a kaleidoscope of beauty. Her russet hair hung in loose, wavy curls around her chin, one side of it pinned up with a light pink seashell. Her makeup was a little less glitzy than my daughter’s — a more refined look, as if she really were a princess joining us for dinner.

I had no idea where they’d conjured the dress they found for her, but it fit as if it had been tailored with her in mind. The skirt that hung to the floor was a shiny, pearl pink. A darker shade, similar to the color her cheeks turned when she blushed, hung over her shoulders and cinched her waist before slowing out in two puffs from her hips.

On anyone else, the thing would have been ridiculous.

But on her…

It was breathtaking.

“Sundar,” I heard Chef whisper somewhere behind me, and while I was still stuck in a haze, Ava whizzed past me and slid to a halt right in front of Chloe.

“Wow,” she breathed, blinking up at her.

“Wow is right,” Chloe said, tapping the tip of Ava’s tiara. “You look amazing, princess.”

“No, you look amazing.”

“No, you,” Chloe argued back, and then they were plucking at each other’s clothes, dishing out compliments and giggling like best friends.

Chef approached them with her phone in hand, gesturing for them to get together for pictures. She snapped away while I watched from behind her.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Chloe.

And when her gaze slid to mine, I felt that familiar faltering of time, the way the world stuttered to a quiet whisper around us.

Juan tapped me on the shoulder, shaking me from the moment as he informed me we needed to get to our dinner reservation. It was madness as Chloe and Ava thanked the employees profusely for their work, and after a dozen more pictures with the Fairy Godmothers and a hundred blown kisses, we were all but running across the park to Be Our Guest.

We were immediately escorted to our dining table once we made it, and after dinner, we rushed to the Seven Dwarfs rollercoaster ride before finding our spot for fireworks.

I never got the chance to tell Chloe how gorgeous she looked.

But as we rode the water taxi to our hotel, I caught her shy gaze from across the boat. The lights reflected off the water, and in her warm eyes, my daughter sleeping with her head resting against Chloe’s shoulder. Chloe smiled at me, just the corner of her mouth lifting, and need coursed through me like a wild, rushing river.

I wondered if Fairy Godmothers really did exist.

I wondered if mine had sent Chloe to me.

And I hoped she could feel my intention as I returned her gaze, as I let my eyes travel the length of her, knowing her skin was turning that lovely shade of red I loved so much even though it was too dark to see it.

I wanted her to melt from the heat in my stare.

I longed for her to let me show her what I could never say with words.

There was only one way I knew how to do exactly that.

I was ready for another lesson.

Tonight.