Zack
Cold Fury Hockey # 3
By: Sawyer Bennett
Releasing June 9, 2015
Loveswept
Blurb
New York Times bestselling author
Sawyer Bennett goes for a hat trick with the latest romance in a sexy series
about cool-as-ice hockey players and the women heating up their lives.
Warning: The following
contains spoilers from a cliffhanger in Garrett.
Rising
star Zack Grantham has been stuck in a downward spiral of grief that has put
his career on hold. Back on the road with the Carolina Cold Fury, still
crippled by emotional baggage, and now a single dad, he’s in need of some
serious help with his son. But while the nerdy new nanny wins his son’s heart,
Zack isn’t sure he’s ready for a woman’s touch—even after getting a glimpse of
the killer curves she’s hiding under those baggy clothes.
Kate
Francis usually keeps men like Zack at a distance. Though his athlete’s body is
honed to perfection, he refuses to move on with his life—and besides, he’s her
boss. Still, the sparks between them are undeniable, tempting Kate to turn
their professional relationship into a personal one. But before she makes a
power play for Zack’s wounded heart, Kate will have to open him up again and
show him that love is worth the fight.
Reading Order
Excerpt
My heart feels like
it’s going to leap out of my chest as I stand at the sink and wash the griddle
clean. It’s actually kind of a pleasure to clean up in a kitchen like this.
I’ve never been in a home this nice, and it’s hard not to stare around in
wonder at all the shiny. His kitchen is übermodern, with sleek blond-oak
cabinets and stainless-steel handles. The counters are done in black granite
with flecks of gray throughout and the sink is a massive single bin made of
some type of stone.
Zack sits at the table
on the opposite side of the L-shaped kitchen counter with Ben as they eat their
breakfast. His eyes remain pinned on me, a mixture of anger and confusion.
He clearly doesn’t
like me and I have no clue why. I expect him at any moment to just fire me. I
can see it in his eyes…That’s what he wants.
There was a moment
when Ben hurtled his little body at me that I cut a glance at Zack, and I saw
fury wash over him. It scared me so bad, I almost ran out of the house right
then. But I didn’t because I really, really, really need this job. Without it,
I’m just one bus ticket away from being forced to return home to live with
Daddy in our dingy tin can of a trailer in the backwoods of eastern North
Carolina. And I promised myself when I left home five years ago, as much as I
adore my daddy, I would never let that happen.
So I pulled on all of
my available confidence that I’ve built up over the years along with my sheer
will to survive and promptly ignored Zack and his dirty looks and started to
clean his kitchen. He didn’t say a word, just watched me as I worked and
sometimes would make conversation with Ben.
I’m just wiping down
the counters when Zack picks up the empty plates and walks over to put them in
the dishwasher. When he’s finished, he turns to Ben and says, “Why don’t you go
upstairs and play in your room a bit? I need to talk to Kate about a few
things.”
“Can I watch TV?” Ben
asks.
“Sure,” Zack says, and
Ben jets from the table and pounds his way upstairs.
I rinse out the
dishcloth in my hand, wring it, and then fold it over the faucet. Turning to
Zack, I find him leaning a hip against the counter with his arms crossed
defensively over his chest. His gaze is frosty when he says, “What exactly did
Delaney tell you the job would consist of?”
Man, he intimidates
the hell out of me. He towers over me, and even though he has the face of an
angel with dark brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes perfectly supported by a
strong jaw, so much animosity is radiating off him that I think he may be the
devil.
I know all about Zack
Grantham. That’s because I love sports. All kinds of sports, but in particular,
Cold Fury hockey. When North Carolina got its first professional ice hockey
team, I had just started sixth grade. But I remember sitting on the ratty green
corduroy-covered couch in our trailer, and Daddy and I rooting for the Cold
Fury. Of course, often he’d be drunk and passed out by the third period, but at
least for two periods we’d have a good time bonding over our mutual love of the
sport.
I’ve followed the team
closely ever since. Of course, I’ve never been to a live game, that being an
absolute luxury I could have never afforded, but because every game is
broadcast locally, I rarely miss one unless I’m studying for an important test
or something. And because I follow the team so well, I know exactly who Zack
Grantham is.
He’s an amazing player
and, truth be told, if I could afford a jersey, I’d probably get one with his
name on it. Or maybe Alex Crossman’s. Or even Garrett Samuelson’s. About four
months ago, Zack was in a terrible car accident that killed Ben’s mom, Gina,
and caused him to be kept out of the first half of the season with a fractured
wrist. That has apparently healed enough that he’s ready to return to the team,
and thus the need for a nanny for Ben.
I was utterly stunned
when I got a call from his sister, Delaney, for an interview. I had posted my
résumé and qualifications on a website for nanny services, knowing it would be
a long shot because most of my experience came from helping my sister, Kelly,
with her three kids, and other various babysitting jobs. But at this point, I
needed work, so I was applying to every place I could think of.
“Now you seem to have
nothing to say,” Zack growls, and my body jerks over the derision in his voice.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“Um…Delaney said you needed a live-in nanny for Ben. That the position would be full-time until he
started school in the fall, and then part-time after that. She said I’d be
responsible for his care when you weren’t here and that I’d have to do basic
household chores and stuff.”
Zack nods at me,
unfurls his arms from across his chest, and rubs his chin thoughtfully.
“Delaney thinks you’re right for this job. I’m going to have to trust her on
that.”
“I am,” I tell him
earnestly. “I’ll take very good care of Ben.”
“You’d better,” he
growls at me so menacingly, I take an involuntary step backward. “If you harm
one hair on my child’s head, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?”
The scared country
girl inside me wants to curl into the fetal position and just shrink away from
the threat in his voice. But I’m not that young girl anymore. I’ve pulled
myself out of crappy circumstances and made a new life for myself. I’ve worked
hard over the years to build up my self-esteem, and I’m not about to let this
man tear it down.
Squaring my shoulders
at him, I give him a stern look. “I appreciate your protectiveness of Ben, and
I’d feel the same way about my own child. I can assure you, you have nothing to
worry about. But I have to insist that you treat me with some type of respect
for the position I hold. At the very least, you don’t want to teach your son
it’s okay to threaten and intimidate women, do you?”
Zack stares at me, his
amber-colored eyes turning almost a dark brown. He blinks a few times and
shakes his head. “Are you always this blunt?”
“I’m always this
honest,” I clarify for him.
Author Info
USA Today Best-Selling Author, Sawyer
Bennett is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to
finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her
head. Her husband works for a Fortune 100 company which lets him fly all over
the world while she stays at home with their daughter and three big, furry dogs
who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn’t have many weaknesses
but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.
Sawyer
is the author of several contemporary romances including the popular Off
Series, the Legal Affairs Series and the Last Call Series. She will be
releasing her second book in the Cold Fury Hockey Series with Random House
Loveswept, February 2015.
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