Page 18 of Meant for Mayhem

“What about them?”

“Do you wear socks in your skates, or are you one of those barefoot fungus-breeding-ground players? Because I will never forget how god-awful my brothers’ equipment smelled, and I can’t do it.”

This time I did chuckle, my chest shaking with the quiet sound. “No fungus.”

“What about cooking? Because I should warn you, I am better at burning food than cooking it. And I’m not your maid. Don’t ask me to do your laundry or anything like that. And I refuse to⁠—”

I held out a hand to stop her words. “These are all things we need to discuss, yes. But if there’s even a chance that we do this—that you agree to marry me—you are not an employee. I will provide for you, similar to what you have here—no rent, free groceries, a car—but you will have no obligations in my life aside from caring for Leena. Understood?”

“No. I don’t understand. In fact, I can’t understand why on earth you said my name when they asked who your wife was.”

“And why is that?”

Shannon’s head rolled on her shoulders until she looked at me, her expression deadpan. “And here I thought you were the one required to speak with a psychologist.”

I smirked. “Humor me. Explain to me why you can’t understand why I said your name.”

“I’m a bitch, Mikko. Everyone knows this.”

“You’re honest. That’s not the same. And don’t talk about yourself that way.”

“Just because I know I’m bitchy doesn’t mean I dislike that about myself.”

“So why would you think I dislike it about you, either?”

That seemed to stump her, those pretty grey eyes expanding before she looked away. “You don’t know me, though. We’ve barely spoken before today. I know you play hockey, you’re Finnish, and your daughter is adorable. You know I work for the Conways, I drink too much Diet Coke, and own an embarrassing number of romance novels. That’s not enough to hire me.”

“Marry you,” I corrected.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Mikko.”

“And so am I.”

She let out a long, frustrated breath. “Then explain how you landed on me.”

I rubbed my hand over Leena’s back, buying myself a second to figure out how to explain something I wasn’t sure I understood myself.

“My head is loud,” I admitted. “It’s always been this way. Usually, being on the ice turns it all off. But since I brought Leena home, it’s so much worse. Every decision turns into ten more. Every worst-case scenario plays out before I can stop it. I question everything, and it’s exhausting.”

Shannon’s expression softened, and I kept going, letting the words tumble out of my mouth before I second-guessed this too.

“Every time I’m around you, I swear it’s like the world goes quiet.”

Shannon stopped pacing, turning to face me. “Quiet?”

“I can’t explain it any better than that.” I shrugged, a little embarrassed by how this all sounded. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“No,” she agreed. “It doesn’t.”

“Trust me, it bothers me, too. It took me three weeks to decide on a new toaster. Making life-changing decisions based on instinct isn’t exactly on-brand.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

“Because it wasn’t a decision. Management asked if I had a secret wife, and before my brain could even catch up, your name was already out of my mouth.”

She searched my face like she expected to find the punchline, but the words continued to spill out as fast as my heart raced.

“Haven’t you ever met someone and just...”