The Body Checker (Players on Ice Book 3) Read online

  “All right, come on. Let’s get you both to school.”

  “You go to school?” Cassie asks Rachel as we make our way downstairs and back outside.

  “I do?”

  “What grade are you in?”

  “Well, I’m in college?”

  “What’s college?”

  Rachel glances at me and I shake my head. “Chatty Cassie,” I say.

  I open the door to the back seat as Rachel grabs her backpack from her car. “In you go, kiddo.”

  Cassie climbs into her car-seat and buckles herself in. “Good?” I ask.

  “Good?” she says and picks up her mock iPad and turns it on. As music blares, Rachel slides into the passenger seat. Once we’re all buckled up, I back out of the driveway and head to Cassie’s school.

  Rachel casts me a glance. “You have your hands full.”

  I scrub my chin and flick on my signal. “Yeah. She’s definitely a full-time job, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Rachel shifts restlessly beside me, and I don’t miss the curiosity in her big brown eyes. “What?”

  “It’s not my business, but I take it her mom’s not in the picture.”

  I stiffen and grip the steering wheel tighter, and Rachel holds her hands up, palms out. “Sorry, none of my business. I wasn’t trying to pry.”

  “No, it’s okay. I just…” I pause, not wanting to divulge too much about myself. “You’re right, her mom’s not in the picture. She left a couple years ago and we’ve not seen her since. It’s just Cassie and me.”

  “I’m sorry, Jaxon.”

  “Yeah, me too,” I say, and clench down on my jaw.

  “I was thinking…”

  I cast her a quick glance, note the way she’s playing with the straps on her purse. “About?”

  “That you could use a little help around your place, and with Cassie. Everyone needs a break once in a while right? You’re giving me one with my car.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “That maybe I could help you around the house. Cook, clean, babysit, teach you how to braid Cassie’s hair,” she says with a grin. “Although I hear you make a mean Nightmare Moon.”

  I laugh at that. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. What’s the going rate for something like that?” I ask. I’m not hurting for money. I have a very successful business, and have been thinking about hiring someone to help me with the house. I just haven’t found the time to look more into it. That, and I don’t trust too many people with my belongings—time in juvenile hall will do that to you—or with my daughter.

  “Well, I was thinking, instead of money, I could spend the next couple weeks working off the repairs to the car. You’re helping me, I’m helping you.”

  “Tit for tat?”

  Shit, now I’m thinking of her tits.

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  I mull that over as I pull up to Cassie’s school. I jump out as she unbuckles herself. The second I open her door, she hops from the car and is about to take off until I bend to give her a hug and kiss. “I’ll see you later, kiddo.”

  “Bye, Daddy. Bye, Rachel,” she says and I wave to the playground monitor as Cassie runs to catch up to her friends. I slide back into the car and pull in to traffic.

  “Okay, so tit for tat. I like it.”

  I like it a lot. Which is a real fucking problem.

  “Um, just one thing you should know, Jaxon.”

  “What’s that?”

  She continues to twist the strap of her purse. “What you heard this morning…from my friends.”

  I shake my head and laugh. “I heard a lot from your friends.”

  “Yeah, but the part about—”

  “Me having killed someone. For the record, I never killed anyone. Gave a few good beatings to a few bad people who deserved them, but I never murdered anyone.”

  Rachel nods her head. “Good to know, but I’m talking about—”

  “You needing to get laid?”

  About Cathryn

  New York Times and USA today Bestselling author, Cathryn is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. She has two teenagers who keep her busy with their never ending activities, and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. Cathryn can never find balance in her life, is always trying to find time to go to the gym, can never keep up with emails, Facebook or Twitter and tries to write page-turning books that her readers will love.

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  Also by Cathryn Fox

  Players on Ice

  The Playmaker

  The Stick Handler

  The Body Checker

  The Hard Hitter

  In the Line of Duty

  His Obsession Next Door

  His Strings to Pull

  His Trouble in Talulah

  His Taste of Temptation

  His Moment to Steal

  His Best Friend’s Girl

  His Reason to Stay

  Confessions

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Professor

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Officer

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Fighter

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Gamer

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Millionaire

  Confessions of a Bad Boy Santa

  Confessions of a Bad Boy CEO

  Hands On

  Hands On

  Body Contact

  Full Exposure

  Dossier

  Private Reserve

  House Rules

  Under Pressure

  Big Catch

  Brazilian Fantasy

  Improper Proposal

  Boys of Beachville

  Good at Being Bad

  Igniting the Bad Boy

  Bad Girl Therapy

  Stone Cliff Series:

  Crashing Down

  Wasted Summer

  Love Lessons

  Wrapped Up

  Eternal Pleasure Series

  Instinctive

  Impulsive

  Indulgent

  Sun Stroked Series

  Seaside Seduction

  Deep Desire

  Private Pleasure

  Captured and Claimed Series:

  Yours to Take

  Yours to Teach

  Yours to Keep

  Firefighter Heat Series

  Fever

  Siren

  Flash Fire

  Playing For Keeps Series

  Slow Ride

  Wild Ride

  Sweet Ride

  Breaking the Rules:

  Hold Me Down Hard

  Pin Me Up Proper

  Tie Me Down Tight

  Stand Alone Title:

  Hands on with the CEO

  Torn Between Two Brothers

  Holiday Spirit

  Unleashed

  Knocking on Demon’s Door

  Web of Desire