Free Hard to Hold by Katie Rose Page A

come you aren’t married and having a dozen kids of your own?”
    He’d wondered about that. A woman as good looking as her? Guys would be all over that shit. But he saw her stiffen and realized that he had stumbled upon something painful.
    “I guess…it just wasn’t in the cards for me.”
    Her tone forestalled any further conversation on the topic, but Logan couldn’t help but wonder what she meant. Was it a bad breakup?
    But before he could comment, she beat him to it.
    “Look, no offense,” she said firmly. “But I am your nanny. I plan to work with you and the baby, teach you what you need to know, and help this little girl get a good start in life. But I think where you and I are concerned, the less personally involved, the better.”
    He felt like he had been slapped.
What the fuck?
It’s not like he hit on her or anything. They had to spend a lot of time together. Didn’t it make sense for them to know something about each other? About their families, their histories?
    Apparently, she didn’t think so. Somehow he had fucked up, and he wasn’t sure why. Most females were insulted if he didn’t take the time to get to know them, if he just took their services for granted. But Isabella seemed to feel the exact opposite.
    He wasn’t pissed as much as frustrated. He felt like he was speaking to someone in fucking French when they spoke Spanish.
    So he was almost relieved when Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” came on, and Isabella broke into song.
    Logan was jolted down to his toes. It wasn’t just that she looked so stunningly gorgeous. It wasn’t even the way she mood-shifted, going from friendly to icy in the space of a few seconds. But something about the way she was singing reached inside him and grabbed his heart, gave it a hard tug.
    No woman belted out lyrics like that without having walked that road.
    Who had hurt her?
    And why did he suddenly want to kill the guy?

Chapter 10
    They made it to the hotel in good time. Isabella got out of the SUV and reached for Cinnamon’s bag, but Logan got to it first. “How about I take care of this stuff, and you just get the baby?”
    “Okay.” She averted her gaze, focusing on the baby. It was too confusing to look at Logan, especially after spending a couple of hours in close proximity to him.
    Almost like a couple
. “We can make more than one trip,” she suggested, surveying their belongings.
    “Nah. I’ll have them bring up the bags when we check in.” He gestured for the bell captain, who immediately grabbed a big brass cart and brought it over to the vehicle. Between Logan and the hotel employee, they quickly and efficiently stacked the luggage and the baby things.
    When they approached the registration desk, Isabella saw the clerk give the soccer player a big smile.
    “Welcome, Mr. Hart. We have everything arranged for you: two adjoining rooms, a suite. We have a crib set up and a refrigerator. Is there anything else you think you need?”
    It was obvious the woman thought Logan was hot. Isabella hid her annoyance, but Logan didn’t seem to notice.
    “I appreciate you taking care of all that.”
    “Your nanny did a great job of communicating what you need,” she said, her eyes reluctantly shifting to Isabella. “Makes our life much easier.”
    “Yeah. She is pretty amazing.”
    For the second time that day, Isabella’s mouth dropped. Was he trying to take a different approach? Instead of fighting her on everything, was he beginning to understand there was a method to her madness?
    She didn’t know but was a little surprised to find his compliments and kindness threatening. It was easier to keep a distance when he gave her a rough time.
    Logan being sweet was entirely too appealing…
    “Here are your keys. Just call down to the front desk if you need extra towels or anything else.” The woman’s gaze fell on the baby, and her expression softened. “What a cutie! A redhead.” She looked at Isabella, and then flirtatiously at