My dad's teammate needs a nanny and I need a job. Sounds perfect, right? Except for my massive crush on him ... the one he knows all about.

Lars

I just found out I'm a dad.

My one-night stand dropped a baby bombshell in my local bar where I was celebrating my team's win. Then she fled, leaving me holding my new daughter.

Thank God for Adeline. The daughter of my teammate and closest friend on the Chicago Rebels, she practically raised her little sister and knows exactly how to deal with this situation. I need a nanny; she needs a job. Problem sorted, right?

Not so fast ...

Adeline

I think you're the sexiest guy alive.

That's what Lars Nyquist overheard me say while recounting my embarrassing crush on him. Yeah, that Lars Nyquist. Defenseman for the Chicago Rebels. Owner of the thickest thighs in the league. More than a decade my senior. Oh, and my dad's teammate.

My only option? Leave the country, of course. Luckily, I'd already planned a round-the-world trip with my bestie and by the time I returned to Chicago a year later, I expected my blunder would be long forgotten. Shows what I know. Now I'm lying awake in the bedroom next to his while playing nanny to his surprise little girl. But I can ignore this stupid infatuation. I have to. Even though the sight of Lars learning to be a dad leaves me breathless and takes that crush to a whole other level.

One that has the potential to break my sorry little heart ...

Sweet Thing is the first book in the brand new Chicago Players hockey series from Kate Meader, the USA Today bestselling author of the Chicago Rebels and Rookie Rebels series.