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The Donor: Colorado Coyotes #1

The Donor: Colorado Coyotes #1

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Quirky Denver attorney Shelby seeks a no-strings sperm donor in charming pro hockey player Beau Fox. But when he falls for her, can he convince her to take a chance on forever?

Main Tropes

  • Hockey Romance
  • Baby Love
  • Opposites Attract

Synopsis

“I want your sperm.”

Those were Shelby Grant’s first words to me. Didn’t even want me to buy her a drink first. See, Shelby isn’t like other women. After researching Denver’s most eligible bachelors in search of her ideal sperm donor, she chose me.

As a pro hockey player, I’m used to women wanting things from me, but my swimmers? That’s a new one. Somehow, though, with her color-coded parenting plan, sales pitch and contract, Shelby sells me on the idea. After my donation, she doesn’t want anything more to do with me.

I can’t seem to stay away, though. As her belly grows and I get to know the tightly wound mom-to-be, I get attached.

Shelby’s jaded about men and I’m not looking to settle down. There are countless reasons why crossing the contractual line between us is a bad idea.

But once Shelby gives birth to our child, all bets are off. Whether I planned for it or not, I have a family now, and I’m not letting go without a fight.

Intro to Chapter One

Chapter One

Shelby

It started with a kiss. Or more accurately, with a screaming baby. 

An hour ago, I was immersed in a state supreme court opinion on local ordinance enforcement, a Schubert vinyl record serving as the soundtrack for my home office. Soon, though, the only thing I heard was the racket coming through the wall of the apartment above mine. It wasn’t just your average crying baby—it was a shrieking, incredibly pissed-off baby.

I told myself to focus. Get in the zone and tune out the noise. I’d somehow gotten through contractors reroofing the neighboring building last fall, hadn’t I? 

The contractors didn’t wail, though. I would have preferred an incessant alarm clock to the baby upstairs, and I couldn’t say the same for the nonstop hammering. My god, the absolute lung capacity of that child.

Glaring at the ceiling, I yelled, “Enough already!” and started reading a paragraph of the opinion for the fourth time. I’d budgeted exactly enough time to finish this job and start my next one on time, but thanks to my new neighbors, I was going to have to work this weekend.

The baby’s cries were turning from angry to mournful, and I frowned at my computer screen. What if my new neighbors were trash humans who had abandoned the baby? Clearly someone wasn’t taking care of it. 

I stood up, scolding myself for waiting an entire hour to go up there. The kid couldn’t feed itself, after all. This had to be a problem with the blond twentysomething with a pixie cut I’d seen carrying boxes up the stairs a week ago, or her partner. Whoever it was, they were about to get an earful from me.

 Grabbing the keys to my apartment, I walked out the front door, locking it behind me, and stormed up the stairs, stomping my feet on each one to show Blondie how annoying loud neighbors could be. 

If she was even there. I pounded on the door of apartment five, vowing to kick it open and go help the baby if no one answered within a minute.

“You’ve got thirty seconds,” I yelled at the closed door. “Then I break it down!”

The door flew open, and Blondie gave me a wild-eyed look, cradling the crying baby in her arms while bouncing up and down gently.

“Break it down?” She looked me up and down. “With what, your hands?”

This bitch. I shook my head.

More importantly,” I said sharply, “I work from home. And I can’t focus with your kid screaming at the top of its lungs.”

I crossed my arms and held her gaze, waiting for her to go on the defensive. Instead, she surprised me, her shoulders sinking.

“She’s not my kid, and I don’t know shit about babies. My friend had to rush to the hospital because her dad had a heart attack, and she couldn’t find a sitter, so…I’m sorry.”

An hour of built-up rage drained out of me in an instant. 

“Try feeding her,” I suggested. “Or changing her.”

“I’ve tried every single thing on Josie’s list, and nothing is helping. I fed her, changed her, walked around with her, talked to her…”

“Well, can’t you just…rock her or something?” I asked. 

“I’ve rocked her while sitting, while standing, and while walking. I even turned on some Soundgarden and tried rocking while rocking. Nothing.”

I rolled my eyes. “You tried to soothe a baby with Soundgarden?”

“I’m desperate. Got any better ideas?”

I frowned at her, because yes, I did. “Brahms?”

“Are they on Spotify?”

I was twenty-eight, and ashamed of my generation. Shoving my keys into the pocket of my cardigan, I sighed softly.

“Look, I have some music that might help. Why don’t you bring—” I gestured at the infant and Blondie interjected.

“Iris. This is Iris, and I’m Marlowe.”

Iris unleashed her fury again, the noise deafening. 

“I’m Shelby,” I said loudly. “Let’s go. Like right now.”

My new neighbor nodded. “Come on in while I grab my phone and keys.” She stepped aside, allowing me to enter the apartment. 

I could only take four steps into the apartment before I was stopped short by boxes. A lot of boxes. Had anything been unpacked yet?

“It’s still a bit of a mess,” she said, waving a hand, shifting the baby to her hip so she could shove her phone in her back pocket and hook a finger into her keys. “But it’s only been ten days, so I’ll get there eventually.”

She walked toward me, Iris aiming for a world record in screaming. “So is it just you in your apartment, or do you have a family?”

I answered quickly. “Just me. How about you?”

She shrugged. “Just me for now. If you see a guy with longish black hair coming in or out of my apartment, please kick me directly in the vagina.”

My jaw dropped in shock, then sank even lower when she tried to pass the baby over so she could lock her door. 

Hell no. She’d agreed to babysit; I hadn’t. 

“Let me get that,” I said, taking the keys instead of the kid and locking the door for her.

“We broke up like a month ago,” she continued, raising her voice so I could hear her over Iris. “Rock won’t stop sniffing around, though.”

I made it down the stairs first and put my key into the lock of my own apartment, giving her a concerned look. “Do you feel unsafe?”

She snort laughed. “No, it’s not like that. He’s got a huge dick and he’s an eleven in bed. But he’s about a four in all other aspects, so I need to stop seeing him. He’s a hot liar, but still a liar. When I asked him why he had the word ‘never’ tatted on his groin, he said he just liked the word, but then I found out it used to say ‘eve,’ his ex’s name, and he had it changed to ‘never.’ Like, why not just tell me that?”

I pushed the door to my apartment open and Marlowe walked in, grinning at me.

“Oh, wow. Apartment goals.” 

She took in the hardwood floors I’d dusted and mopped yesterday, and the industrial-style shelving unit with houseplants. As she rocked a still-crying Iris back and forth in her arms, her gaze landed on the corner of my living room where I had my workstation set up.

“You work at that desk? How is it so organized?” Marlowe shook her head, sounding baffled. “Are you a professional organizer? If you are, you’re hired.”

I smiled. “I’m a lawyer.”

She gave me an appraising look and then returned my smile. “Okay, I can see it. You’ve got that no-nonsense look about you. What kind of law?”

“I own a legal research business.”

Marlowe’s face lit up. “So you work from home? All the time?”

Well, when babies weren’t making it impossible, I did. I nodded in response.

“Girl, me too! I do a podcast.” She gave me a pleading look. “Can you show me the bathroom next? I assume it’s in the same place mine is. And if you could hold this tiny terror so I can pee, I’d owe you so huge.”

My pulse raced as she started passing me the baby. I’d never held a baby before. What if I did it wrong? What if she screamed even louder? 

“Oh, I…” 

Marlowe didn’t seem to notice my hesitation as she nestled Iris into my arms.

“Can you walk back there with me and keep talking so I know you’re not taking off with Iris? Josie will fucking kill me if I let her kid get kidnapped on my watch.”

Wow. This woman just put her every thought directly into the world. I could see why Never liked her, though. She had beautiful blue eyes, a tiny round silver nose ring, and a natural confidence I wished I had.

“So what’s your podcast about?” I asked, following her to the bathroom but stopping before I reached the door.

“It’s about women and sex,” she answered from inside the bathroom, leaving the door open. “It’s called Cliterally Speaking.”

Of course it was. Why had I even wondered if Marlowe would say she liked to talk about history or wellness? 

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