Beneath the Ice Ch. 01

With a disgruntled noise, she set the tablet down and turned her light out. Sleep remained elusive as her thoughts went from extra work to educational options, to a pair of dark eyebrows pinched in a scowl over a rugged face and crooked lips. Man, he'd been tall. And big. Muscular, as if he worked out or had a very physical job. Maybe he did. Maybe that made him tired and grumpy most of the time, which explained why he was so sensitive to noise.

Annoyed that thoughts of her disgruntled downstairs neighbor were invading her thoughts, Charlotte rolled over again and punched a pillow for good measure.

It didn't help.

─────

The game against the Detroit Red Wings was grueling. The Blackhawks managed to pull off a win but Alexei felt that win in every joint as he let himself into his apartment late that night. He rotated his left arm over his head and around, grimacing at the pull. Chase Andersson had slammed him hard into the boards late in the second period and Alexei thought the opposing player's shoulder pad had connected at the exact right angle to do some damage. At the moment, it was no more than some aching muscles and probably a bruise come morning, but nothing he couldn't live with.

Letting out a breath, Alexei locked his door, kicked his shoes off and crossed to his bedroom to undress. There, he listened for noise coming from upstairs. Not that he expected any at this late hour, but one never knew.

Even as he stood in front of his bathroom mirror, toothbrush in hand, he heard a creak from above and the sound of water running.

The thought that her bedroom was right over his, his bathroom right beneath hers, stopped his movements. He listened as the water stopped. There was another creak, presumably his neighbor walking back out of the bathroom again, then nothing.

Resuming his routine, Alexei told himself he didn't care that her bedroom was over his, that her bed might be in the same spot, that she was on top of him as they slept.

─────

Morning came in with a bang. Literally.

Alexei jolted up in bed, his heart thundering, and listened as there was another clatter, then the sound of feet thumping across his ceiling. He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face as the noise faded, his eyes going to the clock on his nightstand.

Fucking seven-oh-seven? Seriously?

Another groan and Alexei pushed himself to his feet. He needed to use the bathroom now, and as he did that, there was some more thumping and a loud stomp. Maybe the kid was throwing a temper tantrum. Hell, if he was three years old, he might do the same thing if he'd been woken up at fucking seven-oh-seven after sleeping only about six hours in the end.

Washing up, the upstairs apartment seemed to fall silent. Letting out a breath, he climbed back into bed and let his body sprawl out diagonally on his big king-size mattress —an absolute necessity for his hockey-player's body.

He was just drifting off again when there was a loud thump, from what sounded like right over his head.

"Come on!"

He threw the covers back and jumped to his feet. He grabbed the pair of flannel pants he had laying over the foot of bed-frame and yanked them on before storming out of the bedroom. He had his slippers on and was upstairs in a flash, banging on the door.

It opened mere seconds later, startling him. Then he took in the flushed face, those freckles standing out even more in her cheeks.

"What?"

Alexei narrowed his eyes and planted fists on his hips. "Don't 'what' me. You know what. You and your animal woke me up."

Her eyes flashed. "My animal?"

Maybe that was out of line. Looking down, Alexei sucked in a breath, striving for calm. "I apologize. That was rude."

When he looked up again, she was full-on glaring at him, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm sorry too that we woke you." She blew out a breath and shoved a loose strand of hair from her face. She'd secured most of it into some sort of bun at the back of her head but more than one wavy strand of dark red had come loose. "On the plus side, we're on our way out. Zoe, now. Come on."

"I'm coming, Mom!" came a loud sing-song voice from somewhere out of sight.

'Mom' winced and turned back to Alexei. "Sorry again."

The whirlwind appeared at the woman's side and Alexei looked down at that small version of the woman before him.

"Hi." She gave him a wide grin.

Alexei blinked. "Hi."

"I'm Zoe."

Completely caught in her energy, Alexei shifted on his feet. "Um. I'm Alexei."

The little imp stuck her hand out, holding it way over her head, aiming for his hand. Without thinking, he reached down and shook her tiny hand. As he straightened, he glanced up at 'Mom' again. She watched the entire exchange, her aquamarine eyes wide and her luscious lips parted.

"Come on, Mommy!" Zoe jumped in place and then took off running down the hall.

"Oh, for the love of— Zoe, get back here this instant."

The tiny redhead halted four doors down and ambled back, her grin cheeky.

Alexei found himself backing up a step as the woman exited her apartment and locked the door.

"Look, I am really sorry. I'm trying, but it might take a while before we're completely silent," she said.

Her expression was so harried that Alexei's stomach dipped. He reached up to cup the back of his neck and nodded at her once. "It's fine. I'll try to be more patient."

She pressed her lips together and reached out a hand as she turned away from him. Her daughter slipped her hand into her mother's and they strode off down the hall.

Alexei stood there, watching them shrink, the further away they got. Before they disappeared around the corner, the woman glanced over her shoulder and their eyes met. Then she was gone.

Left standing there, Alexei realized that he'd rushed upstairs to confront her with nothing but pants and slippers on.

At least he'd had the foresight for those. Pretty sure she wouldn't have appreciated him banging on her door buck naked.

With a sigh, Alexei turned and walked down to his place.

─────

God in heaven, all those muscles!

Charlotte still hadn't calmed down by the time she got to work. She'd have been flustered no matter what the man wore, she was pretty sure. A side effect of Zoe being full of especially energetic beans, and knowing they'd been far too loud. Again. But he'd shown up with nothing but pants on and it had been all Charlotte could do to keep from drooling and reaching out to touch his abs, just to see if they'd been real.

She very nearly had, anyway.

Unlocking the front door to Heart and Home, Charlotte scurried in, locked up, and went to put on a pot of coffee in the office.

Sarah showed up a short while later, took one look at her, and pressed her into a chair.

"All right, what happened?" she said.

Charlotte took a deep breath and let it out, her mind full of all. Those. Muscles.

"His name is Alexei."

Sarah's dark brows winged up and she smirked. "Who? New boyfriend?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Charlotte let out a laugh and shook her head. "The downstairs neighbor I was telling you about yesterday."

Sarah's eye widened and she sank onto the chair beside Charlotte. "We know his name? How delicious. What else?"

He's built like a Greek God. And he'd been adorably rumpled, that dark hair sticking out on one side. Five o'clock shadow covering the lower half of his face. A single thin chain of gold around his neck, with a small medallion dangling below his collarbone. And how could she forget all. The. Muscles.

Sarah started to laugh, slapping a hand on Charlotte's thigh. "Oh, honey, you should see your face right now!"

With a groan, Charlotte buried her face in her hands. She could only imagine what Sarah had seen in her expression.

The coffee maker sputtered as the last of the water finished running through. Sarah jumped up to pour them each a cup —black for Charlotte, easy to remember. They sat together, sipping the fresh brew and Sarah waited for her to explain.

"Well, Zoe was full of energy this morning so she was being exceptionally loud, even for her."

Sarah winced. "Yikes. Let me guess, she woke up this Alexei?"

"Sure did. He came knocking just as we were about to leave."

"Well, that's something at least."

"Yeah." Charlotte recapped the brief encounter, including Zoe's adorable introduction between them. Her daughter really was going to rule the world one day, she'd swear by it. A soft smile came over her face as she explained the way Alexei had bent at the waist to shake her daughter's hand.

"He looked so serious, Sarah." Charlotte shook her head. "As if he was meeting a business associate or something."

Sarah pressed a palm to her chest. "That must have been beyond adorable."

"It really was, even I can admit that." She sighed and slumped back in her chair. "Which makes it so much worse that we woke him up and it was such a lousy encounter otherwise."

"Yeah? Is that because he was a tall slice of man candy you wanted to lick up one side and down the other?"

Charlotte gasped and swatted her friend, her face flaming. Curse her fair complexion! "He called Zoe an animal."

Sarah arched a brow. "To be fair—"

Charlotte tried to be disgruntled but dissolved into laughter along with Sarah. Bless her sweet little outgoing heart, but Zoe was something not quite human sometimes with her energy and enthusiasm. Charlotte loved her all the more for it. Zoe was her whole world.

"All right. So it was awkward, but he didn't swear at Zoe, so that makes him all right." Sarah sipped her coffee. "Maybe later, to make it up to him, you guys could take him some home-baked cookies or something."

Charlotte pursed her lips as she considered her friend's suggestion. Alexei's hard body didn't look like the kind that indulged in cookies but she could do something.

"Maybe." Rubbing her cheek, Charlotte sipped her coffee, wondering more about how she could curb Zoe's rambunctious behavior at home. She didn't want to force Alexei to complain to the building manager. She was lucky enough to be in such an affordable place so close to her work and Zoe's daycare and couldn't afford to lose it.

"Hey, how about I take Zoe for a sleepover sometime?"

"A sleepover?" They had done that once or twice in the last two years. Charlotte always enjoyed the time to rest and recharge but ended up feeling guilty that she couldn't cope like she felt she should. The voices of her parents and older sister always rang in her head, telling her she'd made her bed and she needed to lie in it now.

"Think about it." Sarah leaned forward and squeezed her hand. "There's nothing wrong with getting help, Char. Don't let yourself burn out."

Charlotte nodded, looking down at their joined hands, Sarah's soft brown hand encompassing hers. "Thanks, Sarah. I will think about it."

Another squeeze and Sarah released her. "All right. Now, let's finish sorting that new product and then Ursula can decide later how she wants to display it."

Charlotte nodded and downed the rest of her coffee, more than ready to forget her morning.

─────

"I'm Zoe."

Alexei shook his head as he returned from his daily run and workout in the building's gym.

'I'm Zoe', she'd said, as if she introduced herself to every angry, early morning guest. And it hadn't occurred to him to ask what her mother's name was. Not that it mattered. It shouldn't. Except, he'd done nothing but wonder what her name was since that morning's encounter.

His phone rang as he stood in his kitchen, guzzling a glass of water. He lifted it up, frowning when he saw Olle's name on the display. He'd have thought Olle would be busy with his wife on their day off. They'd be leaving for a road trip in another two days, following their next game against the Minnesota Wild.

"Hey."

"Alex! What are you doing for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know. Something here, like usual." Alexei poured more water into his glass and chugged that back as well. "Why? What do you have in mind?"

"Joelle told me to invite you guys over."

By 'you guys,' Alexei knew he meant him and Tarik. Possibly a few more of the single guys on the team. Joelle, Olle's wife, was sweet and had decided long ago that she needed to feed all the single guys on the team, especially the ones from Europe, with no family nearby to look after them. As if they weren't all grown men. Still, Alexei knew she was being kind and seemed to genuinely enjoy throwing impromptu gatherings.

"Sure. I'm in. What time?" Alexei wasn't much of a social butterfly, but he didn't mind spending an evening or two with his teammates throughout the season. He was one of those European players, with no family nearby. No family at all, really.

Olle hummed as he considered. "I mean, come over whenever you want. We can all play some pool or ping pong or something until dinner. But Joelle says dinner will be at seven, sharp."

Alexei smiled and nodded, finishing another glass of water. "All right. See you then."

He did some stretching before jumping in the shower. As he got dressed, he checked the time. He might as well head to Olle's now. Not like he had some pressing hobby or significant other who demanded all his spare time.

Red hair and lips flashed in his mind's eye and he shook the thought free. Or tried to. As he double checked that he had his wallet and phone, thundering feet overhead announced Zoe's arrival home.

Instead of irritating him, Alexei shook his head with a sigh. She was just a kid. He could and would be patient, as he'd promised earlier. Starting now, by fleeing the scene.

─────

When Alexei got home from dinner later that evening, he walked down the hall to his apartment while scrolling through his Twitter feed. He didn't do much in the way of social media but he did follow some entertaining folks and often got stuck on the scroll, like anyone else. He heard a soft knocking and looked up, startling when he saw Zoe's mother with a hand stretched out at his door, her other hand holding something close to her stomach.

She knocked again as he got closer, not noticing him at first. After another moment, her shoulders dipped and she looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw him. "Oh. Hi."

He came to a stop before her, his eyes locking on hers as she lifted her free hand in a feeble little wave.

"Hi. Can I help you?" What on earth could she be doing at his apartment door at this time in the evening? A glance at his phone showed him it wasn't all that late, actually. A little after eight. "Where's Zoe?"

She smiled and pointed at the ceiling. "She's in bed. Actually went down easy tonight, thankfully."

He nodded, his gaze skittering over the rest of her now. She was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt that looked threadbare at the collar, and did nothing for her figure. Her pants were also loose and he was pretty sure there was some sort of brown streak on one thigh. She wore slip-on sandals, her feet bare within them.

"I didn't realize you were out."

As she spoke, Alexei dragged his eyes back up her body, telling himself he wasn't checking her out. "I was out."

Her lips curled up in a tentative smile. "Right. Well, I came to apologize pre-emptively for all the noise tonight."

Alexei huffed out a breath and shook his head. "I missed out on it."

"Lucky you."

"Zoe does seem to have a lot of energy."

"She does." Her hand shifted from her side to cup the plate in her hand. "I brought you these. We made them tonight."

Alexei's eyes dropped to the plate she held and saw about a dozen or so cookies covered in plastic wrap. "You made me cookies."

"Yeah. As an apology. Or thank you, for being patient."

He lifted his gaze to hers again. "But I wasn't here tonight."

Her face fell, the smile fading away. "Oh. Right. Of course. Why would you want these cookies?" She half-turned away from him as if to go, her shoulders drooping. "Well, I'm glad we didn't disturb you tonight."

"Wait." Alexei rubbed his chin as she turned back to him, those luminous eyes boring through him. "I like cookies."

"They're snickerdoodles."

"I'm sorry?" He lifted his eyebrows. "What is a snickerdoodle?"

She bit her lip, drawing his attention there for a second that lasted a little too long. "You've never had a snickerdoodle?"

"It's not a cookie I had growing up in Russia."

"Oh, you're Russian." She nodded as if he'd answered a question for her. "I wondered." At his look, she flapped a nervous hand between them. "Your accent."

He rubbed a hand over his head. "And all this time, I thought it had faded."

"I mean, it's not super strong or anything. Obviously."

"Obviously." He eyed the plate in her hands and stepped closer to her, reaching for it. "May I?"

She nodded, holding the plate out as he peeled back one side of the plastic. He picked up one fluffy cookie and took a bite. It was as fluffy as it looked, with a bite of cinnamon under the sweet, buttery flavor.

All the while, Zoe's mother watched him, her eyes wide.

"Good."

"Would you like another?"

Instead of taking one, Alexei plucked the plate from her hands. She opened her mouth, one hand reaching out to take the plate back but Alexei blocked her, turning his body to slide the key into his lock.

"Um." Her voice shook as he opened his door and walked inside, flicking on a light as he went.

"Come in." He didn't look back to see if she followed.

She did, barely standing inside his doorway, her hands clenched together in front of her. "I should get back upstairs. Zoe's all alone."

"Does she wake up a lot during the night?" Alexei set the plate on his kitchen island and turned to the fridge. Cookies and milk. That was the American thing to do, right? It certainly hadn't been a regular tradition in his home growing up. Cookies or anything beyond the bare necessities, really, but that wasn't a memory he wanted to peek at tonight.

"No. She hasn't done that since she was a baby. She's always been a good sleeper, actually."

Alexei couldn't help but smirk at that as he poured two glasses of milk. "She wears herself out during the day, I guess."

The woman matched his look and nodded once. "You're probably right."

"Did you lock the door?"

She nodded again, patting her pocket where she presumably had a key tucked away.

"Then I'm sure she's fine for a minute." Alexei handed her a glass of milk and nudged the plate of cookies towards her. "Have one."

"I have two dozen upstairs still." But she lifted one from his pile and nibbled at it while he watched her.

Another personal first. Alexei didn't mind socializing with his teammates but he struggled to make friends outside of his hockey life. Even as a kid, he hadn't been much for idle chatter or play.

As they stood there, each eating a cookie and holding a glass of milk, Alexei watched Zoe's mom. She fidgeted and hadn't closed his door behind her, letting the fluorescent lights from the hall flood into his foyer.

Remembering his introduction to Zoe earlier that very day, Alexei set his glass on the island and brushed his hands together, dislodging sugar and crumbs. "I'm Alexei."

She smiled, her neck working as she swallowed her last bite of snickerdoodle. She slipped her smaller hand into his and shook. "I'm Charlotte."

Charlotte.

"Nice to meet you." He let her go, leaning back against his island.

She dipped her chin once in a nod and continued to smile at him. He didn't know if he should smile back, offer to walk her upstairs, or toss her over his shoulder and show her his king-sized bed. The mixture of feelings were entirely new for him.

"Well, I should probably get back upstairs." She pointed over her shoulder, as if he needed clarification on where she lived. She set her half-empty glass of milk on the island next to his and Alexei's gaze lingered on the two glasses for a second before he followed her back his door.