Roaring back from a life-threatening injury, Theo has the world at his skates as defenseman for his new team, the Chicago Rebels. Everyone adores his big personality, his on-ice talent, and his killer smile. Everyone but his prickly neighbor—or so he thinks. One chilly Christmas Eve, Theo will learn that maybe the girl next door isn’t such a hater after all...

Elle Butler is the most embarrassing person on the planet.

How else can the ex-military-now-bartender explain her crush on the hot jock who lives across the hall? True, he has gorgeous green eyes and perfect cheekbones, but the filter between his brain and too-sexy mouth is permanently malfunctioning. Yet she can’t stop checking out his Instagram antics or sneaking looks at him when he’s at her bar. It’s absolutely mortifying. Running from a past filled with damning secrets, Elle’s determined that this guilty pleasure will remain buried in her deepest fantasies—because she couldn’t possibly indulge with the Theo Kershaw…or make a mistake that draws attention to her under-the-radar life. And she especially couldn’t be a mom to a professional athlete's baby...could she?