Chapter Four

Sasha

NERVES squeezed Sasha’s chest at the same time desire gripped him by the balls. Nicolas Price was a real, honest-to-goodness, mature man, the kind of man who featured center stage in Sasha’s fantasies, wielding authority like a second skin. He’d always had a thing for taller men, and Nic was a couple of inches taller than Sasha’s six feet, lean but powerful, his muscles pulling the charcoal fabric of his suit taut as he moved. The tiny hint of premature gray at the temples of his dark head of hair sent Sasha’s heartbeat fluttering.

Nic stopped and turned a few steps outside the den and then tugged his tie loose. Sasha’s gaze followed his new boss’s elegant, meticulously manicured fingers as they unfastened the first few buttons of his seafoam dress shirt, the color intensifying the bold emerald green of Nic’s eyes. A mouthwatering glimpse of crisp, dark chest hair turned Sasha’s breathing shallow while he fought to keep the arousal from showing.

“This is unacceptable, Mr. Lindsey.” Nic gestured toward the den, and Sasha’s stomach plummeted, effectively stomping down his runaway physical responses. It was just as well. He’d sworn not to get personally involved with anyone at work ever again, especially with an employer.

“It’s Sasha, and what do you mean exactly?” Sasha’s figurative hackles rose, bringing on a tension headache and a frown he couldn’t help. This wasn’t the first time he’d been discriminated against in the field of childcare because of his gender, but he certainly hadn’t expected it from someone as educated as Nicolas Leighton Price.

“This… mess.” Nic gestured again. “The crap all over the lawn, the monstrosity of a tree, and the mess in my den. I didn’t expect to return to a trashed home. Did Percy have anything to do with this?”

Oh. So it wasn’t about gender after all. “Trashed? Mr. Pri—Nic, do you not celebrate Christmas? I wasn’t aware. The kids didn’t mention anything about it, and neither did Percy.”

Nic sighed, fatigue settling over his features as if he’d fought a long, hard battle only to find another one on the way back to base. Something about the slight furrow between those expressive brows and the sudden tightening of Nic’s shoulders tugged at Sasha’s heartstrings. It made him want to rub the tension right out of those firm, strong shoulders.

“No. I mean yes, we do celebrate Christmas, but we have a professional designer decorate the house. The children’s grandparents are coming for Sunday brunch, and this won’t come close to meeting their standards.”

It took a moment of struggle for Sasha not to comment on the many ways the grandparents could go fuck themselves if homemade decorations weren’t fancy enough for them. It wasn’t his place to make such comments about judgmental pricks with their heads up their asses. Besides, the last thing he needed right now was to alienate Nic into firing him when he was starting to bond with the kids.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped. The lawn was a recreation of Civil War events for Ben’s history class. The tree started out as a probability and statistics lesson, and a discussion on climate change turned into making eco-friendly popcorn garlands. Tomorrow, I can take all this stuff down and have everything cleaned up and back as it was.”

Suppressing the disappointment of spending his free weekend restoring the house to its former condition, more than anything he ached inside at the thought of removing all signs of Christmas. Before he’d decorated with the kids, the place had felt like a museum, or maybe even like walking into a hotel. No personal touches graced any of the rooms except the children’s, and even those had been rather barren. What teenaged kids—tween, in Ben’s case—didn’t have their walls plastered with posters of rock bands, sports stars, or celebrities at the very least?

The kids themselves had seemed equally as barren and devoid of personality at first. Sasha’s impression had been of some sort of Stepford children, politely introducing themselves and then disappearing into their rooms. Perfect little zombies. Fuck that shit. After a couple days feeling them out, he’d initiated a food fight at dinner that finally broke through their icy exteriors. They’d been so sure he was going to get fired. Then he’d distracted them, pulling them into the fight and turning the event into a chemistry lesson on kinetic-molecular theory.

It felt like a step backward to take everything down, but it wasn’t his house, and his illusion of being in charge of the children was only an illusion. The alpha male had returned home. Very alpha male. While said alpha rested his hands on his hips and considered Sasha’s offer, Sasha’s heart rate picked back up. There wasn’t much he enjoyed more than being surrounded by a hot, masculine body, but being far from petite made it a challenge to find a man like that who wasn’t a bear or a beefcake. Or shorter than him like Drew had been. Not that any of those were a problem, but they weren’t the characteristics he found most attractive in a lover.

“Oh,” Nic said. He had a somewhat surprised look on his face when his piercing emerald gaze lifted to meet Sasha’s. “I thought you were a math teacher.”

Sasha shrugged. “Yeah, I have a bachelor’s in math from USC, but the teaching credentials for my MAT were no joke. I had two semesters of student-teaching fieldwork and passed basic skills testing and single subjects in math, science, and gifted education. Ended up substitute teaching for months before I got my first teaching position. When I got nudged out by a tenured teacher moving to my district, I got experience as a full-time caregiver. That was a plus, though. I had to tutor just about everything, so basic subject matter is pretty rote.”

“Wow,” Nic said, his eyebrows lifting. A flicker of pride swelled into toasty waves of gratification in Sasha, taking him by surprise. Nic was, after all, the first person who seemed impressed by Sasha’s accomplishments, something even his parents couldn’t claim. Nic shook his head as if clearing it and continued. “I suppose that’s fine. I mistakenly assumed their studies were overlooked while the children were entertaining themselves with all this frivolous decorating.”

Sasha narrowly avoided letting loose a short bark of laughter. Frivolous? Apparently, the kids weren’t the only ones in need of breaking the ice. The image of Nic in the midst of a food fight nearly made Sasha lose control over his laugh. It was immediately followed by the image of licking sweets from that lean, tall swimmer’s body, and then a groan was the sound he was suppressing.

“Not to disagree, and I do understand the importance of schoolwork, but playtime and socializing can be important too. If everything’s about working, eating, and sleeping, what do we become really? Robots?”

Nic’s posture immediately tensed, his expression shuttering. So much for achieving any kind of breakthrough with the iceman. “Let me be clear here, Mr. Lindsey. When I first arrived home, my instinct was to send you on your way to your next job. Perhaps that’s a little too hasty, considering we never met to go over my expectations, and I doubt Percy’s done much to make those clear either.”

The ironic tone coupled with affection at the mention of Percy somehow softened the blow of Nic’s attempt at reprimand.

“So here they are,” he continued. “I expect the children’s studies to be the priority. There’s a reason why someone with teaching credentials was chosen to fill this position. If the children’s performance in school slides or if the disruption in my household happens again, you’ll be looking for other employment. Do your job as expected, and we’ll get along.”

A flare of indignant anger lit the center of Sasha’s chest. At the same time, his belly quivered, and his cock swelled. He’d always had a people-pleasing mentality, so dominant personalities often struck a match to his sex drive. No surprise there. But fuck. It hadn’t been a month and his job was already on unsteady ground.

“No worries,” Sasha replied, flashing his signature boy-next-door grin. That usually worked to smooth things over when they got rough. “I’m sure we’ll do more than get along.”

Nic’s eyebrows shot up at the suggestive sound of that assertion, and heat instantly flooded Sasha’s cheeks.

“Um, I mean I’m sure we’ll get along well,” Sasha added. Gahhh, his mouth sometimes! He kept talking to distract Nic, and maybe himself, from any dirty thoughts. “They missed you, especially on Thanksgiving. The kids. In case you were wondering.”

Guilt and disappointment settled over Nic’s features like a wet sheet. Well, damn. Making Nic feel bad hadn’t been his intent.

“I’m sure it wasn’t a big hardship for them to do without me.” He shrugged. “Couldn’t be avoided anyway, and the kids are used to my schedule.”

Sasha held his tongue. Though Nic sounded like it wasn’t a big deal, it was obviously a big deal. He apparently assumed he didn’t matter to the kids, and maybe he even believed he didn’t, but it was equally clear he wanted to matter to them.

“Yes, I’m sure they understand.” No sense beating the guy up over missing Thanksgiving with his family. “Kept them busy anyway. They had fun cooking Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Cooking?” Nic’s brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing and his hand tunneling through his hair, leaving it disheveled. Something about his adorable confusion endeared him to Sasha and made him want to rock his boat more often. “You didn’t have a chef come in? Did Percy tell you about the discretionary fund?”

“Oh yes. He told me, but most of Thanksgiving enjoyment is in cooking the meal. Of course, it’s also a practical way to teach them about measurements, conversions, and a bit of food chemistry.”

Nic’s chiseled lips parted and then closed a few times as he visibly searched for something to say. “Certainly. Very well, then.” He nodded. “I’ll let you get back to… the popcorn, I guess.”

“May I ask about your schedule? With it being the weekend—”

“I’m working all weekend with the exception of Sunday brunch. You don’t need to concern yourself with that. A chef and staff come in for the service, and your weekends are your own anyway. When I’m not at home, Percy’s here to watch over the kids on weekends.”

“Yes, he mentioned that.” But Sasha had been spending his weekends with the kids anyway, making meals with them, helping them with homework, and playing board games with them. He wasn’t sure Nic would approve, but he’d played video games with them on his own system. What kid these days didn’t have some sort of gaming system, especially when funds weren’t a factor?

“All right. Well, have a good evening.” Nic’s eyes dropped down to where Sasha twisted the edge of his T-shirt, a nervous habit left over from childhood whenever his parents had dumped him on yet another set of strangers. Sucking in a harsh breath, Nic clenched his jaw and pivoted away to jog up the curved flight of stairs to the second floor, where most of the bedrooms were.

Damn. Pretty sure he’d fucked up Nic’s first impression of him. Sasha glanced down. His right hip and lower abs were on full display where his shirt had ridden up. Hmm. So had that put Nic off? Something told him that wasn’t the case here, though. It wasn’t like Sasha didn’t recognize attraction when he saw it. In fact, closeted men would never get laid if not for intuitive men like Sasha, and he didn’t even slightly believe Nic was in the closet. The man had eyed Sasha like a creamy piece of hand-dipped Christmas candy. Without a doubt, his new boss was hot for him.

What kind of hell-spawned demons haunted Sasha that he had to land his new job living in the home of a sexy gay boss? With only a few percent of the population being gay males, the odds were astronomical. The only way this wasn’t ending in complete disaster was if Sasha didn’t want to lick every inch of his boss’s lean, commanding body—and yeah, he could taste the salt of Nic’s skin already. There was no fucking doubt. He was truly cursed.