9
Within a week, Dani had the house whipped into shape. Sergei had dropped a small fortune on kitchen supplies, linens, and all kinds of things he hadn’t even thought about, but he didn’t mind. He was closing on the house in a few days, he’d contacted a service that was going to start sending nannies for them to interview, and he’d signed him and Dani up at a local gym so they could both stay in shape. He toned it down in the summer to give his body a chance to rest after the abuse it took the other eight or nine months of the year, but Dani was ramping up and he wanted to make sure she had every opportunity.
They’d worked out this morning and now she was reorganizing the kitchen cabinets for what seemed like the tenth time as they waited for the first nanny to arrive. Sergei was a little nervous, unsure what to expect. He’d specified that he wouldn’t need anyone for a month or so but waiting until the last minute wasn’t a good idea. The agency said it was no problem and they would let all the candidates know they wouldn’t be starting immediately, but Sergei still wasn’t sure how he would handle it if he found someone he liked.
“You don’t cook, right?”
“I use the grill, and if I have to I can make eggs and stuff, but nothing to write home about.”
“Well, the kitchen is organized if you ask the nanny to cook so—”
“She’ll have to cook, won’t she? For Niko?” He ran a hand over his short blond hair. “Shit, Tanya dealt with all this with our old nanny… I don’t even know what I’m supposed to ask.”
“You mostly have to see how she is with Niko,” Dani said gently, meeting his eyes and surprised to see a flicker of uncertainty. He was always so confident about everything; she hadn’t expected him to show weakness when it came to hiring a nanny.
The ringing of the doorbell ended all discussion and Sergei moved to go answer it. Dani followed, since Sergei had told her he wanted her opinion on each candidate, but she hung back, wanting to make her assessment from a distance.
The woman was probably in her late twenties, with long, jet-black hair and a pair of Coke-bottle glasses. She wore skintight jeans, a halter top and…four-inch red stilettos. Dani dipped her head to hide her astonishment as the woman sashayed into the room, looking around with interest.
“Well, this place is swanky! They didn’t tell me the guy was wealthy—but I shoulda guessed based on the assignment. You this Sergio guy I’m looking for?” She looked Sergei up and down, slowly and purposefully removing the massive lenses covering most of her garishly made-up face.
“That’s me,” he said dryly, not even batting an eyelash at her misuse of his name. “Sergio.”
Niko had moved towards Dani and now buried his face against her leg.
“This is Niko,” Dani said, lifting the little boy and trying to understand why Sergei didn’t just throw this bimbo out. “He’s a little shy sometimes.”
“Oh, he’ll be all right,” the woman said absently. “He don’t have to watch.”
The woman turned and eyed her. “But no one said anything about a threesome.”
“A threesome?” Dani’s mouth fell open.
“I’m sorry,” Sergei shook his head slightly. “Did you say threesome? Are you from the Xavier Agency?”
She gave him a wide grin. “Sure, honey. Now you sit on down over there and I’ll make sure you have a good time. What do you want to do about your girlfriend and the kid?” She started unbuttoning her jeans.
“I’m not—” Dani began, her eyes widening.
“She’s…” Sergei’s lips had begun to twitch. “I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding,” he finally said, biting back a laugh. “I’m sorry to waste your time, but I don’t think we’ll be needing your services today. I’ll be sure to add a nice tip when I get the bill.” He was ushering her towards the door.
“But they said—”
“I know.” He was chuckling as he opened the front door again. “Initiation, right? Sorry, but we have company coming and I can’t play along today, but you’ll be paid for your time. Have a nice day.” He shut the door and snickered.
Dani just stared, Niko still snuggled against her shoulder. “Was she a…stripper?”
He nodded, still holding back laughter.
“So who… I’m so confused.”
“Any time you’re new to a team the guys tend to do some hazing. I’m older and have been around so they’re not going to do something stupid like try to shave my nuts, so—”
“They shave guys’ nuts as a hazing ritual?” She grimaced.
“Usually just in the minor leagues, but it still happens on occasion at our level.” He was still shaking his head. “Since I’m single, I guess they figured sending me this stripper when they knew I had a nanny coming to interview would be funny. I wondered why Aaron was asking so many questions about the nanny—” He cut off as the doorbell sounded.
“I’ll get it,” she said firmly, handing him Niko and walking to the front door.
This time the woman standing in the foyer was most likely a nanny. She was middle-aged, probably in her fifties, with her hair pulled back in a severe bun and her face devoid of makeup. She had on loose-fitting slacks, a button-down shirt, and black mules, a no-nonsense look on her face as she introduced herself.
“I am Dannica Compton.” She shook Sergei’s hand and slowly turned to Dani. “I was told there was no woman in the picture. Has this situation changed?”
“Dani’s a friend of the family,” Sergei said mildly. “She’s helping me with Niko until I hire someone. Please, come sit down.”
The woman nodded and followed him to the couch. “Leather. Very nice. Surprised to see it in such good shape with a child in the house. You’ll have to consider finding something easier to clean. I can’t be responsible for furniture this expensive.”
Sergei cocked his head. “Niko isn’t destructive and as long as he doesn’t eat in the living room, which isn’t allowed anyway, it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“This is the boy?” She peered at Niko as if he were a pet, looking him up and down and then summarily dismissing him. “He’s three?”
“Yes,” Sergei spoke quietly. “Say hello to Ms. Compton, Niko.”
“Hi.” Niko gave the woman an equally assessing gaze, his blue eyes full of distrust.
“I was told the hours are negotiable.”
Sergei frowned. “I think you misunderstood. The hours will vary depending on my travel schedule. I can show you the team’s game schedule to give you an idea of how much I’ll be away, but the job is full-time, 24/7. Days off have to be arranged well in advance because once hockey season starts, I won’t be—”
She cut him off. “Hockey season? You’re with that new team of heathens they brought to Anchorage? I’ll have no part of it.” She quickly got to her feet. “There was no need to bring the circus to town like this, with you men running about with all the single ladies.” She snapped her gaze to Dani. “You’d be well advised to steer clear, young woman, and find yourself a nice man to marry. And remember—there’s no need for him to buy the cow when he’s getting the milk for free.” She marched to the door, opened it and walked out without a backward glance.
“What just happened?” Sergei demanded.
“Getting the milk for free…” Dani dissolved into giggles. “Unless something changes quickly, you better think about buying that cow!”
Sergei burst out laughing and they laughed until tears ran down their faces.
“Aaron is definitely getting payback for the stripper,” he muttered when they finally settled down, “but the agency is going to get a serious earful about judgmental asshole nannies.”
“Yeah, that was totally uncool.” She shook her head. “But it was still pretty funny.”
He grinned as he picked up his phone. “For sure.”
There were a few more interviews over the next few days, with mediocre results since Niko didn’t seem interested in either of them and Dani didn’t like them either. Today, however, Sergei was looking forward to the interview because the nanny was Russian. Though she was an American citizen now, she’d been born and raised in Moscow, coming to the U.S. for college and marrying an American. She was divorced and didn’t have children, so he was anxious to meet her. Having a native Russian speaker taking care of Niko would be a great way to keep him immersed in the language since Sergei often forgot to speak to him in anything but English.
“What time is she coming?” Dani asked as she cleaned up their lunch dishes.
“One thirty, so about ten minutes from now.”
“Maybe I should make myself scarce,” she said. “You’ll probably be talking Russian and—”
“Don’t be silly,” he interrupted. “You’re an integral part of this process and I value your input. We might speak Russian for a few minutes so I can get a feel for how Niko responds to it, but the interview will be mostly in English.”
“Okay.” She nodded just as the doorbell rang.
“I got it. Will you make sure Niko doesn’t have grilled cheese in his hair?”
“Sure.” She went upstairs to check that Niko was presentable and found him playing in his room. “Hey, buddy. You ready to meet another possible nanny?”
Niko wrinkled his nose. “I want you to be my nanny.” He looked up at her, his blue eyes darkening.
“I’m here until I leave for hockey.”
“I hate hockey.” He stuck out his lower lip.
“Don’t let Daddy hear you say that,” she whispered, kneeling down so she was eye level with him. “We love hockey, but we love you more. That’s why we’re going to find somebody to help take care of you until we get back.”
“You’re coming back after hockey?”
“Yup. After the Olympics I’ll be back!” I hope. She hated lying to him but it would be impossible to explain something as complicated as her professional future to a three-year-old.
They went down the stairs hand in hand and Dani heard Sergei’s laughter alongside a distinctly feminine giggle. Good grief, the nanny was giggling during a job interview? Dani already didn’t like her, and as she got to the bottom of the stairs, she froze. Sergei and the woman were on the couch, sitting closer than Dani would have liked. She was wearing a tight skirt with a pretty top that revealed her ample cleavage. She had on high-heeled sandals and her long fingernails were painted a bright, blood red. Her auburn hair was long and silky, curled and obviously mussed just enough to give it that supermodel runway look. Her makeup was flawless and every time she giggled she put her hand on Sergei’s arm in a far too familiar fashion.
Who was this woman and how did she expect to get a job taking care of a three-year-old when she was behaving like a bimbo?
“Dobry den,” the woman said, smiling at her.
The woman had just said good afternoon in Russian. Bitch, Dani thought, though she smiled politely.
“Dobry den,” Dani replied, grateful she’d learned a few common Russian phrases to use with Niko. “Kahk dehlah?” How are you? She almost smirked at the look of surprise on both the woman’s and Sergei’s faces, but she looked down at Niko instead. “Can you say hello in Russian?”
“Nyet,” he responded, scowling. No.
Dani bit her lip to keep from laughing.
“When did you pick up Russian?” Sergei asked her, smiling.
“Spent way too much time at your brother’s house listening to him coo at the baby for hours on end.”
He chuckled. “Sounds about right. Though I doubt he said good afternoon and how are you to Alex in Russian.”
“Hello, Nikolai,” the prospective nanny spoke to Niko in a sugary tone.
“My name is Niko,” he replied blandly, pressing back against Dani and turning his face away.
“Don’t be rude, Niko,” Sergei said softly. “Say hello to Miss Veronika.”
“Why are your lips black?” Niko asked instead.
Dani was having a hard time keeping a straight face, but she gently squeezed his arm. “That’s special makeup,” she told him. Veronika was wearing lipstick in such a dark shade of purple it appeared almost black; Dani thought it was extremely unattractive.
“Why don’t you tell us something about your background with children,” Sergei suggested. “It will give Niko a little time to warm up to you.”
“All right.” Veronika turned, her dark eyes trained on Sergei. “I majored in early childhood education and taught preschool for three years after college. Then I got married and had to quit when we moved here. My husband cheated on me and I divorced him, but I like it here and don’t want to go back to New York. I wasn’t planning to work full-time so I’ve been taking temp jobs, but when I heard there was a Russian looking for a nanny, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to work with children again.”
“You understand I won’t be home much?” Sergei asked her.
“The agency didn’t give any details about your job, only that you travel a great deal for business, but now that I’m here, of course I know who you are. No self-respecting Russian doesn’t know Sergei Petrov. I’ve watched you play hockey since the beginning of your career.”
“When did you come to the U.S.?” Sergei asked her, glossing over her praise.
Dani tuned them out, focusing instead on keeping Niko from scurrying away. He didn’t seem to like Veronika, refusing to look at her and turning his back whenever possible. Dani didn’t like her either. She was behaving as if she was interviewing to go on a date with him instead of going to work for him, and everything about her screamed gold digger. Her clothes were expensive and far too sexy for a nanny position. Her makeup was overdone, her gestures too intimate and she didn’t seem to have much interest in Niko at all.
“I’m sorry?” She turned, realizing they were talking to her.
“Can you keep an eye on Niko while I show Veronika around the house?” Sergei asked. “Then I thought the two of them could play a little while, get to know each other.”
Dani nodded. “Of course.” She watched them walk up the stairs, switching to Russian and talking like old friends. A shot of white-hot jealousy ripped through her and she had to take a moment to steady herself. Where had that come from? She and Sergei weren’t dating or romantically involved. They were friends. If he wanted to date a Russian bimbo, it was none of her business.
“Mama D?” Niko tugged on her hand.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I don’t like Veronika.”
“Why not?”
“That’s not a nice thing to say. There’s nothing wrong with her face.”
“All the making up is funny. It’s not pretty like yours.”
“You’re such a sweet boy.” She kissed the top of his head. “But you shouldn’t comment on how a lady looks, especially her makeup. It’s not polite.”
“But I can tell you, can’t I?”
“Of course. You can tell me anything.”
“I love you, Mama D.”
Her heart constricted and she felt a little light-headed as she hugged him tightly. Nope. No way was she going to let Sergei hire La Femme Russkie to be Niko’s nanny. If he wanted to date her, she had no way to stop him, but she didn’t want that woman spending that much time with Niko. Of course, if she dated Sergei, she’d be with Niko by default, but he said he didn’t do serious so maybe he’d just sleep with her and move on. Hopefully. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was jealous, and that didn’t bode well for the rest of the summer.