Page 10 of Big Balls
Sebastian cocks his head to one side. “Ethan. Come on. You’ve known your mom was sick for a while now.”
I nod, feeling an entire knot of nerves in my stomach. I know she’s getting the best care money can buy, but there’s no guarantees with any of it.
“And you knew you were going to have to travel this season.” He continues in that infinitely reasonable, honeyed voice of his that’s not doing anything to make me less interested in hitting him in the face.
“Obviously, yes. I travel every season. What’s your point?”
His eyes narrow at the irritation lacing every word from my mouth. “Despite all signs to the contrary, you’re not stupid.”
I bark out a startled laugh. “Yeah, thanks. You either, bud.”
He nods once. “Then somewhere in this house is a collection of resumes for childcare providers. Because you’ve obviously been looking and haven’t been satisfied with what you’ve seen.”
I blow out a long breath. How does this guy always manage to read me like a book? “Exactly. All the ones I’ve seen are these older, fussy women with degrees from some finishing school or other. You know how Katy is. I can’t risk having her chase off a nanny two days into my travel.”
Sebastian eyes me, weighing out his next words. “You didn’t advertise for someone with special needs experience.”
It’s not a question. The guys know I love Katy more than any other human being on earth, but they also know how important it is to me to keep her issues quiet and out of the press. She’s perfect in my eyes, and I’m not going to have random people making her feel like anything less for as long as I have any say over it.
“I didn’t want to take the risk. And so I got all these resumes for women who will teach her watercolors and dressage like we’re in some sort of Jane Austen novel, but nobody who seems even vaguely qualified to take good care of her while I’m gone.”
I sigh. “I was counting on a win tonight so I could ask you guys to take care of her for me.”
Sebastian knocks on the table with his scarred up knuckles. “Okay, then, here’s what you’re going to do for me, loser.”
At the word, my jaw tenses up and I’m pretty sure smoke is about to come out of my ears. He knows he’s provoking me, and I don’t know why.
“Of course. You won. Name your prize.” Might as well get whatever embarrassing thing it is out of the way so I can figure out what to do with Katy.
“Do you trust me?”
The pause after his question goes on too long, and our other two friends turn away from the tension rising in the room, looking anywhere other than at me and Sebastian.
Finally I nod. “I do. I trust you with my life.”
He smiles that cold eyed, heartless smile again. “Then you’re going to give me the resumes of the candidates, and I’m going to pick your nanny. You’ll hire the person I choose. No questions asked.”
I suck in a sharp breath. But honestly, having it completely out of my hands would be both better and worse than the current state of indecision.
And if everything goes wrong, I can blame Sebastian for the failure instead of myself.
“You won, right? You want to pick my nanny? Go right ahead, asshole.”
And with that, I wipe my hands of the whole issue and go upstairs to tuck in my little girl.
4
Zoe
This is destiny.My hands are twisted together, sweaty palms making little wet wrinkles into my fancy interview skirt. The one that’s so tight it makes me feel like I have to pee the entire time I’m wearing it. Because nothing says serious and professional like an urgent need to pee.
And then there’s the chairs in this place. Hard, stiff, covered in some sort of eggshell-colored fabric that I’m pretty sure I am making dirty simply by way of breathing in their vicinity. What kind of person has fancy fabric chairs in such a delicate shade of white in a house where an actual little girl lives?
But I know this is going to work out for the best. It’s not a coincidence that I ended up being called in for a nanny job at the home of Ethan “Big Balls” Alexander.
Remember when I was his girlfriend for an entire two minutes? When I helped his cute little daughter escape the toilet monster in the fancy secret area of the stadium? That entire experience lives in my head rent free, twenty-four seven, even if it does feel like a weird dream more often than not.
It’s also no coincidence that my interview with Worthington Academy went belly up in a singularly spectacular manner. First of all, is there anything worse than a job interview?
