Page 22 of Nanny for the Athletes

I spent the rest of the afternoon showing her the ropes around my property and familiarizing her with the schedule. Since she had plenty of experience at other boarders, the training was as smooth and seamless as possible. The only issue was she kept calling me Ms. Foster, which made me feel old, but otherwise she was as perfect of an employee as I could have hoped for. But that created another problem.

It meant I had no excuse not to go to the charity event.

I wanted to go, of course. But the amount of work and stress required for a woman to go to a formal event was significant. The guys said they would pick me up at six, which meant I had to start getting ready at four. While Suzie handled the dogs, I showered, shaved my legs, and did my hair. After half an hour of deliberating, I finally settled on one of three dresses that were appropriate for the occasion: a midnight blue, off-the-shoulder gown with a flowing A-line skirt, adorned with delicate sequins around the bodice.

“Suzie!” I called, walking outside. “It’s not on your list of responsibilities, but can you zip me up?”

“Ohh, you look fancy!” she said, joining me at the fence. I stayed on one side of it to keep the dogs from messing up my dress. “When you said you were going out tonight, I assumed it was to a bowling alley or something. Where are you going looking so nice?”

“It’s some charity event,” I explained. “I don’t really know.”

She looked puzzled. “You’re going to a party and you don’t know what it’s for?”

I laughed. “When you say it like that, it makes me feel dumb.”

“No judgment!” She reached across the fence and tugged on my zipper. “Hold still. It doesn’t want to slide up.”

“I haven’t worn this in years,” I said. “The zipper might be stuck.”

I felt Suzie pinch the fabric together. “I don’t want to rip it…”

Right about that time, a stretch limo came rolling up my driveway. I groaned. “They’re early! I still have to put on jewelry, too…”

“Wowza,” Suzie said. “You’re even fancier than I thought, Ms. Foster.”

“Call me Beth. And I promise I’m usually more casual than this.”

The driver got out and opened the back door. Heidi and Pickles leaped out and came running toward me happily.

“Heidi, stay!” Christian snapped as he got out of the limo. Immediately, the German Shepherd halted and sat on her haunches. Pickles took a few more steps toward me, looked over his shoulder at the other dog, and then stayed a respectable distance from me. But his entire body continued wiggling as if he could barely contain his excitement.

“I didn’t realize the dogs were coming!” I said.

Braden emerged from the limo. Like Christian, he was wearing a tuxedo with a bow tie. “Is it cool if they stay here while we’re gone?”

“We’ll pay, of course,” Christian added.

“That’s not a problem at all. Suzie, can you get them situated?”

“Sure thing, Ms. Fos—err, Beth,” she replied.

“We had to pay the driver extra to allow the dogs in the limo.” Braden grinned. “He’s worried about fur.”

“So am I,” Christian muttered. He had a lint roller in his hand and was rolling it over his black pants.

“How long are they staying?” Suzie asked.

“We’ll pick them up tonight,” Braden replied. “Probably ten, maybe eleven o’clock?”

Suzie glanced at me. “Your documentation says no pickups after six.”

“These guys get an exception,” I told her.

“What, are you the mayor or something?” Suzie asked.

Braden barked a laugh. “Me? Mayor? No way. I hate making decisions. I’d rather work out all week and then catch footballs on Sunday.”

Suzie’s eyes suddenly widened. “Wait a minute.That’show I recognize you!” She turned to Christian. “And you’re… you’re…”

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