“What’s the matter, Addy?” Steve said as he entered the nursery. He still didn’t understand how something so little could make so much noise.
He picked Addison up and gently rocked her until she calmed. Steve noticed that she didn’t like to be alone. She was calm as long as someone was holding her or in the same room with her. It had been that way since the nurse first placed her in Jackson’s arms. It was like the baby knew that she was alone for those first few hours after her mom died and she never wanted that to happen again. It broke his heart, but Steve decided it was his job as one of her honorary uncles to make sure she was happy and never alone again.
“Come on, Addy. We have to get you ready to go. Hopefully we will be meeting your new nanny today because lord knows we need all the help we can get. Her name is Nadia, and I just talked to her on the phone.”
Steve knew it was silly to talk to the baby and she didn’t understand a word he was saying, but he just felt better saying what he was thinking out loud. He was a loner and always had been. If it hadn’t been for Jackson and Greg jumping in to save him from a bully when he was little, he would have never had the courage to talk to them. They were his best and only friends. He was more comfortable around his computers than people and even worked from home so he didn’t have to interact with people face to face.
The decision to meet Nadia was unusual for him. He normally let Jackson or Greg handle things like that. There was just something about Nadia that made him willing to agree to almost anything to meet her. Steve had been relaxed when he talked to her, like he had known her for years.
“Hopefully, everything will work out and we can get to know her better,” he said as he finished dressing Addison.
Steve lifted the baby to his shoulder and carried her to the living room. After getting her strapped in her baby carrier, he set about getting the few hundred things she might need for the trip packed in her diaper bag and then called Jackson.
“Hey, Jackson, I need you and Greg to meet me at the park on Fifth Street in about thirty minutes,” he said when Jackson answered.
“Okay, but you do know that Addison is too young to play on the playground, right?” Jackson sounded like he was talking to a crazy person.
Steve rolled his eyes. He could hear Greg laughing in the background. “I know that, idiot. We are meeting a potential nanny there. Her name is Nadia Cassidy, and she applied online this morning.”
“I’m assuming I don’t even need to ask if you ran a background check on her since she made it to an actual meeting,” Jackson said.
Steve didn’t even bother to answer. Nadia was the first person who had applied that had made it to an actual meeting. They all three had grown very protective of Addison and were picky about who they wanted to help take care of her.
“Just be there at noon. I have a very good feeling about this one,” Steve said and hung up the phone.
After one last lap around the house to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything, Steve grabbed the diaper bag and picked up Addison’s carrier. “Come on, sweetie, your uncles are going to meet us there.”
Once he had everything in the car and Addison strapped in, Steve looked at the clock. He had just enough time to make it to the park. Hopefully, his friends would make it on time and he wouldn’t have to be alone with Nadia just yet. While he’d felt comfortable talking to her on the phone and felt drawn to her, being alone with her in person was another thing altogether. He wanted to avoid any awkward moments if at all possible.
Steve got to the park with a couple of minutes to spare. Of course his friends were nowhere to be found. They were probably late on purpose. They were always harping on him that he needed to get out of the house and meet new people. Steve felt they were both being hypocrites. Jackson was the only one with a job outside the home, and when he wasn’t at work, he was home with them. Greg was all about his video games. The man might not look like a geek, but all he was missing to claim the name was living at home in his mom’s basement. All three of them were twenty-nine-year-old homebound men. None of them were bad looking by any means. They just felt more comfortable at home with each other as company.
Steve snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a woman walking toward them. She was average height, about five foot five. She had a slim curvy figure and long brown hair. Steve was a sucker for long hair. Please let this be her. The woman was wearing simple jeans and a T-shirt, but by the way she walked toward him, Steve could imagine her on a Victoria’s Secret runway in barely-there panties and bra. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stood when she got close and smiled. Steve wiped his hands on his jeans to make sure his palms weren’t sweaty and held out his hand when she stopped in front of him.
“You must be Nadia. Hi, I’m Steve Delaney. We talked on the phone.”
“Hi, Mr. Delaney, it’s nice to meet you,” Nadia said as she shook his hand.
She had that girl next door look, and it made her very approachable, but Steve was mesmerized by her eyes. They were brown with gold flecks in them, almost giving them a bronze appearance. They were stunning. He didn’t realize he was still holding her hand until he felt a tug as Nadia tried to pull her hand away. He let go and moved back toward Addison.
“This sweetheart here is my niece, Addison,” he said as he lifted Addison out of her stroller.
Steve noticed Nadia’s frightened look when he handed her the baby. He wondered what that was about but ignored it when Addison started to cry. He reached to take her back, but Nadia quickly shushed the baby and began to rock her as she talked softly. Steve couldn’t hear what she said, but it seemed to have a calming effect. Addison stopped crying and started blowing spit bubbles.
“It seems your toughest critic likes you,” Steve said to Nadia.
Nadia looked shocked. “It seems she does, but I have to be honest. I don’t have that much experience with babies. I don’t want to make you hire me under false pretenses thinking I am some sort of expert.”
Before Steve could answer, Jackson and Greg walked up. He heard Nadia suck in a breath, but he was too busy looking at his friends. They were both looking at Nadia like they had never seen a real live woman before. Steve wanted to throw a tantrum and shout, “mine,” like he was a little boy. He had never felt drawn to a woman before like he was to Nadia, and he felt the need to hide her so his friends couldn’t get to her. He felt a surge of jealousy when he turned to see Nadia staring at Jackson and Greg with the same look on her face. This could be a potential problem.
Steve cleared his throat. “Nadia, this is Jackson and Greg,” he said pointing to each. “They’re Addison’s other uncles.”
Nadia smiled and shook each of his friends’ hands. Steve had to admit it felt good when she moved to stand a little closer to him. He knew that, although Greg was a very large guy and Jackson wasn’t that much smaller, they would never hurt a soul, but Nadia didn’t know that. Together, the two could be very intimidating, and the fact that she felt safer closer to him made him feel a little less jealous.
Jackson must have noticed the move because he stepped back and nodded toward a picnic table. “It seems you are already getting to know Addison, so why don’t we all take a seat and get to know each other a little better? I will tell you the situation and why we need a nanny.”
They all followed Jackson over to the table, and Steve watched as Nadia sat carefully with the baby in her arms. For someone that had admitted she didn’t know much about babies, so far, Nadia was a natural. If Steve was honest with himself, she already had his vote for the job. It had nothing to do with her looks or how he felt about her. It was because of her honesty. What other person would admit they had little experience about the job they were applying for? Nadia was an open book it seemed, and Steve wanted to know everything there was to know about her.
Chapter 3
Nadia stared down at the beautiful baby she was holding in her arms. She could see why her three uncles were so protective of her. The poor thing had alre
ady been through so much in the week she had been alive. Her heart broke for Addison and Jackson when he told her the story of what happened and why the guys had a newborn baby to take care of. Nadia could see the pain Jackson was trying to hide in his eyes. She wanted nothing more than to go over and give the big guy a huge hug and take the pain away. She had to commend Steve and Greg for sticking by Jackson. They’d taken on the responsibility of helping raise Addison, no questions asked. Nadia could only wish she had friends as good as Jackson’s. The “friends” that ran in her social circle were cutthroat and ruthless. They were the type to smile in your face one day and stab you in the back the next. Money did awful things to people. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the lack of money. Nadia couldn’t count the number of times she had been burned by someone she thought was her friend, only to find out later on they’d been only after her money. It was enough to cause her to give up on making genuine friendship with someone.
She was shocked she felt drawn to all three guys and had no clue why. They were all gorgeous men and took her breath away. Nadia had to remind herself she was here for a job she desperately needed. She needed to keep her mind on that and not how good each guy looked.
“So the ad said this job was for a live-in nanny. Do you all live there or just Jackson?” she asked.
“We all share a house together, so you would be living with all of us,” Jackson said with a grin. “Don’t worry though. You will have your own room unless you want to share.”
Was that a wink? Nadia was pretty sure he was flirting with her, but she didn’t know how to feel about it. She had just left a job where her boss thought she came with extra perks he was entitled to. Did she want to get into another situation like that again?
“Look, guys,” she said with a sigh. “You are all handsome men, but I just left a job where my boss was basically a pervert. I’m not saying you guys are, but I just don’t want to get into that again. Maybe you need to find someone else.” She started to hand the baby back to Steve, but he stopped her.
“Honey, ignore Jackson. He’s just messing around. I ran a background check on you, and I know all about your previous boss,” Steve said. “We are nothing like that guy. Trust me. We are looking for a nanny and nothing else.”
She looked at Greg and Jackson, and they both were nodding. They looked so sincere she couldn’t help but believe them. The question was whether she could handle living with three hot men without wanting to jump them. She had no choice. She was desperate, and this job was the only thing between her and living on the streets.
“Does this mean I got the job?”
She watched all three men look at each other as if they were silently communicating. What would it be like to have friends that close? To know who was being real and not just getting close to her because of her family’s money. It had hurt too much to realize someone was only using her, so she’d stopped bothering. Now at twenty-seven, she realized how lonely her life was. She wanted close friends she could trust and tell her problems to, like these guys.
“Yes, the job is yours if you want it,” Jackson, who seemed to be the spokesman of the group, said. “When can you start?”
“I can start as soon as possible.” Nadia wanted to shout “today,” but she didn’t want to come across as desperate. “I have to be honest. Things have been tight since I left my last job, so I am about to lose my apartment. I don’t have that much stuff, so if you guys are willing to help me get moved, I can start whenever you are ready.” There, that sounded mature and not desperate at all.
“I tell you what. Why don’t you go home and pack tonight and leave everything in the living room you want to bring to our house?” Jackson stood as he said that, like the decision had already been made. “Tomorrow you can come over and watch the baby while we go get your things. How does that sound?”
Nadia had a feeling he was used to running things and getting his way. She wasn’t complaining though. His solution worked for her. She could get out of that ratty apartment and not have to go home and become a “social robot” like her mother.
A whiff of what could only be described as dirty diaper crossed her nose, and Nadia knew it was time to go. Hey, she officially didn’t start work until tomorrow. She gently handed the baby off to Greg, who was next to her. She almost felt sorry for him because the smell coming off the tiny baby was enough to singe the nose hairs. After getting all the information from them, she made her excuses and left. She had a lot of things to do before tomorrow.
* * * *
Nadia woke up bright and early the next morning to pounding on her door. Her eyes felt dry and gritty like she had sand in them. She looked at the clock and saw it was only seven in the morning, and she had only been asleep for four hours. Surely the guys weren’t there already. She rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door. She could only blame lack of sleep for opening the door without checking to see who it was first and immediately regretted it when she saw her landlord standing there.
“Good morning, Mr. Allen. How can I help you?” She pasted a huge grin on her face. She couldn’t stand the man, but she had to hold out for a few more hours until one of the guys arrived.
“Don’t good morning me. I want this month’s rent right now, or you are out of here.”
Well, that was straight to the point, wasn’t it? Nadia tried not to smile. Too bad he didn’t know she was already out of here today. “Okay, Mr. Allen,” she said, trying to look as innocent as possible. “I will be out of here by the end of the day.”
She tried to close the door, but Mr. Allen stuck his foot in to stop it.
“Oh no you don’t. You owe me, and you aren’t leaving here until I get paid something.”
Didn’t he just tell me to pay or get out? This situation had the potential of going bad really fast. She had to think of a way to get herself out of this. “I’m sorry, Mr. Allen, but I don’t have any money to pay you. I promise I will be out of here by the end of the day, and when I get some money, I will pay you what I owe you.”
“Well then, you need to come up with something else to offer me because I’m not leaving here until I get some type of payment.”
Nadia had a feeling that Mr. Allen wasn’t talking about taking his payment in cash but something else altogether. The lecherous look on his face as he eyed her body up and down confirmed it. What was it that had sweaty men thinking she owed them sexual favors? Nadia needed to come up with something fast, or she was in trouble. She leaned harder against the door to keep him from coming in as she frantically thought. Before she could come up with something, she heard a throat clear behind her landlord.
“Is there a problem here, Nadia?” Greg asked as he nudged his way in the door and handed her a cup of coffee. He put his arm around her shoulders and stared at Mr. Allen.
Nadia was sure that Greg could feel her heart about to beat out of her chest, but she didn’t care. She sagged against him in relief. She had never been happier to see someone. And Greg was just the perfect guy to show up. He was about six foot five and two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle. He towered over Mr. Allen, and although her landlord outweighed Greg, it was pure fat. Mr. Allen obviously knew when he was beat because he turned an awful shade of red and began to stutter. After threatening her if she didn’t have her belongings out of the apartment by the end of the day, he turned and left.
“Thank you, Greg. I have no clue what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
“Is that guy always like that?” Greg asked, a little angry.
“He has never been this bad. I normally just slip my rent in the slot so I never have anything to do with him. Lately though, he has been a little hostile since I wasn’t able to make this month’s rent payment.”
Greg nodded. “Well, it’s a good thing we are getting you out of here today. No one should have to put up with that.”
“Not that I’m not grateful for you showing up when you did, but what are you doing here so early?”
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“Oh, I came to see if you needed any help to finish packing. I figured we could go ahead and take a load over to the house when we go, and then the guys and I could come back for the rest.”
Nadia couldn’t believe how thoughtful the guys were being. She had a feeling they weren’t being that way just because they were desperate for help with the baby either.
Because she had stayed up so late packing, everything was ready to be loaded up. She helped Greg carry most of her clothes and her few boxes of belongings to his SUV. Nadia could feel the landlord’s beady little eyes on her back as she made each trip to the car. Once everything was packed, she did one last walk through the apartment to make sure she hadn’t left anything and informed Greg she was ready to leave. She wouldn’t miss the crappy apartment or the sweaty creep one bit.
“Once we get you to the house, I will get one of the guys to come back with me as soon as possible for the furniture,” Greg said as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I don’t trust your landlord to not bother anything while we’re gone.”
So he saw her landlord glaring at them as they left, too. “Actually, the only thing you have to get is my bed. The rest of the furniture came with the apartment. Everything else I own is in the back of your SUV already.” Nadia thought it was sad that she had so few possessions, but she was determined to make a life for herself. Using Daddy’s money would defeat that purpose, so that meant she had to budget and save. Ramen noodles weren’t so bad when you got creative. From the corner of her eye, she saw Greg frown, but he didn’t ask any questions. Nadia was glad for that. She wasn’t ready to answer anything just yet.
Midnight Call (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 3
