Defending Dani

by Kat Mizera

  “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?”

  “She has a funny face.”

  “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.

  10

  Dani was quiet through dinner, focusing on something on her phone and then shooing Sergei and Niko upstairs for bath time while she cleaned up the kitchen. She’d disappeared after Veronika left, saying she had some phone calls to make, but Sergei had a feeling something was on her mind. She definitely hadn’t liked Veronika and at first he’d continued the interview because it seemed fun to tease her, but now he regretted it. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was hiring a qualified but wholly inappropriate woman to take care of his son, but his first thought had been she might be just what he needed to scratch the itch he’d felt since the first time he’d laid eyes on Dani. She’d practically thrown herself at him when they’d been upstairs and instead of being turned on, he’d apparently pissed off Dani and frustrated himself.

  The chemistry between them was fairly obvious even though they were both ignoring it. It sizzled in the room when they were together, like the tiny sparks from a cord that was shorting out, but as soon as it became too overt, she shut it down by either leaving the room or changing the subject. Casual sex might work out okay if she was more experienced, but her own admission that she didn’t date a lot made him uncomfortable. Not because he wanted her to be sexually experienced—he had no problem showing a woman what he liked in the bedroom—but because treating her like a casual lay when she’d already become his friend was disrespectful. It had only been two months or so but it felt like much longer. They’d spent a fair amount of time together for over a month in Las Vegas and now they were together all day, every day.

  She’d put his home together for him in short order, took care of Niko and still found the time to work out, cook, and clean on days the cleaning service didn’t come. They were only friends but in her capacity as his nanny she’d already become virtually indispensable to him. The thought of her leaving in two months was disturbing and using her for one night of pleasure before letting her go was unconscionable. He truly didn’t know what to do about it.

  Unable to sleep well with the strangeness between them, he tossed and turned until six before finally getting up. He got dressed and freshened up before checking on Niko and heading do
wnstairs. She was already up and he found her in the kitchen on the phone.

  “Hey, Sara, I have to go,” she said into the phone. “I’ll call you later, okay? Yeah, sure… Bye.” She disconnected and stood up. “I was going to go for a run.”

  “Before you go, will you tell me what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Why?” She met his gaze unflinchingly.

  “You barely spoke to me after Veronika left yesterday and then you went up to your room and never came back down.”

  “I had to call my mom and we wound up on the phone for over an hour, and then I started texting Tiff and lost track of time. I guess I fell asleep. Did you need me for something?”

  Yeah, to bend you over that counter and fuck you senseless. “I wanted your thoughts on Veronika. I take it you didn’t like her.”

  “She’s not exactly interested in Niko.” She gave a little shrug.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Come on, don’t be obtuse.” She scowled at him. “The way she kept touching you, flirting… And that ridiculous top she wore, showing off her tits. Who wears that kind of thing to an interview? I mean, it was so obvious she wants to go out with you and if that’s your thing, that’s fine, but to hire her to care for your son would be—”

  “You really think I’m going to hire her? You don’t think much of me, do you?”

  “I honestly don’t know you that well. You seemed into her.”

  “I was playing along, to see if she was just a little flirty by nature—there are women like that, by the way—or if she was truly making a play for me.” He watched something he couldn’t quite decipher flicker across her face before she schooled her features again.

  “And what did you decide?” she asked, cocking her head slightly.

  “That she’s a bimbo looking for a rich guy to pick up where her husband left off. She somehow thought the Russian connection would make her a prime candidate.”

  “You told her you’d call her,” she said, her voice almost accusing.

  “But I’m not going to.” He met her eyes. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not my boyfriend. You can date whomever you like, but I didn’t want you to hire her because Niko really didn’t like her and she was just…icky.” She wrinkled her nose.

  “Icky?” he repeated. “You have a master’s degree and icky is the best word you could come up with to describe her?”

  “Fine. She was a cheap, slutty-looking gold digger who practically threw herself at you during a job interview.”

  He laughed. “You’re right. Which is why I’m not going to hire her and definitely not going to get involved with her.”

  “You could sleep with her without having a relationship,” she pointed out.

  “I could.” He glanced at her and that ever-present spark between them nearly singed his corneas as their gazes locked. “But she’s not really what I want.”

  “What, um, what do you want?” Dani worried her lower lip nervously, her eyes never leaving his.

  “I don’t know exactly,” he hedged, unsure how far he could go without coming on too strong. “But definitely someone with more class.”

  “Yeah, um, that’s probably a good idea,” she said slowly. Then it was as if someone flipped a switch. She quickly turned away and bent to tie the laces of her sneakers. “Anyway, I need to get going so I can be back in time to make Niko’s breakfast.”

  “You don’t have to feed us three meals a day,” Sergei said, somehow both frustrated and relieved she either hadn’t picked up on or chose to ignore his signals.

  “I know, but if I’m going to feed him, it’s not a problem to feed you, too.” She grabbed her earbuds. “Do you need anything before I go?”

  “No, you go ahead. Have a good run.” He watched her jog out the back door and disappear around the corner.

  Well, that had been a bust. He normally didn’t have a problem approaching a woman he wanted, but Dani was in a category of her own and he didn’t want to mess up their friendship. He couldn’t talk to his brothers or closest friends about it—since they were all friends with her brother—and he realized just how much he’d secluded himself since Tatiana’s death. He’d stopped hanging out with anyone but his brothers and friends from the Sidewinders, whom he only saw intermittently, and though the group here in Alaska wasn’t that friendly, there were a few guys he could’ve gotten to know better if he’d put any effort into it. He just hadn’t wanted to until now. For the first time in nearly two years he couldn’t ignore the pull to start living again.

  Shit. It was all because of the sexy blonde who’d just scampered out of here like a pack of grizzlies was after her. Maybe it was for the best. She was too young for him, right? And leaving soon to go be an Olympic champion. Yeah, he needed to let this go and find someone to get horizontal with. Someone who wouldn’t get under his skin like a certain hockey-playing nanny he knew. Determined to stop thinking about getting naked with Dani, he went to check on Niko.

  He was halfway up the stairs when his phone rang. It was barely seven in the morning and he looked down, surprised to see Dani’s name on the screen. Panic rushed through him and he snatched it to his ear.

  “Dani?”

  “I’ve had a little accident,” she said quickly. “I’m okay, I just—”

  “I’ll be right there—where are you?”

  “You can’t leave Niko alone,” she said firmly. “I can walk, I just might need a little help getting up the stairs.”

  “Where. Are. You.” He ground the words out succinctly through gritted teeth.

  “I’m at the end of the block. Really, I’m fine, I—”

  He disconnected without letting her finish and ran down the stairs. He stuffed his bare feet into his sneakers and raced out the front door. She usually took the same route when she ran so he had a good idea where she was and they’d be back in two or three minutes flat. If he didn’t spot her where he thought she was, he’d double back and grab Niko.

  His stomach clenched in fear as he ran down the lengthy driveway onto the street, looking both ways. Sure enough, she was coming around the corner, one leg covered in blood. A lot of blood. He got to her in a few seconds, pausing to grip her face between his hands.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, but you need to go back—what if Niko wakes up?” she protested.

  “Come on.” He scooped her up in his arms and speed walked back to his yard and up the driveway. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me—what the hell happened?”

  “A car came around the corner too fast and didn’t see me there. I jumped out of the way and landed on some rocks. It looks worse than it is, really.”

  “We need to clean it and see.” He climbed the steps to the back door and set her down inside. “Sit,” he said firmly.

  She looked like she was going to protest, but didn’t, merely sinking into the nearest chair. Sergei wadded up a bunch of paper towels and knelt in front of her, assessing the damage to her thigh. It was already starting to turn an ugly purple color, but the bleeding had almost stopped and he didn’t think it would need stitches. It needed to be cleaned, though, since there was a lot of dirt in the wound.

  “Let’s get upstairs to the master bath,” he said, standing up straight again. “You need to get the blood washed off and I can clean out the dirt.”

  “I can do it,” she said, also standing up. She winced, and he quickly shook his head.

  “You can barely stand up. Stop being stubborn.” He lifted her in his arms again, trying to ignore how good her skin felt against his. He climbed the stairs and carried her through his room and into the bathroom, where he set her on the closed toilet seat. He leaned into the large open shower that had two full walls, one half wall with the garden-style bathtub on the other side of it, and nothing at all on the side where you entered and exited. It was roomy, easily spacious enough for two people, so he picked
her up and set her on the half wall before taking down the showerhead.

  “Shit, that stings,” she muttered, wrinkling her nose.

  “Almost done,” he said quietly, using his finger to wipe away the dirt.

  * * *

  Dani’s mouth was a little dry as Sergei tended to her. His hands were big, with long, tapered fingers. Though well-groomed, there was no doubt he used his hands a lot. The skin was lightly calloused, but his touch was ridiculously gentle so the contrast actually felt wonderful. Her eyes fluttered closed as he cleaned her injury, goose bumps breaking out on her skin as he trailed his fingers down the inside of her thigh. It wasn’t a sexual motion, he was simply wiping away some of the dried blood, but it felt deliciously intimate. Sensual. She could only imagine those same fingers touching her for pleasure.

  Her fantasy came to a halt as he turned off the water and hung the showerhead back up. He patted her upper thigh dry with more paper towels before handing her a bath towel. “Go ahead and dry off while I dig around for some bandages. I don’t know if I have anything big enough. Did we buy any Neosporin?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I’ll run to the drug store after Niko wakes up.”

  “I can watch him if you want to go.”

  “You’ve been taking care of us for almost three weeks. Let us take care of you for once, okay?”

  She smiled faintly. “Okay.”

  * * *

  Dani spent most of the day on the couch watching movies with Niko and taking a late afternoon nap that left her feeling a bit out of sorts. She woke to the smell of something wonderful coming from the kitchen and slowly limped into the room to find out what it was. Niko was up on the counter, laughing with Sergei as they tossed a salad. Half of it was spilling out of the bowl but she couldn’t help a fond smile as she watched. There was no doubt they were father and son, both blond and blue-eyed with dimples. She’d seen pictures of Tatiana, who’d also been blond and blue-eyed, so it was hard to tell exactly who Niko would look like as he got older but the resemblance was already visible. With their heads close together, they were adorable, Sergei trying to toss the salad as Niko attempted to snatch pieces of cucumber to eat.