Page 15
CHAPTER 15
CASSIE
L ess than twenty-four hours later, I’m once again pulling up to Gunnar’s house, but this time, I come with my stuff to move in. Today is my official first day as his nanny and even though I met Izzy last night when she came home, I’m still a tad nervous. The real question is what am I nervous about—starting a new job with a new family or being under the same roof as Gunnar?
I learned quickly that Isabella McNeer is definitely not a shy five-year-old. When Gunnar introduced us, she commented on how much she loved my hair and then grabbed my hand to show me her room. She proceeded to tell me how much she loves butterflies and then took out every article of clothing she owned that had them on it—including her underwear. She made me laugh within the first two minutes of meeting her and I can tell we’re going to have a fun time together.
Sosie McNeer was more guarded and reserved. She had no problems letting it be known that she was sizing me up. I wasn’t offended by her; she’s protective of her family and I can appreciate that. She watched me closely while I interacted with Izzy and right when I was leaving, she smiled and told me she looked forward to getting to know me better.
Once I left Gunnar’s house, I called Mrs. Harper and told her I accepted the job. I drove to her office and signed my contract. Grace was working one of her shifts, so I went home, had dinner with my dad and then proceeded to pack up the everyday items I would want to have at Gunnar’s house. I tried to get a decent night’s sleep, but I kept tossing and turning into the early hours of the morning. With Gunnar having to leave for the road immediately after his game tonight, I’m being thrown right into the deep end of seeing how Izzy handles a new nanny who’s practically a stranger to her without her father around to intervene.
Please let this go smoothly and don’t let me do anything that gets me fired on the first day on the job.
I step out of my car and grab two rolling suitcases out of my trunk. I throw a tote bag over each shoulder and walk up to the front door. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and ring the doorbell.
“ She’s here! ” I hear a little voice scream in excitement with running footsteps that stop right behind the other side of the door. The lock unbolts and the door swings open by Izzy, who is standing there with her hair a wild mess wearing unicorn pajamas.
“Good morning, Izzy,” I singsong with a smile.
“Hi, Cassie!” She giggles while jumping up and down in excitement. It settles my nerves seeing that she's happy I’m here.
“Isabella Elizabeth McNeer, what have I told you about opening the door by yourself?” Gunnar comes up behind her, clearly not happy that she opened the door without him. I can’t say I blame him since I didn’t see her look out the window next to the door to see who it was.
She turns around and looks at him. “I wasn’t alone, Daddy. You’re right here with me.”
“I wasn’t when you initially opened the door. We’ve talked before about not opening the door for strangers.”
“But Cassie isn’t a stranger.”
“Yes, but you didn’t know it was her at the door,” he points out in frustration.
“You said it was her when the doorbell rang,” she grumbles with a scowl matching one I’ve previously seen from her dad.
I press my lips together to refrain from laughing while I watch these two spitting images of each other argue. If this is happening while she’s five, her teenage years are going to turn Gunnar’s hair gray. He will probably look even more handsome in ten years too.
Stop thinking about him like that, Cassie! He’s your boss, nothing more. You probably won’t even be her nanny by then.
He sighs loudly in irritation and looks at me. “Good morning. Here, let me help you with your things.” He reaches for one of my suitcase handles and our fingers graze in the exchange. I inhale sharply and try to act nonchalant, but there’s nothing normal about this man’s touch and the electricity that shoots up my body from it.
“I wanna help,” Izzy says, looking up at me expectantly.
“Thank you so much for offering to help, Izzy. Why don’t you carry this tote bag for me?” I slide the straps off my right shoulder and hold it out for her. “It shouldn’t be too heavy for you.” She grabs hold of the straps and instead of holding up the bag, she lets it fall straight to the floor. It rolls to its side and my arts and craft supplies fall out. She gazes up at me with one of those uh-oh looks and I smile to reassure her it’s okay.
“Ooh, what’s this?” She sees a coloring book peeking out of the bag and decides to start taking everything out to see what else is in there. “Are these mine?” she wonders and I squat down to the floor to get on her level.
“They are for both of us to color together.” She takes out the bags of colored pencils and markers, lays them on the floor by her little legs before diving back into the bag and grabbing a thin, long tin that contains paint brushes.
“You’re making a mess, Izzy. Put everything back in the bag and take it to Cassie’s room,” Gunnar tells her and then glances at me. “I can get your other things from the car,” he offers and before I can respond, he turns around and walks out the door.
I help Izzy put everything back in the bag and follow her to the first-floor guest room. I place my stuff on the media console and decide to leave them there to unpack later. Izzy has already run out of the room, so I hustle to keep up with her.
“Did you eat breakfast?” I ask her as she bounces her body against the couch while watching cartoons.
“I was eating cereal,” she answers and that explains the ring of chocolate around her mouth.
“Why don’t you go finish your breakfast while I help your dad get everything else out of my car?” She doesn’t answer but walks back to the kitchen table and sits down at the island where she left her bowl.
I wait for Gunner to return, not wanting to leave her alone. When he comes back through the door, he has my other suitcase, another tote bag over his shoulder, and his hands full with my easels.
“Wow, you got most of it.” I run over and grab the easels out of his hands to help. We walk back to my room and I place the rest of my stuff where I left my other things. When I turn around, I catch him staring at the bed with a look of longing before turning his gaze on me. We stare at each other for a moment before he blinks, turns on his heel and walks out of the room.
Was he imagining me in bed? His bedroom was not part of the tour yesterday and I think it’s the door right across from Izzy’s room upstairs. Thank goodness it’s nowhere near mine. It’s inevitable that I’ll see his room and I won’t be able to stop thinking about him in his own bed.
Imagine all you want, Cassie, because that bed is forbidden just like he is.
I go back out into the living room at the same time he’s walking back into the house with my blank canvases. “I shut your trunk for you but go ahead and pull your car into the driveway so it’s not in the street.”
“Okay, thanks,” I tell him while he walks past me to put away my things. I pull out my car keys from my pocket and go move my car. When I’m finished, I walk back into the house to see he's in the kitchen helping Izzy rinse out her bowl. I watch him show her how to put the bowl in the dishwasher, impressed that he’s teaching her at such a young age to clean up after herself.
“Where’s Sosie?” I ask, feeling slightly awkward and not knowing what to do with myself while he’s here.
“Sosie has her own place.”
“Oh, really? I didn’t realize she lived in Nashville as well.”
“Yeah, Gavin moved her here from California years ago to be his assistant and fortunately, it’s been a good fit for both of them.”
He helps Izzy get down from her step stool. “Izzy, go get dressed for the day,” he instructs and Izzy goes racing by me to her room.
“Does she need help?” I ask, wanting an excuse to not be alone with him because that’s when my thoughts start to turn salacious.
“No, she can do it on her own. By the way, Sosie will be here later today to escort you to the game. She’s going to show you where to park, how to get your badge identifying who you are for security purposes, and how to get to the suites and the family room by the clubhouse.”
I nod with a fake smile plastered on my face, but on the inside, I’m dreading going to his games. I felt the same way with the Fitzgeralds. All those people in one place with the noise and the drunkenness of others makes me uncomfortable. It unfortunately brings flashbacks of my childhood when my mother would take me to bars with her so she could get drunk with her friends. I know it’s not fair to compare the two different experiences and at least at Gunnar’s games, we’ll be sitting in a suite, which should be a more pleasant experience. Marissa liked to drop her kids off in the family room and sit in the stands at Alec’s games. Hockey games are so loud; they became her time to have a couple of cocktails with the other wives. I made sure I was the one driving us back home when that would happen. Most of the time I preferred to be with the kids in the family room, but she wanted me with her in the stands.
He starts to chuckle. “You don’t have a very good poker face. I promise you it won’t be torturous.”
That makes me genuinely smile and I start to feel bad about my negative attitude. “I’m sorry, I’ve never been a big sports fan and this will be my first baseball game.”
His mouth drops open in shock. “Seriously? Your dad never took you to a game?”
I shake my head. “He was more of a football type of guy.” I shrug, holding my hands up. “He would watch some baseball, but I never watched it with him.”
He blows out a breath. “Well, I hope you won’t be too bored at the games. At least Izzy will keep you busy unless she wants to go to the family room. Then you might want to stab your eyeballs out, especially if it’s a pitchers’ duel.”
“What does that mean?” I ask because he’s speaking a foreign language to me right now.
“A pitchers’ duel is when the pitchers are on fire and runs are difficult to come by. Some fans find the low scoring games to be boring, but I don’t think they are. To me, they’re exciting and filled with the anticipation of who’s finally going to beat the pitcher and get a run.”
I smirk at him. “That’s because you’re the one playing in the game and love the sport.”
He laughs. “Touché.”
“Who else will be in the suite with us?” I inquire. Gunnar already mentioned the suite belongs to Gavin, so it’s nice to know that everyone in there will somehow be connected to the McNeers.
“Gavin is still on tour, so it will be you and Izzy, Sosie, and whomever else she invited. Sometimes Aly’s sister and her family come as well.”
“Can I invite a couple of my friends?” Izzy asks when she comes running out of her room, dressed in a butterfly shirt with matching shorts. I glance at Gunnar in question and he’s got a strange look on his face. It appears as if he is struggling with a response since Izzy might not have any friends here yet, so I step in to help him.
“You just moved to Nashville and you already made friends?” I exclaim with an excited voice. “I’m impressed, Izzy! Tell me their names.”
“Austin—” she pauses and tilts her head to the side to think. “—and you!” She points at me and giggles with that cute, infectious little laugh. I smile back, happy that she considers me a friend already. That means she already feels safe and comfortable around me. I grab her cute little finger and squeeze, making her laugh harder as she pulls it away from me.
“Austin’s with Uncle Gavin and Aunt Aly on the road, so he won’t be there today,” Gunnar tells her while ruffling up her already messy hair. “I’ve got to start getting ready. You be the best girl and listen to Cassie, okay?” She nods and he kisses her on top of her head before looking up at me. “Ready to start your official duties?”
I laugh. “I’m here, aren’t I?” I wave him off. “Go get ready.”
“Thanks,” he grins in the boyish way that turns my insides into mush. He walks away and heads up the stairs to his bedroom.
I turn to Izzy and ask, “Should we make your daddy victory cupcakes?” Her eyes go wide with excitement and she nods while licking her lips. “Okay, let’s start baking,” I laugh and she follows me into the pantry.
I’m pleasantly surprised to see such a well-stocked pantry with everything I need and then some. I take out all the ingredients and put them on the countertop. I open the refrigerator and grab the rest of the items I need. How does Gunnar have time to grocery shop ? I wonder and remind myself to ask him when he comes back out.
“All right, Iz. I’m going to measure everything out and you’ll get to dump it all in the bowls. Deal?” I look through the drawers and cabinets and take out the mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons.
She nods and climbs up on her step stool so she can reach everything. “Can I mix it altogether too?”
“You sure can, but we can’t go fast or it will make a big mess.” She gives me a mischievous grin and I immediately regret telling her that. Note to self; do not let her mix everything by herself .
She listens intently to the instructions I give her and tries hard not to spill the contents outside of the bowl. I do the cracking of the eggs myself, but I make sure I explain to her how to be careful so we don’t get any of the shell into our cupcakes. When it’s time for her to stir the wet ingredients with the dry, I gently place my hand on top of hers and help guide her into mixing the batter properly.
“Do you know where the cupcake tins are?” I inquire, wanting to see how well she knows this kitchen. She goes by the oven into the drawers underneath it and pulls out two cupcake tins. Izzy hasn’t lived in this house full-time for very long and already she has memorized where things are. This shows me how intelligent she is and gives me ideas on how to home in on her skills even more.
She helps me grease the tins with butter and I preheat the oven for baking. I grab a ladle out of the drawer and give it to her to do the honor of pouring the batter into the tins. She gets batter everywhere but it doesn’t matter because we’re laughing and having a good time together.
“What’s so funny?” Gunnar asks with a warm smile. I didn’t even notice his return to the room with us. My stomach flutters when I notice how handsome he looks in his game-day attire. Alec had to dress up as well, so I’m not surprised to see Gunnar in a suit. He’s wearing a collared white button-down shirt underneath a navy blue jacket with matching slacks and a tan belt and dress shoes. This man would look hot in just a garbage sack.
“We’re making you victory cupcakes for when you come home with a win tonight.” I avert my eyes and concentrate on helping Izzy get the rest of the contents out of the bowl.
“I love that manifestation, but I won’t be home tonight, remember? We leave for our eight-game road trip right after the game.”
“Oh,” I comment, embarrassed that I already forgot his schedule and slightly disappointed that he won’t get a chance to even eat one. “Maybe we can bring them with us to the game tonight for the suite?”
“They usually don’t allow outside food, but I bet George won’t give us any issues if you smuggle them in, especially if you bribe him with one.” When I give him a questioning look, he chuckles. “Sorry, George is the security guard at the player/family entrance. Sosie will introduce you to him.” He looks over at Izzy and smiles. “I bet they're going to be the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten.”
Izzy slides her finger against the side of the bowl and licks the batter off her finger while giggling. “Ooh, good idea, Iz.” I mimic her and get a big glob on my fingertip. I put my finger in my mouth and suck off the sticky, delicious batter.
“Mmm, it’s so good.” She nods at me and we both dip our fingers back in the bowl for more. I stick my finger back in my mouth to lick off more when I happen to glance up at Gavin and freeze in place. His eyes have darkened with lust and are narrowed in on my mouth. My mind sends flashbacks of when he licked off whip cream from my breasts and I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. I quickly remove my finger and busy myself by washing my hands.
Gunnar clears his throat and throws a large, manilla envelope on the countertop. “Inside this envelope is a credit card and discretionary cash for you to use for groceries, supplies, and any outings you take her on.” His tone is curt and he refuses to meet my eyes.
That answers my question about who buys groceries . I wipe my hands on a towel and grab the envelope to open it. I take the credit card out and put it in my pocket to put in my wallet later. I open the white, letter sized envelope and gasp at the amount of cash inside of it. “This is a lot of money, Gunnar.”
He ignores my comment and walks over to Izzy. “I’m gone a lot. I want you to have everything you need for Izzy. You don’t need to be spending your own money on things that involve her. When you use the money or the credit card, just please grab receipts and put it back in the envelope. I will replenish the cash every week.”
I shake my head. “That won’t be necessary. This will last us a long time.”
“We’ll see.” He turns toward Izzy and spreads his arms out wide. “Give daddy some good luck sugar.”
“Wait!” I call out before she can jump into his arms. “Wash your hands so you don’t ruin your dad’s suit.”
“I don’t care about the suit, Cassie.” He gives her an encouraging look and she jumps into his arms. He sticks his nose in the crook of her neck and proceeds to kiss her up and down, causing her to scream with laughter. I snatch my phone from my back pocket and quickly take a picture of them to send to him. What a lucky little girl to be so loved by her father. It reminds me of the relationship I have with my own dad.
He puts her down and I see tiny fingerprints all over his shoulders. I wet a paper towel and without thinking, I grab his arm and start blotting at the stains. My eyes are trained on the smudges and I don’t realize how close I get to him until I hear him inhaling. My fingers stop and my gaze trails over to his face to catch him closing his eyes while he gets a whiff of my scent.
“Please stop,” he demands in a gruff voice and I can hear the double meaning behind his words. He opens his eyes and I take a step back, balling the paper towel in my fist. He swallows and takes a side step away from me.
“I love you, Isabear.” He grabs his suitcase off the floor and heads toward the garage door. “I’ll see you girls tonight.”
We both watch him leave and when the door shuts, I blow out a deep breath. Day one of being Gunnar McNeer’s nanny has commenced and I feel like I barely made it out unscathed from the scorching fire that are his heated stares.