Page 29 of Nanny and the Beast

A storm begins in my chest.

This is uncharted territory. I’ve never been in this position before.

I have about a dozen tasks to work on today, but I’m frozen in place. Hypnotized. Fated to do nothing but study every little detail about her.

There’s a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I say, reluctantly closing the camera feed tabs on my laptop.

Helena steps inside my office.

“The girl is here,” she says.

“I’m aware.”

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Do we have to do this every time, Klaus?” She sighs with exasperation.

“She’s been given an employee handbook and a map of the house. There’s no reason for me to greet her in person.”

“It’s the polite thing to do,” Helena says.

“She’s an employee,” I say. “I’m not going to treat herlike she’s a guest in this house.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Helena scoffs.Her hands are on her hips now, which tells me she’s seconds away from losing her temper.

“Is this because of how attractive you find her?” she asks.

For fuck’s sake.

“I’m never telling you anything ever again,” I say.

She grins. “It’s not the worst thing in the world to be attracted to someone. In fact, it’s very natural.”

“What can I do to make this conversation end?” I ask.

“For starters, you can come say hello to the new nanny,” she says. “I know you guys got off on the wrong foot.”

“That’s irrelevant.”

“Like it or not, Klaus, she’s going to be a part of your life now.”

I’m regretting this decision already.

I know that the nanny will be good for the kids, but she might just wreck what’s left of my sanity.

There’s an alert on my computer, informing me of movement at the front door. My security system sends me a message saying that an unauthorized person has entered the premises.

“She’s not cleared by security yet?” I ask.

“The agency did the usual background and health checks, but we haven’t entered her into the system yet,” Helena replies. “Now, are you coming or not?”

She fixes me with a glare that tells me there’s only one right answer.

“Fine.” I stand.

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