“Wait here until you are called,” Brain said.
There were two women sitting on the fine chairs in the room. I recognized one of them. Mary Sedgewick from Caring Nannies. She was generally accepted as their best asset. She looked at me with a smug expression. The other woman, I didn’t know, but I guessed she must be from Sarah Bright’s agency, because she was holding a file with their logo on it. She nodded at me formally.
I smiled at them both and took a seat on one of the armchairs. It was upholstered in sunshine yellow and was incredibly comfortable. Funny thing. I suddenly felt nervous. I took a mint out of my handbag and popped it into my mouth.
A middle-aged woman in a severe navy-blue suit came into the room. “Ms. Sedgewick, please come with me.”
Mary stood and with a confident smile walked up to her.
The door closed behind them, and I turned my attention to the French windows. Outside, stone steps led to a formal garden that seemed to stretch endlessly. There was a fountain. I stared at it blankly. Ten minutes later, the woman in the navy-blue suit was back, which surprised me. Maybe Mary didn’t get the job, after all.
“Miss Winters,” she said with a smile.
I smiled back, stood up, smoothed my skirt over my thighs, and walked towards her. She introduced herself as, Mrs. Misha Gorev. She was one of Mr. Volkov’s personal assistants.
If this job wasn’t Mary’s, I felt confident it would be mine.
I was good at my job. They called me the child whisperer back at the agency. I had tamed spoilt, rich kids, brats with behavioral problems, sick kids. So far, no kid had defeated me. I straightened my back as Mrs. Gorev’s hand closed over the intricately carved, gold door handle. The door opened and the wind left my lungs.
Good Lord! It must be the devil himself sitting behind the desk, because only the devil could be so darkly handsome.
Chapter 2
Yuri
(You Make A Grown Man Cry)
As the door opened further, I looked up from the file in front of me. Beyond Misha was the next candidate. My eyes found hers and for a second my brain stopped functioning. Three things:
First: she looked nothing like the photograph in her file.
Second: she wasn’t one of the classical beauties I usually hooked up with.
Third: lust. Pure, unadulterated lust flowed like fire in my veins.
God, I wanted this woman!
She smiled and it might just be the sexiest thing a woman had ever done with her lips. Actually, she looked like she belonged in a Raphael painting. Huge green eyes, flaming red hair, and skin like thick cream.
My gaze ran down her body. Even in the cheap shirt buttoned up to her neck and loose gray suit she was sexy as fuck. I leaned in my chair making it tip back. “Come in and take a seat, Miss Winters.”
She walked with a sure feline glide, towards one of the two chairs in front of my desk and sank into it. “Thank you.” Her voice was soft and mysterious.
“So, tell me about yourself?” I invited, trying to keep my eyes from wandering.
“Well, there’s not that much to tell. I am a teacher by profession, but I decided that I preferred working with small children, so I became a nanny.”
“Why?”
Her enormous eyes regarded me steadily. “What do you mean?”
“Why do you prefer working with small children?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Nobody has really asked me that. I think it’s because I love their innocence. I find them honest and easy to deal with.”
“You don’t like dealing with adults?”
She shifted in her chair. “Not so much.”
“Why not?”
“Like I said. I find people often have hidden motives, and they’re not very honest most of the time.”
“So you like honesty.”
Her gaze was direct and sincere. “Always.”
“That will be all, Miss Winters.” I stood. “Thank you for your time.”
She didn’t stand from her chair. “That’s it?”
“Yes, Misha will contact you on Monday and let you know the outcome of the interview.”
Her eyes widened.
God, they were fucking beautiful. I felt my cock twitch and come alive. I definitely made the right decision. She was far too distracting to be working in this house. I don’t need that kind of temptation.
She stood suddenly, her eyes flashing. “Why do I need to wait for Mrs. Gorev to let me know? Be honest. Just tell me I didn’t get the job. That way, I won’t have to stress about it over the weekend.”
I nod. “Very well. You didn’t get the job.”
“Why?” she demanded.
I couldn’t remember the last time anybody questioned me this aggressively. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, it niggled at my sense of absolute authority and control, but I did feel intrigued. Very intrigued. “Do you want me to be honest, Miss Winters?”