“And how long is that?”
Sophie lifted her eyes to his face and then looked away again instantly. “Nine months.”
A long time. Almost a year. “You are very young.”
“I’m twenty four,” she bristled defensively.
“I am surprised my sister hired a nanny with such little experience.”
His tone rankled. “I beg your pardon, you have no idea what my experience is.”
“At twenty four, it can not be vast,” he pointed out with a sardonic lift of his brow.
“If you say so.” It was a curtly dismissive rejoinder that surprised them both. To cover her embarrassment, Sophie lifted a frying pan onto the stove and lit the ignition, then added some oil to it. She’d diced the chicken earlier and she pulled it from the fridge now, adding it to the oil with a sizzle.
Alex didn’t take up one of the seats across the kitchen, but instead propped his hip against the island bench. He was too close. Too big, too intimidating and far too unnerving. “What is your experience?”
Sophie lifted a spoon from the frying pan and shifted the chicken around. “Why do I feel like I’m being interviewed?”
“My nephews are of great value to me. It is natural that I would take an interest in their caregiver.”
“Their parents are their caregivers,” she clarified. “And they also take a great interest in me.”
Yes, he thought with a cynical lift of his lips. How much interest though?
“You’ve worked privately as a nanny?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks flushed. “I worked for two years for a family in Sydney before deciding to come to London.” It was a slight fudging of the facts, but this man hardly needed to know the ins and outs of that emotionally stressful time in her life.
“And this was your first post in England?”
“No.” She shook her head. “For two months I travelled with the Prime Minister’s family. He had various commitments abroad and I was hired in addition to their usual staff. When they returned, he made certain to help me find a good placement.”
“Hence you came to work for Helena.”
“And Eric, yes.” Her smile was indulgent. “It was actually Eric who hired me. He knows the prime minister, and when he emailed Eric, the response was instant. Helena was …” She lowered her eyes, biting back the words she’d been about to say. Whether that was from loyalty to his sister or out of guilt at backstabbing her to him, Alex couldn’t have said for sure.
“Helena was?” He prompted with the appearance of curiosity.
“Helena had her hands full. The boys are very high-octane, as you know. It’s not unusual for four year olds, especially boys, but the fact they’re twins – they egg one another on.”
“And my sister is not maternal?” He queried, voicing his own private feelings in the form of a question.
“Of course she is!” Sophie contradicted, genuine surprise in her eyes. “She’s a lovely mother, and the boys adore her. One doesn’t need to enjoy going to the park and playing chase and reading stories to be maternal.”
“Or hiding under the sofa?” He prompted, reaching forward and pulling a piece of dust from her hair. She watched as he eyed it and then dropped it to the floor.
“Exactly. I enjoy that stuff. I love playing with the boys.”
“It is your job to enjoy it.”
“It is my job because I enjoy it,” she corrected. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t.”
“How long will you stay?”
She shrugged. “I haven’t made up my mind yet.” And besides the fact she hardly knew this man, she found herself speaking with honest uncertainty. “One of the hardest things about my job is leaving the children. In order to do this properly, you have to fall in love with them.”
“With only the children?” He prompted, thinking of his brother in law and the suddenly very strong likelihood that he’d formed a crush on this stunning young Australian.