His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 5

Nanny and the Alpha Daddy
#Chapter 5: L’affaire Au Pair
Moana

I woke up at 4:30 the next morning — a bit earlier than I needed to, probably, but I wasn’t taking any chances with this job. I spent the next hour practically scrubbing myself raw in the shower, fixing my hair, ironing my clothes, and taking extra care to make sure that there wasn’t a single stray hair or speck of dust on me, because today was the first day of the job that would change my life, and I had to be perfect.

I then spent the final half hour of my preparations pacing and staring out the window, willing myself with all of the strength I had to not bite my nails, as I waited for the car that Selina had mentioned. Lo and behold, as soon as the clock struck 5:59, I saw a black car slowly pulling up out front, and I practically flew out of my apartment and down the stairs so that I was opening the car door by 6:00 sharp.

“Hmph,” Selina said, looking at her watch as I clambered into the back. “Six o’clock on the dot. A little out of breath, but at least you’re here.”

“Sorry,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and buckling my seatbelt. “It’s a bad neighborhood, so I didn’t want to wait outside.”

Selina didn’t answer. The driver pulled the car away from the curb and started heading down the street.

“We’ll be stopping to sign your contract with the lawyer first,” Selina said, her voice flat as she looked out the window with a modicum of disgust on her wrinkled face. “Then, you’ll get a tour of the penthouse apartment where you’ll be spending most of your time. I suspect you won’t be needing to return to your old home to collect your things?”

I thought back to my apartment and its contents.

“Well, I have some clothes and things there–”

“Your employer will supply you with anything you need: clothes, toiletries, books, and anything else you might need or want. Unless you have sentimental belongings you need to go back for, I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time and energy on such a move.”

I nodded, clutching the tiny silver locket around my neck. That locket was the only sentimental thing I owned, and it was always around my neck. Everything else in that apartment could burn, for all I cared.

“Very well,” Selina said.

We spent the next several minutes of the car trip in complete silence. Although Selina was seated directly across from me in the back of the expensive town car, she didn’t turn away from the window to look at me even once. I didn’t let it get to me, though; growing up human in a world dominated by werewolves prepared me for this sort of treatment. There were many werewolves who saw humans as equals, but there were even more who saw us as an inferior race. Selina was likely one of them.

The driver eventually pulled the car over in front of a brownstone with large bay windows with a sign over the door that read “William Brown, Esq.” Selina got out of the car without a word and started for the door — I did the same, standing behind her as she rapped on the door with the brass knocker.

The door swung open a few moments later, and a young woman led us in. The office smelled like a sickly combination of mahogany and burnt coffee, and it was eerily quiet. Neither Selina nor the woman said a word; the woman only shut the door behind us and gestured toward a half-open door at the end of a short hallway, and when we entered, there was an old man sitting behind an enormous wooden desk.

The door swung open a few moments later, and a young woman led us in. The office smelled like a sickly combination of mahogany and burnt coffee, and it was eerily quiet. Neither Selina nor the woman said a word; the woman only shut the door behind us and gestured toward a half-open door at the end of a short hallway, and when we entered, there was an old man sitting behind an enormous wooden desk.

He was asleep.

Selina cleared her throat loudly and sat down in the chair across from him, and when he still didn’t wake, she swiftly kicked him under the desk.

“Wake up, William!”

“What? Oh!” the old man exclaimed with a start as he was unceremoniously awoken. I stifled a laugh as I stood in the doorway, but my smile quickly faded when Selina abruptly turned around and gestured with her head for me to sit.

“Right,” William said, putting on his glasses with shaking old hands as he opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of documents. “Now, let’s see…”

The c*ckoo clock on the wall behind him ticked in time with my racing heartbeat and filled my ears, driving me practically insane, as the elderly lawyer licked his fingers and flipped through the documents. Finally, after a painstakingly long time and a curt “ahem” from Selina, he produced the packet of paperwork for me and set it down in front of me with a pen.

“You’ll just have to sign this basic contract and an NDA,” he said.

I leaned forward and picked up the pen, scanning over the contract. My eyebrows raised as I noticed a couple of interesting clauses thrown in: one mentioned that I was not allowed to become romantically involved with my employer at any point, and another stated that I was prohibited from becoming pregnant with my employer’s child without permission.

“Um… What are these clauses for?” I asked, pointing to them. William leaned over and glanced at them, then waved his hand dismissively.

“All very standard.”