Playing the Player(5)

Damn. Was this the kind of stuff parents worried about? No wonder my parents had so many clients if people were this paranoid.

“I’d start yelling their names. Run around looking for them.” I noticed Max watching me closely. He stuck his finger in his nose and started digging. Great. Why didn’t his mom ask me how to deal with that? Cayenne pepper on the finger. My grandpa did it to me and it worked.

Then again, Dad said the type of stuff Grandpa did was the reason he’d never run out of clients.

“Um, check all their hiding places.” I took a bite of another cookie.

“And how would you know those?”

“From hide-and-seek,” Max piped up. He smiled at me, kind of shy. “He’d know where to look from playing hide-and-seek with us.”

“You like hide-and-seek, buddy?” I returned his smile. At least his finger was out of his nose.

Max nodded. “It’s my favorite game. Gilly’s, too.”

I relaxed into my chair and grinned at Mrs. G.

Point to Slade. And Max.

“Well, Slade, you’ve answered my questions satisfactorily. And your mom vouches for you. So, if you want the job, it’s yours.”

This job-hunting thing was cake. “So, about the other nanny?” I asked casually. “Who is she?”

Mrs. G. stood up to clear the coffee table. “You’ll meet her on Monday. She’s a nice girl. Very organized. I think you go to the same high school.”

Organized? Nice? Was that code for “troll”?

Nah, she’d be cool. I could think of lots of hot girls who fit that description. And I supposed one of us had to be organized, to plan the kids’ field trips or whatever.

This summer was going to rock. Easy money. Hanging out with a hot nanny. Maybe even hooking up with her, depending on how things went.

Mom was a genius, but I’d never tell her that.

Mrs. G. walked me to the door. Max followed, hovering behind his mom like a shadow. I kind of felt sorry for him. He was shy, and super serious. Maybe we could work on that over the summer.

“Thanks, Mrs. G. I mean, Mrs. Gonzalez. I promise I won’t let you down.”

Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “You can call me Mrs. G. And I know you won’t let me down. You and Trina are going to be perfect partners. I can tell.”

My hand froze on the doorknob. I felt like I was in a nightmare where I had to run from the monster, but my legs wouldn’t work. “Did you say…Trina?”

Mrs. G. was all smiles. “Trina Clemons. You know her from school, right? I’ll give her your cell number and email address. She can contact you with the plan for Monday.” She paused. “She has this binder full of great ideas for the kids.”

I knew all about Bird Brain and her binder from hell. I might as well just stab myself in the eye with a fork. It would hurt less than the pain I was about to endure working with Trina. Damn it. I should’ve mentioned the cayenne pepper idea.

“Bye, Slade,” Max chirped, hanging onto his mom’s leg. He grinned at me and I noticed his two bottom front teeth were AWOL. “I wanna play hide-and-seek with you.”

I couldn’t back out. Not on the kid. “Sounds great, Max-man. You can show me your best hiding places on Monday.”

I wondered how soon I could ask for a raise, because working with Bird Brain deserved hazard pay. One thing was for sure. She wasn’t going to boss the kids and me around like some tight-assed cruise director. Since I’d earned this job fair and square, this was going to be a partnership, not a dictatorship.

I’d make sure of it.





Chapter Three


Slade


Sunday, June 2

Alex and I hung out at the country club pool. I watched the girls, he watched the guys. Between the two of us, not an inch of lounge chair went un-scoped.

“This is, without a doubt, the best time of the year,” Alex said, as a guy who looked like he lived at the gym snaked by us in a Speedo.

“Without a doubt,” I agreed, my eyes following two girls in skimpy bikinis.

“So about this other nanny? Is she a Swedish exchange student? Russian? Tall and gorgeous?”

I groaned and stretched out my legs, hanging them off the sides of the lounge chair.

“Not exactly.” Trina was as exotic as Wonder Bread. She was soggy like that, too, sucking the fun out of everything.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Alex raised his designer shades to squint at me under the bright Colorado sun. He already had a tan, and his hair looked like he lived on a beach, but I knew the streaks came from a salon.

“Slade! Watch me!”

I turned to see one of the kids I’d taught at the rec center. I waved as he cannonballed into the deep end. He popped back up, spitting water out of his mouth, checking to make sure I’d seen him.

“Awesome, buddy!” I called out, giving him a thumbs-up. He returned the gesture then swam away toward his friends.

“Bet you don’t even remember his name,” Alex said.

“Ryan Marsh. Terrified when we started lessons, but swimming like a fish by the end.”

Alex snorted. “Impressive.”

“Yet I have no idea what brand of sunglasses you’re wearing. Now that’s impressive.” Alex had tried to give me a makeover a few times, but it always ended up with us starting a wrestling match in the dressing room and getting kicked out of whatever store we were in.