Legend (Arizona Vengeance #3)(20)

“How did Charlie do tonight?” I ask her as we snuggle in. I’m feeling way mellow and my voice reflects that.

Pepper’s hand is resting on my lower belly and her thumb is idly stroking the line of hair that runs south from my belly button. It feels sweet and erotic at the same time, and I know we’ll fuck again before we go to sleep.

“She’s such a good baby, Legend,” she murmurs into the gloom as I’d turned all the lights off except the hall light. “She eats and sleeps so well and isn’t very fussy. You really lucked out.”

“I really wouldn’t know,” I say with a chuckle. “But next time I’m woken up at 3:00 a.m. for a feeding, I’ll remind myself it could be worse.”

“Well, once you get a nanny in, you can share in that responsibility,” she posits.

I shake my head. “No way. If I’m here in the house, I’m taking care of Charlie.”

Pepper is silent a moment and her hand goes still on my stomach. Finally, she says, “You’re only human, Legend. Don’t wear yourself out trying to be super single parent. You have the means and ability to hire help, and you should utilize it. There’s nothing wrong with sharing in that responsibility. It’s what couples do all the time.”

I consider this, and while I know she’s right, I really feel I have to prove myself for some reason. I’ve always been one to rise to a challenge, and I don’t want anyone to think I can’t hack this father thing.

    Perhaps so as not to press me further on this, Pepper asks, “Have you given any more thought to the nannies we interviewed?”

“Not really,” I admit. We interviewed four yesterday afternoon and not one of them stood out among the others. They all just seemed…adequate, and that makes me uneasy. “I’m getting nervous. I don’t have anyone hired, which means I can’t start background checks. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, then we have the Christmas holiday, so I’m not even going to be able to do anything until the day after that.”

“That’s cutting it close.”

She’s not telling me anything new. She’s well aware that I’m okay to count on her or some of the hockey wives to help babysit during home games in a pinch, but a week from today is my first away game since bringing Charlie home and it’s causing a bit of panic that I don’t have a nanny that can care for her while I’m gone. I know Pepper would do it if I asked, but I can’t ask her. She’s got a full-time job and even though she says she’s not under a pressing deadline, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t work. I can’t intrude on that.

“If you want my opinion, I really liked Lucy,” she says.

“Of course, I want your opinion,” I reassure her with a squeeze as my arm is holding her close. “But…um…which one was Lucy?”

“The third one we interviewed. Taking a break between undergrad and grad school. Comes from a large family and has younger siblings she helped raise. She’s grounded and responsible and she has practical experience.”

I remember her now. “But she’s never actually been a nanny.”

    “Which I think is actually kind of perfect,” Pepper replies. “You can train her to be what you want and what you need. You won’t have someone coming in that’s pushy with you or your child. It lets you set the exact tone of the relationship.”

Now, Pepper is making a fuck of a lot of sense. “She was the easiest to talk to,” I admit.

“Make an offer to her and then get the background check started on Tuesday. You can have her start as soon as she can under your supervision and tell her the position is contingent on her having a clear background check. That way you get a few days of her working for you before you leave.”

Yeah…makes so much sense.

I shift and roll toward Pepper, finding her mouth in the dark. I kiss her softly as a measure of gratitude for being a good sounding board. When I pull back, I tell her, “I would have been a total mess these last few days without you.”

“You would have been just fine,” she says with self-deprecation.

“Would not,” I mutter and tilt my head to put my mouth to her neck.

She giggles and pushes me away from her. “Before I forget, though…do you have plans for Christmas? If you don’t, you’re more than welcome to come over to my parents’ house and partake of the ritual holiday Tofurkey.”

“To-what?” I ask in horror.

“Turkey made out of tofu,” she replies with a laugh.

I shudder thinking about it. “Actually, Dax and Tacker are going to come over tomorrow evening for a low-key Christmas Eve dinner and some drinks, but even if I didn’t have plans, fuck no I wouldn’t go to anyone’s house that served Tofurkey.”

    Pepper barks out a laugh. “I told you my parents were health nuts and completely vegan, but yeah…I’m not looking forward to that either.”

“I’m so glad you eat meat,” I tell her earnestly. “Otherwise, I don’t think we could hang.”

“Well, the offer is there, and if you also want to come hang on Christmas day. I’m going to stay the night there so I can see my niece and nephew first thing in the morning when they come to my parents.”