Hip Check (New York Blades) (3 page)

“Yeah, well, don’t make me do it again,” Lou muttered.

“I’ve got to ask, though: what the hell were you talking to her about at practice that held her so rapt?”

Lou stifled a burp. “What do you think, you
cidrule
? You.”

3

“Thanks for stopping
by on such short notice, Michelle.”

Michelle Beck smiled as Theresa Falconetti ushered her into her corner office at FM PR. When Theresa called, Michelle’s assumption was that the Karles were trying to make an appeal to her, through Theresa, to reconsider moving to L.A. with them so she could continue being their nanny. She was surprised when Theresa told her she knew of another nanny position that might suit her well. Michelle was intrigued: She’d planned to take advantage of her severance package and take a little time off before trying to find her next job. But she decided she’d be foolish not to hear what Theresa had to say.

“Can I have Terrence get you anything?” Theresa checked with a cordial smile. “Water? Some coffee? Tea?”

“Nah, I’m fine.”

Mention of FM PR’s receptionist didn’t exactly fill Michelle with the warm fuzzies since, when she’d walked through the door, Terrence had given her outfit not the once-over, but the twice-over, his gaze haughty from behind his frameless spectacles. She could have sworn she heard Terrence murmur a disapproving, “Tsk, tsk,” under his breath. She wasn’t rich and famous like FM’s clients, but it wasn’t like she’d shown up looking like some slob, either.

Michelle sat down on Theresa’s couch, quickly taking in the office, which was dominated by a wall lined with photos of Theresa’s famous clients, including Michelle’s former employers. Just as in real life, the Karles’ teeth were blindingly white, their smiles brimming with self-confidence and charm from their tanned, unlined faces. Michelle smiled sadly to herself; she’d loved taking care of their kids, though the couple themselves had often put her nerves to the test.

“Let’s talk about this nanny position,” Theresa began, joining Michelle on the couch. “It’s for one of the players on the New York Blades, Esa Saari. Ever heard of him?”

Michelle vaguely recognized the name: her friend Marcus worked as a dog walker for a woman named Delilah Gould, who was married to Jason Mitchell, one of the Blades. Michelle inwardly chuckled about how New York’s social connections could sometimes resemble those of a small town. She was pretty sure she’d heard Marcus mention Esa Saari, which probably meant he was handsome. Marcus never missed a chance to talk about hunky hockey players.

“Sort of,” Michelle answered.

“I’ll assume you’re not big on reading the gossip pages, then,” Theresa replied wryly.

“Not all the time.”

Looking at Theresa, Michelle thought to herself:
Maybe I do look like a slob
. Theresa was tall and thin, with a long, curly mane of dark hair. Her makeup and manicure were perfect, her business suit impeccable. But Michelle’s feelings of inadequacy slowly faded as she reminded herself that one of the perks of being a nanny was that she didn’t have to get dressed up for work.

“He’s a winger. His speed is what—” Theresa started, then stopped with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. I always assume everyone knows about hockey.”

“Oh, I know about hockey, believe me,” Michelle chortled. “I grew up in a house with two rabid Islander fans.”

“I won’t hold that against you,” Theresa joked, “or mention it to my husband. Let me cut straight to the chase: Esa is single, and he’s just gotten custody of his eight-year-old niece.”

Michelle shifted uneasily, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to the question she was going to ask. “What happened to his niece’s parents?”

“Her mom, Esa’s sister, was single. She used a sperm donor.” Theresa’s eyes skimmed the portrait of her own family on her desk. “She died in a plane crash.”

“Oh, God, how awful.”

“I know,” Theresa agreed quietly. It wasn’t hard to see that at this moment, the mother in her took precedence over the businesswoman. “Anyway, Esa needs a nanny now. As in
now
.”

“Live-in?”

Theresa nodded. “Michael said his place is nice. Really big. It’s on the Upper East Side.”

The locale didn’t concern Michelle as much as her potential employer.

“What’s Esa Saari like? Do you know?”

Theresa hesitated. “He’s a great hockey player.”

“Theresa.”

“He’s an egomaniac who’s perpetually on the prowl.”

Michelle frowned. “Sounds great.”

“A lot of the single guys on the team are.”

“A lot of single guys in general are,” Michelle said. “Is he a jerk? Because frankly, I’m done working for jerks.”

A knowing look passed between them regarding the Karles, who often mistook Michelle for the family servant rather than the children’s caretaker.

“I don’t know Esa well enough to answer that,” Theresa replied honestly. “I know he works hard on the ice and is a great player, I know women fall at his feet, and I know he loves it that they do. I don’t think he’d be around very much, to be honest.”

Michelle considered this. A largely absentee employer could be a definite plus, depending on the circumstances. But Michelle wasn’t sure she wanted to be around a bigheaded jock at all, especially a womanizing jock. Last but not least, she’d never been employed by someone single.

“Have you met the little girl?” Michelle asked.

“No. Her name is Nell, by the way. Like I said, her mom died in a plane crash last year.”

“
Last year?
Who’s been taking care of her up until now?”

“Her mom’s best friend. But the woman just got a job that requires a lot of travel, and since Esa is her legal guardian . . .”

A lump formed in Michelle’s throat. “So, not only did her mother die, but the person she’s been living with for a year is now passing her on to someone else?”

Theresa nodded sadly.

“That poor little thing,” said Michelle, feeling like her heart might crack into pieces just thinking about it. There was nothing worse than a child in pain. Nothing.

“Are you interested?”

Michelle didn’t hesitate. “Of course I’m interested.”

Theresa looked profoundly relieved. “I’ll tell Esa and have him call you ASAP. Maybe you two could set something up for tomorrow.”

“That works for me.”

Theresa inhaled, blowing out a deep breath. “Michelle, you’re a lifesaver.”

“And he’s going to pay me like one, believe me.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Theresa assured her, adding in a stage whisper, “Don’t let him push you around about your salary.”

“Trust me, there’s no chance of that happening.” Michelle stood. “I’m so glad you thought of me,” she told Theresa, surprising herself. “My initial intention was to take a short break, but this sounds perfect.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Theresa rose. “I’ll have Terrence give you Esa’s number as well. That way if the Karles wave millions in your face and you do decide to move to L.A. with them, you can tell him the interview is off.”

Michelle shook her head. “Not going to happen. I could never move that far away from my family. I don’t think I’d like it. God knows
they
wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I hear you on that one, believe me,” Theresa answered dryly. “My mother’s still upset Michael and I didn’t buy a house on her block.”

Michelle laughed.

“Let me know how it all turns out, okay?”

“Definitely. Thanks again, Theresa.”

“Thank
you
for not going to L.A. We’ll talk soon.”

Michelle nodded, heading out of the office. An eight-year-old girl whose mom had died? It was a no brainer.

4

At Lou’s suggestion,
Esa asked Nell if she wanted to go to the zoo. Her momentary hesitation told him she didn’t, but she agreed anyway, probably because she wanted to please him. Esa was at a loss. Should they go anyway? Should he offer another option? That might make sense . . . if he had another option. He hoped that once they got there, she’d have a good time.

So off to the zoo they went. Nell loved it; he hated it. It was ninety-eight degrees, humid, and packed with noisy families. The hordes of screaming and misbehaving children, accompanied by yelling parents who seemed unable to control them, made him glad he didn’t have kids. Then he realized: he did have one.

Nell had been drawn to the polar bears in the Polar Zone. She stood there for ages, watching their every move intently. Esa wondered what she was thinking, so after a while, he asked her, even though the question felt awkward to him. “You seem to like them a lot. Is it because they’re so big?”

“No,” Nell said thoughtfully. “It’s because they look like giant teddy bears. They look like they’d be fun to play with.”

“You can’t play with them, Nell. They’ll attack you and eat you.”

Nell looked at him like the inept moron he was. “I
know
that.”

Esa quit while he was ahead.

Despite the heat and the crowds, he was glad they’d made the trip, since it took up the better part of the morning and early afternoon. He had an appointment with his agent around five, but the evening with her stretched out in front of him, endless as decades. Clearly, he was going to have to cancel his date with the TV announcer Kendra Meadows tonight, which sucked. He really needed to go out and have a good time—
and
he wanted to get laid.

Esa was thrilled when he and Nell left the zoo, and she told him she was tired and just wanted to go home and read. But when they got back, Nell headed directly to her room and closed the door. Esa wasn’t sure what to make of it. Is this something she did when Danika was still alive, go off into her own private world, not to be disturbed? Or was she sending him a specific message: “Go away. Leave me alone. I hate it here.” Esa felt terrible. Terrible, incompetent, and inadequate. A small wave of resentment toward his sister rolled through him, and again, much to his shame, he found himself asking: why me?

He knocked on her bedroom door. “Nell?”

“What?”

“Uh . . . I have to go meet my agent. So—”

“I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.”

Esa hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” In truth, he thought it was a great idea, but knew he wasn’t supposed to.

“I’m not a baby.”

“Yeah, I know, but—”

“Please?”

Esa leaned his forehead against the door, unsure of what to do. “Okay,” he finally capitulated, “if you don’t leave the apartment.”

“I won’t.”

“I won’t be long, I promise.”

“Okay.”

He waited to see if she’d say something more, but she didn’t. His gut told him it wasn’t the right thing to do; pain in the ass though it might be, he should drag her with him to his agent’s office. But his head said: Yeah! Perfect! She’s right: she’s not a baby. She’s got food, a TV, nothing could possibly happen.

Before he left, though, he was going to call Michelle Beck. That was the name of Nell’s nanny—or rather, the woman Esa intended to hire as Nell’s nanny. That she’d been vetted by his coach’s wife was good enough for him. He’d set up an interview for tomorrow morning. She wouldn’t know it, but he was just interviewing her as a formality. At least he’d be doing one smart thing today. Or maybe two, depending on his conversation with his agent.

* * *

“Have a seat,
Esa.”

Esa sank back in one of the plush leather chairs in the office of his agent, Russell Hedges. Hedges was with Winston, Lyon, and Schell, a multi-sports agency that represented some of the biggest names in sports. Hedges concentrated specifically on hockey, which was why, the minute gossip starting going around the NHL that the Blades wanted Saari, Russell had reached out to him in Finland. His European agent had done his best for him, but both he and Esa knew that when Esa was being scouted by the NHL, there would be an inevitable parting of the ways. Esa needed to be represented by someone who knew the NHL. Russell Hedges had set his sights on Esa, and Esa was glad that he did. Eventually, Hedges got Esa a three-year contract from the Blades for a total of $9.6 million. But it ran out at the end of this season.

“What can I do for you?” Russell asked after they’d made small talk for a few minutes. Esa always had a hard time believing Russell hadn’t once been a jock himself: the guy was stone solid, with biceps that bulged beneath his custom-made shirts. He carried himself like an athlete, too, with a confident swagger.

“Help me not to lose my mind,” Esa replied grimly.

“Talk to me.”

“I had a little chat with Michael Dante today after practice. He told me I really have to kick it up a notch this season. I got the sense he was hinting that management don’t feel they’re getting what they paid for.”

Russell nodded. “And your contract runs out at the end of the season, and they’ve made no effort yet to re-sign you.”

“That’s the problem, in a nutshell.”

Russell offered Esa a glass of water, which he turned down. “You know how this goes, Esa,” he said, pouring a glass for himself. “Sometimes teams want to make players sweat. They think the pressure of playing for a contract could, consciously or subconsciously, lead to better performance. And God knows they don’t like to open their coffers before they absolutely have to.”

“I don’t have time to sweat,” Esa lobbed back. “I have a lot of stuff on my plate right now, and the less stress I have in my life, the better.”

Russell peered at him worriedly. “What kind of stuff?”

“Personal stuff. Remember I told you my sister died last year?” Russell nodded. “Well, my eight-year-old niece just came to live with me. For good. Don’t even ask who’s been taking care of her the past year. It’s too complicated.”

Russell took a sip of water. “How about this: I reach out to Blades management and try to nudge them on the contract issue. I’ll make it clear that we’d like this done sooner rather than later so it’s not hanging over your head all season.”

“That’s exactly what I want. Tell them the better I’m able to concentrate, the greater the return on their ‘investment.’”

“I’ll contact them first thing Monday. Doesn’t mean they’ll get back to me right away.”

Esa eyed him warily. “Yeah, I know the game.”

“How’s it going otherwise?”

It took Esa a split second to realize he meant Nell. “Okay. As well as can be expected, I guess.”

“Have you got a nanny?”

“Starts Monday.”
She doesn’t know it yet, though.

“
That’s got to be a relief.”

“It is.”

“I guess this means a big lifestyle change for you in a lot of ways,” Russell continued casually.

“Let me guess: I’ll turn into more of a homebody, which will be a big boon PR wise.”

Russell shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. You know Kidco likes to portray itself as a family-friendly business. They might love the image of the party boy turning into a dedicated uncle.”

“Amazing,” Esa marveled. “You guys are all alike. I got the same thing from Capesi.” He really didn’t want to go down this road, so he headed toward the door. “I should run.”

“Anything else you want to talk about before you go?”

“Nope. Thanks, Russ. Keep me posted.”

“That goes without saying. Enjoy your evening, Esa.”

“You, too, Russ.”

Esa checked his watch. He’d been gone less than an hour. He had no doubt he’d get home and Nell would still be in her room, or maybe watching TV. He had no idea what to do with her tonight. Or what to do about dinner. Pizza, maybe.

There, that was one thing settled. Next he had to call Kendra Meadows and cancel their date for tonight. He’d shift it to tomorrow. By then, everything would be in place with Michelle Beck. He’d make sure of that.