Master in Shining Armor (Masters Unleashed 4)

Oh, shit. Juliet.

Hopefully, she’d sleep through this.

The kitchen was still a mess, between the dishes and the countertop samples. The countertop at that point was a piece of board. Having his whole house turned upside down with home improvements hadn’t seemed like a big deal before he became a father and armies of women started tromping through his space. He was actually a bit embarrassed about the mess, not that he had time to address it.

He grabbed a stack of paint samples off the chair and gestured her into the seat before taking the seat across from her.

“So, Varushka tells me that you’re reliable and have a lot of experience.”

She smiled. “And yet she couldn’t handle me helping her with Ruslan. Konstantin was very upset that she couldn’t let go of some of her responsibilities, especially as she gets closer to having their second.”

He chuckled. Konstantin’s wife was also his slave, but their dynamic was sort of hilarious. Varushka was an adorabl

e little goofball and completely unpredictable. He could imagine it would be hard for Kon to be strict with her.

“Did she tell you anything about our situation?”

“Other than that you are looking for a nanny? No.”

He considered laying the whole story out for her but then realized she didn’t really need to know. At least, not now. Telling strangers about Bethany’s death without good reason turned his stomach.

“Well, I’m not convinced I need to go back to work at this point,” he admitted. “I have a business to run, but I’m not comfortable leaving her with just anyone. I haven’t left her with anyone before, actually.”

Tabitha’s gaze drifted from him to the doorway, and she smiled. Will turned in his seat and found Juliet standing in the doorway wearing one of his T-shirts and a pair of his workout shorts she must have grabbed from the pile of clean clothes on his dresser. She looked rumpled and gorgeous.

“Oh, hello.” A blush crept from the collar of the shirt Juliet wore, and he watched with interest as it spread to cover her face. Nothing like doing the walk of shame without even leaving the house.

“Juliet, this is Tabitha. I forgot to warn you she was coming by for an interview this morning.”

“Hi, you must be Mum. Sorry if I woke you when I buzzed the gate. It’s so hard for new moms to get enough sleep. You look fabulous, by the way.”

Juliet’s mouth opened, and her eyes rounded. That expression stuck for a moment as though she were at a loss for words.

Will cleared his throat, feeling bad for putting her in such an awkward position.

“Juliet is a friend of mine. She’s not Beau’s mother.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were a single father.” Tabitha grimaced. “Well, this isn’t awkward at all.”

Juliet burst out laughing, to Will’s surprise. “Do you want me to leave you to this? I can head out.”

“Actually, if you have a few minutes I’d like to talk to you before you go.” Will gave her a look that brought back the blush full force.

“Sure, I’ll be in the great room.” Collecting her missing clothes, no doubt.

Guilt twisted in his stomach. Nothing like seriously fucking up a second date. How could he have forgotten about this appointment? He needed a better system for keeping track of everything.

Either that or he had to admit he couldn’t handle more complications in his life right now.

He grilled Tabitha with questions, looking for weaknesses and character deficiencies, but she was solid. He wrapped up the interview, trying to avoid looking like he was rushing through the end of the meeting, but he was eager to try to make things right with Juliet.

As he let Tabitha out, he realized he still wasn’t sure if he was going to hire her—even though she was impeccably qualified and held similar opinions on how to handle babies, it seemed like a huge leap of faith to abandon Beau to a stranger’s care. Beau was so small and helpless.

He brought Beau into the great room. Juliet had tidied the toys and was folding a basket of Beau’s clean laundry.

“You don’t need to do that,” he said.

She grinned. “Someone has to, and I was waiting for the Spanish Inquisition to end.”