The Sorceress (27 page)

Jen hoped he wasn't going too far, also. She needed him to hire the damn nanny. “Well, what about the new nanny? Remember, you told me you were going to hire one today?”

He held up his hands, frustrated. “Someone on Catherine's staff is going to take care of it. They put in an emergency request. The agency will be sending applicants over this afternoon.” He brushed back oily strands of hair that had fallen in his face and then scratched his scalp as if he had fleas. Jen grimaced when he started picking his nose.

The senator's aristocratic manners had transformed overnight to crude and unrefined. Not that she really cared because her main concern was getting out of the house for her lingerie shopping and then, later, for her hot sex-filled night with Rome, but she couldn't help but wonder if the senator would be able to pull himself together before he joined his wife and the future president.

“I'm in a tight spot, Jen. Think you can handle the interviews for me? You'd know better than I would who'd be the best nanny for the little guy.”

“Sure. No problem. When will you be back?”

“Tonight. Possibly tomorrow.”

Tomorrow!
She wanted to scream. “I'm not sure…like…what do you want me to say to the new nanny. What's her salary and when should she start?”

“The agency handles the salary. You know that. Tell her we need her to start right away. I'm sure the agency will handle all the fine details. I need you to check her out for me and make sure she and Ethan will be a good fit. Go with your gut instincts.” Daniel threw off the comforter, got out of bed, stood in his boxers and stretched, and then scratched his groin. And farted. He did this double-brow lift thing, like passing gas was absolutely adorable.

What a pig! How had he pulled off the well-bred persona for so long? She wanted to call Rome, but refused to make contact
until this nanny thing was worked out. She did not want to give her man any bad news.

He shot an eye toward the clock and frowned. “I wish I had time to walk you through the questions you should ask the applicant. But Catherine's people are sending the presidential plane. I have to be on time. Like I said, go with your gut.” He winked and staggered toward his dressing room.

“Wait.”

He stopped mid-stagger and turned around. Annoyance glinted in his bloodshot eyes.

“Do you know what time she's going to arrive?”

“Who?”

“The nanny applicant!”

“No clue,” he responded nonchalantly.

Jen's face crumpled. She couldn't hide her disappointment.

“Hey! Cheer up. We'll pick up where we left off as soon as I get home tonight.”

“What are you talking about?” When she'd had a crush on the senator, she might have thought this alcohol-laced forgetfulness was funny…even cute. But he was disgusting. Oh, she was so over him!

The senator frowned—wrinkled his nose as if he smelled something bad. “Oh, that wasn't you…got you confused for a moment with my assistant, Gwyneth. You know, the hot little blonde who stayed over the other night.”

The man was totally intoxicated and without shame. The censor guy inside his brain was apparently asleep at the wheel and allowing the senator to say whatever came to mind. It was going to be a doozy of a photo op today.

“Well, back to you.” He glowered at Jen.

What had she done? Nothing that she could think of. Quick
as a flash, his blotchy face had lost any semblance of warmth. His bloodshot eyes burned with anger.

Jen shrank back, confused.

“This isn't an appropriate time to be bombarding me with questions. Do I have to point out that my wife is running for the second most important office in the nation? When I'm called on to give my support, the last thing I need is to have to deal with your insecurities.”

He walked back toward the bed. Jen backed up, thinking he might strike her, but he picked up the bottle of vodka, then tucked it under his arm, intending to take it with him into his dressing room. “I'm thinking you should go check on Ethan,” he said, his tone frosty. “I'm sure he's pretty hungry by now.”

“Sure, I'll get him ready—”

He didn't allow Jen to finish her sentence. “Carmen has probably been at the stove heating and reheating my son's breakfast while his nanny has the audacity to come into my bedroom and grill me. The question and answers session is officially over,” he announced firmly as if speaking to persistent members of the press.

Coming to his bedroom as if they were pals was a big mistake; Jen realized that now. The senator had made it abundantly clear that she had a heck of a lot of audacity to consider herself his equal. Drunk mind…sober tongue? Jen couldn't quite recall the saying but it certainly applied to this moment. The senator paid her wages and expected her to do the duties she was paid to perform.

“Sure, I'll go check on him,” she said, eyes downcast in embarrassment. Abruptly dismissed and feeling sullied, Jen tightened the sash of her robe and turned to leave. She was sure her cheeks were flaming red. The senator's harsh treatment of her was degrading and a bit uncalled for.

The way he was acting, you would have thought that she'd barged into his room, thrown back the duvet, plumped up a pillow, and lay next to him, expecting to share the lavish breakfast Carmen had prepared especially for him.

She really should quit on the spot. But where would she go? Would Rome still find her appealing if she turned up at his door, jobless and without a roof over her head? She doubted it.

“One more thing.”

Jen stopped.

“I'm trusting you to take care of my son and to hire a competent nanny. When Catherine calls to find out how things are going, I expect you to paint a glorious picture.”

“Yes, sir. I'll do that,” Jen said with all the deference she could muster. She could not afford to be without a paycheck.

The senator turned his back to her and picked up the phone. Jen didn't know whether she should remain standing or give him some privacy by leaving. She chose to remain in his room. No point in getting the drunkard more worked up than he already was.

“This is Senator Provost. I need a car service. Uh, I need pick up at…” He looked up in thought and then noticed Jen still standing in the doorway. Irritated, he waved her away.

Humiliated, Jen closed his bedroom door. What had she said to set the senator off? Nothing she could think of. Blaming his discourtesy on his large consumption of alcohol, she took unhurried steps down the hall toward Ethan's room.

Her thoughts were jumbled as she tried to figure out how to get out of the house and enjoy a sleepover with Rome. With a new nanny underfoot and the senator's obvious withdrawal of support, the possibility of a hot date was looking slim.

E
than was curled in a tight fetal knot…the way he always slept. The poor thing had never had any motherly affection.
No wonder the kid is so screwed up
, Jen thought bitterly. Catherine Provost had the country duped. She was a terrible wife and a rotten mother. The child was weird, but he still deserved his own mother's love, Jen reasoned.

She eased the covers off of Ethan. Jolting him awake could prompt a screaming episode and quite frankly, after the way the senator had treated her, she was already on the brink of tears. Her feelings were too close to the surface to put up with Ethan going off the deep end.

“Good morning,” she said softly and very gently shook his shoulder. She watched him guardedly, waiting for the first sign of heavy wheezing or any indication that he was going to launch into that terrible siren's scream. Ethan's eyes popped open but were hollow and unfocused—like normal.
Good!

“Let's get you washed up. I bet Carmen made your favorite breakfast,” she said, knowing she wouldn't get a response. Or at least hoping she wouldn't. She still hadn't fully recovered from that time she heard Ethan speak.
Imagination…hallucination. Yeah, whatever,
she thought with a smirk.
Just don't let it happen again, kid,
she thought to herself and then rustled the child's hair.

Ethan shot her a dirty look. His eyes, dark and unforgiving, bored into her.

“Oops, sorry, kid. Forgot how much you hate anything remotely friendly. I guess you're a chip off the old block, after all, huh?” she quipped and gave a wry laugh; thinking about how mean his father had treated her.

“Let's get you washed and dressed.” She lifted him out of the bed, keeping her eyes focused away from the tented groin area of his pajamas. The kid always woke up with an erection and it annoyed her. “Go tinkle.” She pointed to his private bathroom. “I'll come in and help you wash up and brush your teeth in a few minutes.”

As she waited for Ethan to urinate, she felt her tummy rumble. Today she wouldn't turn down the fattening meal Carmen would try to tempt her with. She was down in the dumps and could use some high-caloric, comfort food.

Then her brows crinkled together. Carmen was awfully quiet this morning. In fact, now that she thought about it, there was no smell of breakfast wafting upstairs. By this hour of the morning, she should have caught a whiff of bacon or the yummy aroma of Carmen's homemade muffins. “I'll be right back, kid,” she told Ethan and went to investigate the status of breakfast.

She rounded the corridor and felt her heart sink at the sight of the senator's closed bedroom door. She hated being a pest but she really needed to try and repair their rift. She needed him on her side. He'd promised days off, a posh hotel… Jen took a deep breath and tapped on the door.

“Yes?”

“I'm going downstairs to check on breakfast. Would you like some room service?” Jen groaned to herself; she sounded so meek and subservient. “I meant…I know you're in a rush and
won't have time for breakfast but I can bring up your coffee if you'd like.”

“No, thank you,” he snapped. He actually was irritated by her considerate offer! “I'll have coffee in the limo.”

“Okay. Um…did you…uh…” she stammered, but determinedly pressed on. “Do you want to say good-bye to Ethan before you leave?” God, she was practically begging, but having some free time to spend with Rome was worth a little kissing up. She had to get back on the senator's good side so she could continue her new romance without fear of losing her job.

The senator sighed. The sound was loud and weary. “No, Jen. I really don't have time. I'm running late. I'll see Ethan when I get back home.”

God, he sounds really pissed. This couldn't be about me. He's mad because he has to join his wife and pretend to be a supportive spouse, when he really would like to switch places with her.
“Sure. Okay,” Jen mumbled and backed away, gnawing on her lip and trying to figure out how to ask him for the night off. She thought she and the senator had bonded. He'd said that her hallucination last night was the result of being overworked. Now he was acting like it had never happened; like he'd never promised to set her up in a five-star hotel…he was treating her like the scum under his shoe and she'd done nothing to deserve this.
Damn you, Catherine Provost.
Everything was going so terribly wrong. Moping, Jen turned around and sadly headed for Ethan's room.

The doorbell chimed. Senator Provost hurried down the stairs. Jen turned around and rushed to the top of the staircase, hoping he'd turn around and say something like… “Enjoy your night off.” At this point, she didn't care about the hotel or the pamper session; she just needed to get out of the Provost home and spend some quality time with her new man.

She heard the senator tell Carmen good morning in a cheery voice. Jen could picture Senator Provost hurrying past the kitchen, walking purposefully toward the front door.

Surprisingly, Carmen didn't say a word. She didn't pitch a fit when Jen heard the senator add, “The limo's here. No breakfast for me. I have to run.”

There were no disgruntled sounds from Carmen, and that was odd. Carmen fawned over Senator Provost. She took it personally when he rushed out of the house without eating the big breakfast she had prepared for him—the most important meal of the day, she often reminded him. Then she'd argue to herself in Spanish, complaining about how the Provost family wasted so much food.

But not today. Today, the cook was uncharacteristically quiet, keeping her irritation and opinions to herself, Jen supposed.

Jen shrugged. If Carmen was holed up in the kitchen, silently brooding over wasted food, that was her problem. Jen had bigger troubles. Should she call Rome's cell and postpone their plans? No! Not a good idea. The new nanny might be totally capable of dealing with Ethan alone on her first night. Jen refused to cancel her date unless absolutely necessary.

And exactly what time was the woman planning to arrive? Jen sighed. Her trip to Victoria's Secret would have to be cancelled. She doubted if Carmen would be in the mood to look after Ethan. Maybe Lizzy would watch him. But Lizzy was off today, Jen remembered. Feeling somewhat forlorn, Jen headed back to Ethan's room. She peered in the child's bathroom.