SWNOVELS Where You Belong: Chapter 4
long driveway shadowed by towering trees. Lining the driveway on my right are perfectly trimmed hedges, while along my left is a stone wall, offering privacy to the house. I continue driving for what feels like minutes but is probably only seconds until I finally pull up to an insanely large cream house. It has three massive arches and a statement fountain displayed in front.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn’t it. The house is clearly older, but given its amazing condition, it’s obviously well-maintained. As I glance around the front yard, I find that I could get lost in the landscape alone. It feels like I just turned into an old Tuscan mansion.
I park my car and walk past the large fountain surrounded by greenery and vines climbing large trellises. I walk under one of the stone arches, which leads me up to a wooden double door. Knocking on the door gives off a loud echo, vibrating through my arm.
The door swings open, and my eyes land on Gabriel in a black button-down shirt paired with dark-wash jeans. He is wearing his signature scowl as he looks me up and down, eyes turning even darker than I remember.
‘Where are your things?’ he says without any other greeting.
I move my weight from one foot to the other, not used to anyone making me feel so nervous.
‘I figured I would knock before I trekked all my things up to the door,’ I tell him.
‘Come in.’ He stands to the side, motioning for me to walk past him.
‘I love your home. It’s beautiful,’ I offer as I slowly enter the house, slipping out of my shoes.
His eyes capture mine, and the familiar shiver from when we met runs through my body again.
‘Thank you. We moved in not too long ago. We’re still getting settled, but we like it so far.’
I take a moment to orient myself, looking around the entryway. The foyer is huge, with two winding staircases and a large antique-looking chandelier hanging above us.
‘I’ll give you the tour, and then we can grab your things,’ he says with an edge to his voice.
I follow him upstairs, where he shows me there are four bedrooms. Mine is the last door on the right, with an amazing view of the backyard. The room is decorated in warm earth tones with a four-poster, king-sized bed, and a bathroom big enough for a freestanding bathtub.
‘Sienna’s room is directly across from yours,’ he says as he leads me across the hall into a light pink room filled with white furniture.
‘Aw, I love her room,’ I tell him.
‘Sienna demanded pink, but I told her it would have to be subtle. I didn’t want to walk into a hot pink explosion every time I came in here.’
I try to stifle my laugh. ‘I can see her enjoying a hot pink room. It would certainly match her big personality.’
A glimmer of a smile crosses his face, one I’m sure doesn’t appear very often, at least in front of adults. It appears his daughter is his only reason for smiling.
Once we’re done with the tour, we walk out to my car to get my things. I open my trunk, revealing my two suitcases and a few tote bags.
“Doesn’t look like you packed much,” he says as he stares down at my luggage.
I shrug my shoulders, not sure how to respond.
“I wasn’t sure what to bring. I didn’t want to overpack, and I figured I could drive home on a weekend if I needed to get more things.”
Once we lug the bags upstairs, he puts the suitcase next to the dresser and places my bags on the bed. I’ve never really been into older men, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice the muscles in his arms as he carries the weight of my things. To be fair, I also have never met anyone as attractive as him, even with the intense, mysterious thing he’s got going on.
He’s nothing like the college men I’d grown accustomed to over the last four years. With them, it was never too difficult to figure out what was on their mind’s eighty percent of the time, and it left me feeling bored in their presence. Not to mention the dreaded insecurity I faced every time things were heading toward being intimate together that also had me running for the hills.
“I’ll let you get settled,” he says as he glances down at his watch.
Um, yeah, and his watch. There’s something so sophisticated and sexy about a man in a watch, something college guys definitely don’t wear.
“My sister Mia is going to drop by with Sienna in about fifteen minutes. I was going to whip up some chicken marsala in the meantime. Feel free to join me in the kitchen whenever you are ready.”
“Sounds great. Thank you,” I tell him.
He walks out of the room, and I immediately fall back on the large bed. There’s a television hung in the corner of the room, and as I survey the ceiling, I notice the intricate woodwork splayed around the perimeter. I can’t believe I get to spend the summer in a home this beautiful.
As I begin to unpack my clothes, placing them neatly into the drawers, I imagine what Sienna and I will do all summer.
Picturing tea parties in the backyard, cooking lessons in the kitchen, and fun arts and crafts. When I open the closet, there is a massive walk-in with custom drawers and shelving made of wood. Every inch of this house is updated, and it’s obvious a lot of thought went into the design. This will be a nice space for me to still have some privacy, which will be important living where I work. Gabriel hasn’t done much to make me feel like we are going to be hanging out to watch reruns of The Office together after Sienna is in bed.
This is my first time nannying for a single dad before, so naturally, the dad has to be insanely good-looking. Why couldn’t he have a beer belly and a balding spot?
Hearing a commotion, I assume Gabriel’s sister must be here. When I walk downstairs, I’m greeted by an enthusiastic smile from Sienna and a dark stare from Gabriel.
The sister, Mia, looks me up and down before a beautiful smile greets me.
‘You must be Alexis. Sienna told me all about you this afternoon. I’m so happy Gabe finally agreed to find someone to help him out,’ Mia says warmly.
When I get to the bottom of the steps, I extend my hand to offer a hello.
‘And you must be Mia. I’m looking forward to spending the summer with Sienna,’ I say as I look down at the little girl. ‘We are going to have so much fun together.’
Sienna lifts her innocent little shoulders and giggles.
‘Well, I will leave you guys to it.’ Mia claps her hands together. ‘It was nice meeting you, Alexis.’
‘So nice to meet you too, Mia,’ I tell her as she walks out the front door, leaving me standing here with a happy girl and her grumpy father.
‘Want to come see my stuffed animal collection?’ Sienna grabs my hand.
‘Not right now, sweetie.’ Gabe stops her. ‘Dinner’s ready.’
‘Awww,’ Sienna whines.
‘I would love to come see your collection after dinner.’ I extend my hand for hers as we follow Gabriel to the kitchen table.
I take the seat next to Sienna, with gold silverware and a tall wine glass set in front of me. Gabriel walks over, casually holding two large white plates. He places one in front of me, which holds a healthy portion of delicious-looking chicken marsala. The chicken has the perfect brown color, and the marsala sauce wafts in my face. Growing up in an Italian household, I learned early on what fine cooking was.
‘Looks yummy, daddy.’ She smiles up at him.
He offers her head a small pat, crinkles appear in the corner of his eyes when he smiles at her.
Shit, my entire body just broke out in a shiver at the exchange. These two obviously have a strong connection. And what type of four-year-old is excited about chicken marsala?
Gabriel walks over with his plate in hand to join us at the table. He takes a seat across from us before he grabs the bottle of wine sitting in the middle of the table.
‘Would you like a glass?’ he asks me.
Knowing this man’s profession, I feel like he might kick me out if I say no.
‘I’d love some. Thank you,’ I tell him.
He dips his head in approval and pours me a small glass before doing the same for himself. I pick it up and take a sip before placing it back down to grab my fork. I swirl the pasta, trying to get the perfect first bite. When I look up, Gabriel is still sitting there with his glass in his hand, staring at me with a curious look on his face.
I try to wipe around my mouth subtly, just in case I have something on my face.
‘What?’ I ask, feeling incredibly self-conscious.
‘What do you think of the wine?’ His eyebrows raise with the question.
‘Oh.’ I look down at my glass before shrugging my shoulders. ‘It was good.’
His head lowers, but his eyes keep boring a hole in me. I must have said something wrong; I don’t know what that could be.
‘Good? This is a Chateau La Conseillante. It’s one of the finest French wines you can find.’
He says this as if I have the slightest clue what the hell wine he just rattled off. I’m a poor college graduate who has survived off bottom-shelf wine for years. Now he expects me to offer some rave review of a wine I can’t even pronounce? I’m the freakin’ nanny, not some award-winning sommelier. Are there even awards for sommeliers? Probably not.
I guess I need to appease the man since he is going to be my boss for the summer.
‘Oh. Um, it tastes lovely,’ I say, emphasizing the last word.
He shakes his head, a mocking chuckle escaping from his stupidly sexy mouth. Apparently, he is capable of laughing, but only when it’s to make you feel like an incompetent idiot.
‘It is lovely, Alexis.’ His voice drowns in sarcasm.
He begins to swirl the contents of wine in his glass before bringing it to his nose. His eyes close as he breathes in a couple long inhales. I’m not sure why, but watching it makes me feel something between my thighs. I squeeze them together as I watch him.
‘You need to take a couple sniffs of the wine before you take your first sip. The tongue isn’t going to take in the full flavor profile if you don’t prepare it with your scent first. Try it. See what your nose can detect.’
He watches me as I follow his instructions and bring the glass to my nose. I take a couple inhales as the smells invade my brain and begin to register. I keep my eyes closed as I answer, trying to focus on the task at hand, feeling a strange need not to disappoint him.
‘Um, I think I smell some kind of peppery, spicy smell. And,’ I take another quick sniff, ‘like…a berry, maybe.’
When I open my eyes, his are focused on mine in a way that makes me feel very aware of the attention.
‘Good,’ he answers. ‘Now, you need to take a sip, but let the taste come to you. Let it tell you the story of how it was made. What kind of love and effort went into it, and how the flavors work together like a symphony. Wine is so much more than something to get you drunk or just a drink to go with a meal. It’s an expression of the winemaker and what they are trying to say to you. Let them tell their love story.’
The way this man talks about wine is doing more for me than porn ever could. My body has never felt more on edge and needy, wishing I could listen to him all day. How can he make the act of drinking wine so…erotic? And this is coming from the least sexual person in the world.
His eyes hold mine as I take another sip of the wine. This time, I pay attention to the flavors that dance around my tongue.
‘In the beginning, I definitely tasted the berries,’ I tell him, ‘but it turned into a more woodsy, spicy taste.’
He nods at me, which seems like a gesture he does a lot.
‘Not bad for a beginner,’ he tells me.
‘I’ve never put much thought into the wine I drink. I generally just buy my seven-dollar bottle of wine and pour it in a plastic wine glass.’
Gabriel closes his eyes and groans at my admission. When he opens his eyes, he looks at me earnestly.
‘Please…never bring one of your seven-dollar bottles of wine into this house,’ he begs. ‘Those bottles are made by people looking to make a large profit, not to inspire others with its beauty.’
I can’t help but snicker behind my glass of wine. I will admit, taking his suggestion does make me more aware of how good the wine tastes. I look at the bottle and make a mental note to google the name when I get to my room tonight. I’m kind of curious about what a bottle like this would set me back.
‘This food is really good. You’re clearly very good in the kitchen,’ I say to him after another large bite.
‘Daddy makes the best food.’ Sienna smiles as she slurps in a long noodle.
I smile down at her. ‘I agree, his marsala is really good, but I bet my chicken piccata is better than this.’
Gabriel takes the bait and sits up straighter, the challenge in his posture giving him away.
‘I highly doubt that. No offense, but you’re twenty-one. I’ve had a lot more time and practice in the kitchen.’
Sienna chuckles next to me.
‘Daddy is super competitive. He doesn’t like to lose,’ she says, looking up at me.
‘Oh, yeah?’ I laugh. ‘Well, guess what? I’m really competitive, too, and I’ll bet you like my chicken more.’
Gabriel snorts at my words. Although I don’t want to upset him, I do feel like this dinner has helped loosen me up a bit. He’s still intimidating, but I don’t want that to squash my carefree nature this entire summer.