Page 26 of Architect's Christmas Nanny

“I don’t think so,” Fee sniffed. “You’re perfect.”

“Tell that to my dream guy,” Jillian murmured.

“Not this again,” Fee said. “You absolutely cannot still be hung up on Brad Williams.”

“I don’t want to lose this,” Jillian admitted.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a family of your own one day?” Fee asked gently. “A husband, a daughter or son who really belongs to you?”

“Josie belongs to me,” Jillian said automatically.

“I know that you two have a bond for life,” Fee said. “And that’s awesome. But don’t you want a family you can’t be fired from?”

It was hard to argue with that.

“I’m fired anyway,” Jillian said. “But tonight he asked me to stay in Trinity Falls and be his assistant. He’s opening an architecture firm in town.”

“Interesting,” Fee said, suddenly pensive.

“I told him no,” Jillian said. “Aren’t you proud of me?”

“Wow,” Fee said.

“When he first asked me to stay, I swore he was asking me something else,” Jillian admitted, feeling ashamed, but needing to share. “Then he saidto be my assistant,and I don’t know what came over me, but I just said no.”

“Ouch,” Fee said.

“Yeah,” Jillian said. “It wasn’t pretty.”

“How did he take it?” Fee asked.

“I don’t know,” Jillian admitted. “I didn’t stick around to find out.”

“Wow,” Fee said with a note of appreciation in her voice. “Good for you. Though I guess it would have given you a chance to have him all to yourself—to see if you still like him when he’s not at home relaxing.”

“Oh,” Jillian said. She hadn’t thought about that. Hadn’t really thought at all, really. She’d just kind of let her emotions do the talking.

“But I’m glad you told him no,” Fee said firmly. “There’s no point wasting more time on your daddy-boss-crush when you can come back to the city and find a million guys who would throw themselves at your feet.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jillian laughed.

“I do,” Fee said. “You’ve got that long red hair and those emerald eyes—you look like a wood nymph or something. You’re going to slay on the dating apps.”

Jillian could only laugh at her friend’s silliness. She certainly didn’t look like a wood nymph. And dating apps weren’t her thing. She just couldn’t picture herself trying to use one.

“Seriously though,” Fee said gently. “Come home. I admit that it’s not a totally selfless request. I do want you back here to hang out with me. But I also genuinely think it would be good for you to get out of there if it’s not going to work out the way you want. And you’d be closer to Rachel and the baby.”

That last suggestion touched her heart and brought her a tiny breath of peace.

“I hear you,” Jillian said. “I’ll be home after the holidays.”

“Okay,” Fee said. “Hold onto yourself. You’ve only got a few more weeks. If you can do it without making a fool of yourself, I’ll take you out for cronuts.”

“Cronuts?” Jillian asked.

“They’re a mix of croissants and doughnuts,” Fee said impatiently. “And this is exactly why you’ve got to get out of there. That family has you living like a pioneer woman instead of a sophisticated, pastry-eating socialite. Where evenareyou right now? Are thereholesin the walls?”

Jillian laughed again. Fee had been to the penthouse once or twice to pick her up. She knew they weren’t normally living in a rustic way. Just because they had their routines and didn’t try new things often didn’t mean they weren’t living a good life.

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