Page 13 of 7+Us Makes Nine

Long legs. Long, wispy brown hair. Pale skin that reflected the dim lighting of my office well. She had these petite features except for what mattered. Her hips bloomed and her chest rolled. And when she turned around to look at me, her eyes sparkled. She was captivating. Her high cheekbones boasted of rosy red cheeks and her pouty lower lip begged to be nibbled on. The shadows cast over her face accented her hazel eyes, and it took me a second to reorient myself.

Because her presence had smacked me across the face.

“Mr. Logan?” she asked.

“You must be Catherine,” I said. “Hello. And call me ‘Jace’. It’s fine.”

I held out my hand and she took it. Her soft skin slid against mine and shot fire up my veins. Thank god I was wearing a long-sleeved button-down.

It would’ve been embarrassing for her to see the goosebumps that trickled up my arm.

“Have a seat. Are you thirsty?” I asked.

“I’m fine. I had plenty of coffee this morning,” she said.

“A wonderful alternative to water,” I said as I sat down.

“So,” she said, “what would you like to know?”

“Before we get into any of that, I want to be upfront.”

“I prefer things to be that way,” she said.

“I’m looking for someone who can be a live-in. There are times when I have to travel for work, and many times where I have very late nights. It would be easier for me to orchestrate those things if I had a live-in nanny I knew I could count on.”

“If that’s an arrangement you’re looking for, then I’m fine with it. I have to admit that my townhome gets lonely sometimes. A house full of children to look after sounds like a very nice change of pace.”

“You would be paid accordingly. Around the clock care deserves an around the clock type of pay.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” she said.

“You weren’t worried about the pay,” I said.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because taking care of children is never about the pay. If it was, I wouldn’t have become a teacher.”

I chuckled as I pondered her words.

“Why did you become a teacher?” I asked.

“That question is a little more loaded than you think.”

“I’ve got time. Consider it one of your interview questions.”

“Oh, great,” she said with a sigh. “Okay, so… um…”

I sat there, watching her carefully as she found the time to gather her thoughts.

“Without going into too much detail, I know there are trends with how upper-class individuals raise their children. And I’ve seen and experienced the effects of how that raising can go awry.”

“I see. So you took your teaching position to try and correct some of those imbalances.”

“Not correct. I’m not their parent. That isn’t my lane,” she said. “But showing children at such an impressionable age that there are other ways to live and act and be… that can be powerful. For me, teaching wasn’t just about test scores and homework. It was about trust. About giving those kids someone to talk to if their parents stopped trying to understand them.”

“You said you experienced it first-hand. Do you come from an upper-class family?” I asked.

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