Page 11 of Nanny for My Billionaire

“Yeah, exactly,” she agrees. “Maybe even with a bit of help from the beyond.”

I blink at her, confused.

Megan rolls her eyes. “Sara is convinced that Dad’s ghost came home when I went and got Dad’s urn from the funeral home. I do have to admit, I have noticed a few unexplained things once I started to look for them. I’m just not convinced just what ghost might be involved. I mean, this mansion was here clear back during the Civil War. Could be just about anybody, if there’s any ghost at all.”

“That’s just plain creepy,” I comment dryly. “You two have fun with that. It’s getting kind of late, and I’m feeling really tired. I think I’m going to turn in for the night, and we can pick up with this topic in the morning.”

I hug them both, then mount the stairs up to the third floor, where my bedroom is. The attic space is so huge it’s almost more like sleeping in a warehouse, but I’ve got it divided into sections, like an entire apartment, with the bedroom section set up in the back so I can look out the window onto the backyard if I want to.

Lying in my bed tonight and thinking about what Meagan and Sara had just been telling me actually makes it difficult to fall asleep. But I think the truth is my sleeplessness has nothing to do with ghosts, and everything to do with Adam. And how this whole stupid charade is likely to turn out.

Chapter seven

Adam

Severaldayshavegoneby since my night alone, but I soon realize that trying to take the edge off didn’t help my libido at all. Now, every time I look at Anna, I remember all the fantasizing and I get harder than ever. I wondered if I would be the first man who ever got blue balls just by hiring a hot nanny. It sounds like some sort of a fetish, so I’m thinking that’s totally possible.

My sister, Sara, gave me a call last night and I told her all about my hot new nanny and how I’ve been trying to ignore how gorgeous she is. Sara told me she was way too curious and intends to stop by for a few hours after work to check Anna out since I’d decided to take the evening off. Now I’m sitting here on pins and needles waiting for three o’clock, and Anna keeps casting me odd looks, trying to figure out why.

I probably should just tell her I’m waiting for my sister to visit, but for some strange reason I’m a little nervous about it, like maybe if I mentioned that I was about to have company she’d think she needed to go hide in her room or something. Wouldn’t it sort of defeat the whole purpose of having Sara over to meet the nanny if Anna didn’t even put in an appearance?

Finally, a car pulls up in the driveway, and I recognize it as Sara’s. She doesn’t even bother to knock on the front door, but breezes right into the foyer like a rush of warm summer wind. “Hello-o-o-o? Adam? I’m he-e-re!”

“Hey, Sara, we’re in the living room,” I call, and she steps through the arch to join us. “You took your sweet time getting here, Sis.”

“Sorry, I just thought I should stop by to get some snacks,” she explains, and then she steps right over and takes Anna by the hand. “So, you’re the girl who has my brother so hot under the collar? I can see the appeal.”

“Hey, now, don’t be putting words into my mouth,” I complain.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she rejoins, ever her sassy, normal self. It makes me laugh.

“Anna, this is my sister, Sara,” I say. “She likes to cause drama whenever possible, so just ignore her, okay?”

“Uh, sure, I can do that,” she says, her tone slightly uncertain as she casts Sara a confused sort of glare. "She’s not making a whole lot of sense right now. But anyway, I need to get back into the kitchen and check on the food.”

“Oh, no, Miss Thatcher, you don’t need to do that,” I say. “I’ll go in and finish up the meal while you two get acquainted. My sister always likes to give me her opinion of the employees I hire. Sara, there’s enough roast and vegetables for you too, if you’re staying for the meal.”

Sara chuckles. “Well, of course I’m staying, brother. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

Even though I’m worried what the two women are going to say to each other while I’m gone, I decide to let things play out, and stay out of the way long enough for Sara to form a good opinion of Anna.

It’s stupid, and I really shouldn’t care what she thinks of her, but the truth is there’s just a large part of me that wants a whole lot more from Anna than just her nanny services, and I want my sister, who is always a voice of reason, to find some reason to talk me out of it.

I’m counting on her to remind me that the nanny should be completely off limits. That I shouldn’t even be thinking of her as anything other than a nondescript caregiver whose only purpose in my house is to help me with my sons.

As I stir the pot with the boiling vegetables, I can’t help but spare a thought for Melissa James. I mean, for three years I found myself pining for the girl, wishing that I hadn’t chased her off the way I did. I was cruel, and I pretty much made it sound like her own goals and dreams didn’t matter.

I had no business wishing and waiting for her to come home so I could apologize for my behavior, maybe even ask her to start over, and then some other woman shows up and not two weeks later she’s all I can think about.

I’ve never been a particularly fickle person, so the idea that I would just drop Missy like a ton of bricks over my new nanny brings on a pang of guilt. It’s just weird how much Anna reminds me of Missy, though. Not so much with the red hair and the fuller curves, but just the way she seems to make me feel.

I like the way we can understand each other without needing to use words. Even the way she anticipates me and has a cup of coffee brewed that I never asked for, like we’re connected at some invisible level.

Did Miss do that, too? Or was I just remembering it that way to make myself feel better? Because it has been three years, and I had told her that I wasn’t going to wait around. It had been a lie at the time, but she didn’t know that. And she still hasn’t bothered to come home.

Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. Maybe I don’t need to give myself permission to let Melissa go since she’s clearly already forgotten what we shared. Over just one weekend, three years ago. I must be nuts to even give it a second thought.

If Anna was here, and she was real, and I wanted her, then why should a couple of fun days in the distant past throw a wrench into the works? The issue isn’t about her, anyway. It’s only about whether or not it would be a good idea to become involved with the nanny, because I really am not in the mood to start looking for someone to replace her if anything between us goes south.

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