Page 10 of Nanny for My Billionaire

“That’s a good plan,” Megan agrees. “You’ll even be able to do it from your jail cell, if the man will let you.”

“Oh my God, shut up,” Sara scoffs. “Adam wouldn’t have her put in jail over this. But I’m pretty sure he won’t trust her for a while.”

“I’m such an idiot,” I grumble. “But it’s his own fault. He’s the one who pissed me off enough to want to pull such a crazy stunt. I don’t know what I was thinking to begin with, but this has the potential to go so bad. Maybe I should be trying to think of some kind of exit strategy, but it’s weird, I just don’t really want to.”

“So, what, then? You think you’re going to just keep right on doing this?” Sara scoffs. “I’m sure you took management courses along with your IT degree. Did they ever tell you what to do if you hired somebody who’s not who they say they are?”

“I’m not really committing fraud, though,” I point out. “I’m doing a good job.”

“You’re doing a good job? Did you use your own name? Did you give him the sterling credentials your last employer gave you?” she asks pointedly.

“To be fair, he didn’t even ask for an ID or any credentials,” I say. “It’s actually a damn good thing he got me instead of some other person who might want to take advantage of that. How would he even know I wasn’t some sort of a jewel thief or something?”

Sara snorts. “Oh yeah, because he totally has a wall safe loaded with cash and jewelry. He divorced an actress, remember? That bitch, Gena, got all the assets and a monthly allowance as well.”

“I know, poor guy,” Megan adds sympathetically.

“Come on, you guys. He’s a billionaire, for crying out loud. How come I know this and you don’t? He works because he wants to. And he’ll be working even harder now that his dad and mom gave him Rudolpho’s,” I tell them. “I don’t expect to see him home most evenings, but during the day he’s got his hands full with invoices, requisitions, payroll, expenses, meal planning. He hardly gets a chance to see his kids at all.”

“What do you mean he’s a billionaire?” Megan asks.

“Google it, Megan,” I reply. “For some reason he never talks about it. You would have to ask him why. I think he keeps it a secret because he’s afraid people will be constantly asking him for money. It certainly doesn’t matter to me.”

“Sara, you know, right?”

“Of course, I do,” she replies. “It’s easy to forget though. Look at him. He’s a workaholic!”

“Maybe you could offer to manage the financial stuff for the restaurant,” Megan suggests. “He hates it, and it’d be good practice. By the time he realizes who you are he might not be quite so quick to kick you to the curb.”

I snicker. “Yeah, there’s an idea. He hasn’t guessed who I am yet. Nothing like giving him yet another clue.”

Sara laughed too. “Well, but I mean, isn’t your ultimate goal to make him remember you eventually? I can’t think you want to just keep on doing this forever.”

“You’re right, I just—” I pause, sighing. “I just need to figure out my exit strategy. Obviously, I won’t have to be worried about where I would go if he did throw me out, but there’s a large part of me that hopes he never does.”

Sara stares at me even more pointedly. “Miss, are you in love with my brother?”

“God, no! Yes! I don’t know! I mean, I can’t forget how cruel he was before I went back to school, but at the same time there was so much tenderness between us, and so much of a spark. It’s crazy how well we click. It’s not easy to find a guy you can share the silence with. We’ve even managed to do that again since I came home. You would think he’d notice the vibe, since it feels just the same as before between us.”

“You only spent a couple days together, and he’s had a whole lot on his plate since you arrived,” Megan reminds me. “Maybe he’s too busy trying to reorganize his business now that he owns it to be worried about whether the two of you might happen to share a vibe.”

“Fine, I get it,” I grumble. “A relationship now is totally outside the scope of his radar. And besides that, I haven’t even made up my mind that I want one. I love his boys, and he’s clearly a good provider, but do I really want to start something with a man who doesn’t have any time to spare?”

“Look, there’s only one way my brother is ever going to do well at the restaurant anyway,” says Sara. “He’s no good with the business end, any more than Dad was. Dad did the cooking and left the business stuff to my mother. If those two were able to make it work and give their children a bit of love and encouragement in the process, I think that might be the best way for you two to work it out, too. Your degree fits perfectly into that scenario.”

“Doing the books for just one business isn’t what I have in mind,” I remind them. “Anyway, that would just be accounting. I want to set myself up as a database manager for as many firms as I can handle.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” says Sara. “But you could easily maintain Rudolpho’s books for a start, and maybe if he sees how well you do with it, he’ll have his friend Elliot give you some of the work from TrekGames as well. You can’t go wrong by asking to help him. The worst he could do is tell you no.”

“Or realize it’s me and tell me to get out.”

“He won’t, though,” Sara insists. “At least, not until he’s got a replacement lined up. And maybe by then you will have apologized and the two of you can start over.”

“I’m amazed that you’re okay with all this, Sara,” I admit. “How come you’re not just going straight to Adam to tell him the whole story?”

“Are you kidding? I love the idea that one of my best friends is into my brother,” she explains. “This way, I won’t have to hate my sister-in-law. There’s not a real mean bone in your body, Melissa James. Even though you’re currently being a little shady, I already know you’re not trying to hurt anyone. You might have a better chance of breaking past that wall my brother has erected around his heart than anyone else I know.”

I snicker and grin at her. “Like maybe that bottle knew what it was talking about?”

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