Page 6 of Nanny for My Billionaire

“Of course, sir,” she agrees.

“And please don’t ‘sir’ me all the time,” I add. “Since this situation is highly domestic in nature, I think it will be fine if you call me Adam. Though Hilda has also been known to call me Mr. B.”

“Hilda?” she repeats, glancing at the housekeeper.

“That’s me,” Hilda says. “Mrs. Nance to most other folks. I’m usually only here to clean the house and cook dinner, and then I’m off to do the same thing for my husband. Fred sometimes drops by to do things for Adam, like running an errand or two, but for the most part you’re going to be here on your own. Though I’m willing to come by and stay all day for a few days just to make sure everything goes well between you and the boys.”

“Great, then,” I say as the two talk. “You may want to go up and make sure those two aren’t up to no good with your stuff, Miss Thatcher. You know they’ve been completely horrid to the last three nannies I brought home.”

She smirks and nods, then wordlessly hauls her other two bags upstairs. I’d help her, but for some reason as I watch her depart, I get my first look at her from behind and I can’t move. Dammit, the woman’s body is curvy and pert. I know that I ought to look elsewhere, but my eyes are totally glued to her perfect, heart-shaped ass. I remind myself that she’s in my home to work, and if I were to try anything with her, it might be me who runs her off instead of my sons.

Get a grip, Barlow. You need this arrangement to work this time. Dad’s retirement party is less than a week from now, and then you’re on your own.

Chapter four

Melissa

Isettleintomybedroom suite after putting the kids to bed, and the enormity of what I did today hits me. I have no idea why I suddenly decided to pretend to be some other woman and come home with Adam Barlow instead of simply heading back to our mansion. It was stupid, immature, and bound to smack me upside the head once he realizes the truth.

The one thing I know, though, is that I can’t possibly pretend to be Anna Thatcher for long if my sister and our bestie don’t know about it. Beyond the fact they’d probably both tell me I am completely crazy and ought to come clean, if they aren’t on board with the little game, it wouldn’t take long before one or the other might spoil everything.

All it would take would be for Sara to come over to her brother’s house and recognize me. I have no doubts that she’d open her mouth and call me by my real name, and then proceed to ask me what I’m doing here in the first place.

I call my sister and ask her to put me on speaker so Sara can hear me too.

“Okay, we’re both here,” says Megan. “What’s up. You sound a bit worried. Did graduation go okay? Has your nanny gig ended? When are you heading back this way?”

“That’s just the thing, guys. I’m already here.” I proceed to tell them about my lapse of sanity, and they are both shocked to learn I’m impersonating another nanny and lying in a bed in Adam’s house.

“What the hell were you thinking, Miss?” Megan exclaims.

Sara asks, “Why would you even do that?”

I know it’s time to come clean. “Last time I was in Concord, after we played that spin the bottle game, Adam asked me to spend a weekend with him. I actually did, but then we had a big argument and I gotta admit, when I said I was Anna it was mostly just because I was pissed that he didn’t know I was me. I mean, the guy asked me to marry him that weekend. You would think he’d at least recognize me the next time we saw each other after that.”

“Wait, what?” Sara gasps. “My brother asked you to marry him, and then instead you left? Boy, I bet that was a real ego boost for him.”

“God, Sara, not everything is about boosting a man’s ego,” I complain. “I had already made a commitment for a three-year contract. I wasn’t going to break it, and he flat out said he wasn’t going to wait for me, and that’s where it all ended. Well, until today, anyway.”

“What does that mean?” Megan sounds mystified.

“Just that I really liked him before we argued, and being here has reminded me how much I wished things between us could have gone differently,” I admit. “The truth is, I’ve thought about the guy a lot over the last three years. Enough that trying to date anyone else never worked, but at the same time every time I thought about the last thing he said to me, I just—well, it really makes me angry.”

“Well, what did he say?”

“That he was sick of women always choosing their career over their lover, and he just wants a woman who wants to stay home.” I feel a bit of that anger rise up another time. “If all he wants is a wife who is chained to the kitchen sink in her bare feet, he’s barking up the wrong tree. I’d be perfectly willing to stay home if it was where my business was. But I still have no clue what sort of business I want to start.”

“God, Miss, you’re really confused right now, aren’t you?” Megan says, her tone sympathetic. “Sure, let’s just go with this for now. If Adam figures out who you are, it won’t be because of anything I say or do. I’ll back you up so you can sort out all your issues. But not for long right?”

“You know he’s going to figure out something’s up once he tries to pay this Anna person’s company and they tell him she’s still in New York.” says Sara. “You can’t possibly keep this ruse up more than maybe a couple of weeks.”

“I know you’re right,” I say, sighing. “But hey, thanks for understanding. Maybe I can convince him to give me cash instead of going through that company. If I can do that, I might last a little longer. It’s just that I’ve fallen in love with these boys already. I can’t begin to understand why Gena abandoned them. Or why none of those other nannies wanted to give them a chance and make some allowances for them. They both seem like bright, loving little guys to me.”

“Oh, they are. Totally,” Sara agrees.

Megan says, “I want you to find time to come and visit some day this week, Sis. Maybe then we can get to the bottom of what motivated you to do something so stupid.”

“Yeah, sure,” I agree. “I’ll see if I can get the housekeeper to watch the kids for a few hours one of these days and I’ll head over. Do you know which day you’ll have off this week?”

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