Page 60 of Nanny for the Bossy Billionaire

“Again, I think you’re judging yourself a little too harshly. You hold yourself to an impossible standard and think everyone else will as well.”

“Maybe…” I stare into space.

“Is this why you ended things with us?” Her voice is small. I can hear the apprehension in it.

“That’s one of the reasons. Apparently, June has turned a new leaf. She wants back into Ethan’s life. She keeps calling me and begging for me to let her see him.”

“Is she the person who keeps calling you?”

I nod. “I ended things between us because it’s only a matter of time before she shows up here, and like I said, I figured if that happened you would be dumping me anyway. So I guess I thought I was beating you to the punch.”

“So… are you going to let her see Ethan?”

“Of course not.” I snap. “She almost killed him the last time she saw him.”

“I understand that, but if she really has dealt with her issues, wouldn’t Ethan be better off having his mother in his life? I mean, it doesn’t speak well of her that she had participated in criminal activity at work and was a neglectful parent, but people do change.”

“People also grow up to be just fine without their mothers.”

“That’s true, but I’m sure if you ask any one of those people if they would rather have had a mother, they would say yes. Also, how do you think Ethan would feel when he’s all grown up and finds out you kept his mother from him?”

I am silent for a moment then I say, “I’ll think about it.”

“I really think you should…” We are silent for a moment then she asks, “What’s the second reason?”

“What?”

“You said June was one of the reasons you broke up with me. What’s the other reason?”

“Oh…” I scratch my head. “The other reason is, I’m an asshole.” She looks at me expectantly, so I explain. “That day when I blew up at you I just found out that I’d lost my company.”

She gasps. “What?”

“Yeah, I’m going to get voted out and I had just found out. I was already on edge when I got home and I took it out on you. I’m so sorry. I wish I could take it back.”

“I guess I can understand why you reacted the way you did. That’s major.”

I pause, and feel my heart thumping in my chest, the apprehension of what I am about to ask building inside of me.

“Well…” I start. “Now that everything is out in the open, would you… consider giving us another try?”

She pauses and thinks for a moment.

Then she says, “Reid, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to get back together, but you’ve just dumped a whole lot of information on me. I need some time to think. I need to decide whether getting back together would be a good thing for me.”

“Of course, take all the time you need.”

She nods, gets up, and then leaves me alone in my office.

I know I have messed up. If she decides to walk away I wouldn’t blame her, but I hope she chooses to give me another chance. I know we could be so great together, but I worry I have ruined everything.

21

NAOMI

Ican’t really blame anyone else for the fact that I wasn’t able to sleep well last night, because I brought it on myself.

I asked for the truth, and I got the truth.

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