With little choice, I agree.
Margie sends in the first candidate. Shana walks into the office, hips swaying and tits bouncing. She lacks a resume or any real experience with children. The moment she takes a seat, her foot finds my leg beneath the table. Pressing my lips together, I give Mark an aggravated look. So much for the screening process.
The interview ends before it even really begins. Candidate after candidate marches in, one after the other. Either they’re not qualified, or they’re not actually here for the job. Each one was as bad as the last, some worse.
“Jesus, Christ,” I groan after the most recent one—Tonya—exits the room.
“You’re being too picky.”
“Too picky? This is a person who I am trusting to live in my house and care for my daughter. My daughter, Mark.”
“I get that, but I think that after Norah, you’re just not willing to trust anyone.”
He makes a valid point, but that’s with love and relationships—something I’m not pursuing again. But this? A nanny for my daughter? I need this… desperately. “You’re right. I don’t, but I need to find someone at least worthy of trust. These women are here for one thing and only one thing.”
Me. They’re here for me. All thanks to Mark and the stupid misleading verbiage in his ad.
“I just can’t roll the dice with Amelia’s safety.”
“There were a few that looked… safe.” I cock an eyebrow at him. “Okay, maybe I went a little overboard with the ad.”
“A little?”
Margie pokes her head into the room. “Hey, guys, I have one for you.”
Groaning, I drop my head to the table.
“This one seems worth it,” Margie continues. “She doesn’t have a lot of experience, but she’s dressed appropriately, and she does have siblings. Younger brothers she helped care for. Plus, she was the only one to ask if this was for a job, not a date, rather than the other way around.”
Mark looks at me. “Up for one more?”
“Fine, but if this one doesn’t work…”
“She will,” Margie assures me. “I’ll be right back.”
“Look on the bright side. At least you got a few phone numbers.”
“Yeah, because that worked out so well for me the last time.”
Margie returns a moment later, stepping to the side to allow the candidate to enter.
“Gentleman, this is….”
Gorgeous.
Sexy.
Perfection.
“Ember?”
“Ryder?” The shock in her voice matches my own. “You’re the hot, single dad?”
I curse Mark and his stupidity.
“I don’t know about all that, but yes, I’m looking for a nanny for my daughter, Amelia,” I say, rising to my feet.
She nods, but her face is filled with confusion. I never mentioned a child. Never even alluded to it. Now, here we are face to face again, and everything she knew about me has gone right out the window.