“I wouldn’t expect you to,” I said. I reached into my wallet and pulled out one of my credit cards. “Here, use this one. I’ll get you a new one soon, one with your name on it but that’s attached to my account. You will be able to use that one for any nanny-related purchases, any groceries you buy, or any places that you take Will. Sound good?”
She took the card in her hand very delicately, as if she might accidentally break it. “Yeah, sure. That’s great. The other family I nannied for would give me a set amount of cash every week, but this is a lot easier.” She looked at me wide-eyed. “Oh but don’t worry, I will keep receipts of everything, and we can go through the statement charges together at the end of every month so that you know what I’m using the card for.”
“I’m really not that worried,” I said. Without having much control over it, I realized my voice was dropping lower, into the tone I used when I was talking to pretty ladies at the bar. “I trust you.” I watched her, looking for any sign that she recognized that I was flirting with her, but when she didn’t respond in kind, I snapped back to reality and remembered who she was.
No flirting with the nanny! We decided this just a few hours ago! Keep it together!
“I think there’s one more bag in my car,” she said. She patted her pockets. “Where did I toss my keys… Oh, there they are.” She pointed to the keys which were lying on the bed near me. She walked over and was close enough that I could reach out and touch her if I wanted to, but I of course did not. She smiled at me as she spun the keys around her finger. “It’s not heavy or anything so I can get it.”
“Okay.”
She spun on her heel and was in the process of taking a step towards the door when her foot got caught in the handle of her duffle bag and she tripped, heading straight for the hardwood floor. I put my arms out to catch her and then without thinking about it, I pulled her in close after she was already in my grasp. “Are you alright?” I said.
She leaned her weight against me for just a second, letting her head rest on my chest. I inhaled the smell of her shampoo and felt just how perfectly her body fit against mine.
“I’m fine,” she said, pushing back. “Uh—thanks.”
I cleared my throat and dropped my arms at my side. “Yeah, of course. I wasn’t just going to let you fall.” I laughed, trying to act casual about the whole thing and then walked away from her, not looking her in the eye as I stepped through the door and into the hallway. “Just uh, holler if you need anything,” I said over my shoulder. “I’m going to be upstairs working from home for the rest of the day.”
“Alright! Thanks again for helping me bring all my stuff in.”
“No problem.” I turned the corner and once I knew for sure I was out of eyesight, I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and disappeared behind the safety of my office door. I sighed and pressed my hands into my forehead. I should’ve just let her fall. She wouldn’t have gotten very hurt, probably just a bruised knee or something.
But then I thought about how terrible I’d feel if she’d bruised any part of her body. Frustrated, I threw myself down in my desk chair and leaned my head back so I could look up at the ceiling. My skin was still tingling from the feeling of holding her close. My heart was pounding, and my legs were willing me to stand up and run to her. To take her up in my arms again, but to not let go this time.
“No,” I said softly to myself. “She’s off limits. I hired her to take care of Will, and thereforenothingcan happen between us.”
Absolutelynothing.
ChapterFive
STEPHANIE
That night, after I made sure Will was asleep, I went into my new room and called my mom.
I had driven to the city just the day before, spent the night at my friend Lily’s apartment which she hadn’t gotten rid of even after she moved in with David. Instead, she had kept it as a landing place for any of her friends and family who came to the city to visit her, considering rentals and hotels were so expensive. I’d been texting my mom for the last day and a half, but I missed hearing her voice. We had never gone a day without talking, either in person or on the phone, and I wasn’t going to break that pattern now, even though I was in a new city and as far away from home as I’d ever lived.
“Hey honey!” My mom answered after the first ring. I was laying down on the bed, relaxing after a whirlwind day of meeting Matt, hanging out with Will, and moving in. “I was just about to call you! How’s it going?”
“Pretty good,” I said. “I’m in the house, the one I’ll be living in.”
“So the job is officially yours?”
“Yeah, barring any red-flags on my background check that is.”
“Then it’s too bad you and I robbed that bank ten years ago,” she joked. “Oh well, I guess if you get fired that just means you’ll have to move back here and be closer to your old mom again. What a shame.”
I laughed. “I know you’re joking, but I do really miss Riverside already.”
“What’s there to miss? You’re in San Francisco! That’s where everything is going on!”
“But you’re not here, so that’s one mark against the city. Plus, everyone here is always in such a rush. There’s traffic.”
“As if there isn’t traffic in Riverside,” my mom said with a snide tone.
“Yeah, alright, fair enough. Still. It’s just… different.”
“You’ll get used to it,” she said. “How’s your new boss? Do you like him? Do you like the kid?”