“Right.”
“Let me ask you this—is being a nanny where you’d hoped you’d be at this point in your life?”
Wow, he wasn’t messing around with the questions. That really cut to the core.
“That’s…a hard question to answer.”
“I’m sure it is. And that’s precisely why I asked it. But don’t worry—there are no wrong answers.”
Saying there were no wrong answers seemed like a trick. I mean, the truthful answer was that no, I didn’t imagine being a nanny at this point in my life. And I also didn’t imagine being cajoled into spying on one of the most powerful men in the city in order to save my brother. But there I was.
I took a slow breath, trying to gather my thoughts.
“Well, no. When I went to school I had other things in mind.”
“Like what?”
“I really wanted to start my own nonprofit.”
“And what sort of nonprofit did you have in mind?”
“I wanted to help women like me, ones with big dreams but who might not have come from the best families. So, I did my research before I left, learned as much as I could about the world I was about to get into. But when I moved to New York and tried to start my career, I had a hard time. I didn’t come from the wealthiest circumstances. Went to public school, and my parents couldn’t afford college, so I had to take out a ton of student loans to even get my degree.”
“Common story.” A hint of understanding rang in his voice.
“And when I got here I was determined, ready to get my start in one of the bigger nonprofit firms, figure out how they worked and move my way up.”
A small smile formed on his sexy lips. I got the sense he appreciated this ambition.
“Go on.”
“Well, I applied for every place I could find, but never got any callbacks. And then when a friend of mine—or, kind of friend—got hired, I asked her what she did that I didn’t. She put it in nice terms, but the point was made. I was some girl from a state school going up against people who’d been to NYU, Yale, or Harvard.”
“Harvard,” he said. “My alma mater. And it’s not surprising that you’d find yourself head-to-head with people like that. Nonprofits are a big industry here.”
“That’s what I ended up learning. I guess I figured that nonprofits would attract people like me, who wanted to help and didn’t care about making a ton of money. I didn’t realize they’re as high-paying and competitive as finance.
“So, I had to find something. I was out getting coffee at my local spot, and this adorable little girl in line started talking to me. We hit it off, her telling me about her dogs—it was so cute. Her mom had stepped out of line for a minute and when she came back I half-expected to get yelled at for talking to some stranger’s kid. But instead, she asked if I’d ever done nannying before. I said ‘no,’ and she told me that someone with such a natural instinct with children should look into it. That was Mrs. Samson—she said she was looking for someone and asked me to come by her place for an interview. I hit it off with Mr. and Mrs. Samson and, of course, their daughter, Shannon. They are a lovely family and I enjoyed every minute that I worked for them.”
“But it’s not what you were looking for,” he said. “Nannying was your backup.”
Uh-oh. I worried this might make it seem like I didn’t really care about the job—which wasn’t true at all. And not just because my brother’s life was on the line.
“You’re right, it was…at first. But the more time I spent with Shannon…I don’t know. I got to know her, kinda fell in love. And when the job ended because Shannon went away to some fancy boarding school, it broke my heart. But Mrs. Samson thought I did a great job and had another job lined up for me with one of her friends.”
“And what do you get from the job?” he asked. “What makes you passionate about it?”
“Being a positive influence in the lives of these kids. Some of them…they have it bad.”
“Have it bad for rich kids, you mean.” He offered a slight smile.
“Well, sure—they’ve got money and toys and nice clothes. But some of them barely see their parents.”
A strange expression took hold of Jason’s handsome features for an instant. I wondered if the comment had hit home.
“That’s true. Sad, but true. Wish I could say it wasn’t the case with me and Willa.”
“Willa’s your daughter?”