“It’s great. He’s been good to me so far, and I’m crazy about Willa.”
“Isn’t she something special? She’s always been a little weird to me, but I’ve never had the right touch with kids, you know? Not like you.”
I sipped my wine, still feeling a little unsure about what was happening.
“And Jason,” she said, a dreamy look in her eyes. “He’s…kind of a distraction, if you know what I mean.”
She narrowed her eyes, a knowing smile playing on her lips. Shauna drummed her fingers on the bar, the din of the place swirling around us.
“OK,” she said. “I’ll cut right to it—what happened with you guys last night?”
I nearly spit out my wine mid-sip. “What happened? I mean, you were there. We went to the ball, danced, and went home.”
“Correction—you guys dipped out right after the speeches. Anton and Scott were wondering where you’d gotten off to. And so was I.”
“We decided to make it an early night.”
Another knowing smile. “April, you don’t get to where I am working for a man like Jason without being able to read people. Or being able to spot a liar mid-lie.”
Fuck. Fuck-fuck-fuck.
“Nothing happened, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She laughed. “I know exactly what happened. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret…it’s exactly what happened between me and him.”
Another near spit-take. “Wait, what?”
Shauna offered an easy smile. “April, it’s no big deal. Me and Jason hooked up during my first few weeks on the job. A few times, actually. Let me guess, after you guys did the deed, he was all business about it, acting like nothing happened and leaving you feeling totally confused.”
I had no idea what to make of this information. “You guys hooked up?”
“Of course we did. And let me tell you—we’re not the first employees he’s ‘fraternized’ with. He’s pretty good about it, for the most part, but he’s a man who likes to dip his pen into the company ink, if you know what I’m saying.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. I mean, I can’t really blame him—guy’s got ladies throwing themselves at him left and right. Only so much a man can take before giving in.”
I felt short of breath, almost dizzy. Shauna, seeming to sense this, placed her hand on my wrist.
“No big deal. I mean, unless you want to make it one. He’s had a couple of other nannies and I guess after they, I don’t know, wanted something more. Can you even imagine being a nanny and hooking up with a guy like Jason, thinking he was going to, what, put a ring on it? The reason I’m still around is because I knew what it was when it happened. And if you want to stick around, that’s how you’re going to have to be.”
“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
She laughed as though it were the most ridiculous idea in the world. “You kidding? My job’s to make life easier for Jason, not turn it into endless drama. But I could tell what happened with you two, and I wanted to make sure you had the right idea about it. Don’t expect it to go anywhere, and don’t for a second think about running your mouth about it. Not trying to threaten, just giving you a head’s up. Willa likes you, and I’d hate to see you canned because of something stupid like that.”
“Sure.”
The topic was dropped as quickly as it’d gotten brought up. Shauna went into lighter matters—office gossip and the rest. But I could barely concentrate. By the time the wine was done and we were back at the house, all I wanted to do was sleep.
When I was alone again, my mind raced. I hadn’t had any expectations with Jason, but hearing he was some manwhore who screwed the staff—that was something else.
Was I mad? I had no idea. But I was ready to put it all out of my head, like Shauna had suggested.
More than that, I was ready to do the job.
And not the one Jason had hired me for.