Chapter One
Tabitha
“You really don’t need to get me a job,” I say, half groaning over the prospect of having to work for an actualperson.
I appreciate everything that my brother is doing to try and help me out, but I’d gotten a bit too used to being able to roam free with no schedule and no one to report to.
“I didn’t get you a job,” Jax retorts. “I got you aninterview. You’ll need to get the actual job yourself.”
I’m not sure how successful I’m actually going to be at that, especially considering that I’ve done nothing at all with my college degree besides roam around Europe on a wanderlust trip to “find myself”.
“You know how much I love you for letting me move in with you, right?” I say with my sweetest smile, hoping that my older brother will cut me a bit of slack.
Deep down though, I know that I really need to get a job and get back on my feet. Taking time to traverse Europe was the single most wonderful experience of my life, and Ineededit, for many reasons, not the least of which was to recover from a broken heart. I had hoped that my jaunt through Europe would help me to unearth mypurposeand that I could come back to the States feeling reinvigorated with a solid course that I wanted to chart my life toward. But instead, all that it had unearthed was the entirety of the cash from my wallet and all the savings in my bank account.
If Jax hadn’t offered for me to move in with him when I got back stateside, I’m not sure what I would have done. He’s right—I need to get a job. I’m broke and still figuring out what I want to do with my life, and I’m lucky to have been able to move in with my brother until I can get back on my feet again. So, I can’t really refuse the opportunity for a job interview.
“Don’t sweat it,” Jax says, being as super supportive as he always is with me. “It’s just a nanny position,anyonecan nanny.”
“You sure about that?” I laugh. “I have a degree in Literature Studies, not preschool rhymes. How old is the kid anyways? And how did you manage to get me an interview for this job?”
“It’s an old friend,” he answers. “Single dad that could use some help.”
“Oh, anyone I—”
Before I can get the rest of the question out of my mouth, Jax presses the button on the coffee grinder, and I lose my train of thought. He’s always been there for me, even after I got dumped by his best friend—my first love and the man that I was utterly convinced was the love of my life. I mean, I had itbad. I thought with sheer certainty that Hunter and I were going to stay in love forever, marriage bells and white picket fences and all. I was foolish, and Hunter broke my heart. Actually, heshattered it. Stomped on it in a million pieces and ground it into dust.
It all happenedyearsago, but I don’t think that I have ever truly recovered from it. I haven’t even dated anyone else since Hunter.
Through it all, my brother has stood by me thick and thin. When his best friend dumped me, Jax stood by me instead of siding with some sort of “bro code”. He let me cry on his shoulder, listened to all my sniveling, and reassured me that I wasn’t being foolish or overly dramatic. He always seems to be there to catch me when I fall, and boy did I fall hard after that.
Jax was the only one to support my crazy idea to quit the job that I had gotten fresh out of college, and to take every dollar that I had to my name and wander around Europe for a while. And now, he is the one still trying to help by setting me up with this nanny position interview.
“Does it pay well?” I ask as he hands me a hot cup of coffee.
“I should hope so,” he grins. “The guy is a freshly mintedbillionaire.”
“Wait, for real?” I ask in shock.
“Yep, he just moved back to Maine and is building a new satellite office for his company here. Don’t worry, Tabby,” he says, tossing his arm around my shoulder and making me smile. Jax is the only one who calls meTabby, and the endearing tone in his voice makes me feel cozy and comfortable. “This is theperfectjob opportunity for you. I just can feel it.”
“Okay,” I sigh, conceding because it’s impossible for me to argue with my big brother. I sip my coffee and roll my eyes theatrically as I pull away to go and get dressed for my interview.
I suppose I can babysit a kid for a few hours a day if I’m getting paid enough to make it worthwhile. It doesn’t sound like the worst job in the world. And considering that I still don’t know what I actually want to do, this could work for now.
I get dressed in a pair of black slacks and a flesh-colored silk button-down shirt, realizing that this is probablynotwhat nannies wear.
“You look fancy,” Jax teases as I grab my keys and head for the door so that I’m not late for the interview.
“Well, it was either this or the destroyed jeans that I bummed around London in for a week. I figured this outfit had a morebillionairevibe to it.”
Jax laughs and nods simultaneously, nearly snorting coffee out of his nose.
“Good luck,” he says with an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “I’ll text you the address so you can plug it into your GPS.”
***
When I pull up to the house, it becomes quickly obvious that thisisn’ta house. This is amansion.