CHAPTER 4
Cash
I’d prepared a whole list of interview questions to ask her, but that plans out the window.
There’s no need for it anymore. I want her to watch Michael. She’s perfect. I can just tell.
Plus I know from years of experience that listening is one thing, watching is another.
I can ask her canned questions and listen to her replies, or I can have a real moment with her. Introduce her to Mikey and see her face and how she responds. That will show me everything I need to know. I’ve already seen her resume and checked her references. Everyone speaks highly of her and says she’s a great fit.
They were right. She’s right. Now let’s just see what Mikey thinks.
I stand from my desk and slide sideways to get around the edge. I don’t want to turn and give her a profile shot of me. My throbbing erection will be too obvious, not that it probably isn’t already.
She stands with me and I usher her towards the door. Instinctively I place my hand on the small of her back. It’s a common gesture, but my reaction is anything but common. I feel those goose bumps overtake my arm for a second time. Oh how I want to run my hand a little lower, or even a little higher, just to get that feeling of the curve of her lower back. Her breasts and legs and thighs are perfect, but it’s those subtle things, those often overlooked parts that I’m most interested in…especially when it comes to her.
Her lower back. The back of her knees. The lower neck and upper shoulders…the area that’s covered by her hair right now. Those are the areas that intrigue me so much it takes everything not to just swoop her hair to the side right now and put a soft kiss right there on her neck as my fingers fan out below on her lower back. Damn, I want to do that so bad, but I can’t.
I’m a private person to start with and I’m not about to invade someone else’s privacy, especially not hers.
We walk through my office door and over next to Bunny’s desk.
“Oh my god! He’s so cute!” Mary says, seeing him there inside his little crib for the first time.
I’ve got a kind of stroller / crib there stationed next to her desk. It’s kind of a hybrid that we use in the office. When it’s behind her desk clients can’t see it, but we roll it into my office when I’m not in meetings so he’s right there next to me so I can keep an eye on him. It works perfectly.
And out of respect for the interview I didn’t have him in my office. I didn’t even know if Mary would work out, until the moment I laid eyes on her.
I consider it a privilege to meet my child, and she has definitely earned that right.
I watch as her eyes light up and her pupils dilate as she leans in towards his crib. Her hands come up from her sides instinctively and she reaches towards him before stopping, remembering this is an interview and it’s also not her child.
She turns and looks at me. “Wow, he’s so cute.”
“I think he feels the same about you,” I say motioning with my head and eyes back towards the crib.
Mary turns to see Mikey smiling and laughing as he looks right up at her. His feet and hands raise and I watch Mary’s heart melt right there in real time.
She turns back to me. “May I?”
“Of course,” I say.
She slowly reaches into the crib, making sure to get the proper support behind his head and body and then leans in, carefully lifting him from the crib and into her arms where she pulls him into her chest. It’s like he fits there perfectly.
“Oh my gosh,” she says.
I can see Mikey’s face over her shoulder. He is laughing and smiling still as Mary bends her knees up and down slightly creating the kind of motion Mikey likes the most.
Mikey looks into my eyes and I feel something I’ve never felt before. It’s like we’re almost a…family. The thought of such a thing would have sounded ridiculous when I woke up this morning, and it kind of does even now, except that it doesn’t.
I make split second decisions based on the financial markets. My livelihood, and that of my clients, depends on it. I have to size up information quickly and act strongly based on my decisiveness.
And everything I’m seeing right now tells me she’s the perfect fit…not just to be my nanny, but a whole lot more.
Mixing business and pleasure is something I’ve absolutely never done. Even when the most beautiful actresses from Hollywood try and flirt with me I don’t respond. Everything in my office is about professionalism. It has to be that way, especially when we’re dealing with large sums of money.
And I should keep this entirely professional. The idea was to hire someone who I can trust in my home and with my child. That in and of itself is personal by definition, but I was sure the relationship would be one of complete professionalism.
Sure was until her.
I look at Bunny who was already looking at me. I point at the stack of applications on her desk and then move my hand horizontally towards her trashcan. Bunny nods and quickly lifts the stack from her desk and throws them away.
There’s no need to look further. I’ve found my nanny…the perfect companion for Mikey.
And the perfect companion for me as well.