“What would it matter? You would still be here for him. You just wouldn't be his nanny; you'd be his stepmom.”
“Jesus, you're drunk. Stop talking to me like that. I don't want it.”
“But I can't help the way I feel. I want you, Jodie.”
“No,” she said as she stood up and walked to the pool.
“I could make you.”
“What? What do you mean make me? Do you mean threaten me? Put a frog in my panties?” Her tone was taking on an angry slant.
“I always get what I want in the end.”
“I tell you what, I quit. You can find another nanny to molest. I'm sorry for Matthew, but he's your responsibility. You're a predator.”
The next morning Aaron woke with a thumping head and Matthew jumping up and down on his bed.
“Jodie,” he said. “Where Jodie?”
“Jodie's gone away for a while,” Aaron said. Matthew began to squeal as loudly as he could.
Aaron took Matthew to Kayla's and went to the office. When Megan saw him, she made him coffee and gave him two aspirin. After taking them, he picked up the phone.
“Jodie, it's me.”
“Yes,” she said harshly.
“I'm sorry. I was really out of order. It wasn't right of me.”
“No, it wasn't. You were drunk and saying things you didn't mean.”
“I was drunk. You are right. But what I said, I meant.”
When the line went dead, he looked at his phone and tried to call again. This time, she didn't answer.
He sent her a text: Please come back. I'll double your wages.
He got a reply: No way.
So, that was it. He'd blown it, and not only for himself but for Matthew, and he felt guilty about that. He could see that Matthew adored her. Jodie had put so much effort into him, and he'd made real progress. Aaron doubted whether he would have made as much progress with anybody else.
“What's the matter?” Megan asked.
“I've made a fool of myself with the nanny,” he said.
“You didn't...you know...”
“No. Not that. I've fallen for her, and I told her. Only I needed some Dutch courage first, and it all came out a bit wrong.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her I was in love with her.”
Megan scowled and sat down. “You are my boss, but I'm going to call you a fool.”
“Why?” he asked, a hurt look on his face.
“Because you are a billionaire. You're thirty-two, and you've got everything. What is she, twenty-two? And she's a nanny. She was probably intimidated by you. You should have done it gradually, played her like a fish and reeled her in.”
“Shit.”
“What do you feel for her?”
“I can't stop thinking about her. I love her, and don't tell me I have no idea what love is, because I do.”
“Then leave her alone. Either she'll think about what you said and come around, or she'll hate you and stay away from you.”
Aaron picked up a letter opener from his desk and pressed the pointed end into his palm. “I want her. That's all there is to it.”
“But she's not one of your business deals. She’s a person with feelings.”
“All right. I'll do as you say. Matthew is going bonkers without her, though.”
“Then get another nanny.”
“There isn't anyone as good as she is.” It was a sweeping statement, but for him and Matthew, it was true. There was no way Matthew would ever bond that way with someone else. As for his own feelings, he would try and do what Megan had suggested, although it wouldn't be easy. He knew how he felt, and that someone else could snap Jodie up was a thought he didn't want to entertain.
*****
“If you hear this message, Jodie, please call me. You may think I'm trying it on again. I'm not. Matthew is in the hospital, and we really need you.”
Aaron looked at his son in bed with some wire trailing from his brain to a machine he didn't understand. It had been weeks since he'd spoken to Jodie. She hadn't ever bothered to call and ask how Matthew was, but now Aaron had nobody with her experience to turn to. The doctor had mentioned something about seizures, but he hadn't taken it all in. He needed Jodie to explain it to him.
Nurses came and went, and a doctor checked Matthew. After a while, Matthew woke up and stared at the ceiling.
“Hello,” Aaron said.
“Jodie,” Matthew said.
“I know. I called her. I hope she will call me back.” Matthew had driven Aaron wild with his constant nagging about Jodie. Every waking hour he repeated her name over and over until Aaron could hardly stand it anymore. When Aaron had asked a new nanny to come and look after Matthew, Matthew had gone mad and the woman had left. Now Aaron had to manage with a schedule, which meant Matthew spent some days with Kayla and some days with Jean. But it wasn't good for Matthew. Aaron had no idea how he was ever going to get Matthew to accept another nanny. Aaron hadn't been able to go to any of the important meetings he needed to go to. Instead, he had to rely on his number two, something he didn't like doing. If only he'd either kept his big mouth shut or been much more gentle with Jodie and done as Megan had suggested, played her slowly.