Cheri is about to protest once again that she is fine with paying Sam’s rent when an interesting ad catches Samantha’s attention. She reads out aloud:
Seeking a loving, focused and driven college graduate for the care of my 4-year-old daughter. Must love fun, travel, singing, and building forts for Mr. Boots. Exceptional pay for exceptional dedication. Discretion is key. Contact Margaret (415) 533-5155.
“It’s not the advertising department at Google or Facebook, but exceptional pay sounds pretty good to me,” Samantha says with excitement.
“I wonder what you need to be so discreet about,” Cheri says a little cautiously.
“I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out.”
***
Three days later, Samantha knocks on the door of a mansion in the trendy upmarket part of the city. Cheri told her all the famous CEOs have homes in this neighborhood. Hopefully, working for the rich will mean good money, was Samantha’s immediate reaction. The door opens, and a thin woman in her 50s introduces herself as Margaret, the house manager, and invites Samantha in.
Samantha turns down a beverage while she waits in an extravagant study. Extravagant isn’t an idea she normally associates with a study, but this room is covered in silk wallpapers and velvets. There are objects encrusted in gems, rare-looking books, and a painting she recognizes as being by Van Gogh hanging opposite the desk. She peers at the canvas and realizes it’s not a print. She feels intimidation well up in her chest. Who has a real Van Gogh in their home? she wonders for only a moment because the door opens. In walks the man who’d saved her at the SpaceMark party. She immediately recognizes him and her cheeks blush bright red.
The man stops in his tracks, shock on his face, and then a sly smile sneaks in before he finds composure and smiles at her more professionally.
“Well, hello,” he says in an only partially professional tone.
Samantha finds her voice after a second and tries to sound unshaken. “He--Hi. Hello, sir,” she stutters and shoots her hand out into the space between them. The ‘sir‘ sounds forced and awkward coming out of her mouth.
“Connor Clark,” the man says as he takes her palm into his enormous hand.
“Mr. Clark--”
“Please, Connor. I’ve unzipped your dress, after all.”
Samantha’s face and chest grow strawberry red.
“Please forgive me. That was inappropriate of me. Would you still care to have a seat,” he asks gesturing to an overstuffed sofa near the window. “I’d understand if you’re not comfortable.”
“No, no. You’re right,” she interrupts. “It’s a little silly to be quite so formal,” she adds as she regains composure and sits down.
Connor sits down next to her, maintaining just enough distance between them to remain respectful. He clears his throat and begins, “Your resume is impressive. You managed to accomplish a lot at university while maintaining an excellent academic record. I see you were editor of the school newspaper, worked as an intern for Young Advertisers of America, Amnesty International, and you even volunteered for a homeless shelter and your local food bank. So with all this, I have just one question for you.”
Samantha tenses a little, steadying herself for a challenging question. She’s ready to show off her strong decision-making and creative thinking skills.
“Ms. Robin,” his eyes smile a little at using this title, “did you have any fun at all while in college?”
Samantha’s body relaxes, and she laughs, letting her head fall back with the relief. “Well, as you noted, Mr. Clark,” saying his name in an exaggerated way, “I had an excellent academic record. So, no. My fun really consisted of stealing naps and eating ice cream while I studied all the time.”
“An ice cream fan, eh? What’s your flavor of choice?”
“Neapolitan. I like having options,” she says with a suggestive eyebrow lift.
“Ooh, that’ll make Arabella so happy. Right, Arabella. We should move on to the child part of this interview.”
Connor’s eyes dart down to her breasts for just a second. Samantha is surprised it’s taken this long. She’s close enough to smell him--clean but manly, like flannel and pine trees. His smell turns her on, and she remembers his body standing close, arm wrapping around her, the feeling of his fingers taking her zipper, and the pressure of him tugging it down her back. Her body tightens with reliving how badly she’d wanted him to take her right there, not even knowing his name.
“How are you with children? I mean, Arabella is a delight in nearly every way. Except maybe if you forget to bring Mr. Boots along on a trip.”
Samantha laughs. “I love them. I have 9 cousins under the age of 15. I babysat throughout high school to save for college. I was very popular with the moms in my town.”
Connor’s face inches slightly closer. He’s looking at her with a mix of respect and desire.
“Well, I can tell you’re a business woman at heart, so let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. We can offer you $2,000 per week to start. Also, a car and cell phone, of course, your own bedroom with bathroom at each of the houses for when you need to stay over with Arabella, and a clothing stipend of $500 per month since there will be many functions to attend, and frankly Arabella is going to ruin half the things you wear.
“$2,500 a week,” Samantha counters.
Connor smiles with delight, “$2,200 a week.”
“$2,300”
“Done. We’ll see you tomorrow at 8 AM,” and with that Connor extends his hand out to shake on the deal.
Slowly shaking hands too long, they gaze at each other, both satisfied with what has just happened.
***
Walking home from the train, Samantha is swimming in excitement, pride, and so much wanting. The cool San Francisco air makes her aware that her panties are a little damp from sitting so close to Connor, and she shivers at the thought of him.
Samantha would have been over the moon for $2,000 weekly. That’s twice her monthly rent. But, she knows a man like Connor expects a little pushback in business, and even if she is just a nanny, this is still business. She is still going to lead a major advertising team someday, and she won’t let being a nanny soften her skills.
CHAPTER FOUR
Connor drops his keys onto the table and finds what looks like a mini art show laid out there. Arabella has been very busy in the month he’s been away on business. Margaret told him that Arabella has been getting along especially well with “Ms. Robin”, as she always calls her, but looking at these art pieces, he can see Samantha isn’t simply doing well in her new job, she is bringing out the best in Arabella, in a way no nanny ever has. The two of them seem to get each other. He imagines their two auburn heads twirling to music and making Neapolitan sundaes.
With thoughts of Samantha, Connor feels the front of his slacks tighten with desire for her, just as he’s felt every day for the last month. He’d been called away to Hong Kong two days after Samantha had started work. They’ve not been alone together in a room since her interview, and when Arabella was around Samantha had been the ultimate professional. It was sexy as hell.
Once upstairs, Connor finds his shower is still being retiled, so he goes to a guest bathroom, turns on the shower, and begins to peel off his clothes. He opens the towel closet and jumps back.
“What the!” he startles at finding Samantha standing in the closet.
Samantha too is shocked to see him standing there, completely naked. His chest and arms ripple with strength. His hip muscles cut a deep V all the way down. One of the many things she’s learned about him in the last month is that he used to be a champion swimmer, and it’s obvious now looking at his muscled, lean body. She manages to avoid looking at his manhood, trying to maintain some level of professional respect. None of the guys she’s dated have been even close to this. They were all kind of nerdy weak types. Pushover personalities and computer tans. This man is like a nude Olympian before her.
She regroups quickly and says quie
tly, “We’re playing hide-and-seek,” and holds a finger to her own lips to keep him quiet.
For a moment, a scene flashes in front of Connor’s eyes: he grips her waist, pushes her against the wall, skirt up, panties down, a fistful of her hair in his hand. But, he quickly pushes this scene aside, leans in and whispers, “I’ve been on an airplane for thirteen hours. I need to take a shower.” His lower lip grazes the edge of her ear, and the hair on her neck stands up. She turns her head to face him, and for a moment their mouths are three inches apart. She looks straight into his eyes.
She whispers, “Sorry, sir,” glances at his mouth, and then slips out of the bathroom.
Connor is throbbing with this unexpected encounter. She’d been bolder than he’d expected. He tries to think about if this dynamic is something he should be engaging in, if he should have a talk with her. But he can only think of her, the feeling of her breath on his lips, the vanilla smell of her hair, how close he came to taking his nanny in a guest bathroom while his daughter played somewhere in the other room. Soon, he is in the shower reliving their shared moment, imagining if they each had made less responsible choices.
***
When he comes downstairs for dinner, Margaret informs Connor that his ex-wife has been calling with the intention of coming to get Arabella for the weekend.
“I haven’t seen Arabella in a month! This isn’t even her fucking weekend.”
Margaret nods, knowing he’s not directing these comments at her, but just venting frustration. “Mr. Clark, there is one more thing.” Margaret discreetly looks around to make sure they’re alone. “Ms. Clark has been enquiring quite a bit about Ms. Robin. They had a few unfortunate encounters when Ms. Clark came to pick up Ms. Arabella for visits.”
“Unfortunate in what way?” Connor crosses his arms and looks at Margaret like he’s about to go fight someone.
“Well, Ms. Clark was quite forceful, even rude, towards Ms. Robin. I heard her say threatening things under her breath.”
Connor’s face darkens.
“Ms. Robin, to her credit, pretended as though she didn’t notice. She seems an honorable employee, thus far.”
Connor almost laughs at the words “honorable employee”. They seem strange applied to Samantha. A warm nervous feeling washes over him.
“DADDY!” A grass-covered Arabella bursts in from the garden.
“Come here, Princess,” and Connor scoops up his little daughter like she is a sack of air, and spins her around a few times before taking her into one of the side rooms to catch up on her month.
CHAPTER FIVE
Marla’s brief visit to gather Arabella for the weekend had gone just as bumpily as the last two encounters. At least this time, Samantha knew it was coming, and so Marla didn’t rattle her as she had before. There was something obviously wrong with this woman, and more than anything Samantha wanted to protect little Arabella from such instability, even if it was her mother. At least, Marla seemed to be sweet with the girl, even if she was completely unhinged with Samantha.
At one point, while Connor was helping Arabella get into the car, Marla had leaned into Samantha and whispered, “You have no idea the hell you’re entering,” and then gave her a big smile. The smile, beyond everything that had happened between them, was what unsettled Samantha the most.
Samantha is at a sprawling country estate but this time with no child to care for. Samantha knocks on the door of Connor’s library where he’d gone to return some emails.
“Come in!”
Samantha walks in and sits in the chair next to Connor’s. He looks at her with a little surprise at her ease and ownership of the space, and smiles while closing his laptop.
“Yes, Samantha.”
“I’m sorry Marla stole your weekend,” she starts.
Connor lets out a big sigh. “Thanks. I’m pretty used to it. The reason she chose this weekend is exactly because I haven’t seen Arabella in a month.”
“Why didn’t you say no?”
Connor’s face turns serious. “I try to pick my battles with Marla. She’s been more and more difficult since we divorced. Well, I guess since we met, really.”
“She seems…” Samantha pauses to choose her words carefully.
“Speak openly, Samantha. Don’t hold back with me. Ever,” he commands in a way that makes Samantha’s heartbeat pickup up the pace.
The corner of Samantha’s mouth pulls up with the turn-on. She wants to say, All I do is hold back with you! but instead says, “She seems crazy.”
Connor exhales hard, and after a moment he says, “She is. I’m sorry for that.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“Margaret told me that she’s been notably rude to you. I didn’t see anything this afternoon, but I definitely know how awful she can be. She feels threatened by you.”
“Why? I’ve been Arabella’s nanny for a month. Arabella loves her very much!”
Connor leans back in his chair and eyes Samantha like a delicious dessert waiting to be eaten. “It’s not because of Arabella.”
Samantha’s cheeks and chest blossom red, and she turns her eyes towards the floor with a shy smile.
“Well, luckily I’m pretty familiar with crazy. She acts a lot like my dad. He is both charming and an unstable asshole.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Connor scoots forward in his chair a little, and their knees are only an inch apart now.
“It is what it is. I’m a stronger person because of it. But, this isn’t actually why I came in to talk to you.”
“Oh?”
“Traffic back to the city is going to be a nightmare. Would you be OK with me staying the night and heading back in the morning?”
“Why do you need to head back at all?”
Samantha smiles.
Connor continues, “Of course, you’re free to go, but this estate is also a great getaway. You could go riding, walk along the river, spend some time in the hot tub. I keep a massage therapist on-call who you’re welcome to use.”
“I wouldn’t want to be in your way,” Samantha offers.
“You could never be in my way,” Connor says more earnestly than he expected. “Anyway, I blocked off the whole weekend to be with Arabella. I could use this time to do more work, or…” he looks at her suggestively and continues, “Or, you could save me from myself.”
“All work and no play makes Connor a dull boy,” she says as she crosses her legs, leans back in her seat, and places her hands slowly on the arms of the chair.
Connor looks at her with delighted surprise. “Oh really? And we wouldn’t want that.”
Samantha shakes her head slowly in agreement, and then stands up, her body stretching out close to Connor’s face. She hears him take a long inhale of her scent.
He asks, “And where are you off to now?”
“I think we should take a ride, don’t you?”
At this, Connor looks mildly shocked.
“A horse ride,” she winks at him. “Meet you down at the stables in half an hour?”
He agrees and Samantha heads for the door.
“And, Samantha,” he says more in his employer voice.
“Yes, sir,” she says with a twirl back towards him.
“Wear a skirt.”
“For horseback riding?”
“Yes.”
Samantha is puzzled, but she nods her head and curtseys playfully.
At 5 PM they are standing in front of a large stable, with the stable boy handing them reigns to two beasts made of pure muscle.
Samantha takes hold of the saddle, left foot into the stirrup, and swings her body up onto the horse, her little black skirt fluttering up in the breeze, red panties flashing just long enough for Connor to get a good look.
Samantha can feel the heat of Connor’s gaze on her. She finally turns to look at him, and he’s on his own horse, broad shoulders looking more powerful than ever. Her thighs instinctively tighten around the horse a bit. She waits for him to lea
d them out into the trees.
“Do you want to go the easy way or the fun way?”
Samantha thinks for a moment, “Is the fun way the hard way?”
“It might get a little hard,” he says laying the innuendo out in plain daylight.
Samantha raises one eyebrow, and before she can answer, Connor rides off in front of her. “Hey! I didn’t answer,” she calls after him.
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