Nanny

45

Kate

My phone woke me the next morning, but it wasn't my alarm. It was a call. I slapped at the phone on the nightstand and brought it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going!" Miranda's voice demanded.

I rolled over in bed. Braxton was asleep next to me, on his belly and facing the other direction. I gently stroked his muscular back and checked the time. I didn't need to get up for another twenty minutes.

"What do you mean, where I was going?" I whispered.

"You were on Entertainment Tonight! There are photos of you on Braxton's arm! They're all over the internet!"

"It's not a big deal," I whispered. "He took me to a charity event."

"In an amazing dress, and wearing enough jewels on your neck to feed all of Norwalk for a month! I was mad when you didn't come home this weekend, but now that I saw where you were going I understand. Kate, you're famous! Like, internet famous!"

"Let me call you later."

I hung up and cuddled up with Braxton. His body was warm and he smelled like fragrant aftershave. I buried my head in his thick, dark hair and went back to sleep.

When my alarm went off twenty minutes later, Braxton was already up. I found him in the gym with Mathias, running on a treadmill while the big German shouted encouragement.

"Faster! These are sprint intervals, not quiet walks on the beach! Run like the paparazzi are chasing you! Go! Go!" Mathias gave me a wink before returning his attention to the billionaire on the treadmill.

The twins were still sleeping, so I got some coffee in the kitchen and said good morning to Claudette. Then I pulled out my phone and checked my texts. The most recent one from Miranda included a website link.

I clicked on it, and my jaw dropped.

It was a TMZ article about the charity event, with the headline: "BRAXTON'S BRAND-NEW BABE?"

I scrolled through the article. There were dozens of photos of us on the red carpet. Exiting the car, smiling for the cameras, walking up to The Met. There was an unflattering photo of me when I was first bombarded with the cameras, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open like a horse chewing on hay.

But aside from that? I was pleased with the photos. I looked good, and everyone wanted to know who I was. The author of the article was speculating that I was some overseas fashion designer.

Me! A fashion designer!

"Welcome to the billionaire lifestyle," Braxton said at breakfast. "Everyone wants to know everything about you, all the time."

"It's kind of weird," I said while eating my poached egg. "I've never been famous before. Except when I made the mistake at the United Nations that got me fired. That made me infamous among the translator community for about a week. But nothing like this."

"It'll end after a day," Braxton assured me. "They'll get bored and move on to someone new."

"What if they find out who I am?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if they learn I'm your nanny? Won't that be embarrassing?"

I was afraid of his answer. I was certain he would tell me that would be embarrassing, and that I had to hide away so nobody found out.

But Braxton patted my arm and smiled warmly. "You're much more than a nanny. You're the linguist teaching the twins multiple languages."

"But won't that be scandalous? If they find out you're..." I glanced at the twins across the table. "If they find out you're with someone who works for you?"