Nanny

51

Kate

I watched Braxton's face contort as he processed the news. First he smirked like it was just a joke. Then confusion filled his dark eyes. He stiffened, and his throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed. Finally he shook his head.

"I knew this was a risk when I came here," he said. "I knew it was a risk when I told the New York Daily News to run the story. But as long as I have you, Kate, I don't care."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You're okay losing the company for me?"

"I've made a lot of trades in my career," he replied, smiling down at me. "But this was one of the easiest."

"I would like to point out that Kate technically has not forgiven you yet," Adam said.

Braxton frowned at me. "Do you? Forgive me?"

"Well, you were an asshole to me," I said.

"I know."

"You treated me like an employee who you would fire on a whim."

"I know."

"I forgive you. Of course I forgive you. But you're going to have to make it up to me."

He grinned. "I know."

We hugged once more, and kissed. As soon as his lips touched mine I knew I truly had forgiven him. But it would be fun to tease him about it.

I caressed his cheek. "Are you sure you're okay? You just got removed from the company. Your company."

He sighed. "I won't lie. It stings. But yeah, I'm okay. I've known this day might come for a while. Honestly, I thought they might remove me after I made that nine-digit donation to Andrea's charity without their approval. Besides, I have some plans about what to do next."

"Like what?" Adam asked.

"You'll see. I think it's time we headed back to the city. You coming?"

That last part was for me. "Of course I am," I replied.

"Nelson, let's go. Nelson?"

We peeked around the corner into the foyer. Miranda and Nelson were locked together again, kissing and groping each other like there was no tomorrow.

Braxton cleared his throat. "Nelson?"

The two of them broke away. "Sorry, sir. I'm coming, sir."

"You almost did," Miranda said with a wink. "Call me!"

Nelson straightened his suit and hurried to the back door.

The paparazzi swarmed us as we rushed outside. At first I was overwhelmed, and was tempted to cover my face. But then I held my head up high. I wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of what we were doing. I was proud of it, even if the rest of the world didn't understand.

The four of us climbed into Braxton's helicopter—the Nash Capital one that Adam had "borrowed." Nelson ran over to the other helicopter to speak with the pilot, then returned to fly with us.

The camera bulbs flashed below us as we soared into the air, wheeling around toward the city.

*

The next few days were tough on everyone.

The New York Daily News article ran in the print edition, and sold more copies than any release in the past twenty years. Mainstream news organizations ran their own copies of the story. We were the butt of countless jokes on the nightly talk shows. Hashtag #NakedNanny trended on Twitter, even though I wasn't nude in any of the photos that were leaked.