Page 7 of The Billionaire's Virgin

“What kind of hours did you work?” I asked.

“I was a live-in nanny,” Ashley replied. “I had a room in the house right next to the brats. I was on call twenty-four-seven.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah,” Ashley said. “I was basically the stand-in parent considering their actual parents were too damn busy to deal with the little monsters. I had to get them ready for school, pick them up after, make their meals, and help them with their homework. I had to take them to their play dates and look after them when they were sick. I had to put them to bed at night, and I had to comfort them when they woke up in the middle of the night because of some ridiculous nightmare.”

“Now I’m kind of impressed that you stayed in that position for so long.”

“Like I said, the money is good,” Ashley replied. “That’s what kept me going for as long as I did. But anyway, every family is different. Some parents require more of their nanny’s time, and others require less. It just depends on how involved the parents are.”

I sighed, realizing that as difficult as the job sounded, I had no choice but to see if it was an option for me.

“How do you go about getting hired as a nanny by one of these families?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s simple,” Ashley said. “There’s this site that was set up specifically to link families to the nanny of their dreams. It’s called Mary Poppins Finder.”

I smiled. “Clever.”

“It’s free to join, but if you do get hired through the site, then you’re required to make a small payment to the site. But don’t worry; it’s a nominal fee for the nannies. It’s the parents who are charged the big amount.”

“Okay,” I said.

“You’ll have to make a profile for yourself, and there’s a bunch of tests you’ll have to take as well.”

“Tests?” I asked.

“Yeah… tests for mental competency, general knowledge, practical skills… some of the tests are really random but take them all anyway. It’ll help jazz up your profile. They’ll ask you to choose between multiple-choice questions and answer a whole load of questionnaires too. Be as detailed as possible with your answers. The profile is your first impression, and you want to make a good one.”

“Got it.” I nodded, feeling slightly more confident now that I had a plan of action. “Thanks a lot, Ashley.”

“No problem,” she replied. “Happy to help. Oh, and one more thing?”

“Yeah?”

“Keep your personal life separate from work,” she advised. “Don’t mention boyfriends or dates or anything. Parents tend to get antsy if they think their children are being neglected or exposed to ‘unnecessary’ influences.”

“Got it.”

“And remember that these women are really territorial,” Ashley added. “So keep a safe distance from their husbands. Even if he’s cute.”

I cringed. “Eww, I would never go there.”

I heard Ashley chuckle slightly. “Sure, we all think that before we start. But some of the dads are pretty fucking hot. And they also happen to be rich, bored men who aren’t accustomed to taking rejection. Best to keep your distance so that you never get on his radar to begin with.”

I was extremely put off by that warning, but I decided that I couldn’t let every little thing stop me. I would just set boundaries early on so that I didn’t leave room for anything to go wrong. I thanked Ashley again and then hung up my cell.

“Was she helpful?” Megan asked immediately.

She had a tub of ice cream in her hands and she was stuffing her face full of Ben and Jerry. “Very,” I said distractedly.

“What did she say?”

“A lot,” I replied.

“Thanks for all the details.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just… processing. There’s this site she recommended; it’ll connect me with parents looking to find nannies for their kids.”