Table Of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
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Acknowledgements
First of all, thank you to Astrid and the Ylva team for giving me a chance and making this possible. I appreciate it more than I can possibly say.
Thanks to my editors, Michelle and Julie, for teaching me so much and for whipping this manuscript into shape.
Amanda: this book literally wouldn’t exist if not for you. Thanks for being my sounding board and giving me the encouragement I needed to write it.
Finally, to Laura, my love. Thank you for putting up with me, and for your endless support and patience. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.
El mayarah
Chapter 1
Camila Evans pressed her forehead to the cool glass of her town car’s window while the skyscrapers of New York rolled by unseen, her mind occupied with pilot pitches.
She had spent another late night at her television studio. The clock struck nine as she finally stepped out of the car into the warm summer air and entered the lobby of her apartment building. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she made her way over to the elevators and pressed the button for the penthouse.
As always, she was impatient to be home, to get back to the son she knew would already be tucked in bed, fast asleep.
She hated missing Jaime’s bedtime and tried to limit her late nights at work—which wasn’t always easy to do, being at the helm of a television network.
She had been told more times than she could count that it wasn’t possible to be a good mother while having a successful career.
Jaime hadn’t been planned, but he was a beautiful, perfect being in a world filled with bitterness and hate, and Camila loved him with all her heart and soul. Every time she looked at him, every time she heard him laugh, she just became more determined that she could have it all, would have it all, and not a damn thing was going to stand in her way.
She couldn’t do it alone, though, and Camila was glad she had a nanny who kept an eye on Jaime for her so he wasn’t forced to spend long days in her office.
Camila tried not to worry, but it was difficult. Amelia was no Eleanor, though she was the best so far of the nannies Camila had hired and fired since Eleanor had left to care for her sick mother. Still, Amelia was a pretty recent hire, and Camila was eager to get home and see how well she had had gotten on.
Inside her apartment, the lights were dim and the television echoed from the living room. Camila kicked off her heels in the foyer, but her greeting to Amelia quickly morphed into a squeal when a glance over the back of the couch revealed a bare ass bobbing up and down in the air.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Camila’s voice cracked with anger. It was loud enough to startle the pair on the couch into action. The owner of the ass scrambled off the woman that Camila had entrusted to look after her son.
“You didn’t put the chain on the door?” Amelia’s boyfriend asked, ignoring Camila entirely as he yanked up his jeans.
“I didn’t think I needed to!” Amelia’s voice was high, her cheeks pink as she pulled her dress down into place. “And anyway, you could have done it when you—”
Camila’s mouth dropped open at what she was hearing. She saw red, snapping her fingers to draw their attention. “Are you two quite finished?”
“I…I’m sorry, Ms. Evans.” Amelia at least had the grace to look apologetic, but it did nothing to ease the fury pulsing through Camila’s veins. “I didn’t think you’d be back yet.”
“Clearly.” Camila injected her voice with as much disgust as she could manage. “Get out of my sight, both of you.”
The boyfriend, only too happy to obey, scurried for the front door.
“Ms. Evans—” Amelia started, but Camila held up a hand.
“Oh, save it,” Camila snapped, and Amelia quailed under her glare. “Is this the first time you’ve invited him over here? Actually,”—Camila decided she didn’t want to know—“don’t answer that.”
“I waited until Jaime was in bed—”
“Because that makes it better?” Camila asked, exasperated. “For God’s sake, what if he woke up and wandered out here?” She’d never been more relieved that her son was a heavy sleeper. “Just get the hell out of my apartment, Amelia. And needless to say, you’re fired.”
Amelia dropped her head as she skirted around Camila and headed for the front door.
“And I’ll be docking the cost of the dry cleaning bill from your pay!” Camila called after her, eyeing the white leather with distaste—she certainly wasn’t planning to sit on it for a long time, that was for sure.
She wished that had been the first time she’d walked in to find someone with their pants down in her apartment.
She made her way down the hall with a sigh and cracked open the door of Jaime’s bedroom. He was sleeping peacefully, blond curls spread out across his pillow, completely oblivious to the drama that had just taken place.
She tiptoed over to the side of his bed and leaned down to kiss his forehead, inhaling the scent of his shampoo. He never failed to calm her down even after the most trying of days. She watched him sleep awhile before she continued down the hall to her study because, even now, her work for the day was no longer complete.
She needed to hire a new nanny.
* * *
Emily’s phone rang just as she was about to shove the last bite of her breakfast croissant into her mouth.
She scrambled for the buzzing device, cursing when she got pastry crumbs all over the screen. When she saw the unknown number she frowned but pressed the green button anyway. “Hello?”
“Emily Walker?”
The voice was unfamiliar, and Emily wondered if the caller was just another person trying to sell car insurance. She hovered her thumb over End Call. “Yep, speaking.”
“I’m calling about a nanny job.”
Emily gasped—she’d only been in New York City for two weeks and hadn’t expected any calls about a job so soon.
“You sent in your résumé. My boss would like to talk to you about filling a position.”
“Seriously?” It sounded too good to be true—she was living in her dream city just two streets over from her sister and she was already being considered for a job she was reasonably sure she wouldn’t hate.
Maybe she would have graduated from college earlier if she’d known this was waiting for her on the other side.
“Seriously.”
Emily heard the smile in the other woman’s voice.
“Would you be willing to meet for an interview the day after tomorrow? Say, eleven o’clock?”
“Absolutely,” Emily agreed. “What’s the address?”
“The CEBC building, floor thi
rty.”
Emily’s stomach flipped. “CEBC as in the CEBC building? As in Camila—”
“Evans?” The woman filled in. “That’s correct. The interview will be with her.”
“The job ad never mentioned that…” She definitely would have noticed—Camila Evans had been Emily’s celebrity crush since she was a teenager.
“As a precaution,” the woman explained. “Is that a problem?”
“N-no, not at all.”
“Excellent. When you arrive, let them know at the front desk what you’re there for, and if there are any problems, call me back on this number.”
“O-okay.”
“See you then!”
The line clicked. Emily pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it, wondering if it was all a dream. Because surely, surely there was no way that Camila Evans would have read her résumé out of the countless others she must have gone through, and decided that she was the one for the job.
Her.
Emily Walker.
Camila Evans could probably hire the most expensive, experienced nanny in the city, so why was she interested in her? And tomorrow she was going to meet the woman herself—to potentially work for the woman herself, the woman who had been her idol when she was growing up, the woman who had almost singlehandedly helped Emily realize she was gay when she was fourteen when Camila herself came out as bisexual in a time when few in the public eye would have dared and—oh God, she was going to throw up.
Camila’s talk show had been the highlight of Emily’s weekdays when she was younger, and it was no surprise to anyone when the woman went on to found and run her own television network. She should probably do some research before the interview tomorrow. Her laptop sat on the breakfast bar. Emily opened it with trembling fingers and typed Camila’s name into the search bar. Almost every article that popped up was about her messy divorce from her third husband in twenty years. Emily sighed. Camila ran a television empire, but the only thing the news focused on was her relationship with a man.
She clicked on an article about Camila accepting an award, taking in the sight of her wearing a black dress that clung to every curve. Her blonde hair curled around her shoulders and her green eyes sparkled under the bright lights. She was gorgeous, and Emily was pretty sure she was going to make a fool out of herself tomorrow morning.
Her front door opened, interrupting her reverie. Emily turned and grinned at her sister Cassie and her girlfriend Maia striding into the apartment wearing matching smiles, their hands clasped.
“You eat pastries for breakfast?” Maia asked as she looked down at the croissant Emily had abandoned on the dining table. “And still manage to be that skinny? That is so not fair.”
“I’m waiting for it to catch up with her in a few years,” Cassie said, bumping her hip against Emily’s. “One day she’ll wake up huge.”
“I will not.” Emily rolled her eyes, but she smiled. Seeing the two of them together always made her day. Cassie had spent so many years guarded and alone before Maia lit up her life, and Emily couldn’t be happier for them.
“Will so,” Cassie argued, then glanced at Emily’s computer screen. “Why are you stalking Camila Evans?” she asked, and Emily’s cheeks warmed at being caught with Camila’s photo on-screen. “Is it still 2010?”
“Oh, shut up,” Emily muttered, quickly closing the cover.
“You think you might have a shot with her now that she’s divorced?”
“No!” Emily’s cheeks burned, and when she glanced up, Maia was watching the two of them bicker with an amused smile. “If you must know—remember those résumés I sent out about nanny jobs last week? Well, I just got a call from a woman who’s presumably Camila’s assistant. I have an interview with her tomorrow.”
“No way. You have a job interview with the woman you’ve had a crush on since you were fourteen?” Cassie grinned. “You couldn’t even write this. Oh, my God. You’re going, right?”
“Duh.”
“There is no way you can keep your cool in an interview with her.” Cassie’s grin changed to a wicked smirk. “Not without stammering and blushing every five seconds.”
“Can so.”
Cassie raised an eyebrow, and Emily huffed before reaching for the coffee she had forgotten about. It was lukewarm, and she set the mug down.
“That’s crazy, though. You used to watch her show every day.” Cassie turned to face Maia. “And I do mean every day. It was all she talked about. ‘Did you hear what Camila said yesterday?’ ‘Camila is so clever’ ‘Camila looked so good to—’”
“Cassie!” Emily slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth. “Stop embarrassing me in front of your girlfriend.”
“But that’s no fun.” Cassie said when Emily let her go. “Half the fun of having a girlfriend is that now I have someone to tease you with.”
“I don’t know, Cass.” Maia looked at the sister with affection. “I’m with Emily on this one. Camila Evans is hot.”
Cassie covered her mouth in mock horror, and Emily snorted before sliding off of the stool to brew a fresh pot of coffee. She had inherited a fancy Black & Decker coffee maker from Cassie—along with the entire apartment—when her sister and Maia made the decision to move in together.
She had always loved this apartment. It was small for a one-bedroom, but the open-plan layout and minimalist furniture made the space seem larger, and the wooden floors lit up in the soft glow of the morning sun trickling through the large windows that offered a view of the Hudson River. She was incredibly lucky to call this place home.
“You think Camila’s hot?” Cassie asked.
“Well, not as hot as you, obviously,” Maia draped her arms around Cassie’s shoulders, kissing her cheek. “But I do have eyes. And she was my crush growing up too, Emily.” Maia turned her head. “I get it.”
“I can’t believe you’re siding with Emily instead of teasing her mercilessly about this.”
“Hey, I’m new to the family. I gotta keep your little sister on my side.”
“Wanna know who Cassie’s crush was when we were growing up?” It was only fair for Emily to get her own back. She grinned as Cassie’s eyes widened in horror. “’Cause that’s a real doozy.”
“Emily, don’t you dare—”
“I also have six years’ worth of embarrassing childhood stories saved up, Maia, if you’d like to hear those. Oh!” She glanced at the stack of boxes she had yet to unpack. “And I have an album full of photos right over there.” Emily grinned as she grabbed three coffee mugs.
“Now that I would like to see,” Maia said, and they both laughed as Cassie groaned and thumped her forehead onto the bar.
* * *
“Ms. Evans?” Jessica knocked lightly on Camila’s open office door and hovered, waiting to be acknowledged.
Camila wasn’t an easy boss, firing assistants quicker than she fired nannies of late, but Jessica was up to the challenge and eager to please.
“Yes?”
“Two things. First of all, I reviewed the résumés you gave me and set up four interviews for tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Jessica.” Camila waited. Whatever was coming next, she probably wasn’t going to like it.
“And second of all”—Jessica looked down to avoid Camila’s eyes—“Sophie is on the phone, and she needs to speak to you immediately.”
Camila groaned. A call from the head of human resources could only mean bad news. “The internal investigation?”
She had suspended production of one of her newest shows after allegations of misconduct had surfaced against the leading actor. She had been waiting for the results of the investigation ever since.
“I think so.”
“Wonderful.” Camila pressed her palms to her temples. A PR disaster was the last thing she needed right now.
Jessica’s
eyes fell on Jaime. “Do you want me to keep an eye on the little one?” Jaime had entertained himself for most of the morning watching cartoons. He was old enough not to need constant supervision, but it couldn’t be fun for him, cooped up in her office all day while she worked. Jessica would be able to keep him entertained.
“Would you mind?”
“Not at all.”
Jaime followed Jessica out of the office, and Camila watched them go before lifting the phone to her ear.
“Sophie. You have the results?”
Camila listened. The allegations were true, which meant that she had yet another employee to fire, not to mention a major recast, possible reshoots, and a statement for the media to draft. She was going to have a much busier day than usual, and as she watched Jaime giggling at something Jessica was doing, she knew she couldn’t ask her assistant to babysit for the rest of the afternoon.
Reluctantly, she dialed her ex-husband, tapping her foot as she waited impatiently for him to pick up the phone.
“Camila. What an unpleasant surprise.”
Camila was used to his acid tone—their relationship hadn’t exactly ended amicably after Camila had walked in on him screwing his secretary.
“What do you want?”
“Can you watch our son this afternoon?”
Jaime had not been planned. Camila was fairly certain one of the reasons Chris had married her was because she didn’t want kids, and when she found out she was pregnant, he wasn’t exactly thrilled by the news. Which wasn’t to say that he didn’t make an effort to be a father to Jaime. He might be an asshole, but at least he tried. Still, Camila was amazed that he hadn’t bolted as soon as Jaime was born.
“That’s short notice even for you, Camila. And this is the second time this week.”
“Oh, because God forbid you spend time with your son when it’s not on your terms,” Camila snapped. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with him today. “Can you do it or not?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, after hesitating a moment. “I’ll take him. But I can’t keep doing this, Camila.”
“I’m interviewing for the nanny position tomorrow, so you won’t have to.”
Never Say Never Page 1
