I had a million questions for Sebastian, but I fought them back with bites of fruit and cheese. It seemed rude to ask so many things when I had just met the man, even if we were presently getting to know one another. 

“What do you want to know?” he asked, seemingly reading my mind. 

“What?” I paused with a blueberry on its way to my mouth, staring at him in confusion. 

“About your position here, Emily, me, the house. What do you want to know?” he reiterated.

“Do you always hire staff so quickly?” I blurted.

He grinned and shook his head, “no.”

“What happened to the last nanny?” I asked.

“We moved and she stayed behind,” he said. “We gave her a very generous severance package.”

“Why did you move?” 

“Next question.”

“What do you do for work?” I asked. 

“I’m in finance. It’s quite lucrative, as you can see.”

“Is Emily really your niece?”

“I consider her my family, yes. But we are not related by blood, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“How do you know you can trust me?” I asked. 

“How do you know you can trust me?” he countered.

Okay…

“Why did you choose me to be Emily’s nanny?”

“You were the obvious choice.”

“What does that mean?” I raised an eyebrow. 

He merely smiled at me, “next question.”

“Shouldn’t you be working now?”

“I make my own schedule,” he said. “The perks of being in my position.”

“Is Joel your boyfriend?”

Sebastian burst out laughing, and I jolted in surprise.

He shook his head while wiping his eyes with his sleeve, “No. Definitely not. Though, I can’t imagine he would be too upset at the prospect.”

“Am I going to get screwed by leaving my old life behind and putting everything into this place and your niece?”

“Maybe. But can you honestly say you weren’t screwed in your old life? This is a chance for something new. Something exciting. I think it suits you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“Do you always make presumptions about people you don’t know?”

“Often, yes.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“It’s come with a real learning curve, but I’m getting the hang of it.”

“Why are you so easy to talk to?” I asked. 

Sebastian bit his bottom lip, glancing down at the charcuterie board. He looked completely vulnerable at that moment. 

“I’m very charming. It’s a gift. I was born with it.”

“My, don’t you think highly of yourself.” I was mortified as the words left my mouth. Here I was insulting my new boss, the man who had just handed me a cushy new job, new life, new opportunity on a silver platter. “I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be,” he waved a hand dismissively. “I let my ego grow a little too big sometimes. It’s important to deflate it once in a while.”

I couldn’t think of what else to say, so I quickly shoved the blueberry I had been holding into my mouth, and tried to appear busy with eating. 

“What do you do to calm your nerves when you’re anxious?” he asked quietly. 

I swallowed the blueberry, thinking hard on that seemingly random question. 

“I sing to myself,” I admitted.

“Are you any good?” he asked. 

“According to some,” I said. 

“Could you sing for me sometime?”

I thought of Jeffrey, of my nightmare last night where he wrapped his fingers around my throat, possessive of my voice. Of me. 

“I’ll have to be a lot more comfortable with you first,” I said. 

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded, “I understand.”