Stay
ANDERS
Please
ANDERS
We can watch a movie
ANDERS
or something
Great. I’m machine gun texting like my mom now. My pride has left the building. Sunny sighs and types her response. A second later my phone dings. She taps her toe on the tile while I read her message.
SUNFLOWER
You are pushing these rules, sir.
I can’t be upright for a minute longer. My body is completely drained. I sit on the tile and prop myself against the cool wall to type my response. I’m surprised when Sunny sits beside me, crossing her legs.
ANDERS
Mr. Beck. Sir. Why so fancy?
I catch her smirking in my periphery.
SUNFLOWER
Because you’re fancy. And you’re my boss, so…
ANDERS
Then I get to call you Sunflower.
While she reads the text I add another rule to our list—no calling me “Sir” or “Mr. Beck.”
She drops her phone on her lap. “You know, the point of these rules is to establish professional boundaries. ‘Sir’ and ‘Mr. Beck’ are both appropriate things to call you.”
“Then so is your legal name, Sunflower.”
“It doesn’t even sound like a name,” she complains while I scratch her first rule off of the list. “Ugh. Sunny is good. When you call me Sunflower it sounds like a nickname. It sounds way too friendly for the nanny.”
I bump her leg with mine. “I hate that you think of yourself as the nanny.”
She laughs. “I am the nanny.”
My eyes dip to hers. “You’re so good to Imogen—so much better than just a nanny. And last night…” I shake my head. I can’t finish that sentence. Sunny left nanny territory last night, for sure. She is so much more. I wish I could say it. I type out a text instead.
ANDERS
You are so much more.
Oof. That’s a huge thing to admit. I might scare her away, but it’s honest. You get what you get with me—heart on the sleeve, guns blazing, zero-to-sixty. At least I forced myself to omit the heart-eyed, kissy face emoji. I watch her face as she reads my message. She doesn’t hate it. Her lips curl at the corners as she responds.
SUNFLOWER
You are bad news, Anders Beck. I need to leave before I do something un-nannyish.
