Page 28 of The Nanny Next Door

There was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to follow the signals my body was giving me, to lean in and kiss Lila Dawson on her sweet mouth that always said such kind, encouraging things. But it was Family Day. Olivia was playing just a few yards in front of us. If there ever were a time for such a thing, now wasn’t it.

Instead, I pulled my hand back from hers and asked, “How was your date with Felipe?”

Lila blinked slowly, coming out of a haze. “Oh, uh… he told you we went out?”

“He told me you were going to,” I explained. I ignored my heartbeat, so insistently pounding in my ears, reminding me how badly I wanted her.

“Oh,” she said again. “Um, yeah, we… we had a good time. He’s great.”

“So great,” I agreed, which was true despite my unenthusiastic tone.

Lila didn’t offer any further details. She had no reason to answer my question in the first place, so that was perfectly fair. I reminded myself again that I had no claim over her, that Felipe was the far better match. But that didn’t really deter the feelings that were swarming like bees in my chest. They craved her, any part of her. Even if she was with Felipe, too, I knew I wanted to experience what it would be like to woo, and kiss, and date Lila Dawson.

Fuck, that was bizarre to admit, even in my head. Some stupidly wishful part of me was also convinced, from the way she blushed and looked up at me through her lashes, that Lila wasn’t too eager about the idea of belonging solely to someone else, either. Her posture was open to me, the energy between us still aflame with something rare and special.

But there was no way, no matter how open I might be to the idea of sharing Lila Dawson with my best friend, that she would want that, too. Lila was the kind of girl to dream of fairy-tale weddings and picket fences. Besides, she didn’t see me as anything but her boss—whether she meant what she said about my cute laugh or not.

18

LILA

In the midst of all of the romance with Felipe and the surprising breakthroughs with Miles, I almost forgot about the not so great place things had left off between me and Aaron Pierce. But now that it was a day when I was supposed to go watch Jamie, the reality that I didn’t know where I stood with him was staring me in the face.

I knew exactly what I had to do about it.

Well, I hadn’t had any idea what to do about it until I talked it through with Felipe. We still texted constantly, though I hadn’t seen him since our date, and in the face of my anxieties about losing my job, he encouraged me to confront Aaron about it directly.

Felipe: You are a very powerful woman, Lila Dawson. Pierce respects power. Go demand an apology & your job back!

So that was exactly what I was going to do.

Mr. Pierce worked the best in the mornings. I’d learned that from the time I’d spent in his employ so far. So, if I wanted to catch him off guard, my best course of action was to show up at his office at the earliest part of his work day. A lot of his other employees wouldn’t be there as early as him, either, so that ensured some privacy in case I inevitably burst into tears and embarrassed myself.

Conflict wasn’t really my thing. But hey, neither was sleeping with billionaires, so maybe I was a new woman now. No more sweet little virgin Lila.

The offices of Pierce Enterprises looked exactly like I expected, except for the general lack of activity at his hour. The subway had been surprisingly sparse, too. But Aaron’s assistant was manning the sleek desk outside his personal office, talking into a Bluetooth headset. I gave her a perfunctory smile and wave, and clearly, she recognized me as the nanny, because she waved me right into the corner office with his name on the door.

He looked up from his work the second I came in, his handsome face less intimidating when it wore a surprised expression. “Lila? What in the?—”

“I need to talk to you, Mr. Pierce,” I said curtly, marching right up to the very front edge of his desk. Even when he was sitting down, I didn’t have a height advantage over him. Maybe I should have worn heels just for the confidence boost. But instead, I propped my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest.

“Now isn’t really a good?—”

“It’s the only time,” I told him. Adrenaline seemed to pulse through me, bolstering my words. “I’m supposed to watch Jamie today, and I can’t do that until we talk about that phone call the other night. Because you made me worry I’m losing my job over something completely unreasonable.”

His face turned cold, his brows raising in his disbelief at my audacity, and that somehow made me angrier. I’d never had a very hot temper, but this man brought out all kinds of fiery feelings in my blood.

“You have no right to treat me that way. To treat anyone that way. I’ve been a great nanny for Jamie?—”

“I know that,” he tried to interrupt, but I kept going.

“And I’ve been flexible around your insane work schedule the whole time, not to mention how I was willing to start right away.”

“I appreciate?—”

I raised my volume to keep him from breaking in. “I deserve to be off the clock completely on the nights I’ve requested off. You don’t have complete control over my time, my life, just because I work for you.

“I’m young, and I have a life. Or at least I’m trying to have one. And just because you’re old and you’ve already lived yours?—”

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