Chapter 17

Nova

Nova’s heart pounded as she stared at Dominic’s outstretched hand, too close to her face.

Was he about to touch her?

Was he about to kiss her?

Nova should have felt violated at the invasion of personal space, but all she felt was a heart-thrumming sense of excitement. She didn’t know why, but a small part of her, buried deep within, wanted this man to kiss her unlike any man before.

Maybe she wanted him to kiss her even more than she wanted Henry to kiss her when they were still married.

But then Dominic quickly pointed at the window behind Nova without touching her. “We’re here. I was trying to wake you up. You fell asleep on the way.”

Nova whipped her head around to find that, indeed, her apartment was sitting behind her. Golden light spilled out from the windows onto the sidewalk, and she could see Susie’s form moving around inside.

“Oh,” she said, immediately feeling ashamed and naive.

Of course Dominic wouldn’t try to kiss her. She was a human, and she was just his nanny. She had fallen asleep in his car, which was embarrassing enough, and he was just being kind.

Nova quickly gathered her things and opened the car door. “Thank you for the ride,” she said, climbing out. “I appreciate it.”

Dominic nodded once. “I appreciate the meal. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

With that, Nova turned and hurried up the steps, opening the front door. A small form immediately burst out before she could enter and threw its arms around her legs. She recognized the frizzy head of red hair immediately.

“Emma,” Nova breathed, surprised. “What are you still doing up? It’s past eleven!”

“Auntie let us stay up late to play a board game,” Emma said, grinning up at her.

Nova sighed. “Auntie has been letting you two stay up late a lot, hasn’t she?”

“Mhm. Is that your boss?” Emma pointed behind Nova.

Nova turned, pleasantly surprised to find that Dominic was still sitting in his car by the curb. Like a real gentleman, he was waiting for her to get safely inside before he drove away.

“Yes,” Nova said, giving Dominic a little wave. “That’s Mr. Dominic.”

Emma sighed dreamily as Dominic waved back and drove away. “He’s handsome like the prince in my favorite movie.”

Nova snorted and scooped Emma up, heading inside. Dominic was indeed handsome like a man from a movie, but she pretended not to notice. She closed the door behind her and jumped with surprise as Lila jumped out from behind it.

“Lila! You almost gave me a heart attack,” Nova said, pressing her free hand to her chest.

Lila looked up at her curiously. “I was waiting for you. You were out so late.”

“I had to work late.”

“You missed dinner. And board games.”

“And movies,” Emma pointed out.

Nova shook her head and quickly ushered the girls into the apartment. “Bedtime,” she announced, shooting Susie a glare as she passed by the living room. “Board games and movies will have to wait until tomorrow.”

…

“Can you skip work today?”

Lila clung to Nova’s waist, refusing to let go. Her tight grip was already wrinkling Nova’s carefully-ironed shirt. Nova sighed, gently trying to pry Lila’s fingers away, but it was no use. The kid was holding on like her life depended on it.

“Sweetheart, I already told you. I have to go to work six days a week. It’s how I make money so you can eat every day and have new clothes.”

Lila stomped her foot and pushed her lower lip out. “But I don’t wanna eat or get new clothes!” she whined. “I wanna play with you! Don’t go!”

Nova’s heart clenched painfully, even if her ears were ringing from all the yelling and crying this morning. Lila had been throwing a tantrum since the moment she woke up, furious and hurt that Nova had to go to work.

The way Lila was clinging to Nova’s waist was admittedly kind of adorable, but Nova had no choice. She had to work, otherwise she and her family might end up on the streets. It was bad enough that Susie had had to take so much time off of her job lately with Lila out of school.

Nova really had to find her a new kindergarten.

“Listen.” Nova dropped down to a crouch and gently brushed a tear-soaked strand of black hair out of Lila’s damp face. “Why don’t you consider coming to that birthday party soon? You and Aria can make friends and then you can come to work with me once in a while. That way, we can all be together.”

But Lila looked utterly unconvinced. “I already told you I don’t want to go to her birthday party!”

“Why not? It’s the same day as your birthday. You can celebrate together.”

Lila growled like a little wolf, just as she did that day in the kindergarten classroom. The sound only slipped out on occasion, but each time it did, it made Nova’s heart stop in her chest.

“I want my own birthday, just like we always do! I want to go to the amusement park and get ice cream!”

Nova grew a little frustrated, but she couldn’t entirely blame Lila. She and Emma already shared a birthday, and it was clear that Lila was apprehensive about Aria.

“We can do that,” Nova said gently, cupping Lila’s face in her hands. “If that’s what you really want. But you know, Aria really wants to meet you, and she doesn’t have any other friends. I just think you would all have a nice time together if you went. Emma can come, too.”

“But what about the amusement park?” Lila sniffled miserably.

“Maybe we can go the next day or the day before. I’m supposed to attend Aria’s birthday because it’s a work day for me.”

Lila continued to pout. “No. I want to have my birthday on my birthday, not the day before or after!”

By now, Nova was at a loss. Nothing seemed to make Lila happy today, and she was already going to be late for work.

Susie appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking just as frazzled as Nova felt. “Maybe you should take the day off that day,” she said quietly, giving her sister a meaningful look.

Nova sighed. She had only just begun working for Dominic, and while she was almost certain he would give her leave if she asked for it, she didn’t want to make a bad impression. The first three months of any job were the most important; she couldn’t risk taking time off too early on in her employment, and this job paid too well to pass up.

Besides, Nova really did love Aria. She didn’t want to miss her birthday party.

She didn’t want to miss any of the girls’ birthdays.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Nova glanced at Susie, who hurried past. “I got it.”

“Come here, sweetheart,” Nova whispered as Susie answered the door, pulling Lila close. She hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. “We’ll figure something out for your birthday, okay? But Mommy really does need to go to work now if you want to do anything for your birthday at all. Otherwise, we can’t afford it.”

Lila huffed into Nova’s neck, still clinging tight. But at least she wasn’t crying now.

Nova stood, still holding Lila. Susie was still at the door, murmuring something to whoever was standing outside. As Nova approached, she could make out an all-too-familiar male voice.

“I just want to meet my daughter. Can’t I at least have that?”