Page 17

Juliette

W e stared at each other across the table.

All three of us—me, Bella, and Lux. The house was huge, probably the biggest house I'd ever had the pleasure of working in, but suddenly with all of us at the table, and Gina and Marcy no doubt somewhere close by, it felt… crowded.

Not in a bad way, though. I was grateful that Lux showed up, and I knew Bella had to be too, but since I knew this was not the norm, no one really knew what to do or say.

None of us spoke. The sound of our utensils scraping across the plates was the only sound in the room. Most of the meal was already gone, and I knew I had to do something.

“So how was school today?”

Bella lit up, excited that someone was finally asking her a question. I wanted to let Lux take the lead and try to bond with her niece, but maybe she needed a little bit of help.

“So good!” she replied. “Justine complimented me on my bow and everyone was so jealous that I got to go out for lunch. I even missed the first few minutes of math. It was great!”

“We’ll work on getting you back sooner next time,” Lux said, her voice causing Bella’s gaze to snap to her. A frown appeared on her face.

Yeah, Lux didn't seem like the type of person who would be excited to miss part of her class. She was probably one of those who would show up early, sit down, and have all her paperwork and homework out even before the teacher entered the room.

"Let the girl have a little fun!” I smiled, trying to lighten the blow. “Don’t you know all the cool kids show up to school late after lunch? It’s like a time-honored tradition.”

Lux pressed her lips together.

“I never got taken out of school for lunch,” she grumbled. “I was always on time too.”

I tried my best to keep a straight face. Yeah, Lux, I figured out as much.

But the way she said it was a little bit endearing.

The confident, overpowering, workaholic Lux, who clearly ran a tight ship at work and who had a way with words that made your knees go weak… was admitting that she was somewhat of a nerd in school.

“So… you weren’t cool,” Bella summarized.

There was a long silence before the laugh I was desperately trying to hold in slipped out. Bella joined me, laughing so hard that she needed to lean against me for support.

Lux looked mortified at our reaction.

“I was cool!” she huffed. “I got straight A’s and got accepted into an Ivy League school with a scholarship!"

“As if that’s what makes people cool,” I teased.

Lux’s frown deepened.

“Getting into a good school is pretty cool,” she muttered.

I leaned forward and touched her hand lightly, lingering for a few seconds. “It's very impressive,” I said, but there was still a smile on my lips.

Her being a nerd wasn't even the funniest part anymore.

It was her reaction, that little pout when she realized we were making fun of her.

The way she was glaring at the plate in front of her, as if it was the one that was teasing her and not us.

She even went as far as pushing her food around on her plate.

Slowly, our laughter died down, and we all finished our meal.

“Go put it in the sink,” I asked Bella once she was done and already slipping out of her chair.

“We have a person for that,” Lux said quickly. “Don’t tell me you’ve been making her do it.”

I raised a brow. I knew she probably employed someone to clean the house, but I’d never seen them.

Regardless, in my world, cleaning up after yourself was an important skill to learn. Lux could insist that Bella didn't do the dishes after I left. While I was here, she would be doing it, and I would be doing mine as well.

“It’s polite,” I argued. “And I’m not making her do anything. It’s a suggestion.”

“I’ll take yours too, Juliette,” Bella said, then paused to look at Lux. “ Not yours.”

A shocked, exaggerated laugh pushed itself from my mouth at Lux’s gaping mouth.

“ Rude ,” Lux muttered under her breath, though all of us could hear it. Bella let out a small humph and took her things to the kitchen sink.

Lux leaned back in her chair, watching her niece at the kitchen sink while completely ignoring her aunt.

“I’m gonna go play!” she announced after she was done and ran out to the backyard without casting so much as a glance at us.

It took her maybe about three minutes to wash the dishes, so I knew I would have to go finish it, but at least she tried. And she was finally joking around with Lux. All of it a step in the right direction.

“Be inside in twenty to finish the rest of your math!” I yelled after her before getting up and heading to the sink. Yep, not washed properly.

I heard Lux’s chair scraping against the floor and listened as she walked toward me, carrying her own plate. I could feel her standing there, so I moved aside so she could put it down.

She didn’t move back. She stayed there, hovering over me, my back to her front. I could feel her warmth. She felt good, and we weren’t even touching.

I turned my head to look up at her, my lips still quirked into a smile.

“What?” I asked, noticing the frown that was somehow still marring her gorgeous face. “Don’t like a bit of teasing with your dinner?”

“If I knew you were going to gang up on me, I would have skipped dinner entirely.”

But even as she said it, there was a lightness to her tone. She might have had a frown on her face and a grumble in her voice, but there was a spark in her eyes as she looked out at Bella.

Dinner may have started out rough, but it was a success in my book.

“She just wants people around,” I said, turning around to look at her. “She’s lonely. You having dinner with us means a lot to her.”

Bella didn't need to say—she probably didn’t know how to—but I was there to interpret it.

She loved Lux. That point was undeniable.

But I was stuck between two very hardheaded people: a child who didn't know how to express her emotions and an adult who might know how to express her emotions but just didn't want to.

Her eyes cast down to me, and all of a sudden, I was taken back to when she had me against the desk.

I need her again . Desire shot through me so suddenly, I had to grip the counter. Her being so close only made it worse.

Her smell. Her heat. Her. It was not supposed to be like this. It had never been like this with any other family.

And while no other person had ever paid a million dollars to give me the night of my life, there was more to it than that.

“I know,” she whispered. “I just don’t know how to fix it.”

The vulnerability in her voice had my throat constricting. It was so hard to see someone like Lux look so… helpless. I wanted to make her feel better. I didn't know her very well, but I knew that she didn't deserve to feel this way.

Neither of them did.

Silence stretched out between us, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was… charged.

“So, you moving in or what?” she asked after a moment.

I was finally able to look away from her and toward where Bella was playing.

The whole thing was an awful idea. It would give me and Lux far too many excuses to act on whatever this thing was between us.

But, on the other hand, it would be really good for Bella. I’d be there when she woke up, when she came back from school, and I might even get to tuck her in before she went to sleep.

I mean, if Lux wants me to. I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ve only been here for a few days.

“I don’t think I should,” I finally replied. “Even if it would be easier to take care of her. I’m afraid?—”

“That you’ll fall in love with me?” She met me with a smirk that had heat rising up my face and burning my ears.

“So full of yourself. You’re the one pushing. I could easily argue that you’re the one who’s going to fall in love with me.”

“I don’t fall in love,” she said, somehow moving closer. My back was to the counter and her thigh was now between my legs. “I fuck.”

The heat intensified. Yep. This would be disastrous.

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” I asked. “This will complicate things.”

“Will it?”

There was a moment between us. Our eyes met. Our breaths stopped.

It would… right? I was Bella’s nanny. I was charged with taking care of her niece. A child who was severely grieving her parents’ death and who was living with a woman who didn’t have the faintest clue how to deal with it.

Probably because she hasn’t processed her sister’s death either.

“Juliette! Come time me!”

The trance between us was broken, and I took the chance to move toward the backyard, grateful for the distraction.

But Lux’s hand caught my wrist. My skin burned where she touchedme, and I couldn't help the gasp that made its way out of my mouth.

I turned back to look at her. All the joking was gone, and she met me with an expression I couldn't make out.

“Think about it,” she said, her voice steady and unwavering. I swallowed the knot in my throat, along with the automatic urge to say yes.

“The offer for the room or the offer for the fucking?”

A smile pulled at her lips.

“The room,” she answered. “I was teasing about the… other stuff. It may be a bad idea, but I don’t want Bella’s nanny to be homeless. It’s temporary anyway.”

“Temporary,” I muttered. How long was temporary? How long would I have this job? It seemed like I was about to lose it on a daily basis. But I still couldn't help but ask, “Will it come out of my paycheck?”

She shook her head.

“Think of it as a thank you for doing something I couldn't.”

She was making it too hard to refuse. My parents’ debts had been paid, but I wouldn't be able to afford my own apartment on this salary alone. I would still have to find some type of roommate situation so I wouldn’t touch Lucas’s college fund.

I could always ask the girls if they wanted to find a place together, but I needed to be close to here, and that was far away from where they needed to be.

I was afraid to ask what she meant. Afraid of the answer and how it would complicate things even more. Her gaze was too hard to shake, the question too heavy to ignore.

So I asked anyway.

“Which is?”

“Making her happy.”