No. To let anything pass between them, full stop. Because nothing could happen with the nanny. She was his employee, nothing else.
As far as he knew, the only person on the board Lena knew was Lowell. If she told him what she’d seen, that would give him the ammunition to destroy the merger.
But Lowell believed Noah had had an affair with Lena. He hated her almost as much as he hated Noah. She wouldn’t dare approach him.
Probably.
With that less-than-confident thought, he made his way to the door.
Inside the studio, he was hit with the faint scent of sweat and the sound of music coming from far away. The reception area buzzed with activity—mothers clustered in conversation, younger siblings sprawled on the floor with coloring books, and the occasional father scrolling through his phone.
“Mr. Aylett!” A woman called out to him. It was Mrs. Moffett, the studio owner. She approached with a warm smile. “Charlotte will be so happy you made it.”
“Where should I?—?”
“Right through here.” She gestured toward a set of double doors, where moms and kids sat on folding chairs that faced a window overlooking one of the two dance floors. “The girls just finished warming up.”
Noah stepped inside and peeked through the window. He spotted Charlotte immediately, standing in the front row of a group of four- and five-year-olds. She was by far the smallest child in the class. Also, the cutest, in his very jaded opinion.
He scanned the chairs and spotted Miss Wright in the front row, an empty seat beside her. She was watching Charlotte with such obvious affection that something shifted inside him. Hadany woman ever looked at Charlotte like that? Probably not her negligent mother nor her neglectful grandmother.
No wonder the child was smitten with her nanny. They adored each other.
Maybe Miss Wright felt his gaze because she glanced toward the door, then looked again, her face splitting into a gorgeous smile.
She gestured to the empty chair beside her, and he made his way over, nodding politely to the other parents who glanced his way with varying degrees of curiosity.
“You made it. Charlotte kept asking me if you’d be here.” Miss Wright’s voice was soft as he settled into the folding chair. The scent of coconut and vanilla drifted from her, and he forced himself to focus on the girls through the window rather than the way the nanny’s hair fell in soft waves around her heart-shaped face.
“I promised I’d try.” On the far side of the glass, Charlotte executed a twirl, her form enthusiastic if far from perfect. “How’s she doing?”
“She loves it. Look at her.”
Charlotte’s face was radiant with joy. She was happy and safe. He wasn’t messing this up too badly.
“The studio is planning a recital for Christmas,” Miss Wright said. “Her class will all be snowflakes.”
He pictured his niece in a white tutu, arms outstretched like delicate ice crystals. The image made him smile.
“She’s very serious about it,” Miss Wright said. “She asked me to help her practice her snow dance at home.”
The casual way she mentioned home, as if it were as much hers as his, sent another unwelcome jolt through him. She’d settled so naturally into their lives, into Charlotte’s heart—and if he were honest, into his own thoughts far too often. What would happen when she left for Maine?
What had Lena seen the night before? Had his inappropriate affection shown in his expression?
He needed to stop thinking such thoughts about the nanny. Or at least, when that proved impossible, do better at hiding them.
The music stopped, and the instructor gathered the girls into a circle. Charlotte plopped down cross-legged next to a little redheaded girl, who whispered in her ear.
“That’s Shanyn,” Miss Wright said. “Her new ‘favoritest’ friend.”
“This was a good idea. Thank you for signing her up.”
“She likes it.”
The girls stood again, fanning out across the room to practice a series of arm movements that looked utterly random.
“Oh.” Miss Wright shifted, pulling out her phone. “I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I wanted to show you.” She found her photos, then held the screen toward him. “I took this earlier. It was probably nothing, but I got the feeling… It seems silly now.”
