She had no idea what she was supposed to say. She considered a few responses before settling on a simple explanation. “He was curious about my family in Maine. He thinks we might be related. It wasn’t exactly…romantic.” Not that Noah had suggested it was.
“Were you…did you mind, or…?”
“I’m not looking for romance.”
He dipped his head and stepped back.
“You don’t have to worry. Charlotte’s my first priority.”
It was the wrong thing to say. His expression darkened, and he looked almost…pained. “It wasn’t that. It was… It doesn’t matter. I had no right to feel the way I felt. You’re my employee. Charlotte’s nanny. Nothing more.”
His words had the most irrational feeling draping over her. Disappointment.
“Of course.” She needed to put a fine point on it, to make it clear where they both stood. “I don’t think Dr. Wright had any interest in me”—he definitely hadn’t, but she needed to clarify—“nor I him, but if he were to ask me out, you wouldn’t mind if I said yes? If I went out with him when I’m off work?”
Mr. Aylett groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. The sound was barely audible, but it conveyed everything his words couldn’t.
“I’d mind,” he said finally, his voice strained.
The admission hung between them, words he couldn’t take back. They were a live wire, an unexploded bomb. They could be the beginning of something.
Or they could destroy everything.
Delaney’s pulse echoed in her ears. She should step back, should retreat to her room, and pretend this conversation had never happened.
“Mr. Aylett?—”
“Noah.” His voice was rough. “Please?”
Calling him by his first name felt dangerous. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Noah.”
Something shifted in his expression. His gaze dropped to her mouth. She saw the moment his restraint snapped.
“I’m sorry.” But he was already moving forward, backing her gently against the wall. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t…” He lifted his hands to frame her face, thumbs brushing across her cheekbones. “Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop.”
She should. She knew she should. But when she opened her mouth, no words came out. Instead, she found herself leaning in, tilting her face up toward his.
His lips met hers, a whisper of contact that sent electricity racing through her. She felt his breath catch as his hands slid into her hair. The wall was cold against her back, his body warm and solid before her, and for one perfect moment, everything else fell away.
Then he deepened the kiss. His lips moved over hers with growing urgency, the tension that had been building between them for weeks finding release. Her hands clutched his shoulders, feeling the crisp fabric of his shirt beneath her fingers as she pulled him closer.
This was madness. This was everything she shouldn’t want and couldn’t have.
This was exactly where she wanted to be.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing heavily, Delaney kept her eyes closed, afraid of what she might see in his expression. Regret? Dismissal? She couldn’t bear either.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Noah whispered, his voice rough.
Her eyes opened. His face was inches from hers, his expression a storm of conflicting emotions. But regret wasn’t among them—at least, not the kind she’d feared.
“I’m your boss.” His thumb traced the line of her jaw with exquisite care. “You work for me. This is…” But he didn’t end the sentence, and she didn’t want to name it either. Because it hadn’t felt wrong.
It’d felt perfect.
He stepped back. “I’m your employer.”
The formal title stung.
