“You look like a supervillain,” Jack said, staring up at the man. Nina’s eyes widened.
“Jack, that’s not a nice thing to say. Please apologize.”
Inwardly, though, she agreed. The man’s short blond hair and tailored black suit really did make him look like a supervillain in a superhero movie. Or like the rude boss in a rom-com. She’d met plenty of guys like this in her life, guys who cared only about their appearance and their work and never had a kind word for anyone else.
Instead of glaring or telling Jack off, though, the man waved a hand.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re braver than half my boardroom to say something like that.” He flashed a smile at Jack. “Don’t worry. I’m not a supervillain.”
“I’m SuperJack,” Jack said.
“Good for you.” The man nodded, and Nina’s heart softened. Maybe she’d misjudged him.
“Thank you for being so understanding.” She smiled at him. “And sorry again about Jack running into you. He’s still learning to watch where he’s going.” She bent down to pick up the phone that had fallen from the man’s hand. The second she lifted it, her heart sank. The screen was cracked and, although the phone still turned on, the image was now pixelated by a gash across the screen. It was an expensive phone, too, one of those new touchscreen folding phones that were top of the range. Nina had no idea how much they cost, but she was willing to bet it was about the same as her rent for a month. Possibly more.
She handed the phone back to the guy. “I amsosorry,” she said. “Obviously, I’ll pay to replace it.”
Nina had no idea how she was going to do that. With the rent increase, her lower summer income, and Jack’s back-to-school expenses, she was already barely scraping by. But Jack had broken the phone, and she would pay for it.
“Don’t worry about it.” The man waved this off, too. He took the phone from her, his fingers brushing hers, and dropped it into his bag. “I could have a new phone here in five minutes if I wanted to. This isn’t a big deal.”
Inwardly, Nina rolled her eyes at his arrogant comment. The last time she’d bought a new phone, she’d saved for months and chosen an older model on sale. Still, he was being nicer than he had to be.
“Thank you so much.” She flushed. “And I’m sorry again.”
“It’s okay. Stop apologizing.” The man smiled. “I’m Theo Hillman. Nice to meet you.”
Nina took his outstretched hand. “Nina Thompson. And this is my son, Jack.” His palm was warm against hers, and he had a good handshake — firm but not too firm. Nina supposed that was one of those things that successful businessmen learned their first day on the job.
“Nice to meet you, Nina.”
“Let me give you my number,” Nina said, grabbing her old, beat-up phone. “Just in case you change your mind about the payment.”
“I won’t change my mind.” Theo smiled. “Like I said, a snap of my fingers, and I could have a new phone.”
“Right.” Nina glanced down at Jack, who was starting to look antsy. “Well, thank you again for being so understanding. Have a nice day.”
She turned to leave. It had been a strange, somewhat pleasant interaction, but at least she didn’t owe this guy a boatload of money for breaking his phone. They’d never see each other again — and that was a good thing. Nina had plenty to worry about without thinking about Mr. Theo Hillman and his broken phone.
Nina had found the interaction strangely compelling. Working from home and spending most of her time with Jack meant that she rarely talked to adults. And it was nice that Theo had been so kind to Jack, even though she shouldn’t have let him run ahead like that.
Part of her wanted to stay and chat, but she ignored that part. Theo was probably just another self-centered, arrogant businessman — his comments about how easy it would be to replace his phone had shown that — and she shouldn’t let his sweet side make her forget it. They needed to get moving. Nina needed to figure out her rent situation. She needed to figure out some way to help Jack with school. She didn’t have time to think about anything else right now.
CHAPTER 3
THEO
Theo wasn’t entirely sure what came over him when the young mother took her son’s hand and turned to leave. Maybe he just needed a distraction from the frustrating phone call he’d had. Maybe he wanted to get a little more insight into the mind of a parent. Or maybe he just found her compelling in a way that was difficult to explain, with her long, black hair and blue eyes. If he looked like a supervillain, she looked like Snow White, or maybe Wonder Woman from the comic book covers he’d admired as a kid.
Whatever came over him, Theo found himself calling out.
“Are you running off home?”
“Not yet.” Nina paused and turned back to him. “We’re going to the park.”
“Is your husband meeting you there?” Theo wasn’t sure why he asked that, either. Something flickered across Nina’s lovely features, though whether it was annoyance or confusion or something else, it was hard to say.
“I haven’t seen Jack’s dad since he left to get milk five years ago,” Nina quipped. “So, I’d be very surprised if he turned up at the park.” She said it casually, jokingly, but Theo still winced.
