Page 23 of This Heart
Jumping, Winnie let out a happy little cry, then grabbed my hand and led me out of her room.
Liam followed us back downstairs. He hadn’t mentioned the nanny yet, and I wasn’t about to either. If he wanted my help, he could ask for it.
Winnie dropped my hand and turned to Liam, who promptly picked her up and put her in her chair at the table.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” he asked.
“Thank you, but I’ve got dinner plans.”
He smiled at me as he put some pot pie on Winnie’s plate. “With the girls?”
I cleared my throat. “No, I’m going on a date.”
His brows shot up in surprise. “A date?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Liam looked…almost upset. Then he shook his head and smiled. “That’s great. With who?”
“Um, his name is Gary Harris. He’s the new finance director with the city. Cadie introduced me to him.”
Liam nodded as he focused on dishing out Winnie’s dinner. “Where is he taking you?”
“To a new Chinese restaurant outside of town. Near Lake Placid.”
He closed his eyes. “Man, I haven’t had Chinese in forever. Eat some for me.”
I laughed. “I will. I should probably get going so I can get ready. He’ll be picking me up soon.”
Leaning down, I kissed Winnie on the cheek. “I’ll be back, okay?”
“Wuv you, Rora!”
“I love you too, Peanut.”
Turning to Liam, I let out a breath. “It was good seeing you both.”
“It was. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
A strange aching feeling filled my chest. Was I upset he hadn’t asked me about the nanny? Or was I upset I wasn’t having dinner with Liam and Winnie instead of with Gary? Pushing those thoughts away, I replied, “I won’t.”
As I went to turn to leave, Liam called out my name.
“Aurora?”
“Yeah?” I asked, facing him again. He glanced down at the floor and seemed to struggle to say something before looking back up at me.
“I know I don’t have any right to ask you this, with how I treated you and all.”
“You’ve already apologized. Let’s put it in the past and move on.”
He nodded and gave me a weak smile. “I’d like that.”
“What did you want to ask me?”
“I need to find a nanny for Winnie, and I was wondering if you could help with that. I know what to ask, at least I think I do,” he said with a humorless laugh. “I’m not sure how someone would feel working for just a guy, and maybe having you there might help with the interviewing process.”
I wasn’t sure why I felt so relieved he had asked. Maybe it was because we were genuinely moving on from the awkwardness of what happened months ago.
