Chapter Twenty-Two Lila
Morning comes with a wash of sunlight and a subtle clatter of dishes that alerts me to the fact that someone is trying very hard to be quiet.
I blink awake and am immediately greeted by the sight of a little boy in dinosaur pajamas, holding a bowl of cereal in his little hands. He openly stares at me as he sets his bowl down on the coffee table and then sits down in front of it.
“Good morning, Leo,” I croak.
He smiles. “Hi, Lila.”
From the moment I became conscious, I could tell I was alone on the couch once more.
I can’t recall how long Evan stayed beside me, his arms wrapped around my waist while I fell into a deep slumber, but it’s obvious that he’s gone now.
The humming I can hear emanating from the kitchen is definitely feminine, so that must be the nanny.
I sit up slowly, relieved that Evan appears to have rearranged my skirt and draped a blanket over me before departing the scene, allowing me the dignity of waking up at least halfway decent.
Then again, I haven’t seen the state of my hair yet. Or my undereyes.
“Rosa said that Daddy said that you helped him save the day last night, so you had to have a sleepover since you live so far away,” Leo babbles between bites of Fruity Pebbles. “Where do you live? In Jersey?”
I huff out a laugh, rubbing the sleep from my face. “Midtown, actually.”
“Really? It’s loud there. Do you like loud places?”
From the kitchen, a lightly accented voice floats in to interrupt lightly. “Leo, honey, why don’t you let your dad’s guest wake up a little bit before you begin the interrogation?”
“Inter-what?”
I laugh again. The nanny—Rosa—appears then. She’s a few years older than me, with dark hair and pretty eyes. Shockingly, I feel an unintentional flare of jealousy that this reasonably attractive woman gets to play such an important role in Evan’s life, but I quickly push it aside.
After all, there’s a wedding band on her left hand. She’s a friend of the family, I remember Evan explaining.
And anyway, if the three men who have stolen my heart can overcome the concept of jealousy, the least I can do is not jump to such ridiculous conclusions myself.
“You must be Lila,” she says. “I’m Rosa. Did you sleep okay?”
“I did, yeah. It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things about you.”
My mind replays the events of last night. The fire, the explosion, Hale and Noah, the panic that followed, the blissful shadows of Evan’s apartment, and then the tender sweetness of his thrusts while he made love to me in the dark.
I busy myself with folding the blanket in hopes that it will hide my blushing cheeks from the nanny.
Rosa murmurs something in Spanish to Leo, which must be a gentle command to eat his breakfast because he pouts cutely and shovels a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
“Evan had to leave about an hour ago,” she explains to me, switching back to English. “He seemed to be quite upset about something, actually.”
I freeze. “Upset?”
“He got a call, I think. Something about a meeting? Or a vote? He says the city council is up to something. That’s all he said, but he told me he wanted to let you sleep.”
I grab for my purse, marveling for only a handful of seconds over the fact that I managed not to lose it in the chaos of last night, and retrieve my phone.
Sure enough, I have an SOS message from Lou.
WAKE UP!!! BANKS CALLED AN EMERGENCY VOTE ON THE FUNDING!
I also have three missed calls from her, and it’s barely seven-thirty.
“Shoot,” I whisper. “I have to go.”
“You should have some cereal first,” Leo suggests sweetly.
Trying to keep my cool for his sake, I offer him a smile and pat the top of his head. “Thank you, sweetheart, but duty calls.”
With an apologetic smile for Rosa, I hurry toward the door.
The last thing I hear is Leo’s exasperated sigh and an adorably muttered, “Rosa, how come grown-ups never eat breakfast?”