Chapter 8
NINA
Nina and Jack were just sitting down to dinner — pasta with pesto, one of Jack’s favorites — when Nina heard the door open. She was surprised, as it seemed early for Theo to be home, but she smiled when he appeared in the doorway. He could be arrogant and frustrating, but he’d been great today.
“Can I join you?”
“Of course.” Nina got up and set another place at the table. “The food isn’t very fancy, but it tastes good.”
“I bet. How was the aquarium?” Theo sat across from Jack and took the plate from Nina. “Thanks.”
“It was so cool!” Jack launched into an enthusiastic description of each of the animals he’d seen, from the tiny seahorses to the curious sea lions.
All this was accompanied by lots of gestures and excited bouncing.
Nina smiled as she listened to him, and when he was finished, she reminded him gently not to forget his dinner.
“How was your afternoon?” Nina asked Theo as Jack went back to eating his pasta.
“Not as exciting as getting to touch a stingray,” Theo said with a wink for Jack. “But it was good. Productive.”
“Have you heard anything from the school?” Nina asked.
“Not yet. But that’s okay; I wouldn’t expect to hear back this soon. I’m sure they’ll call in good time.”
Just then, Theo’s phone began to ring. They exchanged wide-eyed glances, but when Theo answered, he shook his head. “Work,” he mouthed. He paused, listening to someone speaking on the other end.
“Yes, that’s why we picked that contractor.” He paused. “No, listen — just because you’ve had one issue with the servers doesn’t mean we need to re-evaluate everything.” He turned to Nina. “Just a second.” Then he stood and left.
“He’s really busy,” Jack said into his plate.
“He is,” Nina agreed.
“He must have a really important job.”
“That’s true. But remember, work isn’t the only important thing in life, okay?”
“Okay,” Jack looked up at Nina. “Is he really a supervillain?”
Nina laughed. “No. I promise he isn’t. He has a different job.”
A few minutes later, Theo returned and sat again.
“Sorry about that.”
“What happened?”
He shook his head and took a bite of pasta. “Nothing. Just the usual inconveniences.”
“It seems like you still have a lot of work to do,” Nina said. “Do you usually come home at this time?”
“Not usually, but I…” Theo shook his head. “I figured I’d work in my home office tonight. Fewer distractions.”
“That makes sense.” Nina tried not to feel hurt.
She’d half thought that Theo might have come home earlier to see her and Jack, but of course, it made more sense that he just thought he’d do better work at home.
She’d seen his home office, with its giant desk and ergonomic chair and shelves of books.
She understood why he’d want to work there.
After dinner, Nina washed the dishes, and Jack helped her dry. They were on the last few plates when her phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Anita. She showed her phone to Theo, who was packing up leftovers in a plastic container, and he nodded encouragingly. She answered.
“Hello. This is Nina Thompson.”
“Good evening, this is Anita from Holyoke Academy. We spoke earlier today about admission for your son, Jack.”
Nina’s heart began to race. For her, it all came down to this. A good education for Jack was a huge part of the reason she’d agreed to any of this. Well, and the money Theo was offering didn’t hurt, either.
“Of course,” she said. “Thanks for calling, Anita.”
Theo stood beside her, still holding the container of pasta in both hands. He looked nervous too, for the first time all day.
“It was great meeting you and your family today,” Anita said.
“As I told you, it’s less common for us to accept a new student mid-term, but Jack really impressed us.
So, we’d like to invite him to enroll, starting as soon as possible.
The good news is that most of the school welcome events actually happen in early October, and the kids have only just started classes, so Jack should settle in well. ”
Happiness flooded Nina, making it hard to stand. She gripped the counter.
“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much.”
“Please come in tomorrow to fill out some paperwork and get a tour. Then Jack can have his first official day on Wednesday.”
“Of course. We will. Thank you so much, Anita. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Nina hung up and turned to Theo, bouncing with excitement. “We did it! He’s in!”
Theo grinned broadly. “Excellent.”
He held out one hand. Nina had just started to go for a hug — she was a hugger with all her friends — but quickly changed the movement into a stilted high five.
They both looked away, awkwardness flooding Nina.
Why had she gone for a high five? They weren’t Jack’s age. She turned to Jack to break the moment.
“You’re going to start at a new school,” she told him. “Isn’t that great?”
“Are the teachers nice?” Jack asked. “And the kids?”
“Yes,” Nina replied, though she had no way of knowing. “We’ll go tomorrow and meet everyone. What do you say?”
“Yay,” Jack said happily. He and Nina finished up the dishes while Theo disappeared, probably off to work again. Nina tried not to feel disappointed by that, either. It was better that he left them alone.
She and Jack spent the evening playing a board game, doing bathtime, and putting Jack to bed with a stack of stories. He was easier to settle now and didn’t complain about the big bed or the weird smell anymore. Jack was getting used to all this.
Nina was, too.
Once Jack was asleep, she padded back downstairs, intending to get a glass of water and do a little work. She’d prioritized interview prep and settling into Theo’s house the last few days, so she hadn’t gotten much done.
Nina was surprised to see Theo sitting in the living room with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He turned when she came down the stairs.
“I thought we could celebrate.” He nodded to the champagne. “This is a big moment for both of us.”
“That sounds great.” Nina grinned as she came the rest of the way down the stairs. She joined Theo on the couch, leaving the center cushion free between them. A little space was good. It would keep her from offering any more weird high fives.
Theo opened the bottle with the expert twist of someone who was no stranger to expensive alcohol and poured them each a glass. They toasted each other, then took a sip. The drink was cool and bubbly, and the alcohol went straight to Nina’s head.
“Is Jack excited?” Theo asked, setting his glass down.
“A little,” Nina said. “I think he’s nervous, too.” She put her glass down too.
Theo nodded. “I get that. New schools can be scary, especially since he’s joining a little late. But I read that there’s a welcome brunch this weekend for parents and kids to get to know each other. Maybe that’ll help.”
“Maybe,” Nina agreed. “And it’ll give you a chance to network.”
Theo raised his glass to her. “True.”
“Have you ever done anything like this before?” Nina sat back on the couch, tucking her leg beneath her.
“Like what?”
“Like having some strangers pose as your family members to land a deal.”
Theo chuckled. “No, this is definitely unusual, even for me. But I have gone to great lengths to land deals before.”
“Give me an example.”
“I once agreed to judge a corgi beauty pageant, because a potential client loved corgis — and one thing led to another.”
Nina burst into laughter. “Okay, that’s pretty funny. What did you have to do as the judge?”
“Well, I had to judge a race, a talent competition, an agility course, and the overall grooming of the dogs.” Theo raised his brows at her. “The agility course was particularly amusing, because corgis have such short legs and aren’t especially agile.”
Nina smiled at the thought of one of the long, short-legged dogs dodging between cones or jumping over obstacles. “Do you like dogs?”
“Not particularly.”
She giggled again. “So, your shmoozing has gotten you into trouble before.”
“Not really. That time, I spent one very unusual day with a bunch of very long dogs, and then I landed the client I’d been chasing. And I gained a new appreciation for corgis. They are pretty cute.”
“Aha.” Nina raised her glass to him. “There’s that arrogance.”
“Arrogance? Because I said corgis are cute?”
“No, because you refuse to admit that schmoozing can ever lead to trouble.”
“Mine doesn’t. It isn’t arrogance if you know you’re right.” Theo grinned, but Nina shook her head.
“When I first saw you, I thought, there’s one arrogant guy. Things just come easily to him.”
“Well, that isn’t true,” Theo protested. “I’ve had to work hard. Building a company like Epsilon isn’t something you can do in a day.”
“Like Rome.”
“Exactly.”
Nina nodded. “I’m not saying you haven’t worked hard. But you’ve gotten to a point in your life, if you weren’t already there, where all your problems have solutions.”
“All problems do have solutions.”
“Not really. For instance, if I wanted to have a better life for Jack, I needed to work more hours, which meant less time with Jack and more time that he was on his own. That was always an impossible choice. And if I wanted to spend more time with Jack, reading to him and playing with him and all those things that create a rich childhood, that meant less time working and more chance of not being able to pay the rent.”
“There is a solution to that,” Theo said. Nina bristled, but he hurried on. “I mean, get a rich guy to hire you to pose as his wife and kid.”
Nina’s annoyance washed away as she laughed again. “True. But I don’t think that’s a replicable solution.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the right one in this case.”
“Hmm.” They sat in relatively companionable silence for a few minutes, sipping their champagne.
“Have you gotten over the loss of your precious artwork?” Nina asked once the silence had stretched too long.
Theo shook his head. “Never. I visit it in the closet often and yearn for the day we’ll be reunited.”
Nina paused, brows furrowed. “Are you making a joke?”
“Clearly.”
“You aren’t very good at it.” She sipped her champagne again. “You should say just kidding so people know it’s a joke.”
“Wow.” Theo shook his head, but he was smiling. “So rude, Nina Thompson. And I’m not kidding.”
“That’s me.” She winked. “Rude, through and through. Seriously, though, how do you like the updated décor?”
Theo looked around and shrugged. “It’s nice. But it just doesn’t feel like me.”
Nina shrugged. “I think the family thing suits you. More than you think, at least. Maybe someday you’ll actually try to have a real family, instead of just borrowing one.”
“Very rude,” Theo said. “But honestly, no. I won’t. Epsilon is my baby. I’ll always prioritize work over my personal life, which wouldn’t be fair to my hypothetical real family. I appreciate you and Jack stepping in, but for me, this is the closest it’ll ever get to real.”
He spoke casually, without a hint of sadness, but Nina’s heart still fluttered. How sad that a couple of strangers were the closest thing he would ever have to a real family. Jack made her life more complicated, but he also gave her life so much meaning.
“We’ll have to make the fake family really real, then,” she said. “Let’s do all the family things. Zoo outings and Sunday pancakes and movie nights and all that.”
She expected Theo to say no and to argue that he would be too busy with work for any of that, but he shrugged.
“That actually sounds fun.”
“Ha!” Nina beamed. “I knew you had a fun side under all that arrogant exterior.”
“And the barbs just keep coming.” Theo shook his head in faux hurt and topped up their champagne glasses.
“You can throw one back,” Nina said. “Throw a barb? Hmm. That doesn’t quite sound right. But I mean, you can tell me something you’ve been thinking about me. Even if it isn’t flattering.”
“I’m impressed with you,” Theo said plainly. “I have been from the moment we met. You clearly care about Jack so much, and you’re making the best of a truly impossible situation. That’s kind of amazing.”
Nina blushed. “I thought you’d say something mean.”
“Why would I?” Theo smiled and sipped his champagne. “You’ve been great. Smart, thoughtful, creative — all that.”
It was the first time Theo had said anything like this, and Nina wasn’t sure how to respond.
Her cheeks were warm, and her heart was beating fast. It had been easier when he’d just been an arrogant jerk who’d asked why she didn’t send Jack to a better school.
Now… well, now she saw the strong lines of his jaw and the dusting of a five o’clock shadow.
She smelled his faint masculine perfume.
And she was somehow sitting right next to him on the couch, so close that she could easily reach out and run her fingers through his sandy hair.
Which of them had moved closer? And when?
Nina blinked as she slammed back into the present.
She shouldn’t be thinking about touching Theo’s hair or leaning in to kiss him.
He was the same arrogant jerk he’d always been.
And he’d just admitted that he had no time for a real family.
Most importantly, she was here because of Jack, to do what was right for her son, not because of herself.
“I’d better head to bed,” she said abruptly. Theo looked surprised, but he nodded.
“Sure. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”
“Exactly.” But the busy day tomorrow wasn’t the reason Nina was fleeing.
The real reason was that the champagne had made her feel warm and relaxed, and Theo was sounding more and more like a real person and less and less like a stuck-up jerk.
She bade him goodnight and hurried upstairs, not looking back.
She would need to be careful. This arrangement was complicated enough without wanting to kiss Theo.
Hopefully, tomorrow, he’d go back to being arrogant and distant, and she’d forget all about her fleeting feelings for him.