6. Nina
CHAPTER 6
NINA
T he suite Rashad had prepared for Nina was beautiful. She’d caught a glimpse of it earlier in the day, during the tour, but it looked even nicer now that she was feeling tired and dizzy. The large bed, made with crisp white sheets and bracketed by gauzy curtains, was especially appealing. Nina had pushed hard to enjoy her afternoon with the twins despite feeling unwell, but now all she wanted to do was sink into that soft white bed for a nice long rest. In the morning, she’d feel better. She had to.
Apart from the bed, the room was furnished with a mahogany writing desk and a wardrobe, as well as a small seating area with a couch and an armchair. The room’s picture window looked out over the now dark ocean and starry sky, with the lights of coastal cities flashing in the far distance. Kate and Miles immediately jumped onto the bed and began to roll around, giggling.
“All right, little monkeys.” Nina held out her arms and her twins leaped into them. “It’s time to start winding down for bed.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Miles protested.
“Me neither!”
Of course, Nina’s twins were in complete agreement when it came to bedtime — specifically, that neither of them liked it.
“I know, but if you get your teeth brushed and pajamas on, we can watch a little Paw Patrol in bed.”
Suddenly bouncing with excitement about toothbrushing and pajama-wearing, the twins hurried into the attached bathroom. Nina handed them their toothbrushes, then sat on the edge of the bathtub. She generally tried not to allow too much screen time, but an occasional episode of their favorite show was relaxing for everyone, Nina included.
While the twins brushed their teeth, Nina found her mind wandering to Rashad. He wasn’t quite what she’d expected. She’d arrived this morning ready to deal with a cutthroat businessman — and Rashad certainly was that. But he had also been considerate about the twins coming onboard, and willing to delay their meetings when he’d learned that Nina wasn’t feeling well. And he was still unbelievably attractive, even more so now that he was allowing himself to let his hard persona slide a little. Exchanging glances with him over dinner had made her heart flutter.
Nina knew that she couldn’t let her guard down, though. Rashad might be slightly kinder than she’d expected, but he was still planning to undercut her business in one way or another. She’d need to be on top of her game for their meeting tomorrow. Perhaps a few more episodes of Paw Patrol and some snacks would help the twins stay out of their way for the meeting.
Once Miles and Kate were ready for bed, Nina got the twins tucked in with an episode of their show. They’d spent the day playing, coloring, and swimming, so surely a little screen time now wouldn’t hurt. It was time for Nina’s screen time, too. She got out her laptop and spent fifteen minutes looking at documents and figures she might need for the next day’s meeting. She’d have liked more time, but exhaustion hit, and she closed the laptop before getting into bed with her twins. They snuggled in on either side, smelling like shampoo and the sweet scent of childhood. Without meaning to, Nina found her eyes growing heavy, and soon she was asleep.
“Mommy.” A small hand poked Nina in the ribs as a sweet, high-pitched voice repeated the word, louder this time. “Mommy!”
“Yes, honey?” Nina rolled onto her side, blinking against the bright light. Kate and Miles were sitting on either side of her, still in their pajamas with bedheads and huge smiles.
“Can we watch more Paw Patrol ?” Miles asked, bouncing slightly.
“Not right now, honey. We watched an episode just last night. How about you get dressed and use the bathroom? Then we can see about breakfast.”
Kate and Miles scampered towards the bathroom, and Nina pushed herself into a seated position. Immediately, her head began to spin, which was a bad sign. She had no idea how she was going to have her wits about her for the meeting with Rashad when she couldn’t even sit upright without feeling like she was going to keel over. Her dizziness and exhaustion were extremely frustrating. Nina never got sick, despite her hectic schedule of working and raising two preschoolers. Now she was sick, inarguably so, and it had come at the worst possible time. She was stuck on a boat with her two kids and her business rival, no babysitters or helpful neighbors in sight. Speaking of babysitters, perhaps she had the same illness as Amanda, whatever that was — or perhaps she was just seasick, as Rashad had suggested. Either way, her being under the weather was going to make things much harder.
Taking a deep breath, Nina pushed herself out of bed and teetered on her feet as another wave of dizziness hit her, this time accompanied by weakness. She picked her way to her suitcase, where she pulled out an outfit for each of her kids and something to wear herself — a simple skirt and top. When Kate and Miles came barreling back out of the bathroom, she handed them their outfits and went in to take a quick shower and get dressed.
“We’re hungry,” Miles announced when she reemerged. Miles often fell into the role of spokesman for both twins, especially when Kate was feeling tired or shy.
“I know, honey. Let’s find some breakfast.” Nina held out her hands automatically and the twins took them. Together, they walked out of the suite and down the hall towards the kitchen and dining area. Nina felt a little more alive after her warm shower, but she was still dragging.
“Are we going to swim again today?” Miles asked. “And watch Paw Patrol ?”
“I’m sure we’ll have time for both.” Although whether Nina would be able to stay upright long enough to monitor her kids in the pool was another question entirely.
“Are you okay, Mommy?” Kate asked. She looked up at her mother, her blue eyes wide and her small brow furrowed.
“Yes, honey, don’t worry. I’m just a little tired.”
“Maybe you need some coffee,” Kate suggested, her sweet voice excited. Nina chuckled at the suggestion.
“You know me so well, don’t you, Katie Pie?”
“Yes, Mommy.” Kate beamed.
The table where they’d had dinner yesterday was set with cereal and fruit, along with several bowls and a note from Rashad asking Nina to meet him around nine a.m. A glance at her watch showed they had about twenty minutes for breakfast before then. Hopefully, a little coffee and some food would help Nina feel well enough to go to the meeting.
The kids ate bowls of cereal with sliced bananas while Nina drank a cup of coffee and nibbled on an apple. When they were finished, she brought them to the meeting room, where Rashad was waiting. He closed his laptop when Nina entered with the twins.
“Good morning. How did you all sleep?”
“Good!” Miles said.
Nina smiled. “Well, thank you. I’ll get the twins set up with some coloring over here, and we can get started.” She’d save Paw Patrol for emergencies. Nina led her kids to a smaller table in the corner, where they got seated as she handed out coloring books, crayons, and headphones with their audiobook player. As she bent down to give Miles his coloring book, Nina’s head spun and she had to brace herself against the table.
“Are you all right?” Rashad asked from behind her. Nina straightened slowly.
“I’m fine, thank you.” After checking to make sure Kate and Miles had everything they needed, she crossed to Rashad’s table and sat across from him. Her head was still spinning.
“Are you sure?” Rashad leaned closer. “I hope you won’t be offended by me saying this, but you look a little pale.”
“I’ll be all right.” Nina tried a smile. “I think I’m just tired. Running a business and taking care of kids isn’t as easy as you might think.”
“I can imagine. If you’re sure you’re all right, we can begin.” Rashad slid the folder he’d had yesterday across the table to Nina. “If you need a break at any time, just let me know.”
“I will. Thanks.” Nina took the folder and began flipping through the documents. Apart from the research he’d mentioned yesterday on customer demographics, Rashad had information on her employees, her company’s history — even an approximation of her profits. Nina did her best to focus. Rashad had a lot of ammunition, and she couldn’t let her dizziness slow her down.
“All right. If you can tell me what your profits were last year, that would be a great start. I have an approximation here, but it’s hard to calculate since you aren’t publicly traded.”
Nina scoffed. “Right, like I’m just going to hand you that kind of information. How about we start with your company, and what you seek to gain from this meeting?” Nina looked down at the figures. “I see here that you’ve written, um…”
“Are you all right?” Rashad asked again.
“Yes…” The words seemed to dance across the page in front of her, little black specks in a conga line instead of useful information.
“Nina.” Rashad’s voice was gentler now, and she felt a hand on her forearm, warm and firm. “It’s clear that you aren’t. How about you go back to bed for a little while? If you’re just tired, that should fix things.”
“I need to watch Miles and Kate,” Nina said. The table looked so comfortable that she half wanted to lay her head down, just for a moment. She felt herself sway a little.
“I’ll look after them,” Rashad said. That jolted Nina out of her exhaustion. She was not going to let a professional nemesis look after her babies.
“It’s really fine. I’ll just have some water and I’ll be okay.”
But Kate and Miles must have overheard the conversation, because they slid out of their chairs and came over to join them.
“Mommy’s friend is gonna watch us?” Miles asked. He turned to Rashad and looked up at him with wide blue eyes. “Can we drive the boat?”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Rashad smiled down at Miles. He appeared sincere, but that wasn’t enough for Nina to leave her kids with him. He hardly seemed like the kind of guy who’d spent a lot of time babysitting nieces and nephews or volunteering at the local preschool. There was every chance that he knew nothing about kids and had no idea what he was signing up for.
“Cool,” Kate said in a low voice. “I want to drive the boat, too.”
“We can all take a turn.” Rashad smiled at Kate then looked up at Nina. “Please, take an hour or two to rest. The three of us will be fine.”
“I really couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t ask. I’m offering.”
Nina hesitated. She didn’t want to feel like she owed Rashad anything, nor did she want to leave the twins with an inexperienced babysitter. Yet she also felt so dizzy she wasn’t sure she could stand, and a pounding headache had joined the fray. Nina was in no condition to hold a business meeting or even play with the twins until she had a little more sleep and some fluids.
“It’s okay, Mommy,” Kate said, taking Nina’s hand. “You can drive the boat later.”
Nina and Rashad’s eyes met, and they shared a smile, then Nina sighed.
“Okay. If you’re sure. But I’ll only sleep for an hour, and if you need anything at all, just come and wake me up.”
“I will, but I won’t.” Rashad urged her to her feet and towards the hallway that led back to her room.
“Kate doesn’t like food that isn’t the right temperature,” Nina said, already feeling groggy. “Like warm ice cream or cold French fries.”
“No one likes warm ice cream or cold French fries.” Rashad and the twins led Nina towards her room. “It’ll be okay.”
“And Miles will say that he’s had enough water, but he doesn’t always remember to drink,” Nina continued.
“I drink,” Miles said, his tone offended.
“I know, honey, just not always enough.” They arrived outside the rooms Nina had shared with the twins the night before, and Rashad opened the door. “If you have any questions?—”
“I’ll come straight to you. I promise.” Rashad smiled, not the slippery, ulterior-motive smile he’d worn at the event where they’d met or the nonplussed one he’d had when he’d first seen the twins, but a real smile. “Rest now.”
“All right.” Nina crawled into bed, barely able to savor the soft, fresh-smelling sheets or the way the boat rocked her gently before darkness enclosed her and she was asleep. Her last thought before slipping into dreamland was that she should have mentioned to Rashad not to play Uno, no matter how much the twins asked, unless he wanted a riot on his hands…