𝑻 𝑯 𝑬 𝑵 𝑨 𝑵 𝑵 𝒀 (18+)

twenty-three

AMARA

Dominic had the neatest bathroom I'd ever seen in my life. I'd been in here before but usually after Josh had ripped through it in the morning with absolutely no remorse. I sat my stuff down, plugging in my blow dryer before searching around for the hair oil I'd realized I'd forgotten. Cursing to myself, I twisted the door knob open and peeked my head out to see where Dominic was. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, the tv remote in his hand as he scratched at his head and flipped through the channels. He'd been really embracing the beard over the last few weeks—it was full and he kept it trimmed and combed through. Nice. He looked nice.

"Sorry," I rushed out as I exited the bathroom. He gave me a side glance before smiling and shook his head, "Too exhausted to tell you to knock that off."

I rolled my eyes, jogging down the dark hallway to my room to grab my oil and a few extra clips. I wanted to be done with this as soon as possible to avoid being in his room longer than I should've. I wasn't uncomfortable but we'd gotten closer than I expected over the last few weeks and I had no fucking clue what to do with the impending feelings that came with being Dominic Gray's friend. They were hardly romantic but still, I couldn't ignore the flutter in my stomach when it was just the two of us alone.

Maybe we'd gotten too close for comfort. The hugs, the playing around in the pool, and the fact that I was in his bathroom doing my hair at one in the morning were all clear signs that one of us should've stopped. One of us should've reminded the other that I was his nanny and he was my boss and he didn't need to buy me new cars or pay off my debts when it wasn't his responsibility. He didn't have to check on me when he came home from work or listen to me complain about my shitty ex-boyfriend because it wasn't a part of the job. Doing anything other than what I needed to do just made things more complicated than they needed to be.

The last thing I needed in my life was more complications.

"All finished?" Dominic looked over at me with a smile. I felt my hair to make sure it was dry all the way through and nodded, "Finally. Thank you again for letting me use your bathroom."

"Anytime, why'd you wait so late anyways?" He motioned for me to take a seat next to him and I did. "Josh and Jamie gave me a hard time tonight so they went to sleep a little later than usual. I couldn't do it the other day and I was ashamed of going so long without washing my hair after being in the pool."

He nodded along as I talked, eyes darting around my face with focus. "You know, Olivia would be more than happy to look over them for a little while you do the things you have to get done. I appreciate you putting the boys first, but I don't want you to neglect yourself either."

Always giving me that annoying buzz in my stomach, "I know and I would if they'd give me the grace. The only time I can get away from them is when they go to sleep. By the way, someone's mom called for you. She wanted to know if the boys can have a playdate soon. I think her name was Gina?"

"Ah yes," he pulled at his facial hair and hummed, "Gina has boys around Josh and Jamie's age. She has three kids actually, her oldest is seventeen and she's babysat for me a few times when I've been in a pinch. Did she say when she'd like them to come over or vice versa?"

"No," I answered, "she just wanted me to pass on the info and for you to give her a call when you could." I didn't mind it really but I was not looking forward to the possibility of any playdates at Dominic's house. I only got paid to watch two kids, four was just overboard.

"I see," Dominic pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his calendar, "I'll give her a call. If the kids happen to come here I'll pay you extra for the added supervision. Like I said Olivia is also always more than willing to help but I'd still like to give you a bonus for your time."