Shonee’s POV
“Ouff!” I plopped down on the nearest bench. “Who knew going on every single ride would be so exhausting?”
Vincent chuckled then let out a grunt as he settled down beside me. “You think it’s exhausting but look, they still have the energy to keep going.”
Mirasol, Abbie, and Julia hightailed over to another bouncy castle.
“Oh, kids.” I shook my head.
Vincent laughed again. “It’s all good though.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mirasol this happy since the time Nancy and I took her to the Christmas fair in 2021.”
“Who’s Nancy?”
He hesitated, but after a moment’s hesitation, he turned to me and said, “Nancy is Mirasol’s mother. She died in a car accident two years ago.”
Guilt morphed into my system. “Oh, I am so sorry, Vincent. I shouldn’t have asked.” I remembered Jordin mentioning Vincent’s first wife during preparations for my nanny interview, but I had no idea her name was Nancy.
“No, no it’s fine.” He brushed my apology away. “You’ve been living with us for a while now, so it only makes sense that you should know about her.”
“What was she like then?” I asked, readjusting myself on the bench.
“Ambitious,” was the first word to leave Vincent’s mouth before it curled into a fond grin. “When she sets her mind on accomplishing something, she doesn’t stop till she gets it done and done well. It’s one of the things I loved about her, you know.” He clasped his hands. “When we got married, I honestly felt like we were the most powerful couple in the world. Business was booming, the company was thriving, my parents were proud, and then we had Mirasol. Everything was just perfect until…” he sighed, lowering his head.
“Until what?” I pressed, eager to hear the rest of his story.
“Until Nancy changed,” Vincent stared intently at the grass. “She took one trip out of town, and when she came back, it was like she was a completely different person. She’d skip out on work, and we’d spend weeks and days arguing about it; something we never used to do. It pissed me off so much that I started spending more time at work, doing what I could to keep the company afloat since Nancy wasn’t holding her weight anymore. It didn’t even occur to me to find out what was going on with my wife, I just… tuned her out like she didn’t matter.”
He clenched his fists. “Not long after, she had the car accident. Nancy was gone and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. My focus on work crumbled. I made bad decisions, investments and to top it all, money was going missing without any form of explanation. By the time I managed to get back on my feet and return to work, the damage was irreversible. I was in too deep and the only way I could get out of it was-”
“Signing a contract with Payne Travel and Tours,” I interjected, recalling that argument he and Avril had the other day. That was why he got upset and didn’t return home for months.
“And as if that wasn’t enough of a burden, Ricardo Payne had his own plans to use his daughter as leverage to tie the knot with one of the richest families in New York,” Vincent mumbled. “God knows how much I dislike Avril, but without this contract…Beckham Incorporated would be nothing but an empty office building. No employees, no assets…nothing.”
“Oh Vincent…I’m so sorry you’re going through all this.”
“You know,” He leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees. “Sometimes I think this is Nancy’s way of punishing me. If I’d given her more attention, if I’d at least made the effort to find out what was up with her…this wouldn’t be me and Mirasol wouldn’t have to live a life without her mother.” His voice cracked, and the emotion it carried pulled at my heartstrings.
“No, no, Vincent, look at me.” I scooted closer, grabbed his shoulders and turned him to me. The sight of brewing tears in his eyes made me even more determined to fix this. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened with Nancy, ok? You’re not a god, and you can’t tell when disaster is going to strike. Yes, it’s true that you should have checked up on her, but what happened was an honest mistake. Nancy knows that she knows how much you care about her, and that’s why she’ll never do anything like this to punish you. What you’re going through right now is just a phase, a challenge, a difficult moment in your life. And the good thing about stuff like that, is they always have an end. So, keep your chin up.” I tilted his face a little. “And keep going. Adopt Nancy’s ambitious behaviour and don’t let anyone stop you from bringing Beckham Incorporated back to its feet.”
There was a moment’s pause and Vincent stared at me in awe. “I didn’t know the nanny was one heck of a motivational speaker.”
“I try.” I chuckled, brushing away a stray tear on his cheek.
My thumb lingered, rubbing the smooth surface of his skin as I gazed into his eyes. I hadn’t even noticed the flecks of gold in the background, blending in with those coffee-brown irises of his. They were like magnets, pulling me closer and closer to him. I was just a hair’s breadth away when my eyes zoned in on his lips; those lips that pleasured me so well in my dreams, and because I was so eager to find out what it felt like in reality, I pressed my lips to his.
The kiss started slow and gentle, sending liquid warmth from my stomach to the inner core of my being. Everything else was forgotten. This was the only thing on my mind, the only thing I wanted to revel in. Vincent’s lips were soft and smooth like melting chocolate, and I found myself tilting his head for better access. My lips sought his in an even deeper kiss that stole our breaths until Vincent broke away, his warm hand wrapping my wrist. “Shonee?”
“Yeah,” I whispered breathlessly.
“We can’t do this.” Without a hint of hesitation, he dropped my hand and got up from the bench.
“Vincent, wait!” I called out, but he didn’t even pause to look behind him.
‘So much for being yourself,’ my subconscious remarked.
Dejected and confused, I plopped back down on the bench, running my hands through my hair. “What the fuck did I just do?”
*****
As the sun retired for the night, signalling the end of the fair’s activities, I called a driver from home to come pick us up.
I had spent the last sixty minutes walking, pacing back and forth, all in the name of figuring out what I was going to do now that I had kissed my boss!
I freaking kissed my boss!
As if my wet dreams weren’t enough, I had to do this to complicate my life even more.
Taking in a deep breath, I tried my best to calm myself down. “Ok Shonee, you got this. This is no big deal; it was just a kiss. Now all you have to do is keep avoiding him until this blows over and is long forgotten.”
‘Yeah right,’ My subconscious, ever the pessimist, snorted. ‘Good luck trying to do that when you both live in the same house.’
I quickly booted the comment out of my mind.
One of the drivers, Nick, came by with the car and Mirasol and I hopped in.
I thought of calling Jordin and telling her everything since she left after we went on the rides. But what was the point? She was just going to berate me for not taking her advice and putting myself in deeper shit.
I nervously chewed my nails.
‘What if Avril finds out?’ The thoughts ran wild in my head. ‘What if Vincent tells her? What if someone saw you guys and took a picture?’
My hand immediately dug out my phone from my pocket, searching all the gossip websites for clues. When my search emerged clean of anything Vincent-related, I let out a sigh of relief. Only God knows what would have happened if someone had seen us kissing.
“Shonee?” Mirasol called out. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah.” I immediately perked up. “I’m fine, I’m completely fine.”
“Great,” she smiled sweetly. “We need to figure out what we’re going to do for Daddy tomorrow.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Why do we need to do something for Daddy tomorrow?”
“Because it’s his birthday!”
Oh crap.