Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

Nanny and the Alpha Daddy
#Chapter 20: The Banquet
Moana

The day of the Morgan family dinner banquet finally came. Selina informed me that anyone attending these banquets was expected to dress formally, so I found a nice, dark blue dress with bows in Ella’s closet and dressed her up with cute socks and shoes, then curled her hair and put a big bow in it. She seemed to have completely forgotten Kelly’s rude comments at the luncheon the week before, and if she didn’t forget, she at least didn’t seem to let it bother her.

“Wow! My hair’s so curly!” Ella said, bobbing her head to make her curls bounce. “Thank you, Moana!”

I smiled at the little girl in the mirror and squeezed her shoulders. All of a sudden, her gaze slipped over to my outfit, and her smile faded.

“Are you going to dress up?” she asked.

I looked down at my own outfit with a slight frown. I had chosen the nicest clothes I owned that were also appropriate for a nanny at a family gathering: a simple dress, low heeled shoes, and no jewelry so as not to stand out too much. I thought I looked perfectly fine for my status, but now that Ella pointed it out, I felt incredibly plain.

“Oh… I’m just wearing this,” I said with a shrug.

“Nonsense.”

I looked up to see Selina standing in the doorway. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she looked at me, shaking her head with her arms folded across her chest.

“Is this inappropriate?” I asked Selina, stepping away from Ella to show my full outfit.

Selina sighed. “It’s fine, but you can wear something a little nicer. You’re a pretty girl, but it makes you look homely.”

I blushed at the housekeeper’s sudden kind words. She had never mentioned my appearance before, save for the night of the interview. She seemed a bit shocked, herself, when she finished speaking, and both of our faces turned a slight tinge of red.

“Come,” she said, quickly turning on her heel. “We’ll take care of this. Hurry up! You haven’t got all day.”

With that, Selina disappeared down the hall. I jogged after her, ignoring Ella’s giggles.

“Now, let’s see…”

knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to herself

suddenly emerged from a large closet in the hallway holding a long dress. It was a dark emerald green color and had short flutter

holding it out to me. “The green will

like a light cotton material, perfect for the summer heat, but

holding the dress up to myself and turning to look in the hallway mirror. “Does

I was your age, actually,” Selina said, taking me by surprise. When I looked at her, I noticed that her aging cheeks

old housekeeper’s kindness. For a moment, I imagined her as a young woman wearing

a glove, and Selina was right — it suited my coloring perfectly, and brought out the green in my eyes. Although it was a dress that was

hair and then pulled it back into a half-bun before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red

was waiting in the lobby downstairs, so Ella and I quickly took the elevator down once I was ready. As the elevator doors opened and I emerged with Ella’s hand in mine, Edrick’s eyes became transfixed on me for a fleeting moment. I felt my heart pulse suddenly as he looked at me, and for a brief moment, I felt Mina’s presence inside of me, as though the way he looked at me made my wolf stir. Just

rooms, countless staff, and dozens of garden courtyards with fountains and marble sculptures. As we entered the foyer, I couldn’t help but feel out of place in such an expensive mansion, and wondered to myself how huge the Morgan family

cousins who all doted on her, and who also

“Come here, Ella.”

the rest. I looked up to see an older man standing beside Verona; judging from the steely gray

“Hello, Grandpa.”

Verona’s other side, just as I had worried, stood Kelly — and the way that her eyes widened when she saw me told me all that I needed

began, and I found myself seated between Ella and Kelly. Across from me sat Edrick and Verona, with Edrick’s father — I discovered his name was Michael — sitting at the closest end of the long banquet table.

my ear, making a face at

responded with a gentle smile.

swirled her wine around in

was taken aback by the curt question and didn’t

“I’m so glad you were able to come. Aren’t you, dear?” she said, turning to her

up and down for several painfully long moments before swallowing. “Hmph,” he said, before promptly turning toward Edrick. “Edrick,