His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 20

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…”

I looked around confusedly, not knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to herself and the sounds of her digging through something. “Hmm… Too big… Too showy… Aha!”

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

“Here,” she said, holding it out to me. “The green will complement your complexion and your hair.”

I took the dress. It felt like a light cotton material, perfect for the summer heat, but appeared luxurious.

“Thank you,” I said, holding the dress up to myself and turning to look in the hallway mirror. “Does this belong to one of the maids?”

“It was mine when I was your age, actually,” Selina said, taking me by surprise. When I looked at her, I noticed that her aging cheeks were a bit red and she quickly averted her gaze. “I haven’t worn it in years. You can keep it.”

Once again, I was taken aback by the grumpy old housekeeper’s kindness. For a moment, I imagined her as a young woman wearing this dress, and pictured her as being a beautiful young girl.

I put on the dress in my room. It fit like 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 appropriate for a nanny, it was still a bit s*xy and showed off my curves, and I was surprised that Selina would pick it for me.

Next, Amy and Lily came into my room. They curled my hair and then pulled it back into a half-bun before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red lipstick that made me feel attractive. Once they were finished, I felt like an entirely new person.

Edrick 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 as quickly as it began, however, it was over. Edrick looked away, returning to his usual aloof self, and got into the car.

The house where the party was held was a palace. It had hundreds of 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 must have been for them to need such a massive home.