Page 10 of Knot Just Their Nanny
“Mia needs to get out for some fresh air.”
“Mia and I can go. You’re busy?—”
“We’ll all go.” His tone has gone back to the flat, almost order, and it makes me swallow back my annoyance that he doesn’t trust me with Mia. But I get it. He doesn’t want medisappearing with his child without him. Maybe one day when I’ve earned that trust, but that’s not today. Or tomorrow. Or probably even next month.
“Okay,” I agree with a soft smile. “Do you want to get the pram out? I’ll finish the salad to eat later and get Mia ready.”
He grunts in acknowledgement and goes back to whatever he is doing, leaving me standing there, trying not to think about how this short trip feels like some kind of bizarre outing.
Pushing thoughts of Eddie out of my mind for now, I head back to the kitchen to finish up lunch. I plate up the salad and some cold meats I find in the fridge and then head upstairs to get my shoes on, and a jumper, and maybe a jacket. Spring in the Lake District is decidedly chilly.
After bundling Mia up in her warmest clothes, we head down, my handbag swinging against my side as I hold Mia close. Stepping outside onto the driveway, I see Benjamin wrestling with the pram. He’s muttering to himself, and I let out a light chuckle. Who knew a pram could take down an alpha’s poise?
When he sees me standing there, trying not to laugh, he gives me a scathing glare. “This bloody thing,” he grumbles. “Designers of these need a good talking to.”
I grab the other side of the pram, and together, we unfold it with a satisfying click. Benjamin looks at me with an eyebrow raised. “You can do that one-handed? What are you? A pram master?”
Giggling stupidly, I brush my hair behind my ear. “Nope, just practised. This isn’t my first pram-deo.”
“Huh?” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Uhm. A play on rodeo…” I trail off, cheeks hotter than hellfire.
“Oh,” he says and gives me a charming smile that floors me completely. My stomach drops, and the omega inside me lights up like a fucking Christmas Tree. We stare at each other for a fewmoments before Mia gurgles happily in my arms. He hesitates only for a second more before taking her from me and securing her in the pram. She coos, pleased as punch to have both of our attention.
“Well then,” I say, clapping my hands together for lack of knowing what to do with them now Mia’s not in them. “Shall we?”
We set off down the road, past the identical-looking houses and then turn the opposite way to which I came in and down the lane that leads into the village. Against my better judgment, I steal a glance at Benjamin, pushing the pram. Now that he’s out of his usual environment, there’s a change in him. He seems less tense, more part of the world around him.
“So, will you be going to work tomorrow?” I ask, just to break the silence.
He falters for a moment and frowns. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“You can, you know. Mia and I will be fine.”
He stops on the narrow pavement and glares at me. “Look, Zara. I get that you mean well, but you’ve got to stop pushing me.”
“What?” I blurt out, surprised by the aggression. “I’m not pushing you anywhere. I’m only saying that you can go without worrying.”
“I’m still going to worry,” he snaps. “I will always worry. And I don’t need you making it worse by trying to shove me out of my own home and away from my daughter. Why are you doing that? Hmm?”
Staring wide-eyed, I fail to come up with an answer for him, which enrages him further. “That’s not what I’m doing,” I say softly. “But you need to be able to provide for your daughter, and that means keeping your job.”
His eyes practically burst into flame, and I wish the pavement would open up, swallow me and deposit me somewhere far, far away from the angry alpha.
“Oh, really,” he hisses. “How about you mind your own fucking business and leave me the hell alone?” He tries to turn on the pavement, but there is little space between the road and the hedge. He executes a dramatic four-point pram turn, getting angrier by the second before he marches back the way we came, leaving me on the pavement to stare after him in shock.
“Fuck,” I breathe out. “That went horribly wrong.”
Yeah, no shit, Zara.
I gaze after him, wondering if I should follow or stay the course and give him some time to cool down. That might give him the opportunity to lock me out of the house, though, and then I will have literally nothing but the clothes on my back and my car.
As if the universe is intervening, my phone buzzes again with the No Caller ID number, reminding me I need the new SIM card. Panic clawing my insides, I keep heading towards the shop, hoping I’ll find it without getting wildly lost in the countryside and that by the time I return, things with Benjamin will have simmered down. I clutch the phone tightly against my palm, fighting the urge to throw it into the nearest bush. It’s not the phone’s fault that my life is a mess, and it’s certainly not Benjamin’s fault either, even if he’s currently at the top of my shit list.
While walking briskly, my panic only grows as the phone doesn’t stop. A text message eventually comes through.
Pick up. We need to talk. You know you don’t want this.
