Page 13 of Knot Just Their Nanny
I sigh, the sound more defeated than I intend it to be. “Yeah, alright.” It’s barely above a whisper because pride is a stubborn bastard, and admitting I need the help feels like admitting defeat.
Zara doesn’t gloat or offer platitudes. She just nods, her attention already back on Mia as she continues to hum softly.
Heading back downstairs, I try to focus on the work that needs doing. Emails, project updates, plans that need reviewing, but the idea that Idoneed to go back into work tomorrow gnaws at my insides.
Before I chicken out, I shoot a quick text to Alan, the boss, so there can be no backing out. He will sack me if I backtrack now.
I’m interrupted by Zara’s appearance, gentle and unobtrusive.
“Mia’s asleep,” she says quietly.
“Thanks,” I reply with a gruffness that isn’t quite as pronounced now.
“We make a good team,” she ventures cautiously.
I couldn’t agree more, but the words get stuck in my throat. If I admit them and she leaves Mia, leavesme, it will gut me completely. So, it’s better to hold her at arm’s length and try to place some trust in her to do the job she was hired to do.
Chapter 8
Zara
Groggily, I open my eyes, having slept in the armchair again to make sure Mia was comforted and felt safe and secure. I stretch and check the phone, still resting on the arm from where I placed it last night when I came back up after dinner. It’s early morning, but not the crack of dawn. Leaping up, I glance around and hear the sounds of someone moving around the kitchen.
Heading down, pulling a hair tie from my pjs pocket, I scrape my hair back into a messy bun and enter the kitchen to see Benjamin making coffee.
I knew it! The bastard.
“Coffee?” he asks with a smirk, knowing he’s busted.
“I’ll have tea,” I reply, just to be obtuse.
He snorts. “Okay, well, you know the drill with tea.”
Narrowing my eyes, I set about making a cuppa as he moves on to the toaster.
“I’ll be going in today,” he says casually. “Maybe half a day. See how it goes.”
I nod encouragingly. “Good stuff. We’ll be here happy and safe when you get back.”
He gives me a look that screams we’d better be, or there’s going to be a storm raining down shit on my head from a dizzy height. I give him a bright smile that he scowls at. He is not a morning person.
Scratch that. He isn’t an any time of day person.
“I would appreciate it if you let me know before you take her out. The garden is fine, obviously, but you know, for a walk.”
“Of course.”
“All the numbers are on the fridge.” He points it out. “My mobile, the office, my parents and their work, Henry, Liam, the doctors, the nearest hospital, which is an hour away, so you know, anticipate, and 999.”
“Anticipate?” How in the fuck am I supposed to do that? Buy a crystal ball?
He grunts.
“I changed my number. I’ve texted it to you and your parents.”
“Yes, I saw. Why is that?”
The question is innocent enough, but I don’t want to answer it, so I shrug. “Fresh start and all that.”
