Page 41 of Knot Just Their Nanny
Chapter 24
Zara
Ihear Ben coming down the stairs. Liam has just left with a big suitcase but didn’t say where he was going. I wonder if he’s moving back out, but he didn’t really give me or Henry the chance to ask.
Feeling the tension rolling off me like waves, I try to focus on something else—anything to distract me from the tight ball of anxiety in my gut. As I hear Ben’s footsteps descending, memories of that purr, his growl and the heat that followed flood back, taunting me with sensations I didn’t even know I could feel, is eating away at me. It was wrong on so many levels, it’s making my head spin. The thought of a spinning head, makes the lump throb again and I stifle my groan.
Henry casts a glance at me, raising his eyebrow. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” I mutter as Ben strides into the lounge where I’m laid out on the couch and Henry is in the armchair nearby flicking through a TV magazine. Slowly, I lift my gaze and lock eyes with Ben.
His eyes are a stormy blue, the kind that looks like they’ve seen too much and yet are always searching for something more. His gaze lingers on me longer than necessary, and I can feelthe weight of his thoughts, but he breaks away first, clearing his throat.
“Everything okay upstairs?” Henry asks, breaking the silence. His voice is casual but there’s an undercurrent of concern; we’ve all been feeling the strain lately.
Ben nods, making his way to the other armchair, opposite mine. “Mia’s sleeping. Her fever is down a bit.”
“That’s good to hear,” I reply, trying to inject some warmth into my voice despite the awkwardness lingering in the air. “I’ll go up in a bit and try to feed her.”
“Liam managed,” Ben croaks out. “He’s got the Midas touch.”
“Oh, nice,” I murmur, wishing I’d seen that.
We both know we’re skirting around what happened earlier. That purr. The growl. The reaction it sparked in him was unmistakable, and now that I’m over the shock of banging my head so badly, I know slick is dampening my pussy even just looking at him now.
“So, was that her stuff Liam took?” Henry sets down the magazine now, looking over at Ben with a gaze that I want to say is hard, but is difficult to tell.
“Yeah,” Ben says gruffly. “It’s done.” There’s finality in his voice that tells me he doesn’t want to dig deeper into the topic.
Henry nods knowingly as I process that information. He’s only just got rid of her stuff? Why now? What does that mean? Did it have anything to do with me? Fuck. Fuck.
I’m brought out of my spiral by Henry rising and he claps Ben on the shoulder. “Right, I’m going to make us some tea. Zara?”
I nod at Henry. “Please.”
The moment Henry leaves the room, the atmosphere shifts again; it’s like we’re both holding our breaths without quite knowing why.
“Zara...” Ben starts, his voice trailing off as though he’s about to say something he might regret. He clears his throat, giving me a look that’s filled with confusion, hesitation, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. Then his gaze moves up and he finally sees the bump on my head.
“Shit,” he says and moves forward, leaning over the back of the couch to get a better look. “Are you okay? Was that the door?”
“Yes, and yes,” I reply with a reassuring smile, glad we are skirting around the other issue. I have literally no idea where to even start with that.
“Shit,” he says again and then reaches out to lightly brush my hair away from the bump, his touch sending a blazing trail of heat all through my body. I gulp at the soft touch, and my insides turn to liquid.
Then, I freeze.
He steps back, sensing the sudden frosty atmosphere, but it’s not him. It’s me. This bruise on my head is worse than what I would’ve expected. At least for this time of the season.
I gulp and slump down further into the couch. I always bruise more easily the closer I get to my heat. During my heat, I’m as delicate as a peach, but it’s unusual for me to react so badly to, an admittedly hard, bump to the head. What does this mean now? Am I going into my heat early? Is Liam’s presence messing with my seasons? Is, dare I think it, Ben?
Fuck. Fuck.
“I’ll be upstairs with Mia,” I blurt out and dart off the couch, aiming for the stairs before Ben has even uttered a word.
“Oh, okay,” I hear him call out as I hit the top and I breathe out, leaning against the wall.
“What is going on?” I mutter and then jump as my phone buzzes in my back pocket of my jeans. Dragging it out, I stare at it with a frown.
