Page 58 of Knot Just Their Nanny
We slip through a door labelled ‘Conference Room B’, shutting out the clamour of the office behind us. The room is stark, just a long table and chairs, but it’s private. Ben gestures towards a chair, his eyes questioning as he sits across from me.
“Everything alright, Henry?”
I shuffle my feet, the carpet beneath somehow too solid and too flimsy all at once. “Look, Ben. I’m going to be frank. Your situation is not good. There are no places to cut back, and even with Liam helping out, it’s a lot. You know? With Mia and Zara.”
He frowns and crosses his arms, perching on the edge of the table. “Yeah, I figured.” He heaves a sigh. “So what do I do?”
“Make it a three-income household.”
“Huh?” His frown deepens. “You mean, you?”
“Yep.”
He’s quiet for a beat, considering, and I hold my breath. He’s not dismissing it out of hand, which has to be a good sign. There’s a flicker of something like relief in his eyes, but it’s gone before I can be sure.
“You sure about this?” He searches my eyes.
“Very sure. I’ve put out feelers for the house, and the estate agent already has a queue of people gagging to get into the area. I can rent it out in no time.”
“But what about, you know?” He knows I’m thinking about the future, but what he doesn’t know is that I want that future to be with Zara. If she decides she wants me, and even if she wants Liam or Ben, or both, or even some rando I don’t know, I don’t care. I just want her to want me.
“The future?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m focusing on the present right now.”
“I hate that it’s come to this,” he groans. “Maybe I should move?”
“That is an expense you simply cannot afford right now. As easy as it sounds and as tempting as it sounds to release some of your income back to yourself, it’s not as cut and dried as that.”
“Figured.”
“So, is that a yes?”
“Yeah,” he grins. “Thanks, Henry. You and Liam are…” He chokes up, and I blink back the sudden tears.
“Don’t be a pillock. We’re friends, more than that. We’re family.”
“Yeah, we are,” he says. “So, when were you thinking of moving in? Zara panicked when Liam moved in, so maybe we need to give her notice?”
“Today,” I say with a shrug, not eager to drag this out while Liam gets closer to Zara. “She’ll be fine. I love to clean, I’m tidy as fuck, plus I can cook. She’ll be happy I’m there,” I say with a snort.
Ben chuckles. “Well, if you’re so sure, you can be the one to tell her.”
“Ohh, big bad alpha scared of the tiny omega nanny.”
“Hey, she is fierce. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” he snickers.
Going mock-serious, I chew my lip. “Maybe I’ll just slip into the household, and she won’t even notice I’ve actually moved in.”
“You could… if you think that will work,” Ben says, shaking his head, still smiling. He rises and slaps his hand on my shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you back at home.”
“You’ll tell Liam?” I ask. “I didn’t see him out there.”
“He had to go do a visit. Yeah, I’ll tell him.”
Nodding, we leave the office and part ways. I can already see Ben’s shoulders a little lighter. He isn’t as defeated as he looked earlier. I’m glad that I made that happen, and I know this will work out. Zara is just the icing on the cake.
