Page 69 of Knot Just Their Nanny
I don’t even really know how to process the fact that he has basically duped me into letting him stay here so he could move in on Zara. I know I’m being unfair and ungrateful. Henry and Liam are both doing me a massive favour that I wouldn’t even have asked, and yet they offered. I shouldn’t be such a cock about it. Zara isn’t mine, so she is free to do whatever she likes with whoever she likes.
I watch him leave, his shoulders squared in determination, or maybe it’s resignation – it’s hard to tell sometimes with Henry. Meanwhile, Mia finishes her bottle, and Liam entertains her with peek-a-boo with a muslin square, completely at ease despite the emotional tornado he’s just casually stirred up.
Mia gurgles happily, and I’m momentarily distracted by the pure joy on her face. It’s infectious, and for a fraction of a second, I forget the havoc of our lives. But then it all comes flooding back.
I shake my head; it’s too much to deal with right now. “How can you be so calm about this?” I ask, turning to Liam, who’s now got Mia over his shoulder to burp her.
Liam shrugs, “Life’s too short to get worked up over things you can’t change. Besides, Zara makes me happy. And if she’s happy with Henry, or you, or all of us, then that’s what counts. We’re all adults. We can make this work if we want to.”
I know he’s right in theory, but it doesn’t stop my gut from twisting into knots – and not the good kind. Still, looking at him being so effective with Mia, so unfazed by everything, a part of me starts wondering if maybe I’m the one making this more complicated than it has to be.
Chapter 38
Henry
Istep out of the room, pulling the door shut behind me, feeling like I’m walking on a tightrope with no safety net below. Liam’s words ring in my ears, ‘shit or get off the pot.’ Charming. But he isn’t wrong.
As I head slowly to the kitchen, each step feels heavier than the last. It’s like I’m carrying the weight of this whole mess on my shoulders. What am I going to say to Zara without scaring her away?
Hesitating when I reach the open doorway, my heart pounds so hard I can practically hear it in my ears. This isn’t just about sex or heats or ruts; this is about something more, something deeper, and it scares the living daylights out of me because it’s so sudden. But I don’t just want her for now—I want her for all the times to come, good and bad.
Taking a deep breath, I finally step through the door.
Zara’s sitting on a stool staring out of the window, a mug of tea in her hands. She looks up at me with those big eyes of hers, and for a moment, we just stare at each other.
“Hey,” I manage to choke out.
“Hey yourself,” she replies with a bright smile as she puts down her tea on the island. “What’s up?”
Right, straight to the point, then. I shuffle awkwardly from one foot to the other. “We need to talk. It’s about... well, it’s about us.”
Her smile fades a little as she stares at me. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking a lot about us, too.”
Diving in at the deep end, I need to hear it from Zara. “Liam mentioned you had the blanket I bought you in your nest.”
Zara nods slowly. “I wanted—no, needed—your scent close. It hit me hard when you were across the landing, and I just… it’s hard to explain.”
“Try?” I croak.
She smiles again. “I was already in an early pre-heat. I think being so close to Liam and maybe Ben, I don’t know. Then you came in, and it pushed me over the edge. But it’s receded a bit now. It’s still there, but it reverted back to a pre-heat as opposed to an active one. It’s odd, and I don’t really understand it.”
I nod slowly, taking all that in. My scent drove her into her heat. Sure, the other alphas were involved as well, but it was me being here that pushed her.
Exhaling slowly, I feel like we’re dancing around the edges of what we really need to discuss. “Look, Zara. I care about you a lot. More than I thought possible in such a short amount of time. But I guess that means something.”
There’s something raw and vulnerable in her gaze when she searches my eyes. “I care about you too,” she whispers.
“So what do we do?” I ask. The question hangs between us like a challenge.
Zara shifts on the stool, and I’m close enough to catch her subtle scent, which is intoxicating.
“We try,” she says simply. “We talk, we communicate, and we take this one day at a time. Because I want to explore this. Itdoesmean something. This – whatever this is – with you, with Liam, maybe Ben, it means something.”
We’re all in this tangled mess together, and for some reason, that thought brings a wave of relief crashing over me.
Reaching over the island that separates us, I grasp her fingers lightly. “Yeah,” I agree. “One day at a time.”
She squeezes my hand gently, as if sealing our new pact. “So, did you get settled in?”
