Page 35 of A Convenient Secret
I watch him leave, allowing myself one last time to ogle his solid, lean behind, and a smile almost returns to my face.
It dies when he reaches the door and, without turning, issues an ominous warning. “Lock your door, Lily.”
Chapter 7
Declan
Lock your door, Lily?
What the actual fuck?
Well, Lily, you are staying in the house of a creep who has filthy thoughts about you. But he’s a decent man, and he warned you. Kill. Me. Now.
Rooted to the ground in front of her room, I wait for the click of the lock, but only silence follows in the few beats while I try to gather my wits.
I fail miserably, because instead of crossing the floor to my bedroom, I pull out my phone and log into my security system.
Yeah, I’m officially a stalker. And my poor, innocent victim is probably regretting that she helped me out this week.
Lily sits on the bed, staring at the door. I look back,like the solid wooden plain is transparent, before I tiptoe away. Rational much tonight?
Why is she so still? I must have freaked her out after I completely lost my mind. I came home hoping to reclaim my sanity with her gone forever.
Instead, I spent the evening squashed beside her on the sofa—if she files a harassment claim, I wouldn’t even be surprised—and then I offered her a room.
What is wrong with me? Can I even blame it on tonight’s whiskey?
I should lock my door and throw the key out of the window. Fuck.
Okay, I couldn’t let her go out there in the middle of the night with everything she owns under her arms. Is that everything she owns? I need to pay her more.She’s not your employee, asshole.
At least I was sane enough to put her in the spare room, as far away from me as possible. It doesn’t do much for me, because my pants are tenting, and the primitive part of my brain is suggesting I go over there and declare my confusing feelings to her.
Thank God there are more mature, logical parts of my brain that rule my life, so I don’t end up being interrogated by the police. That would play into Kendra’s cards.
Fuck. My ex-wife. The custody battle threat. Itwas nice to forget about that little clusterfuck for an hour while talking to Lily.
She stands up and starts pacing. Only then do I realize I’ve been doing the same. Two people caged.
Me with an insane pull toward my young, no-longer nanny.
Her? Probably scared to shut her eyes and considering fleeing this place. She should.
I march to my closet and shed my clothes, before going into my bathroom and stepping under the rainfall of my shower. The arctic-cold water sobers me up—literally and figuratively.
Lily will be gone tomorrow, and I can go back to my routine. Hopefully the new nanny stays long enough to bring some peace and order to this house before the kids start their summer school.
I will return to my latent ignorance of Lily during any future meetings. I’ve been good at that. Only she’s no longer just an enigmatic beauty.
She is a real person who made me smile. Who cared for my kids, and they took her in like no one else before.
A real, intriguing woman, who made me feel tonight like I may not be failing my kids completely.
Who is delightful company, bringing lightness into my life. Something I haven’t experienced in the longest time.
A real woman who broke several dishes in her five short days here… Fuck, that was a close call. I almost admitted I’ve been watching her.
Who wears non-prescription, unattractive glasses. It was just a mindless tic to put her glasses on… It’s a weird accessory to have, but even weirder was her need to flee after I asked her about it.
