Page 42 of Bad Wolf's Nanny
“Aren’t I?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Violence is the only thing I was ever really good at. It’s how I got respect. How I kept it. Even now, it’s what I do. Enforcer. Protector. Punch now, ask questions later.”
“You protect people,” she said fiercely, “that’s not the same as hurting them.”
He looked down at his hands.
“Still feels the same, sometimes.”
Lola hesitated, then reached across the space between them and gently touched his arm.
His skin was warm under her fingers. He looked at her, surprised, but didn’t pull away.
“You’re good at this,” she said softly, “not just the fighting. The baby. The…the being human part.”
He let out a low breath. “I don’t feel good at it.”
“Neither do I. Most days I feel like I’m just…treading water. Hiding in plain sight. Waiting for someone to figure out I don’t belong.”
“You belong here,” he said, quiet but firm.
She blinked.
He didn’t say things like that. Not lightly.
Her voice wavered, “You mean with Sam?”
“I meanhere.” His gaze held hers. “With us.”
Her breath caught.
Neither of them moved.
The baby stirred faintly in her arms, a soft sigh bubbling from his lips.
It broke the spell, just enough.
She lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, brushing a thumb over Sam’s forehead.
“I never thought I’d be part of something like this,” she whispered. “Not really. Not without pretending to be someone else.”
Dane didn’t respond with words.
Instead, he reached out and gently touched the back of Sam’s head. His hand brushed against hers, warm and solid and sure.
And they sat like that, hands tangled, breath shared, quiet surrounding them like a blanket.
Together.
For now.
Chapter 10 - Dane
The first thing Dane registered was the weight against his side.
Not crushing, just warm, soft, undeniably there. He blinked slowly, eyes adjusting to the faint gray light trickling through the windows. His neck ached from the awkward angle against the couch cushions, and one of his legs had gone numb beneath a baby blanket.
But none of that registered compared to the feeling ofher.
Lola.
