Page 51 of The Nanny

Surprisingly, the press still hasn’t seemed to connect the dots back to me. I guess Ella gave a couple of quick red carpet interviews, but she clearly only told them enough to leave them wanting more—a move that obviously paid off in spades.

I glance over at her for the hundredth time since the movie started. She’s staring straight ahead, and I can’t tell if it’s because she’s really that absorbed in what’s happening up on the screen or if she’s just doing a frustratingly good job of ignoring me.

Probably a little of both.

I still need to apologize, but when? How? Where? This isn’t the time or place, but the next decent opportunity might realistically be hours from now.

No.

Fuck that.

I’m not going to wait that long. Ican’t.

I lean in close to her and whisper, “Can I speak to you for a second out in the lobby?”

She looks like she’s going to turn me down, but I’m not taking no for an answer. Not for this. “Come on,” I continue, taking her hand in mine and scooting to the edge of my seat. “Just for a minute. Please.”

She sighs but doesn’t say no. That’s a partial win, at least. “Just for a minute.”

I lead her out to the mostly-deserted theater lobby and don’t waste any time. If I only have a minute, I need to make every second count. “I’m sorry about earlier,” I say, pulling her into my arms. “It was shitty timing and a shitty thing to say, and… fuck, I didn’t want to ruin your night. You look beautiful and I want you to be happy. I want—”

My words must be getting through to her because her expression softens and her eyes crinkle at the corners and it’s impossible to hold onto my train of thought. It’s impossible to do anything that doesn’t involve kissing her sweet lips.

Right now.

She melts against me and a soft whimper escapes her mouth as my tongue entwines with hers. My body instantly responds and I wish we were back in our hotel room right now. I want nothing more than to rip that expensive dress off her so I can kiss every inch of her beautiful body.

“Keir,” she breaks away from our kiss and inhales a quick breath. “Should we—I mean, what if people see us out here?”

“I don’t care,” I shrug, surprising myself at least as much as I’m probably surprising her.

“You don’t? Because you sure seemed to care a couple of hours ago.”

It’s a fair point and I really should be choosing my words carefully but I’m caught up in the moment and I just don’t care about trying to control every fucking facet of my public image right now.

“I did care,” I admit. “Ishouldcare. I’ve been raised to be hyper-aware of my surroundings and anything I’m doing that looks bad or might be taken the wrong way. But Deacon told me before we came here that nobody gives a damn about all that out here. And you know? He was right.”

She still looks confused and maybe a little skeptical as she tries to follow my stream-of-consciousness explanation. “How do you know he was right? If you tell me you have some kind of paparazzi sixth sense, I’m going to walk right back into that movie theater by myself and pretend like that hot, amazing kiss didn’t just happen.”

I can’t help but smile a little. “No sixth sense, though it would certainly be helpful sometimes. But you and I proved his theory tonight on the red carpet. Nobody knew who you were but they were captivated.Captivated, Ella. It was like you cast a spell over them and I think they were genuinely disappointed when you went inside and they couldn’t keep taking photos of you.”

That light pink color that I can’t get enough of is creeping up into her cheeks as she makes a dismissive gesture. “That’s sweet of you to say, but I don’t think it was quite as magical as you’re making it sound. I did get followed in by a handful of talent scouts who wanted to take my name and number, though.”

“See? I mean, those guys are a fucking joke, but still—that’s what I’m talking about. You got all this well-deserved attention and then when I stepped out onto the red carpet?” I shrug. “Nothing. Crickets. Nobody gave two shits and it was the best feeling in the world.”

“I’m glad you had that epiphany,” she nods, a tiny crease forming between her perfectly manicured brows. “But you don’t think I should follow up with those talent scouts?”

Shit.

This is what happens when I don’t think before I speak.

“I didn’t say that,” I begin. I don’t want to make things worse but I also don’t want to dwell on this particular topic when it’s not even the thing I’m supposed to be apologizing for. “All I meant was that those guys are like—look, you’re beautiful. You’re amazing. It’s nothing to do with you, but those guys are all the same. They’re just hoping to find the next ‘it’ girl to exploit.”

I pause and take a breath, hoping I’m making sense and not digging a deeper hole for myself. “Anyway, aren’t you always telling Isla to live in the moment and not worry about the future? All I want is for both of us to live right here, right now, in this moment.”

“I get that,” she nods. “And I don’t disagree. But I can’t keep pretending to be your nanny forever, Keir. Whether I want to or not, I have to think about the future.”

I want to argue but I can’t. Not only is this not the place or time, but the movie is over and the crowd is starting to filter out of the theater and I can see Saffron and Deacon walking out together.

---