Page 25 of Nanny for the Protector

Cara

Ten o’clock. Must be going well.

I was curled up in front of the television downstairs watching some rerun of a reality TV show, something nondescript and trashy. Lucy was sound asleep upstairs. We’d had quite an eventful night. After playing some games, we had a movie night complete with popcorn. A rogue kernel caused her loose front tooth to pop right out. She insisted on going to bed early so the Tooth Fairy would come sooner.

After some stories and a bit of cuddling, Lucy was off to dreamland. I found it hard to leave her there and spent a few minutes stroking her blonde hair as she slept.

In four short days, Lucy had I had become close. Very close. We needed each other. She needed a mother figure and I need to fill that hole left from being fired by the last family I was working for. It was practically a life requirement for me to nurture children, or in this case, a child. I found myself hoping that Wesley would see this and realize he should keep me on longer than two months.

Wesley, though, was an issue in and of himself. I didn’t quite know how to act around him. He was intimidating and commanding with his presence and yet could be so gentle and soft. Those two sides of him combined made him so intriguing.

I wanted to know more.

The front door opened and I heard Wesley take a few steps into the front hall. Then he sighed heavily.

I turned off the TV and got to my feet. “Hello?”

“Oh, hey Cara. It’s just me. Hope I didn’t scare you.”

I went into the front hall to find Wesley slouching on the bench Lucy used to put on her shoes. I knew without asking how it had gone.

Wesley looked up at me. “How were things here?”

I leaned on the doorframe and smiled. “Lucy will be getting a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. You may want to give her a call.”

All the exhaustion on his face immediately dissipated. He smiled. “She lost that front tooth? Finally?”

“While eating popcorn and watchingEncanto. It was the highlight of her night. She was hoping you’d be home before bed to see it.”

Wesley sighed. “Damn. Me too. Was she okay with the blood?”

“Oh yeah. She was staring at her gums in the bathroom mirror. That kid isn’t squeamish, let me tell you.”

“Brave girl.” He ran his hands back through his hair. It looked like he had done that many times already with how his blonde locks mingled together messily. “Well, thanks, Cara. You get home safe, alright?”

I didn’t move from my spot. “You okay, Wesley?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

Wesley chuckled. “Are you trying to get information out of me?”

I frowned. “No, not at all. You just seem…crestfallen.”

He leaned his head back against the wall. “Crestfallen. Yeah. That’s a good word for it.” He folded his hands between his legs. I couldn’t help but stare at his long fingers and wonder what they were capable of. “It was just disappointing, that’s all. I didn’t even have my hopes up and —”

“It lived down to your expectations.”

“Precisely.”

I couldn’t very well leave him here all dejected like that. But clearly, he wasn’t just going to come out and tell me what had happened. I had to find another way. “You know, the last first date I went on was a complete nightmare.”

Wesley raised an eyebrow, as if to say,I’m interested.

“He was working on a political campaign; mind you, it was a really low-level one. Like city council or something. I was like, ‘That’s sweet, he cares about local government.’”

“Is that what gets you going, Cara? Local government?”

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