Page 31 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

Aria drops her fork. "Why didn't you tell me, Dad?"

Charles waves his hand at her. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just numbers."

"It's not just numbers if you're staying off alcohol."

She turns to Amy. "If Dad didn't want to say something, at least you could have told Bria and me."

"You two are busy with your lives. We didn't want to disturb you. We're fine. Everything is fine," Amy replies.

"I have a feeling that things aren't fine," she says, flicking her eyes from Amy to Charles.

Ethan drops his fork; it clanks on the floor and he asks for another one. I move to pick it up at the same time as Aria and our hands brush. A jolt of electricity passes up my arm and down my spine. She keeps quiet, then pulls back her hand so I can get it. I do just that and give it to Ethan.

She turns to Charles again. "Please, always let us know when something is wrong, Dad."

"He just said he's fine. Let it go," I snap at her.

"No, I'm not going to let it go. He’s my father and I have the right to say whatever I want."

"The man just clearly told you over and over again that he's fine. But you keep holding on to it."

"Holding on to what? I'm not allowed to care about my father’s health?"

"When you start to nag about it, that's crossing the line."

"Crossing the line? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Okay, that's enough," Amy interjects.

"No, it's not enough. Did you see how he just snapped at me? Over my father’s health."

"I didn't snap at you, I only called you out."

"Called me out? You need to stop talking to me like I'm a child. Just because I work for you doesn't give you that right."

"Jesus Christ!" Charles exclaims.

Amy holds her hands up. "Are we still talking about Charles's health? Or is this about something else?"

I throw a bite of chicken in my mouth angrily. "She's just so persistent. I just had…"

Aria is livid and her voice is shaking. "Persistent? Persist—"

Ethan, who has stopped eating, starts to cry.

"Now, you two should be ashamed of yourselves for ruining dinner for this poor little boy and for everyone! What is wrong with you two?" Amy says before standing up to pacify Ethan, who's jerking with tears now. She leads him out of the room.

"You really need to learn when to stop," I say to Aria.

"And you know when to stop?"

"For Pete's sake. Stop already. You're going to make my heart worse than it is," Charles says and gets off his chair, leaving us sitting here like two naughty kids.

I'm completely embarrassed. This isn't me. Charles and Amy were kind enough to invite us and we ruined dinner for everyone. After apologizing to them, we stuff ourselves in the car for a long drive home. Ethan isn't speaking to either of us. He's staring into space while munching on the chicken Amy gave him as we were about to leave. Aria is staring out of the window. And I'm here, wishing I'd handled things better.

I know what's happening. I'm angry because I'm attracted to Aria. I'm angry because I don't want to find her attractive. I'm angry because I don’t want to do this, but my heart keeps pulling me in. I'm angry because I can't act on it. I'm angry. But it isn't helping. Being angry at her isn't going to make this go away. I'm only torturing myself and I'm going to chase away someone who makes Ethan happy.

I pull up to the house and sit in the car while Aria helps Ethan out and they go in together, Ethan holding on to her hand. I take a deep breath and rest my forehead on the steering wheel.

---