Page 25 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

Felix’s voice softened slightly. “You alright?”

Dane stared out at the rain-slick street. “Not even close.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

The line clicked off.

Dane sat there a minute longer.

Then he grabbed the bags, squared his shoulders, and went home to the baby and the woman currently saving his life.

One moment at a time.

Chapter 7 - Lola

The baby was asleep.

Sort of.

He kept making these soft, snuffling sounds, little breaths that caught and hitched in his chest like he wasn’t entirely convinced this world was worth settling into. Lola sat stiffly on Dane’s couch, holding him in her arms like some kind of sacred artifact, terrified of moving, of waking him, of doing it wrong.

She hadn’t held many babies before. None this small. None this warm.

And none that made her chest feel like someone had cracked it open and poured in something thick and golden and terrifying.

He was beautiful. That was the worst part.

Red-faced, a little blotchy, yes…but with the softest wisps of dark hair and tiny, perfect fingers that had curled instinctively around her thumb. When he’d first grabbed on, she’d nearly cried.

Which was absurd. She didn’t cry. She read academic papers until her eyes dried out and argued about citation ethics on forums. She was not—not—the kind of woman who got weepy over babies.

Except now she apparently was.

Great.

The door slammed open, and she jumped, instinctively opening her mouth to scold Dane, but at his panicked expression, she shut it again. He was just as freaked out as she was. They couldn’t start arguing. They might wake the baby.

He was on the phone, she realized, holding it to his ear with his shoulder as he carried several bulging bags through and dumped them on the countertop. His voice was low and strained, but she could still hear enough to piece it together.

“Yeah. No, it’s real. I’m not joking, Nicolas. She just left him. No bag, no name. Nothing.” A pause. “I don’t know. He looks like me. That’s enough, right?”

He was pacing like a caged animal, dragging a hand through his hair as he listened.

“I can’t keep him alone, Nicolas. I’m out on patrol half the time. What am I supposed to do, leave him on the bar like lost property?”

Lola flinched.

Dane sighed, rubbing his face. “Yeah, yeah, Felix is coming too. I think he’s bringing Rick. Okay. See you soon.”

He hung up and turned, eyes landing on her and the baby curled against her chest. His expression shifted, just a flicker. Something unreadable. Vulnerable.

“He asleep?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. “Lightly. Like he might wake up if I move. He seems…unsettled.”

“Smart kid.”

She swallowed, narrowing her eyes slightly at this sarcasm, but choosing to ignore it, “He still doesn’t have a name.”