Page 61 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

Sam made a small sound, nuzzling his face closer into her neck, and she gently rocked him again, adjusting her hold so he was cradled more comfortably.

Her eyes burned, but no tears came.

Not here.

Not now.

She just sat there, the only light in the room spilling from the night lamp, holding a child who wasn’t hers and aching for a man who didn’t know how to want her out loud.

Eventually, when she was sure Sam was deeply asleep, she stood and laid him gently back in the crib. He wriggled once, made a soft noise, then stilled.

She stayed there for a long moment, looking down at him.

He was so small. So helpless. And so full of possibility.

He didn’t deserve to be caught between two emotionally stunted adults trying not to ruin everything.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered, “no matter what.”

She stepped out of the nursery and closed the door quietly behind her.

The hallway beyond was still and dark, the soft creak of the floorboards beneath her bare feet the only sound.

Dane hadn’t come after her.

Part of her had hoped he might.

Even if he didn’t know what to say, just a hand, a word, a glance that saidwait, don’t go.

But the living room was empty.

The kitchen, too.

His bedroom door was closed.

Good.

She wasn’t sure she could face him again tonight without doing something humiliating like begging for a scrap of affection or asking him to take it all back.

She padded softly to the front door, slipping away back to her own apartment just across the hall. She was hardly there by herself these days. She came in to crash, shower, and maybe do a load of laundry if she was lucky. The space felt overwhelmingly silent with just her in it.

Her bed was cold, the covers crisp and untouched from this morning.

She slid under them and lay staring at the ceiling, the silence now thick and unforgiving.

Tomorrow, she’d be fine.

She’d make breakfast. She’d dress Sam. She’d answer Dane’s questions about naps and bottles and teething like nothing had changed.

And she’d only speak to him when absolutely necessary.

Because anything else…anythingmore…would just hurt.

Chapter 14 - Dane

The cold war between him and Lola was going into week three, and Dane was starting to think he’d prefer actual combat.

At least a fist to the jaw was honest.