Filed to story: The Alpha and His Nanny Luna (Tiffany & Asher) Book PDF Free
I gulped, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me. “I’m so sorry,” I stammered, trying to come up with an excuse as the housekeeper was still oblivious to my new sleeping arrangement with Asher, and she certainly wouldn’t understand it if I tried to explain it to her myself. “I-I was taking a shower just now. I’ll be out soon.”
Selina grumbled on the other end of the phone. “Well, hurry up. We have guests who are expecting you, Ella, and Mr. Sterling downstairs in the lobby as soon as possible.”
Before I could answer, Selina abruptly hung up the phone. It was at this point as well that Asher sat up in bed, wide awake. Had I been talking so loudly that I woke him up? It always seemed that he fell asleep as soon as I did, and woke up as soon as I woke up, which was strange, but I didn’t have time to think about it.
“Did I hear something about guests?” Asher said confusedly as I slid my feet into my slippers and shuffled off toward the door.
“Yes,” I replied, quickly opening the door and poking my head out to make sure no one was around. “I’m not sure who, though.”
Seeing that no one was around, I quickly ran out of Asher’s bedroom and scurried off to my room, somehow managing to slip inside without being seen. I washed myself up, still groggy and sore from spending my entire day yesterday at the theme park — with a sunburn across my nose to prove it — and then got dressed in clean clothes. I pulled my hair back into a low bun and, once I was satisfied with my appearance, I opened the door to my bedroom and quickly got Ella ready for our visitors.
By the time I was finished getting Ella ready, Asher was already waiting for us in the foyer. We took the elevator down to the lobby to greet these mystery guests. I hid my bashfulness around Asher in the silent elevator as best I could and avoided eye contact at all costs, as it seemed that we would wake up cuddling every morning despite our agreement to not get romantically involved, and I didn’t want him to think that I was trying to break the clauses in my contract; nor did I want to alert Ella, Selina, or the maids to our arrangement.
The elevator slowly ticked down the floors of the high rise building, finally opening with a ding at the ground floor.
“Grandma!” Ella called when we saw our guests standing in the lobby. I was taken by surprise as Ella ran away excitedly to greet them.
As we approached, the two guests came into focus. One was an older woman with silver hair wearing an expensive-looking dress and a large sun hat, while the other was much younger with an equally expensive-looking satin dress and perfectly curled blonde hair that fell down her back, her eyes covered by large sunglasses.
“Oh, hello, darling,” the older woman said, bending down to kiss Ella on both cheeks. “Happy belated birthday! Grandma has lots of presents for you.”
Ella squealed delightedly. Both women looked up as Asher and I approached, eyeing me up and down suspiciously.
“Say hello to Kelly, Ella,” Asher said.
Ella reluctantly turned toward the younger woman, who pushed her sunglasses up onto her forehead to reveal dark brown eyes that stared at me icily for a split second before looking down at Ella. “Hello, Kelly,” Ella said, sounding much less enthusiastic than she did when she greeted her grandmother. Kelly bent down and kissed Ella on both cheeks, who stiffened at the young woman’s touch and stepped back toward me once Kelly stood again.
The two women continued to eye me, so I decided to end the awkward silence and introduce myself.
“I’m Tiffany,” I said with a slight, polite bow of my head. “I’m Ella’s nanny.”
“Ah, the au pair,” Verona said coldly. “I didn’t expect a human, so I was unsure.”
“Mother,” Asher said, stepping forward to kiss her on both cheeks. He then turned toward Kelly, who beamed widely at him, but she glared at me coldly over his shoulder as they kissed each other on the cheek.
Asher took the two women’s bags and carried them to the elevator. We all stood quietly in the elevator as it slowly carried us up to the penthouse. Suddenly, Kelly turned toward me, looking down her nose at me.
“So… Do you have the right qualifications to be Ella’s au pair?”
“Pardon me?” I asked, feeling as though Kelly was being rude.
“I only ask because I care deeply about Ella,” she said with a stiff smile. “Sometimes I feel as though Ella is my own daughter.”
“Tiffany is the best nanny ever,” Ella chimed in. When I looked down at her, she was frowning up at Kelly with an angry glint in her eyes. Kelly merely nodded, not saying anything else; thankfully, the doors opened and the two women became too distracted by the penthouse and ordering the servants around to disturb me any longer, which was a relief.
Asher led Verona and Kelly to the dining room, with Ella trailing behind miserably. Selina beckoned for me to help her in the kitchen. Just before I lost sight of the group, I noticed Kelly attempting to talk to Ella, who was acting aloof and disinterested.
“Is Kelly Asher’s sister?” I asked Amy quietly as we worked side-by-side to prepare lunch.
Amy shook her head. “No,” she replied. I saw movement from the corner of my eye and looked over my shoulder to see Asher passing by the doorway with Kelly on his heels. She appeared to be following him, chattering away about something. They looked to be headed in the direction of Asher’s bedroom.
“A friend, then?” I asked.
Amy smirked. “I think if Ella wasn’t around, Kelly would already be Asher’s wife by now.”
Selina shot Amy a disapproving look, abruptly ending the conversation.
Even though I knew that I wasn’t supposed to have any sort of feelings toward Asher, there was no denying the pit in my stomach as Amy told me this. Was Kelly Asher’s girlfriend or fiancee?
Tiffany
I finished preparing lunch with the maids and helped them to set the meal out on the dining room table. Although I had already eaten a quick meal in the kitchen earlier as we prepared the food, it was still my duty as Ella’s nanny to stay with her and help her if she needed anything. Besides, the grumpy look on Ella’s face whenever Kelly was around only softened when I was near her, which made me want to be near her even more as support.
I sat beside Ella for the duration of the lunch, helping her to cut her food, keep her clothes clean, and get her whatever she needed. Asher, Verona, and Kelly spoke with each other about trivial things as though I wasn’t even there, which was fine with me. If they had tried to involve me in their conversation, I likely wouldn’t have known the right things to say. I’d never dealt with such wealthy people in my life, let alone tried to have meaningful conversation with them.
Not being personally involved in the conversation also allowed me to be more observant — and one thing that I observed was that Kelly was being much more quiet and reserved now than she had been before. She absentmindedly picked at her salad with her fork, hardly eating anything at all.
“Pour me some more tea, would you?” Kelly said suddenly, shooting me a look out of the corner of her eyes.
“Right away,” I said, standing and walking around the table to pick up the teapot. I noticed that Kelly kept her eyes intensely focused on me the entire time as I walked back to pour her tea, but I pretended that I didn’t see it.
Kelly was silent for a moment as I poured her tea. I felt her gaze focused on the side of my head, burning furiously.
When I sat down, Kelly took a sip of her tea before speaking again, this time looking at Asher.
“Whose extra daily necessities were in your room earlier, Asher?” she asked, setting down her teacup with a clatter.
Asher raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
“I saw earrings on your side table,” she said. “I’m assuming they weren’t yours.”
