Filed to story: The Alpha and His Nanny Luna (Tiffany & Asher) Book PDF Free
“Wait, what’s Miss Tiffany doing here?” another little girl said, looking around confused.
“I’m thirsty,” one little boy said, his face red from the heat.
“We’ll have lemonade when we’re finished,” Sophia replied. She shot me a pleading look, practically begging me to just get the photo over with so she could bring the children back inside before they all had heat stroke.
“Okay,” I said with a smile, holding up my phone to take the picture. “On the count of three, say cheese! One, two, three!”
Maybe half of the children smiled at the very most. The other half of the children were either unprepared, too hot and miserable to smile, and the ones that were closest to Asher appeared as if they were leaning away from him out of fear.
As soon as I snapped the picture, Sophia ushered the children inside. Asher, without a word, stormed back off in the direction of the car. I mouthed an apology to Sophia, who glared at me angrily from the doorway, before I ran after Asher and grabbed him by the arm as he put one foot in the car.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I shoved my phone in his face to show him the picture. “The children look miserable,” I replied. “You have to try again.”
“If they don’t like me, then they don’t like me,” Asher complained. “I did what I came here to do. Come on. Let’s go.”
Asher’s indifference made me furious.
“Asher Sterling, you get out of that car right now and go spend time with those children!” I shouted, curling my hands up into fists and stamping my foot.
Asher’s eyes went wide. So did the driver’s, Sophia’s, and even my own. It seemed that all of us were equally surprised by my outburst — but it worked. Asher somehow got out of the car, slammed the door, and got back up to the orphanage.
Sophia silently let him in. Her gaze followed me as I jogged after him, but she said nothing; once we were inside, Asher stood in the foyer, looking around with distaste as the children stood off to the side. They, too, looked surprised at his return.
“Um… How about a tour?” Sophia asked.
…
“…And this here is the classroom. We haven’t quite got enough desks, but we make do. The children all get along and take turns so they can all have a chance to use the desks. It does get awfully cold in here in the winter, so we often have to move the class to another room to do their lessons — but, thanks to your generous donation, we will be able to heat the entire orphanage evenly this winter, and we can even afford more desks.”
Asher stood in the middle of the classroom, turning slowly as he took in the room. The orphanage was clean and well kept, just as it had been even when I lived here as a child, but its age was beginning to show. The walls all needed a good paint job, half of the doors didn’t stay closed anymore, and the sinks all became clogged on a regular basis.
He was silent for some time.
“He seems moved,” Mina’s voice suddenly echoed in my head, almost making me jump. I was starting to get used to her occasional presence, but it still took me by surprise every time.
“Yes,” I replied. “It seems like maybe the Alpha billionaire has a bit of a heart after all.”
Suddenly, one of the children spoke up — they had all been following us curiously, intrigued by Asher’s presence. “Um, Miss Tiffany,” the little girl named Clara said, tugging on my dress and making me, Sophia, and even Asher look at her. She was about Ella’s age.
“Yes, Clara?” I asked.
“Can you make us some of your chocolate chip cookies before you go?”
I paused, glancing up at the clock behind Asher to see that we had already been here for over an hour. “I’m sorry, Clara, but we’ve probably got to head ho–“
Before I could finish, Asher suddenly stepped in and surprised us all.
“We’ll stay a little while longer,” he said.
Tiffany
The children all began to cheer once Asher agreed to stay longer so that we could make cookies. I lifted my gaze from Clara to see the Alpha billionaire standing in front of me, but he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the children.
We all made our way down to the kitchen. I lingered at the back of the group, still in utter shock as I tried to wrap my head around Asher’s sudden change in demeanor. Had the tour of the orphanage and seeing how disadvantaged children lived given him a bit of compassion?
Once we were in the kitchen, I put on an apron and started to get out the ingredients to make the cookies while the children watched hungrily, licking their lips in anticipation for the sweet taste of sugar in their mouths.
“Do you like to bake, Mr. Sterling?” Clara asked, standing on her tiptoes as she gripped the edge of the counter to see.
“No,” Asher replied, avoiding eye contact with the little girl. “I don’t.”
“Not even cookies?”
“No, not even cookies,” Asher said. Then, in a slightly lower voice: “I’ve never baked anything.”
The children erupted into gasps, causing me to stifle a laugh. “Here,” I said, grabbing an extra apron and tossing it to Asher. “I’ll teach you.” Asher caught the apron and gave me a puzzled look while the children exploded with a chorus of giggles.
“I think I’d just mess it up,” he replied. “You can do it.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “There will be no cookies if Mr. Sterling doesn’t help,” I said, to which all of the children began to protest loudly, some even going so far as to push Asher toward me with their tiny hands, begging him to bake.
“Alright, alright!” he said; it almost seemed as though he was holding back a smile. He shrugged off his suit jacket and put the apron on, coming over to me. Without thinking, I reached out and rolled his sleeves up for him.
Our eyes caught for a second and lingered on each other.
“Ew!” one of the older kids shouted. “They’re gonna kiss!” Now, the group’s cries of protest became even louder as some of the boys even went so far as to gag theatrically.
I stepped away from Asher, shaking my head as I felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Asher which ingredients to pour into the bowl, and how much of each.
