Filed to story: The Alpha and His Nanny Luna (Tiffany & Asher) Book PDF Free
“Well, forget about all of it,” he said, swirling the whiskey around in his glass before drinking it all in one gulp. When he was finished, he slammed the glass back down on the bar and seemed to hide a wince on his face from the burn of the alcohol. “It’s nothing, and you shouldn’t have been snooping. So just pretend you never heard any of it; I don’t need you gossiping with the maids like you did when Kelly came to visit.”
I frowned. “I don’t gossip with anyone,” I said. “I only asked who Kelly was that day that she came to visit. I can’t control what the maids say.”
Asher merely rolled his eyes and filled his glass again, this time halfway, before walking over to the big armchair and plopping down in it with a sigh. There were several long moments of silence, leaving me standing still in the middle of the living room, unsure of whether he was finished talking to me or not. I watched Asher quietly for these few moments, noticing that he truly did look like he hadn’t slept at all.
He noticed me looking. “What are you still doing here?” he asked. “I thought you were just thirsty.”
I shrugged. “You don’t look like you’ve slept,” I admitted. “Do you need me to get you anything?”
Asher froze as he raised his glass of whiskey to his lips once more. He lowered the glass and pressed his lips into a thin, straight line. His jaw began to clench and unclench, just like it always did when he was thinking heavily.
“I only ask out of concern for you,” I said. I felt my voice falter as he slowly turned to look at me.
“My health is none of your concern. And actually, I was in fact cured of my sleep disorder, so I’ve been having no trouble sleeping anymore.” His voice was sharp. “I thought I already told you this.”
His words stung. I felt a knot form in my stomach, which triggered another wave of nausea. Without thinking of the implications, I touched my hand to my stomach to soothe myself. Asher saw me do this and narrowed his eyes before I could pull my hand away from my belly.
“What are you doing?” he asked, nodding his head toward my hand.
I quickly dropped my hand back to my side and turned back toward my room. “It’s nothing,” I lied. “Just still a little nauseous, that’s all. From the food poisoning.”
Before Asher could say anything — not that he likely would have said anything comforting, if even anything at all — I turned on my heel and stormed off to my room without a second glance over my shoulder.
Once I was back in my room, I closed the door behind me and leaned on it, tilting my face up toward the ceiling as I took several deep breaths in an attempt to both calm my nerves and my stomach.
My nausea passed, but the pain in my chest didn’t. As I crawled back into bed, Asher’s harsh words echoed in my mind.
I fell asleep that night with a puddle of tears on my pillow.
Tiffany
“Wake up, Tiffany! Wake up!”
I awoke the next morning to the sound of Ella’s voice and the feeling of the bed shaking beneath me. The sun was shining blindingly bright through the window, and outside, I could hear the sound of the city bustling below. I could hear the sound of distant music; I had completely forgotten, but there was supposed to be an event in the park across the street today, and Ella was excited to go.
“Come on!” Ella exclaimed as she jumped up and down excitedly on my bed. “Wake up! Let’s go outside!”
I groaned, feeling my stomach turn from the bed moving beneath me. If Ella continued her jumping, she would make me throw up.
“Give me a minute, Ella,” I said, but she wasn’t listening. She was too busy jumping and giggling and chattering about getting ice cream at the park.
I didn’t think before I spoke next, and as soon as I did, I realized how my voice sounded. I felt so nauseous from being jostled around that I didn’t consider how I might have come across as being mean. “Ella,” I said firmly, “stop jumping on the bed. Right now.”
Ella suddenly fell silent. Almost as soon as the words escaped my mouth, I knew that I had made a mistake. Without another word, Ella sniffled and quickly jumped off the bed, running from the room before I could stop her.
“Ella, honey, I’m sorry,” I said, forgetting my nausea as I quickly climbed out of bed and went after her. I walked next door to her room, but when I tried to turn the doorknob, I realized that she had locked herself in.
I sighed and knocked on the door. “Ella?” I called. “I’m really sorry for snapping at you. Please come out.”
Through the door, I heard a sniffle, followed by a muffled “Go away!”
“What’s going on?” Selina’s voice suddenly said from behind me.
I sighed and turned to face the housekeeper. “I wasn’t feeling well and I snapped at Ella for jumping on my bed,” I admitted. “She locked herself in and won’t talk to me now.”
Selina let out a sigh herself. “Children can be so fickle sometimes,” she replied. “She’ll get over it.” I nodded and went to return to my room to get dressed for the day, but Selina stopped me. “Something is going on with you,” she said, lowering her voice. “I can tell.”
I frowned and shook my head. “I’m just sick with food poisoning,” I lied. “Ella jumping on the bed made me nauseous–“
“You’ve only eaten the food I’ve prepared, and I never prepare spoiled food.” Selina’s voice was stern, but not entirely cold. I didn’t know what to say; she was right about the food, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit my pregnancy just yet. If I was being honest, I still wasn’t certain if I would tell anyone, as the possibility of aborting the pregnancy was still on the table.
“I… I had a snack from a food truck the other day,” I lied again. “It probably came from there.”
Selina didn’t seem to believe me. She narrowed her eyes and stared at me for a moment, but didn’t say anything else. With a nod, she turned on her heel and returned to her work. I let out a sigh of relief before returning to my room to shower and get ready for the day… and to take another anti-nausea pill.
…
Ella wound up coming out of her room not long after I was finished getting ready. I apologized for yelling at her and she apologized for disturbing my sleep so unceremoniously, and we went on with our day. I even kept my promise of taking her to the park for ice cream; the fresh air actually helped with my nausea, and we spent the entire day outside without realizing it. By the time we came back, it was already dinnertime, and after we ate I sat with Ella on the floor next to the coffee table and helped her with her coloring.
At some point, however, I must have fallen asleep without realizing it.
I woke up an unknown amount of time later to the feeling of someone watching me. As I cracked my eyes open, I realized that I was laying on the floor. Asher was standing over me with his arms folded across his chest.
“Wake up,” he said, his voice sounding annoyed. “Why did you fall asleep on the floor? It’s hardly appropriate.”
I groggily pushed myself up onto my palms and started to stand. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “Where is Ella?”
“I already put her to bed.” Asher sounded even more annoyed now and began to walk away before I could apologize again. Suddenly, as I started to stand, I felt another bout of sickness come over me; this time, it presented itself not only in the form of nausea, but in the form of a pounding headache. I felt myself stumble as I tried to get to my feet.
I started to fall, but Asher quickly realized what was happening and leaped forward, catching me in his strong arms. I lingered there for a moment, half because I was unable to right myself due to how fast my head was spinning and half because the warmth of his embrace was too comforting for me to want to tear myself away.
