Nanny and the Alpha Daddy

#Chapter 85: Moonlit Melancholy

Moana

Much to my surprise, the aloof Alpha billionaire almost began to open up for a brief moment… Almost. “Yes,” he admitted when I asked if the person he was arguing with tonight was the same person who I overheard him arguing with before all those weeks ago. His voice was low and strained, like there wasn’t enough room in his throat to get everything out in one breath. “Someone from my past. They’ve been bothering me; they usually start up again around this time every year, because…”

The dark kitchen fell quiet after Edrick suddenly stopped himself from saying more. He kept his eyes fixed on his hands as they sat clasped together on the kitchen counter, but I could tell just from the look on his face and the way his body suddenly tensed that he already felt as though he said too much.

I didn’t know who this mysterious ‘Olivia’ woman was or why she apparently popped back into Edrick’s life to supposedly harass him around this time every year, but I decided not to pry any further. Clearly, whoever she was was a sore subject for the Alpha billionaire — and if I learned one thing about him over the past few months since I’d met him, it was that it was just better most of the time to let him decide to open up to me in his own time. Prying wouldn’t get me anywhere, and it would likely only make him distance himself further from me.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence as the water slowly came to a boil in the kettle behind me, I finally spoke.

“You don’t have to tell me any details if you don’t want to,” I said quietly. “But just know that I’m always here to listen if you need advice or even if you just need to vent.”

eyes to meet mine. His face had softened, and there was a sense of melancholy behind his gaze that I couldn’t quite understand. He simply nodded in response, then

kettle to start whistling behind me. I took it as my opportunity to look away and maybe change the subject, so I quickly turned around, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, and turned the burner off. I then filled the tea infuser with two scoops of chamomile tea leaves, then set it in the teapot and slowly poured the hot water over it. As I

soft hands around my

to protrude slightly. At first, I thought that he was just feeling emotional about the baby and wanted to touch my belly, but as his body pressed more firmly into me and I felt his breathing deepen and thicken, I

no longer gray, but were glowing

in my stomach travel down further, into my groin, as his hands gently tugged

down and pressed his lips against mine. His lips were warm and soft, and as he kissed me deeply and his tongue began to work its way into my mouth, his right hand slid up my belly, over my breasts and up to my neck while his left hand lingered over my stomach. At that moment, I swore I heard a low, aching moan rumble in his throat, as though something stirred inside of him to take our kiss further. I wanted to take it further, too, and I could feel Mina’s presence strengthening

taking me by surprise, and passed a hand over his face as he shook

while keeping his gaze averted to the floor. I kept my back turned, staring down at the half-filled teapot in front of me as I felt my heart palpitate and my face get hot and red. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing would come out — and by that point, he was

he said, his voice ragged.

but I knew that whatever I said would fall on deaf ears. Edrick seemed to have