His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 136

#Chapter 136: Deer in Headlights

Edrick

As soon as I saw the look on Moana’s face as the paparazzi swarmed us, I knew that I should have prepared her more for an event of this magnitude. It wasn’t just any old event; it was a huge networking event for some of the most affluent people in the city. The majority of people in attendance were other CEOs, celebrities, and extremely wealthy werewolf socialites. It really was no place for a girl like Moana, who had very little experience with events of this caliber, and I should have given her more time to get used to all of the media attention before I suddenly sprung this on her. But I had completely forgotten that the event was this weekend, and had mistaken the date as being the following weekend.

I could tell that Moana was trying her best to smile for the cameras and stay close to me, but when the paparazzi noticed her holding her belly and began to swarm her even more, it became too much.

Instinctively, I put my arm around her… But that only sent the paparazzi into even more of a frenzy.

“When is the wedding?” the paparazzi shouted. “Will you wait until after the baby is born? When is the baby due?”

Of course, I wasn’t going to answer any of these questions; not only because there would be no wedding, but also because I needed to get Moana inside before she had a full-blown panic attack out here. The paparazzi, thankfully, were being held behind a barrier and couldn’t get too close to us, but it still felt suffocating with all of the flashing lights and shouting. I was used to this by now, and even this was too much. I could only imagine the terror that Moana felt right now.

“Come on,” I said, guiding her toward the door with my arm still wrapped firmly around her shoulder as I used my body to block the view that the paparazzi had of her. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of getting any more photos of Moana in such a vulnerable state. They already had too many. “We’re almost there.”

Finally, we made it up the steps and to the front door. The bouncer ushered us in, and once the door was shut firmly behind us, the din of the paparazzi outside became muffled and it finally felt as though we could breathe. But that was only the beginning of the night; the paparazzi were abrasive and annoying, but wealthy werewolf socialites and CEOs were just as bad, if not worse… Just in a different way.

I stopped Moana in the entryway before we went inside to give us some time to regroup, and held her by both shoulders as my eyes frantically searched her face. She had gone completely pale as a sheet, and her eyes were wide and blinking slowly. I could tell that she was not only blinded by all of the flashing lights, but she was also out of it mentally from all of the noise and attention.

“Are you okay?” I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear without even thinking about it. “Do you need water?”

Moana only nodded. She still seemed too stunned to speak, so I decided to get her seated at our table and get her something cold to drink. There would be meals provided later, as well as live entertainment, but for now people were socializing before the show and our only option was the open bar.

I led Moana over to our table, which was marked with a placard that read “Mr. Morgan & Guest”, which made me a little annoyed; I knew that my “engagement” with Moana was fake, but it still felt a little insulting that her name wasn’t even on the placard. Instead, she was just a “guest”. But I decided not to let it get to me.

“I’ll get you some water and I’ll be right back,” I said, squeezing her shoulder as she sat down.