His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 85

#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.”

Slowly, Edrick raised his 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 quickly looked away.

The tea began to boil, causing the 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 did, I felt the aromatic steam rise up and dampen my face… But I also felt something else.

Warm, soft hands around my waist.

I suddenly stopped pouring the tea, feeling Edrick’s hands slowly slide around my waist. He pressed his body up behind me, his hands resting on my belly, feeling how it was beginning 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 knew that it was something else.

I set the kettle down on the counter, then slowly turned my head to look up at him. When I did, I saw that he was gazing down at me. His eyes were no longer gray, but were glowing silver again, just as they did in the mall — only this time they weren’t glowing from anger, but rather from arousal. They flickered down to my mouth then, and I saw him lick his lips.