Alice pulls her chin into her neck. “Thatwas a false alarm?” She starts backing slowly toward the bed.
I study her, noting the paleness to her face in the sliver of moonlight coming through the window.
“Unfortunately. When a battery dies, it registers as a breach.”
She laughs, but the sound is hollow. “Well, that’s one way to get my heart racing. Not my preferred method, but points for creativity.”
“Alice.” I move a step closer. “Come here.”
“I’m fine.” She waves her hands as the backs of her knees hit the mattress. She stumbles, but catches herself. “Annoyed, but fine. There’s a big difference.”
“It’s okay if you’re scared.”
She scoffs, but the sound gets locked in her throat. “I’m fine. You’re the one acting like I matter more than you planned.”
My expression falls like she just slapped me. “What did you say?”
“Oh, come on, Sutton. I’m not sure ‘save the nanny’ was on your list of requirements when you hired me for this job.”
“Save. The.Nanny?” I growl.
Her throat bobs as her emotions run away from her. “Yeah,” she croaks.
I’ve never seen her like this, but Alice scared and cornered is like a train without brakes running off the tracks. It’s bound to crash, and when it does, it’s really going to fucking hurt us both.
“You’ve come around my cock more than once, and you think I still think of you as just the nanny?”
Her lips start to quiver. “Yes.”
“Alice.”
“Yes, Sutton?” Her blinks become faster.
I tentatively close the gap between us and pick up her fingers. They’re ice cold and tremble against my palm.
“It’s okay to be scared.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t—Don’t look at me like that.”
I tilt my head. “Like what?”
Her nostrils flare. “Like you care.”
“But I do care. I care so much that it’s breaking my heart to see you like this. If you need to laugh and joke, I get it. You can do that. But if you need to be scared, please be scared with me.”
Her breath hitches. “You were not scared.”
“Gorgeous girl.” I shake my head, brushing my finger down her soft cheek. “I had my daughter and the woman I care a fuckuva lot about under my roof and thought someone was coming to hurt them. Trust me when I say I was terrified.”
“When I laugh, it’s easier than… than this.” She hiccups, the first sign her dam is breaking.
“You don’t have to make it smaller just because I’m here. Let it come. I promise I won’t let anything bad happen. You’ll get through it like you always do.”
Her face completely crumples. A painful-sounding sob crawls up her throat, but I don’t give it time to land before I sweep her into my arms. She clings tightly to my neck, burying her face in my throat as she begins to cry full, body-wracking sobs.
“I’ve got you, Alice,” I murmur in her ear, sitting against the headboard and tucking her body close. “You’re safe. You can stay right here as long as you need.”
She doesn’t say anything else. For what feels like hours, Alice cries, her tears cascading from her eyes and soaking my skin beneath her. I murmur into her hair until her body stops shaking and the tears dry against her cheeks.