“I warned you.I warned you it would be like this.”
“Okay, here’s how this is gonna go.You listening?”
“I’m a plague upon your house,” I muttered, my eyes dropping to the floor.
“How biblical,” he teased.“Wyn, look at me.”
My head snapped up.
“You’re fired.”
“What?” I gasped.“You just said?—”
“You’re fired.The rest of your two weeks’ notice is null and void.You’re no longer Lenni’s nanny.You’re no longer the housekeeper.You’re no longer the cook.”
“But someone has to take Lenni to school and pick her up.As for all the other stuff?—”
He covered my mouth gently with his hand to silence me.
“I could hire someone to do all that.The cooking, the laundry, driving Lenni to and from school.We don’t need that.We needyou.Just you.Do you understand what I’m saying?”He dropped his hand so I could reply.
“Not even a little bit.”
He took a step closer to me.“You were never just the nanny, Wyn.”
I swallowed.“I’m not her mom.”
“No?”
“She has a mom.”
“Had,” he murmured, his eyes turning somber.“She had a mom and she’s gone.But now she has you.We both do.You don’t need to worry about ajob, Wyn.You’ve got the most important job in the world.”
“And what job is that?”
His smile was tender.“Loving us.”
My breath hitched, but I didn’t reply.I couldn’t.
“You think you’ve hidden it so well,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.“I’m going to take care of you, Wyn.I already said that, didn’t I?You won’t have to want for anything.And that’s what I’ll tell your parents the next time you talk to them.”
My hands slid up his arms to envelope his neck and I pressed closer.“Archer?”
“Hmm?”
“Dessert’s gonna have to wait.Your lunch break is almost over.”
ChapterThirty
The Ranch
“Are you sure I’m allowed to be here?”Lenni asked.
I raised my brows.“Poet invited you.”
“Yeah, I know.”Lenni sighed.“But isn’t this weird?Everyone else is an adult.”
“Adults who fall asleep at eight thirty,” Hadley called out from the living room.
