Chapter 3

• Nathaniel's POV
• Light sliced through half-blinds and landed on the bed. Jenna laid naked beside me, black hair spilling on the pillow, arms around me as if it were her right.
• And safe there.
• I was not supposed to get used to this sort of thing.
• But there I laid there, staring at the sleeping face, so peaceful, so innocent.
• My fingers followed the line of the curve of her back, the softness of her spine. She turned but didn't wake. I was taking slow breaths, not wanting to wake her. She must have been overworked from last night.
• I had been holding back my attraction since the very day we met. It was as if there was a magnet pulling me to her, I couldn't explain it. After trying so hard to control myself and convince myself that she was only here for my kids, I ended up with her on my bed.
• Did I regret it? Not a single bit.
• She was the solution I needed. The missing piece in my family.
• My girls needed a mother figure. And I? I required stability. A loving partner.
• I got out of bed slowly without disturbing her. My feet hang off the cold floor as I put on my pants.
• Ping. The sound came from her phone that was on the night stand beside her.
• The screen flickered to life with a text.
• I moved over to turn it off. The least I could do was to make sure she's not disturbed. She slept so peacefully.
• But the text on the screen made me creeped out.
• Sophie: Don't let yourself get distracted. Remember why you are there in the first place.
• My blood had stopped circulating in my veins.
• What in the devil does that even mean? I looked over at Jenna again. She didn't move.
• I read the text over and over again. Does it have something to do with the children, maybe? That had worked. Maybe Sophie was just encouraging her to focus on the kids. It had to be that, right?
• Something was bubbling inside me.
• I put the phone on the nightstand this time and turned it off.
• My mind still didn't feel at ease about that text.
• I slipped quietly out of the room and shut the door solidly behind me. I did not move until I was in my ground-floor home office. No sooner had I closed the door behind me that I'd already picked up the phone.
• I scrolled through numbers.
• Uncle Alex.
• It was on the second ring that he answered the phone.
• "Nathaniel," he croaked. "You recall I retired for a reason?"
• "Yes, and you told me to call if things don't seem right," I replied while massaging my temples. "I have one question about Jenna."
• There was a pause.
• "Go on," he said.
• "Where did you meet her?" I asked as I paced back and forth in my office.
• "One of my employees recommended her to me. She worked alongside a child welfare worker, I think. Why?"
• "Did you run a background check on her?"
• He stopped. "Of course, I did. She has a clean record. Good references."
• "You're saying there's nothing to be suspicious of about her?" I ran my fingers through my hair.
• "Nope. What's wrong?"
• "Not that I was trying to snoop, but I saw a text on her phone. From Sophie. It said, 'Don't let yourself get distracted. Remember why you are there in the first place.'"
• He stopped. "That's interesting."
• "I'm confused about what to think right now. That text could mean a lot of things."
• He exhaled in frustration. "It might be anything, Nathaniel. I'm sure her friend is just reminding her about focusing more on the kids than on you because that was the reason she was brought in, in the first place."
• "Or she might be here for some reason and absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the children."
• "Now you're overthinking it."
• "Am I?"
• "Nathaniel," he snarled. "You're better than jumping into conclusion from one text message. Jenna's been nothing but nice, responsible, and respectful to the girls."
• "I know. And that's why I'm paranoid."
• "What, that she's too perfect?"
• "No," I puffed. "That I may have let my guard down."
• He breathed into the line. "Listen. If she was up to something, she's doing a hell of a job keeping it on the down low. But I would have sniffed her out before I let you marry her."
• I clenched my fists along the edge of the desk. "She's smart. I knew that when I met her. But last night."
• "Last night what?"
• I didn't respond. "Things got intense and out of control."
• "Oh."
• "Yes. And I woke up this morning and I saw this message on her phone…"
• "You're upset because you're feeling something."
• "I'm not—" I caught myself. "This isn't about emotion. This is about trust."
• "This has nothing to do with feelings, either."
• I waved in irritation, pushing my hair out of my face. "If there's even one percent that she's playing me."
• "And then what?" he taunted. "Flash your knife and scare her off? Kill her? Confuse your daughters again?"
• I didn't respond.
• "Hear me, kid. Wait. Watch. Ask her if you need to. But don't blow what could be good because you're afraid."
• I clenched my teeth.
• "I'll think about it."
• "And Nate?"
• "Yeah?"
• "Tell her yourself, if you'd do that much for me. Not like some prosecutor interrogating a criminal. Do it like a man with a woman on either side of him in bed."
• He hung up.
• I sat and looked at the grain in the wood on my desk.
• Was I going to let a vague message ruin everything? No.
• I went back upstairs. The house was quiet. The kids were still asleep.
• I crept into the bedroom, Jenna on her side now, hand pulled up against her face like a little kid.
• My heart jumped again.
• She looked so innocent.
• But so did a whole bunch of other people who were just a whole bunch of darn liars.
• I crept back into bed without waking her. My eyes fell on the phone on the bedside table, now black.
• I just had to know.
• She would never have deceived me like that.
• LATER THAT MORNING
• I'd laugh at a joke to Emily during breakfast, and I'd catch myself looking at her again.
• She leaned in to hear what Natasha was saying; Them telling each other what they loved best.
• God, she was fantastic.
• Too fantastic?
• I took a bite of my toast but hadn't made it halfway through the monstrosity.
• She tensed, eyes wide to glare so openly.
• "Something wrong?" she asked.
• I nodded. "Yeah. Just tired."
• She raised an eyebrow. "Rough night?"
• "Didn't sleep much," I said to her.
• Her face softened. "Same."
• The girls weren't picking up on the undertone in what we were saying.
• "Hi, Jenna," I said to her straight out.
• "Yup?"
• "Sophie is your best friend you told me about?"
• Her mask face was unchanging. She was so composed, too composed.
• "Yes, we are like sisters." she nodded. "Why?"
• I scowled. "I might have read her message this morning when I wanted to turn off your phone."
• The room was silent.
• Then she laughed softly.
• "She's a drama queen. I kind of told her that I was having feelings for you, so she's trying to remind me to stay focused on why I was brought here in the first place, which is to take care of the kids."
• I smiled at her response. "Right. I thought it would be that too." I slipped my hands under her dress from under the dining table. "But still, a little distraction won't hurt."
• She swatted my hand off and fixed her dress. "The kids are right here." she glared at me, and I smiled as she turned her focus back on Emily.
• She was the best thing that has happened to me and my kids in years, and I felt bad for doubting her a single bit.