Page 5 of Power Play

A fresh wave of tears clings to my eyelashes. “I’m not okay,” I admit. “I don’t know how to be okay with any of this.”

He reaches for my hand, tugging me from the bathroom, and I follow him limply. Surprise ripples through me when he pulls me into his arms, wrapping them around me.

“What are you doing?” I mumble into his chest. His hard, sturdy, muscular chest.

“You looked like you needed a hug.” He tightens his hold around me to the point I can barely breathe, but it’s sort of… perfect. “Has anyone hugged you since everything happened?”

I shake my head against his pecs. I’m getting tears and snot all over his soft T-shirt, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

This man is a complete stranger to me. But I soak in the comfort he’s offering.

He smells like cedar and firewood, with a hint of spice I can’t identify. Like a bonfire on a warm summer night, or a roaring fire in the cold of winter. His strong arms are wrapped securely around me, and he’s not letting go.

This is nice, but it can’t last forever.

So I pull myself away, swiping at my eyes. “I know you have no reason to trust me… but Emmy is my last remaining link to my sister. Please don’t shut me out of her life.”

To my surprise, he takes my hand in his. “Why don’t you come chat with Vanessa? She has an idea.”

The woman is rocking Emmy as we approach, and her eyes fall to our linked hands. My face heats and I pull my hand free. I don’t know this man. I have no claim to him.

But for one moment, one perfect minute, I wasn’t alone in this world.

I take Emmy into my arms again, inhaling her sweet baby scent. Her chubby arms cling to my neck, and the tears threaten to fall again.

“Presuming everything checks out with the paternity test,” Vanessa says, “we still have a few problems.”

My eyebrows dart up into my hairline. “Like what?”

“Like I’m about to leave for a road trip,” he says. His voice is rough, and he clears his throat. “If she’s mine…” He blows out a breath. “If she’s mine, I’ll do right by her. I’ll do everything I need to. But like I said earlier, I travel for work three-quarters of the year.”

Oh. Right. I hadn’t thought about that.

“You live in Arizona,” Vanessa adds.

My stomach sinks. “I can’t afford to fly out here more than once a year. Twice, maybe.”

Alberto shakes his head. “How attached are you to Arizona? Would you be willing to relocate?”

“I’m going to need you to spell this out for me.” My tone is slow and measured, each word dragged up from the depth of my heart. I don’t want to let myself hope. It would hurt too much if I’m wrong. “Because if you’re saying what I think you’re saying…”

“I need a nanny, or at least someone to stay with Emmy while I’m gone, and someone else for daytime. And I’m gone a lot,” he says. “You don’t want to leave her. I get that. And I don’t blame you one bit. I wouldn’t want to leave her, either.”

Swallowing, I study Emmy’s perfect little face, then raise my eyes to his. “What does this mean?”

“You would move here. You would live here, so there’s minimal disruption to her routine,” Vanessa cuts in. “He’d pay you a salary, along with free room and board, and you’d take care of her.”

“My job…”

“I can pay you better,” he says, full of cocky confidence.

“It’s not about the money. I have a career. I have an apartment.”

“One you can’t afford.” His eyes pin me to the spot. “You said it yourself, you don’t want to leave her. And I need help.”

Blowing out a breath, I consider my options. I don’t have very many. Give up my last remaining link to my sister, or a job in a field I’ve worked my ass off to get to, but don’t actually love.

“I don’t want to be a nanny forever,” I say. “I’m okay with it for now, until she’s bigger. But⁠—”