Page 71 of Marrying the Nanny

“Happy to.”

“My dad might—Well, he will expect you to ask permission for my hand.”

He gave her a bewildered look. “You’re twenty-five and divorced, not sixteen.”

“He’s old-fashioned.” She shrugged.

“And you want me to pander to that?”

Ouch. No, she didn’t, but she also longed for her father’s approval. On the other hand, nothing she had ever done had achieved it, so why keep trying?

Boys will be boys, Em. Why can’t you smooth things over with Kev? You’ve put us in an awkward position.

Yeah, she had done that.

“You’re right. I don’t want you to be enable him,” she decided.

Her father might be offended when Reid didn’t ask, but Emma needed to signal that she was in control of her own life even if she wasn’t. Not entirely.

“Are you okay? You look angry,” he said cautiously.

“This is my terrified face.” She pointed at her chin. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“Everything. Tiffany’s sister. How your brothers will react. What my parents will say. I promised Sophie I wouldn’t rush into this decision, but here I am.”

“You told Sophie?” He stiffened.

“She’s my only friend, Reid. She won’t say anything.”

“No, she won’t,” he agreed, relaxing slightly, but still frowning. He lifted the edges of his eggs, tilted a look at her. “You got any idea what’s going on between her and Logan?”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

“Hmph.”

“Honestly, it’s probably what you already know,” she conceded, setting down her wine. “She said she was angry he didn’t take her with him when he left. Then she cautioned me about how hard it is to share custody after a breakup. You and I should probably have something figured out ahead of time in case this doesn’t work.”

He gave her a flinty look. “I want it to work, Em.”

Her heart turned over.

“Me, too. But marriage is complicated. Lots of things can go wrong.” She picked up her wine again. “Sex, for instance.”

The eggs were spitting and crackling. He flipped them. Frowned at her.

“Are you worried about the sex? We don’t have to rush into it.” He sounded sincere, but his profile was tense.

She chewed her lip. “I kind of think we need to know beforehand, though. What if we commit to marriage and raising Storm and discover after the fact that we’re a terrible combination?”

“Sex is always weird at first.” He shrugged.

“What if it never gets better?”

“Did you and your ex—I’m not prying, but you made it sound like things weren’t great.”

Which was such a massively painful pry, her chest felt split open, beating while fully exposed.

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