Page 21 of One Night With The Nanny

“No!” Reid said with a firm shake of his head. “My parents are and I considered following them into psychology, but I switched paths and went into education and childcare. I used to be a nanny, but now I run an agency with my best friend, Gavin.”

“Perhaps you’ve heard of it, the Marshall Agency,” Max chimed in and Sophia’s eyes lit up.

“Oh! I’ve heard of that! You’re with the Marshall Agency?”

“He’s Reid Marshall,” Max told her. “Apparently, he is the agency,” he added, making Reid blush.

“It came together as a fluke, to help my little brother and his bff, Riley, after they got fired for being gay. I started the agency to protect other queer nannies and pair them with queer parents who were also being discriminated against,” he said with a shrug.

Mia’s jaw fell and she let out a surprised gasp. “That doesn’t sound like a fluke, it sounds badass,” she declared and Sophia humphed in agreement, eyeing Reid with reluctant approval.

“That’s pretty badass. I’ve heard there’s a waitlist. Any way I can slide in? I’m weaning the twins and ready to go back to work full-time but we haven’t had any luck finding a nanny we’re comfortable with.”

“Hmmm…” Reid rubbed his chin and pretended to consider. “I do make exceptions when there’s a family in crisis, not that this would be considered a crisis. Are you or your husband queer?” he asked, earning a suffering groan from Sophia.

“No, we’re both straight, unfortunately.”

Reid bit down on his lips, refusing to laugh or agree with her. “I could call around. I have a lot of friends who work in childcare, and some of them are straight,” he added with a wink.

Sophia and Mia both snickered and giggled, trading quick looks and grins. That was exactly what Reid was hoping for.

He raised a brow at Sophia, daring her. “You sure you don’t want to stay for a while? We opened a delicious red and I was running out of things to ask Max.”

“I really should be going,” Sophia said, sounding hesitant until her glance swung to Max. She shook her head. “Maybe another time. I told Kyle I’d be right back and we don’t want to be in the way.”

Max’s brow furrowed and his jaw twitched as he took a few steps closer, breaking Reid’s heart. He’d never seen a man so close to begging.

“You wouldn’t be in the way,” he said softly.

“Maybe another time,” she replied with a cough and a look at Mia. “Ready?”

“Yup!” Mia turned and offered Reid her hand. “It was so cool to meet you and I look forward to seeing you again,” she stated, then went to Max and swiped her lips across his cheek. “Later!” she called over her shoulder on her way out.

“Later,” Max repeated weakly, his hand cupping his cheek.

“Be safe!” Reid said as he waved, then turned to Max when Sophia pulled the door closed behind Mia. “I think that went well,” he mused and frowned when he noticed that Max was crying. “What?”

Max covered his mouth to hold back a watery laugh. “That was brilliant! You were brilliant!”

“Oh, well…” Reid waved it off, then grunted in shock when Max pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Sophia was here! And she talked to me!” he spun Reid, shaking as he leaned back, his eyes puddled as he blinked back tears. “Thank you!” Max captured Reid’s lips for a laughing, breathless kiss.

“It was nothing,” Reid murmured, angling his head and groaning as Max’s arms closed around him and the kiss became serious.

They were no longer laughing as Max’s fingers twisted in Reid’s hair. “It was everything,” Max said as he backed Reid into the arm of the sofa.

Then, they heard the front door open and Mia’s giggle as she ran past them. “Sorry! Forgot my charger,” she announced while Max and Reid jumped apart and fixed their shirts and hair.

“It’s fine!” Max shouted after her while Reid smothered a frustrated “Fuck!” and covered his face; it was on fire as he went back to his seat. He was about to sit but straightened when she raced through a few seconds later, waving the cord at them.

“Carry on! Pretend I was never here,” she commanded.

Reid snatched his glass off the coffee table. “Please pretend you didn’t see that,” he said under his breath and into his glass before draining it.

“Have a good night,” Max called as the door shut behind her, looking disoriented yet hopeful when his gaze swung to Reid’s. “She saw us, but I don’t think she’s upset.” He swept a hand through his hair as he began to pace. “She didn’t look upset, did she?”

That struck Reid as a bit odd. If anything, he sensed that Mia was actually pleased. “Why would she be upset? I think she engineered all of that because she was hoping we would.”

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