Page 24 of One Night With The Nanny

Max gave her a hesitant wince. It was easier to open up about Reid and use him for cover than lead with an apology or a discussion about his feelings. And Reid had suggested that Max show the girls that he had a heart and wanted to use it. What better way than enlisting Mia to help him win Reid?

“He said that I could contact him via email or text and that he would do his best to respond the next business day. And he wished me nothing but happiness,” Max recalled.

Her jaw hung and Mia reared back. “What did you do?” she demanded in a horrified whisper. “He was totally into you when I came back to get my charger.”

“I thought he was too, but Reid says he isn’t looking for a relationship and I think he’s turned off by the fact that I’m a royal,” he explained as he flipped open both of the boxes.

“That’s because he’s smart and I can’t really blame him. What’s that?” she asked and came around to get a closer look at Max’s pizza. He usually just ordered Mia’s favorite—sausage and pepperoni—and she seemed genuinely perplexed, her nose wrinkling as her neck craned.

“I don’t like Italian-style sausage and pepperoni,” he confessed, causing her to gasp in horror. Max shrugged and reached for his plate. “I do like the chicken and feta pizza, though,” he said and Mia pretended she was getting faint.

“It’s over if this gets out. I could have told everyone you were quirky and blamed it on the whole European thing if you liked pineapple on your pizza. But chicken and feta?” She whispered a plea for God to save them before bursting into giggles and taking a slice. “This has to be more sacrilegious than pineapple,” she predicted.

“They have chickens and I’m sure feta cheese crossed the Mediterranean and reached Italy long before the pineapple,” Max observed. “Columbus brought the pineapple back with him from South America, but I believe that pineapple on pizza is a modern Canadian invention.”

Mia took a large bite out of her slice and chewed it. “Was there a point in there somewhere, Professor Pizza?” she asked, making Max laugh. “That’s another mark in Reid’s favor, though. I’m glad he’s aware of how uncool all of this can be.”

“Do you think I shouldn’t pursue him?” Max asked, suddenly concerned, but she shook her head.

“You have to ‘pursue’ Reid,” Mia said, mimicking Max, then giggled as she chewed another bite. “He’s perfect and there’s no way we’re letting him get away from you. I’m just saying he’s smart and it’s good that he knows what he’s getting into.” She shrugged and added a slice of her pizza to her plate. “Your pizza’s not bad, but we’re keeping it a secret,” she said and smiled at Max.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, taking a bite. They fell into a comfortable silence as they ate. Max felt pleased and a bit brave so he cleared his throat and set his plate aside. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was hiding anything from you. That was never my intention and I want you to know me. It’s just that…I’m still learning who I am.”

She took a moment to wipe her lips. “But you’re…almost sixty, or something,” she said with a watery laugh. “How do you not know who you are?”

Max pretended to be hurt as he bent and rested on his elbow, extending his other hand. “I’m fifty-three, but I had to be who your grandfather and the Foundation wanted me to be. I never gave a lot of things much thought and just did as I was told until he passed away.”

The “Foundation” was how they referred to the Foundation of the House of Hessen. The foundation had been reestablished after WWII to curate and preserve the legacy of the von Hessen dynasty that had ruled until 1918 and defected from Austria in the lead-up to the war. Until the divorce and Max’s “retirement,” the Foundation had governed every aspect of his life.

Mia made a sympathetic sound as she slouched on an elbow and took his hand. “I can’t remember anything about him but Sophia says he was scary.”

“He was very strict and he had a very strong moral code,” Max explained carefully. His father had been dead for almost fourteen years, but Max still felt uncomfortable talking about how oppressive his upbringing and much of his adult life had been. He’d done as much as he could to spare Sophia and Mia from the pressures of having a title, while still treating them like his little princesses. “He was very old-fashioned and I did everything I could to please him.”

“And then Ella left and you did everything you could to please us?” Mia guessed.

Max nodded. “Yes. Ella understood that I couldn’t agree to a divorce as long as your grandfather was alive. I didn’t see a point in hiding after he was gone and the marriage was over. But I spent so much time trying to please other people—I still do—that I forget that I can disagree or like something different,” he confided.

“Except when it comes to making money,” Mia countered. “You’re not afraid to be a hardass when it comes to business.”

“That is a fear of failure,” Max said with a sigh. “I wanted to go my own way and support myself so I had to be shrewd. And I had two princesses to support,” he added and winked at her.

The conversation remained pleasant as they ate, teasing each other and sharing their favorite new places to eat and places they missed. Max asked her about Parsons and how she had settled on textile design.

They loaded their plates into the dishwasher and Mia checked Max’s forehead when he asked if she’d teach him how to shoot a basketball.

“Should I call for a car to take you to the emergency room or an ambulance?”

“I feel fine!” he laughed, turning her toward the back door and tugging off his tie. “I can sympathize with your fear of failure, though, and you have every right to be worried. I’ve always struggled with the physics of the throw in sports.”

“Ha! I always wondered why you wouldn’t play tennis with us but you’d go skiing in a heartbeat.”

“I have terrible hand-eye coordination,” he said as he got the door.

“And I thought you liked skiing because there’s less talking.”

“Good heavens, no,” Max said as he rolled up his sleeves. “I never mind talking to my princess.”

She jogged over to the bin in the corner and selected a ball, giving it a test dribble. She bounced it in Max’s direction and he lunged and swiped, barely catching hold of it.

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