Page 54 of One Night With The Nanny

“Oh? Anyone I know?” Reid asked shakily, then swore when he backed into the pantry door.

“I know this is too fast,” Max said, whispering Reid’s name soothingly as he gathered him in his arms. He angled his head and nibbled along Reid’s jaw to his ear and danced them into the pantry. Max didn’t trust Mia not to snoop and he didn’t trust himself or Reid to keep a kiss family friendly. “We can slow down and try dating for real now, not for Mia and Sophia. I can be patient and flexible and we can make this work,” he panted and Reid nodded loosely.

“Slow is good. Patient is good.”

“Just tell me what you want and I’ll do whatever it takes. I want to marry you, Reid,” Max said, causing Reid’s eyes to widen. He didn’t want Reid to panic but Max had seen what holding back had cost him. “I want to be the one who holds you at night when you finally let that busy brain of yours rest. And I want to be the one who loves you first every morning, before you get swept up in whatever it is you have planned for the day.”

“Okay,” Reid said hoarsely, pushing against Max’s chest. “Maybe,” he amended, taking a large step to his left and sliding around Max and out of the pantry. “Can I get back to you once I…?” He tugged at the front of his shirt and backed around the island nervously. “I… I should think about this.”

He was panicking, but he wasn’t saying no or telling Max it was a terrible idea. “Of course,” he said as he followed Reid through the living room. “I did say I would be patient and that we could slow down,” Max reminded him.

“Yes. Patient is good. Maybe we could be slow so I should think,” Reid babbled, turning and hurrying to the door.

“That didn’t make sense, but I think I understand,” Max said as he reached around Reid to help him with his coat. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m a little…” Reid took his coat and hugged it against his chest. “It’s way too hot for this.” He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead. It appeared to be dry and Max felt comfortable.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine!” Reid insisted with a weak laugh. “It appears that the sweltering heat is radiating from inside my skull but everything else is fine. Thank you for tonight,” he said clumsily and grimaced as he offered Max his hand.

Max took it, laughing softly and bending so he could kiss Reid’s cheek. “Catch your breath and take your time. Whatever your terms are, I’ll meet them.”

“Good,” Reid replied and nodded. “Thank you.”

Reid thanked Max again when he got the door and there was another dazed thank you when he saw that a limo was waiting to take him back to Briarwood Terrace.

“He’ll be fine,” Max told himself and went to see if Mia was as pleased with the evening as he was.

19

Thursday, 5:48 p.m. …

What were his terms? How did one negotiate when they did not want to marry a prince? Reid snarled at the sidewalk as he made his way home, one arm around a pizza and the other hugging a pink bakery box.

He’d spent the afternoon at the Olympia with one of his favorite little princesses, Luna Ashby, playing games and solving puzzles. She was an extraordinarily bright child but Giles had noticed that Luna was having some trouble grasping a few early reading skills.

Riley wasn’t worried but he thought Giles would appreciate a second opinion and had asked Reid to come over. Reid hadn’t seen any reason to be concerned either, but they were going to keep an eye out for other signs of possible developmental delays or dyslexia. But Reid was confident that Luna was just a little more excited about counting than learning to write her letters.

Without Luna to distract him, Reid’s mind and conscience were quickly absorbed by Max and his ‘offer.’ He was so confident that Reid couldn’t refuse, but Max had only made things more complicated. Everything would have been so much easier if Max had made an ultimatum or suggested that Reid had a choice to make.

Reid had gone on three dates with a man in college who had scoffed at the idea of him living with Gavin if things “got serious” between them. He had thought that Reid was joking when he said they were a package deal and it was the last conversation they ever had. Reid asked for the check and thanked him for dinner and didn’t look back as he got into a cab and went home. Reid lost that man’s number, forgot his name, and never went on a serious date again.

Max hadn’t done that and he was still being open-minded about Gavin so Reid couldn’t blame it on that, could he? He knew it was coming, though, and despite weeks of waiting for that shoe to drop, Reid had yet to come up with a plan.

Which was why he was ghosting Max. It was childish and disrespectful and exactly the sort of behavior Reid had despised in other men. Being blunt and direct were Reid’s hallmarks, but he chickened out when he received a text from Max at 10:22 a.m.

That had been a lie because Reid wasn’t at the Olympia and they weren’t expecting him there until later in the day, at 2:00 p.m. But he didn’t know what to say to Max or how to respond to the two emails in his inbox—one asking Reid how he felt about opera music or if he preferred Broadway musicals, the other included a link to a book Max had just downloaded in case Reid was interested in joining along and doing a “buddy read.”

Who did Max von Hessen think he was, being so perfectly patient and thoughtful and interesting?

Reid had even done a little internet sleuthing to see what Max’s father and grandfather were doing during World War II because having Nazis for parents or grandparents could have been a strike against him. But they had snuck out of Austria early and had moved most of the family to New York City. It had been Max’s father who had returned to Austria in the late 60s and restored the Foundation and the House of Hessen.

Even without the title and his responsibilities to the Foundation, Max was still the last sort of man Reid could imagine himself in a relationship with. In many ways, Max was similar to Walker and Agnes, and as much as he loved them for Fin and Penny and loved them as in-laws, Reid could never live the way they lived. Fin and Penny were flexible enough to live just about anywhere and adapt their routines to work around Walker’s and Agnes’s lives.

Reid couldn’t do that and he wouldn’t expect Max to change either.

Which was why Reid was ghosting Max and headed home with his arms full of comfort calories. He wasn’t sure what Gavin and Dash had planned for the evening, but Reid was going to eat as many slices of pizza and as much babka and rugelach as he could without harming himself. He didn’t think it would help him figure out what to do about Max, but melted cheese and carbs always cheered Reid up.

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