Page 9 of One Night With The Nanny

“See!” Agnes said with a wave at Reid. “This is exactly what he deserves.”

Walker frowned around the room. “What did I miss?” he asked and Fin squealed excitedly as he hooked his arm around Walker’s.

“They know each other,” he whispered, making Walker laugh.

“Reid knows the Margrave of Hessen?”

Fin’s jaw fell and he let out a dramatic gasp. “Apparently, the Margrave is under the impression that Reid’s name is Wes. Which is…” He kissed his fingertips loudly. “Magnifique! Because Wes was Reid’s alter ego, the name he always used when he was up to something and trying to be sneaky like James Bond.”

“Brilliant!” Agnes declared. “I was hoping we’d find someone exciting for Reid, someone with substance, but I never imagined we’d get him to date a margrave.”

“You’re a margrave?” Reid shouted at Max, the Margrave. For fuck’s sake. “I’m going to kill you,” he said as he spun and went for Agnes.

She danced back, groaning sympathetically at Reid. “If you stop panicking, you’ll see that it’s actually rather wonderful! Don’t you think so, Walker?”

His head rocked from side to side. “I could think of far worse prospects for von Hessen. Reid doesn’t like to brag, but he’s done very well for himself since he’s opened the agency.”

“Nope.” Reid raised a hand and circled a finger over his head. “I’m shutting this down now. I will talk to Mr. von Hessen alone about his daughter. That is all. Don’t get any other ideas,” he added with a threatening look at Agnes, Fin, Gavin, and Dash. “Is there any chance this stays between us?”

They didn’t have to laugh. But they all did. Except for Max, who stared around the room like he’d entered a giant chicken coop.

Penny clapped excitedly. “This is going to be so much fun,” she said, offering Riley a high five.

He laughed as he slapped her hand. “So much fun. Who else needs to step outside so they can google what a margrave is?”

There was a smothered, snorting chortle from Agnes, the snake. “He’s basically an Austrian prince,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face. “Isn’t this absolutely wonderful!”

All but Agnes, Walker, and Gavin blinked at Max, before bursting into laughter again.

“Isn’t my wife so clever?” Penny boasted as she sat back, grinning at Agnes like she hung the moon.

“She’s a menace,” Reid replied flatly. “Everybody except the Margrave needs to vacate the premises.”

“Fine,” half of them grumbled while others made predictions and bets.

Within five minutes, the children had been collected and Dash and Gavin made plans to spend the afternoon at East 63rd.

“After all I’ve done for them, this is how they repay me,” Reid lamented, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Max offered him an apologetic smile. “You could take it as a compliment. It’s clear they think very highly of you.”

That got a hard snort out of Reid. “How well do you know Agnes?”

“Very well,” Max said, then held up a hand when Reid’s brow hitched threateningly. “But not that well. She is one of my oldest friends but I can confirm that she has always been a menace. Since we were teenagers.”

“Walker said as much.” Reid waved over his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen for another cup of coffee. He stepped over the mess in the middle of the floor, gave his tie a tug so it was tighter, and rolled down his sleeves. He had showered and changed into a more casual plaid shirt and gray trousers, but he felt incredibly exposed as Max strolled behind him.

A thoughtful hum wafted from Max as his gaze traveled around the kitchen. Reid was suddenly self-conscious of the many orchids cluttering the counters and the mismatched mugs and saucers in the opened cabinet by the sink.

“Coffee?” he asked, in a hurry to shut it.

“That would be lovely,” Max replied as he went to the table and stopped next to Reid’s chair.

“Not there,” Reid said with a nod at the bench.

Max offered a slight bow before stepping around the table and taking a seat. “I like this,” he said, his finger wagging in front of him. “It’s warm and I can feel that there’s a lot of history here.”

“Thank you...” Reid gave his head a shake, clearing it.

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