Page 66 of One Night With The Nanny

“Whooo, boy,” he whispered as he reconsidered the vent.

Could Max compromise that much? He had already mentioned dating and marriage so it wasn’t like Max hadn’t been transparent with his intentions. But even if he hadn’t, Reid sensed that Max yearned to be loved. There was a gaping, aching void in Max’s life and his psyche and it called to Reid. He wanted to be the man to heal those wounds and Reid believed that he could make Max happy, he just didn’t want his world to change.

“Okay. The best thing I can do now is face this head-on,” Reid accepted and took a deep breath, recalibrating. “If I don’t act like it’s a big deal, they’ll lose interest and get over it and we can all move on.”

He spent another ten minutes convincing himself it wasn’t a big deal so he could sell it in the kitchen. It still felt like a really big deal, but he was more centered and in a calmer frame of mind once he washed his face and put on a fresh shirt so he wasn’t rumpled and sweaty.

“Alright. Here we go,” he said, then opened his door and strolled into the kitchen, straight to the French press.

Everyone—including Max—was seated around the little table, quietly chatting and enjoying their beverages and breakfasts. Reid saw their twitching lips and heard their smothered giggles but he ignored them as he stirred sugar into his coffee and approached the table. He cleared his throat, requesting their attention before he took a sip to fortify himself.

“As you may have noticed…” he began, raising a brow and daring one of them to say something. He was ready to throw his cup and make a run for the front door. “We have an addition to brunch. Max and I are…a thing now but you needn’t worry, very little will be changing around here.”

“Well! I did not see that coming!” Riley whispered over his cup and lit the fuse.

Reid nodded along as they exploded with laughter, giving them a moment to get it out of their systems. Even Max was laughing and wiping tears from his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re all amused,” Reid said as he went to his seat. “Let’s see how long Max lasts before you all scare him off,” he murmured but Gavin shrugged.

“We’re a walk in the park if he’s willing to put up with you. We should think about a bigger table,” he said, pointing around them and earning several grumbles of agreement from those balancing plates on their knees and leaning against the wall.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Reid said, already designing a new table and bench in his head. He’d get to sketching after brunch and pass his plans along to Penn.

The rest of brunch was relatively painless with just a few jokes and royal puns and Reid was touched by all the sincere congratulations as it ended and everyone left.

Reid was nervous, but in a wonderful way when Max came over for dinner with Mia and Sophia the following Wednesday night.

“I’ve always wanted to see what it was like in here!” Sophia had informed them and Mia declared that Briarwood Terrace was “literally the coolest building ever” when Gavin explained that his uncle had inherited the house and turned it into separate units.

“We’ll have two units available soon, if you’re interested,” Gavin said to her. “The couple in number three are moving to the West Coast this fall.”

“Lynn and Shelly are leaving?” Reid groaned. “I love them.”

“Lynn wants to be closer to her siblings and Shelly’s tired of the winters,” Gavin said, making Reid sigh.

“I can’t really blame her. I have less and less tolerance for being cold as I get older.”

Dash shook his head. “Who knew you could hurt just from being cold? That never happened before I turned thirty.”

There were knowing hums from everyone but Mia. “Sorry you’re all so old, I guess,” she said with a shrug.

They all laughed and complained about aging and less hurtful topics were discussed like favorite bookstores, thrift shops, and which trains were the worst. Dash was charged with learning everything he could from Sophia by Penny. She wanted to know all about the new florist in the family and if she could “come over” and play.

The plan was to introduce the girls to Gavin and Dash and show them around Briarwood Terrace, but just about everyone except Penny and Agnes found a reason to visit.

“Just thought we’d stop by after Cadence’s swimming lessons,” Penn had said over the intercom before Reid buzzed them in.

Which was fine by Reid. He figured that it would only make him look better by association if there was an adorable toddler to gush over. And Reid could tell by the way Sophia’s eyes grew wide and she blushed as she shook Morris’s hand that he’d gone way up in her book.

“Does he come by often?” Sophia whispered to Gavin. “Because that would be a major selling point if you want to get someone in those empty apartments,” she joked.

“More often since he and Penn got together, but we’re not in a hurry to fill them,” Gavin replied. “We can be rather particular.”

Reid gave her a sheepish look. “I can be particular,” he admitted. “I don’t mind cats and dogs and children. And I’m clearly fine with musicians, but noisy, opinionated adults, no thank you.” He nodded at her conspiratorially. “If you’re seriously considering a move, I’d avoid unit two.” Reid pointed at the ceiling. “Some people can get a little loud and Mr. Hayes was here before we moved in and he wouldn’t let us upgrade anything unless it started leaking.”

“Good to know…” she replied, sounding surprisingly serious.

It seemed that Max liked the idea as well, inquiring about the schools and parks in the neighborhood. Reid didn’t want to get his hopes up or set Max up for disappointment, but he would talk to Lynn and Shelly about an early peek for Sophia. Mr. Hayes had the entire floor but they had a way better view and the bedrooms and living area were somehow roomier. So much work would need to be done on number two to make it suitable for a young family but two already had a gorgeous kitchen with a huge fridge.

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