Page 75 of One Night With The Nanny

“A relationship?” Max repeated slowly, nodding as he considered. “Have you given any thought to what sort of relationship you want us to have?”

“Maybe a little…” Reid wrinkled his nose sheepishly. “It depends on how much of a relationship you want to have with me, given my…complicated situation.”

Max smiled softly as he kissed Reid’s knuckles. “What if I like your complicated situation?”

“Do you?” Reid blurted nervously. He was shaking for some reason. “I know I don’t want to sleep with anyone else but you and I like actually sleeping with you but I can’t leave Gavin and Briarwood Terrace. My life is here and I want to share it with you. I just don’t know how much of this you want and how much of me you’re willing to share. But I’ll try as long as you’ll never make me pick between you and Gavin or ask me to leave.”

“I want it all, Reid.” He looked around the kitchen and the apartment. “I was just in love with you and I wanted all of them to love me so you would. But after Gus passed away, I realized I wanted to be part of this family and for this to be my legacy too.”

“But you already have a legacy. A huge legacy,” Reid countered. “Gus was a great man. He was a veteran and an activist and an amazing husband and father, but he was just a regular guy from Hoboken and I don’t think he left Penn and Penny that much money.”

“I have come to understand a great deal about Angus Tucker and his legacy,” Max said solemnly. “When my father died, the only people who offered their condolences were the lawyers and accountants. They came and said what was expected as they passed me forms to sign and all that mattered to them was that the old margrave had been replaced and that the transition was conducted smoothly. No one cared that my father was gone and no one will miss him. But Angus Tucker will be missed and his legacy will live on in the memories his children and grandchildren will share with their friends and future generations. That is a legacy I would choose, not the one I inherited, and I plan to earn it here with you.”

“You do?” Reid was beginning to sound like a broken record, but no one was that perfect. “And you don’t mind that I have to live with Gavin?”

Max hummed, kissing Reid’s knuckles as he considered. “I believe there is room for compromise there.”

Reid leaned back warily. “What kind of compromise?”

“What if you and I had our own place? Here in Briarwood Terrace.”

“You bought one of the upstairs units? Which one? Was it unit number two?” Reid jumped up and opened his mouth to yell at Gavin, but was pulled back down.

“Shhh! A few weeks ago. I didn’t want you to panic, or actually yell at me, so I was waiting until I was sure you’d let me stay and the moment was right.”

“We’re getting our own place.” Reid was a little dizzy, but he was also excited. Not entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming, but he was really excited. “I don’t have to move out.”

“I could see that wasn’t happening and I wouldn’t have the heart. You’d never be happy without Gavin and this is your home,” Max said with a firm nod, settling the matter.

That’s when Reid knew he was loved and that he’d found another once-in-a-lifetime heart. No other man would have that kind of patience or generosity—or the security—to accept a heart that was already so devoted to someone and something else.

“I love you, Max,” Reid stated clearly. “I didn’t think I could love you without having to give up something vital. I didn’t think I could give you everything you deserved because I thought that I was already taken. But I can share my life with you and you do fit in here. You belong here.”

He had been a little silly, in hindsight, because Reid could see now that he had belonged to Max since that first night at the Baccarat. He was just too stubborn to accept that he’d been wrong about something, as usual.

“I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you,” Max replied. “I knew that you were special and that one night with you would change my life. And I haven’t stopped falling. I love you more and more each day and I want to spend the rest of my life with you”

“Okay! Wait!” Reid threw up a hand and made a frantic sound as his nerves fizzed and his heart started racing. “I think I know where this is headed and—” He shook his head. “I want you but I mean it when I say that I don’t want to change and I don’t want us to change. In any official way,” he explained, but could tell by the furrow in Max’s brow that he wasn’t following.

“You don’t want to marry me,” he said, looking befuddled.

“Can I marry you without it being a big deal?” Reid asked gently. “I don’t want to be involved with any decrees or titles or spend hours of my life in receiving lines. I just want to be a normal guy.”

Max laughed softly. “I understand and I’m glad that you see beyond the glamor and privilege. I am endeavoring to become a ‘normal guy’ but even if we aren’t married, I will still want you by my side at certain times. I won’t mind going alone if it’s something tedious. If I’m assisting the President in welcoming the Austrian delegation to the United States, for example. But if I am hosting a personal celebration or event, like a birthday and my retirement, I would want the man I love next to me.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Reid conceded petulantly. “I don’t want to have to act differently or worry about who’s watching me when I’m out,” he said, earning a knowing grin from Max.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem or that you’ll have to change all that much. You already carry yourself like a prince. But I think you’re more worried about having to follow someone else’s rules.”

“Possibly…” Reid waved it off, not wanting to delve that deeply into his psyche. “It hasn’t been too weird when we’ve gone out around here, but the rest of it scares me. Can we talk about marriage once you’re officially more of a normal guy and it won’t be as big of a deal?”

“I think that sounds reasonable.”

“Great,” Reid replied with a chuckle. But that chuckle turned into an ecstatic giggle as he pictured life with Max at Briarwood Terrace. “I can’t believe we’re moving upstairs!” He covered his mouth when a loud laugh burst from him. “We’re getting our own place upstairs!”

“We were waiting on you to make any design decisions, but Agnes and I have already hired a contractor to add another door and add a set of stairs so we can come and go through the kitchen,” he said as he pointed at the wall to Reid’s left.

Reid could see it already. “We can turn the upstairs into our own suite with a bonkers bathroom because I won’t need a kitchen up there.”

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