Page 76 of One Night With The Nanny

“I love the sound of that,” Max said as he sat back and picked up his coffee. “I’d like an office so I can work from home but you can do whatever you wish.”

“Of course, you have to have an office…” Reid glanced up at the ceiling, trying to recall the layout of number two. It had been years and years since he’d been up there to help Mr. Hayes with his new television. That unit was much larger, taking up the entire second floor. “We’ll have plenty of room.” His brows jumped and he grinned at Max. “So much room that we can put our suite at the opposite side of the house as Gavin’s.”

There was a loud, shredded moan from Gavin’s room and Reid took that as a sign, while Max fought to maintain his composure. He was doing a miserable job, smirking into his coffee as his eyes watered.

“They start next week,” he informed Reid.

“Thank goodness!” Reid said, shaking his head. “I don’t know how much more of that I can take, honestly.”

A soft hum of agreement wafted from Max as he sipped. “Have you considered a distraction? I’m sure we could find something…loud to do ourselves,” he mused with a teasing wink.

Reid sighed happily as he tossed his napkin on the table and stood, offering Max his hand. “You really are perfect, Max. I don’t know why it took me so long to accept it.”

“We wouldn’t have had as much fun and I probably wouldn’t have learned as much if you hadn’t been so stubborn,” Max said as he rose and took Reid’s hand, following him from the kitchen.

This time, Reid pulled Max’s hand to his lips and kissed Prince Charming’s knuckles as he backed down the hallway to his soon-to-be old room.

“I probably would have run if I knew what I was getting into the night we met, but I’m glad you didn’t give up,” he said and Max snorted in disbelief.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I approached you in the bar that night,” he said, laughing softly. “It certainly wasn’t that. And there was no way I was letting you go when I learned that the wildest and sexiest night of my entire life had been at the hands of a nanny.”

A wicked smile spread across Reid’s face as he began to calculate. It was about to get very loud on this side of the apartment. “When you say it like that, it sounds like a challenge.”

Epilogue

Sunday, 1:32 p.m., eighteen months later…

Another Sunday and another successful brunch was in the books. Walker and Agnes had taken June and the triplets up to Connecticut for a brief holiday visit with their parents, and Fin and Riley had just left to see a movie and do some last-minute gift shopping. The Ashby children had stayed behind and the kitchen had been transformed into a bakery, with Morris monitoring the Christmas cookies in the oven. Reid smiled from his seat at the table as Penny and Penn teased Gavin about his “festive” green sweater vest. At the work table, Milo was supervising Cadence and Luna as they cut the dough into holiday shapes.

The girls had become inseparable since Milo started high school and were as close as sisters. But they were growing way too fast and wouldn’t need their little footstools anymore and it saddened Reid. He was so fond of seeing the bright green and pink safety stools folded and tucked between the refrigerator and the cabinet. And he’d miss those tiny helping hands on brunch mornings.

Max came downstairs with Ava on his hip and Reid brightened when he remembered that the twins would be needing them soon. Sophia and Kyle had taken the unit on the third floor six months earlier and Max was never without one of the twins on his hip or hanging onto his back. He stopped by the bowl of fruit on the counter and picked out an apple, offering it to Ava.

“Was ist das?” he asked her.

“Apfel!” Ava replied and squealed happily when Max cheered and gave her cheek a loud kiss.

“Exzellent, meine schatz!” he said, humming as he waltzed her over to Reid.

Max sat on the bench next to Reid and she leaned so he could kiss her other cheek, then held up her apple, offering him a bite. “Für mich, prinzessin?” Reid took a large chomp out of it and made a goofy, happy sound as he chewed, making her giggle.

“Someone had a very good nap,” Max said while he adjusted one of her ponytails. The twins had gorgeous chestnut curls and big brown eyes, taking after Kyle, and Max was utterly smitten with them. “Sophia should be along with Alexis in just a moment.” He turned in his seat, attempting to see around the wall behind him.

His relationship with Sophia had flourished along with her floral shop and Max spent a lot of time there, helping her keep track of orders and even loading arrangements into the delivery vans. Mia was working hard at Parsons but still stayed in the bedroom Reid and Max kept for her upstairs at their place a few nights a week. Max and his daughters were so close now and Max had to be the sexiest grandpa in the city. It drove Reid wild, the way Max lived for his daughters and granddaughters.

There was also a quiet corner alcove for Banks so Max could manage most of his personal and business affairs from upstairs. The twins often came down and had the run of Max’s office and he went across town on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings for more important meetings. But most of Max’s days were spent with Sophia and the girls.

Max’s evenings and his weekends were for Reid, with the exception of brunch and the occasional babysitting job when Sophia and Kyle needed a date night or had an event to attend. Max and Reid didn’t go back to the Plaza or the Baccarat as often, just on anniversaries and special occasions. Reid preferred the accommodations in their suite at home and the small “yoga room” off the bathroom.

The stealthily designed Scandinavian wooden furniture converted into bondage furniture, like a Saint Andrew's cross and a spanking bench. Similar to the canopy bed and the lounge in their bedroom, the leather daybed in the yoga room had discreet loops under the frame for handcuffs and ropes. The candle sconces could be removed from the simple metal rings on the wall if Reid was in the mood to practice his shibari and there was a hook for a swing on the ceiling.

His and Max’s apartment was Reid’s sanctuary, where he could close the door on the chaos of running an ever-growing agency and keeping tabs on a big, busy family in Manhattan. There, Reid could lose himself in one of his books or tending to his orchids in his private sitting room. And Reid could lose himself just about anywhere up there with Max.

He was considering doing just that as Sophia came down the stairs with Alexis. The two of them joined Milo and the girls on the assembly line, causing Ava to abandon her opa, leaving Max and Reid alone at the table.

“Is it time for a taste test?” Dash asked, peeking around the living room wall.

“Not yet, young man,” Morris said with a toss of his chin at the sink. “I’ll let you pick first when this batch is out and cool enough if you wash those bowls.”

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