Page 3 of My Orc Nanny

Who the hell came visiting at eight a.m. on a Friday morning? It was too early for any deliveries.

Scowling, I readjusted Joshua, tucked Mr. BunBun back into the crook of my elbow, and opened the door.

My first thought was to wonder if someone had sent me a stripping telegram.

If they had, they’d sent the perfect male to deliver it.

The orc on my front porch was huge—tall and broad, his hair almost brushing the overhang—and stunningly handsome. His dark hair was impeccably cut and styled, his jaw and cheekbones were chiseled, and he wore a tight black t-shirt that accentuated all the right things.

There was a mole on his cheek, and it highlighted his perfection, rather than detracting from it.

“Good morning.” He smiled, and I saw that between the two tusks which poked from his bottom lip, his white teeth were perfectly straight. “Are you Ms. Woods?”

I stared.

This god of a male knew my name?

I’d known orcs were handsome—Tova’s best friend was an orc, and her father Sakkara was the mayor—but this one? My mouth opened, but no words emerged.

“Ma’am?” His smile faded, replaced with concern. “Am I in the right place? I’m looking for Hannah Woods?”

Joshua sneezed again, and it shook me from my shock. “Oh! Yes, I’m Hannah.”

“Good. I’m here about the job.”

Job? I shook my head, distracted by the way my toddler was rubbing his running nose against my silk. “Honey, don’t do that to Mommy’s shirt.” I turned back to the stranger. “What job, Mister—look, who are you?”

He’d pulled out his phone and now waggled it at me as if that would help me remember. “I’m Aswan. I’m your new nanny.”

Aswan

The woman’spanic was infecting me. I couldtasteher desperation, which shouldn’t be possible; all I knew was that shewasdesperate, frantic, and I couldn’t stand by.

“Ms. Woods? Sakkara said you needed help.”

“Sakkara sent you?” she blurted, even as she turned back into the house, shaking her head. “That’s ridi—no, I posted that job advertisement a month ago, and didn’t get any responses.”

All the more reason for me to apply, right? She had stumbled back into the house’s foyer, leaving the door open, and it wasn’t an invitation…but I decided to take it as one. Cautiously, I stepped inside.

“Benny!” she yelled up the stairs. “If you’re not down here in ninety seconds, I’m leaving you!”

A little voice hollered right back: “Good!”

“Benjamin Woods! Get your butt down here! We have to stop at the bakery for your sister, which means we had to leave ten minutes ago, and?—”

The baby on her shoulder chose that moment to sneeze again, spewing snot across her blouse and the side of her neck. “Oh, yuck, Joshy!” she groaned.

Unable to stop myself from helping, I stepped forward, arms out. “Here,” I demanded. “You go change, and I’ll wrangle the children?—”

My words cut off when she—Ms. Woods—clutched thetoddler to her and reared back, panic in her eyes once more.

“Are you nuts—Look, I don’t know you, mister! You should leave before I call the cops!”

It took effort to drop my hands to my sides, instead of gathering herandthe child against my chest to whisper soothing words. Instead, I nodded serenely. “Yes, that would be fine. My younger brother Simbel is on the force, and Chief Ortiz is a fine man who will vouch for me.”

I could tell by the way her eyes narrowed that she hadn’t expected that answer.

“Here’s Benny’s bag, Mom!” came a new voice, and I tipped my head to one side to see a girl child spinning in place, a too-big blue backpack pulling her off-balance with centrifugal force.

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