Page 6 of My Orc Nanny

If my mother caught anything, in the middle of her chemo treatments, it could be disastrous.

Woman, I’m an orc. I don’t get the sniffles.

Aswan had been so…certain. So sure of himself. The way he’d made a plan about how to tackle the morning? And then he’d just announced it and implemented it. It had been…well, frankly, it had been a little aggravating, but also really hot.

For so long, I’d been the strong one. The capable one. The one everyone—my three kids, my sick mother, even my dirtbag ex—had looked to.

This morning, for just a moment, it had been a relief to have someone else come up with a plan and make it happen.

Giving a little groan, I lifted my head just a smidge and dropped it again.

You can’t rely on him. You can’t rely on anyone.

I mean, my parents were pretty awesome. But the last few months, since Mom’s diagnosis, had proven that the roles had definitely begun to reverse. I couldn’t count on them to always be there for me; in fact, it was nowmyresponsibility to be there forthem, to help them whenever they needed.

At least Travis wasn’t in my life anymore.

He was safely in prison in Tennessee, a world away from us.

I sighed and resisted the urge to run my fingers through my hair. Ihadto look professional and capable and not at all like the completely frazzled mess I was.Why yes, thatisa snot stain on my tailored pantsuit and applesauce in my hair. Please trust me with your multi-million-dollar portfolio.

Sure, Hannah. Sure.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself upright.

“Okay,” I whispered, staring unseeing straight ahead. “Okay, you can do this. You can do this. If he shows up, you can trust him. Tova does, Sakkara does. You can?—”

A gentle tapping at my window interrupted me, and when I whirled sideways and jerked back in surprise, I felt something pop in my neck. That’s why my screech turned to a whimper, and the entire embarrassing experience lasted approximately a quarter-second.

And Aswan saw the whole thing.

Of course it was him, bent at the waist so he could nod politely to me as he peered through the window.

Open the door, you idiot. Go outside and talk to him. You just decided to trust him, didn’t you?

Didn’t I?

Another deep breath, and I fumbled for the door handle.

To my surprise, it opened under my hand, and it wasn’t until I swung my legs out that I realized he’d held it for me. Huh. Sometimes my dad did that for my mother, but no one had ever done it for me…

“Hi!” I blurted, too loud, too enthusiastically. “The brownies…?”

Another solemn nod of acknowledgement. “Thirty-six brownies are in Nikki’s hands. Only half have sprinkles, but all of them are peanut-free. I didn’t know if there were any allergies in her class.”

Oh. He’d…thoughtof that? What kind of male thought of that?

There was the slightest twinkle in his dark eyes when his gaze flicked sideways. “I’m lying. I bought thirty-seven, so I could try one.”

“And?” I managed to not sound like I was strangling. Barely.

“Cairo’s Mate makes perfectly sufficient brownies. But mine are better.” Was that a wink? Did he justwink? Before I could ask, Aswan had turned to point to an SUV that I didn’t recognize, and a stroller I did. “I’ve figured out how to open the stroller. Since it’s clear you were surprised by my presence this morning, I thought it would be helpful for me to watch Joshua right here, in and near the bank. After your meeting?—”

All the breathwhooshedout of me in relief. “Oh my gosh, that’sperfect!” In my relief, I reached forward, my handlanding on his forearm. “That’ll be great—the meeting won’t last past noon, and then Mr. Morrison will let me work from home, and I can?—”

It wasn’t until I followed his gaze down that I realized I was holding onto him. Onto his heavily muscled forearm, which was bare thanks to the dark t-shirt he wore.

And those muscles? That warm skin? It feltgood. It feltnicebeneath my palm. I swallowed, remembering my initial reaction to seeing someone this hot on my doorstep…and I yanked my hand back from his arm as if I had been burned.

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