Page 27 of Nanny for My Billionaire

Adam smiles and kisses my forehead. “Not a whole lot, babe. I just got to hold you all night long.”

Chapter seventeen

Adam

Aftermonsternight,andthe following day when we enroll the kids, there are no more doubts in my mind about whether I want to marry Miss. I just don’t know how to tell her. The one thing I’m sure of is I want her to know how I feel before she goes to her appointment to either discover that she’s pregnant or get her shot. I don’t want her to think that I’m proposing for real just because I might have knocked her up.

Hilda says she will watch the boys while I go with Melissa and Megan to her appointment. I think hard on whether I want to bring up the topic of our relationship around Megan, or if I want to pop the question to Miss before her sister arrives.

I decide I don’t want Megan to voice any opinions that might sway Melissa’s answers. The kids and Hilda are out playing in the yard one last time before they start going to school during the afternoons, and Miss and I are sitting at the kitchen table, each enjoying a cup of coffee and playing on our laptops.

“Miss? I know I asked you to give me some time to think about things between us, but the truth is it really didn’t take me long to realize how much I want to marry you,” I say. “I don’t want you to believe for one second that anything that goes on at this appointment today influenced that decision, all right? I just want to know if you’re feeling the same way. Do you want to marry me for real? Not because of a possible baby, or because of any other reason, but just because you love me? Because I love you with all my heart.”

She’s watching me, her eyes brimming with what I hope are happy tears, and she swallows hard and nods. “Yeah, that about covers it, Adam. I tried to hate you while I was gone and it just didn’t work. I even tried when I got back and you didn’t recognize me, but that whole thing fell flat too. You wormed your way into my heart a long time ago.”

I chuckle. “Is that some sort of a backhanded attempt at ‘yes’?” I tease her.

“Yes,” she says, blushing hotly and grinning from ear to ear. “I love you too, Adam Barlow, and I want to marry you.”

“That’s good, because I didn’t want to put a ring on the finger of a fake fiancée,” I say, and pull the little box out of my pocket.

She laughs. “Oh my God, you were going to put that on my finger either way, weren’t you? I mean, if you really want people to think we’re engaged, a ring makes sense. I had more than one person ask me about that already.”

I roll my eyes at her. “No way, I was saving it for real,” I insist as I step over and slide the little circle of gold onto her left ring finger. “But you know, if I did knock you up, we might have to get a necklace to hang it on for when your hands swell.”

She’s got tears on her cheeks now, and she’s sniffling a little. “Shut up. That’s really not what we’re trying to manifest right now, with the fate of the boys up in the air. Later, though, once we’re married and all the chips have fallen into place, I would love to give you a son or daughter.”

The doorbell rings, and I go to let Megan inside. We’ve got about twenty minutes before we’re meant to arrive at the clinic. Miss and I get ready, and I step outside briefly to tell Hilda that we’re leaving. Fortunately, the boys are occupied with playing on their slide, since I know they’d try to hold me hostage from leaving otherwise.

We all get into my truck, with Megan sitting in the rear of the king cab while Melissa and I occupy the front.

“I see you put a ring on Miss’s finger,” says Megan as I start the engine. “Is it just for show, or did you two finally make things official?”

I grin. “It’s official, all right. She hasn’t slept in her own bed for days, and she’s started to use her room as more of an office than anything else.”

“I created a shiny new website and put up a few ads looking to help businesses with their database work, but so far I don’t seem to have any takers.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem with trying to start completely online,” I say with a shrug. “We need to get a few of the local businesses to stand up and take notice first. If you want, I could always give my buddy Elliot a call and see if he’s got some work to spare. And I could always put in a good word for you with some of my friends at the local business association.”

“That would be awesome,” she agrees. “I’d love to help Elliot out if he wants, and the idea about the association is perfect. Or even better, maybe I should just put up an advertisement on their bulletin board with the URL to my website on little tabs they could pull off or something. Or put a stack of business cards there somewhere. Are you allowed to put business cards there?”

“Well, yeah, seeing as the whole point of a business association is to find other businesses to network with,” I say, snickering slightly.

“How would I know that? It’s not like I ever owned a business in Concord before.”

I smile. “They didn’t teach you that stuff at your fancy college either? That place must suck.”

Megan looks affronted on her sister’s behalf. She clearly doesn’t realize that the two of us are playing around, so I assure her that we were just kidding and decide to let the subject drop for now. We arrive at the doctor’s office with a few minutes to spare, leaving Miss plenty of time to update her old information.

“Should I just leave the mansion’s address in here?” she asks, biting at her bottom lip.

“Well, I mean, it would save some time, but it’s not especially accurate unless we’re planning on selling my house and moving there.”

She casts me a strange look. “Would you even want to? That place would fit your whole house in the west wing, you know.”

Megan rolls her eyes. “I thought you wanted to convert that to office space someday.”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t trying to do that, I was only comparing sizes,” she says.

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