Page 21 of My Orc Nanny

I followed her…to the master bedroom.

“The sheets are fresh, but of course you’re welcome to do anything you need to make the bed more comfortable. That dresser is empty”—she pointed to one of the two large pieces of furniture— “So you can fill it with whatever. Most of my stuff is out of that one, but I still store some clothes in the closet. I promise not to come in without permission, although it’ll likely take me a few days to completely clear out the bathroom?—”

“Hannah,” I interrupted, capturing her gesturing hand in mine. “This isyourroom. I’m not sleeping here.”

“Don’t be silly.” She pulled away, already backing toward the door. “I haven’t slept in here in a long time. It’s available for you, Aswan, seriously. Don’t worry about it.”

With that, she turned and fled, leaving me to wonderwhyshe slept in the smallest room in the house, and why this room was available for me to use.

Chapter Six

Hannah

How’dI get so lucky?

In the three weeks since I’d hired Aswan, my family hadthrived.

Joshua was still his sweet self, only now he was making strides in maturity. I don’t know if it was because he was my third and I was just used to doing everything for him, or if the last years have been so overwhelming that I didn’t know how to find time to teach him to do things himself, orwhat…

But in three short weeks, my baby was doingsomuch better at cleaning up after himself, simply because Aswan was so dang patient with him.

“Uh-uh, buddy, come back here and help me pick up these blocks before you get out the cars.”

“No! Caws now, ‘Swan!”

“Cars right after you help me clean up the blocks,” Aswan would say sternly and then—this is the wild part—he’d actuallystick to his guns. Instead of giving in and realizing it was going to be less of a pain to quit arguing and just clean up everything himself, he would sit there with his arms folded, refusing to allow the cars to come out until Joshy helped clean up the blocks.

Remarkable.

You want to know what else was remarkable? He wasstarting the potty training.

Holy crap, let me repeat that: Aswan had startedpotty trainingmy toddler.

The first time I came home and learned that Joshy had gone all afternoon—after his nap—in big-boy underwear, I’d almost broken down into tears. I remembered how young Ben had been when I’d potty trained him, how eager he’d been to learn. Had I been doing Joshy a disservice all this time?

“Hannah?” Aswan had asked softly, concern in his tone. I’d brushed off the question and hurried to my room—to the room I shared with my youngest—to change.

Because if he did one more thing to prove himself kind and insightful and sweet, Iwouldbreak down and cry in front of him. Or all over him.

It was bad enough when he helped Tova and Emmy plan a tea party. The little girls had created a truly outrageous menu, and he’d gone along with it as well as possible, although he’d demanded their help.

And on one Sunday afternoon, Nikki arrived, her homemade invitation in hand, and she and I sat down with our daughters while Aswan—wearing a top hat the girls had made for him and carrying a silverish tray—served us tea and cakes and cucumber sandwiches.

Nikki and I had kept our faces straight, even while the girls had giggled.

But after Aswan had bowed his way out of the room—losing his hat and his “butler” status in the process—she’d leaned over to me and whispered, “Dios mio, woman, how have you managed to keep your hands off him?”

I’d smiled weakly, and taken a hurried sip of tea to cover the fact thatI didn’t know.

Iwantedto touch Aswan. I wanted to domorethan touch Aswan. I wanted to lick him, to kiss him, to feel his body pressed against mine. That first morning, when I’d been so desperate for help, and he’d appeared as if by magic? That first morning, I’d been attracted to him. He was the most gorgeous male I’d ever seen, from that birthmark to his smile to his muscles.

But now that I knew him…

There was more to Aswan than just his hotness. If anything, I liked his strength, his quiet kindness, his acceptance and his patience even more than just hisappearance.

So while Iknewit had been a really long time since I’d had any action in bed, I also knew that wasn’t why I was jonesing so hard for my nanny.

This wasn’t just basic biology; this wasAswan.

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