Page 40 of My Orc Nanny

Tarkhan immediately shook his head, his smirk back. “Not for lack of trying, ma’am.”

Allison gave a little chuckle at his charm, then turned to me. I was hoping she’d be distracted, so I bent over the meat, pretending it needed flipping.

“How about you, Aswan?” she prodded, and I winced. “Have you found your Mate?”

Taking a deep breath, I lifted my gaze…and found Hannah unerringly. She was chewing on her bottom lip, and I could barely stand it.

“Yes,” I rasped, glancing away. “But she…I have to respect her decision.”

“Oh, how sad,” Allison breathed, and just as she took a deep breath to ask the logical next question, rescue came from the most unlikely source.

“’Swan!” Joshua bellowed demandingly, stomping toward me on his strong little three-year-old legs, dragging Mr. BunBun behind him. “Now! Go up now!”

Grateful for the reprieve, I handed the spatula to Tarkan and turned toward the kitling. “What’s up, Joshy?”

“I wanna go up da ladder! You said!”

Forcing a chuckle, I scooped him up and tossed him over my shoulder, the way he liked. “Thank you for following directions and waiting for me to be available to spot you as you go up the ladder.”

“Yes! Doshy gonow! Now!”

I patted his rear and headed down the steps. “You’ve done a good job being patient, buddy, thank you.”

Behind me, as I walked away, I heard Allison say, “Goodness, Joshua’s language has really improved. Is that thanks to Aswan as well? You certainly got lucky, hiring him as the nanny.”

And faintly, I heard Hannah murmur, “I think he’s a wonder.”

Chapter Ten

Hannah

There is a knowing.

That’s what Aswan had said. He’d been explaining orc Mating traditions to my mother, but…but he’d been talking to me.There is a knowing.

And then, when Mom had asked him if he’d found his Mate? He’d looked right at me and saidyes.

And in that moment…therewasa knowing.

Lord knows how I managed to make it through the rest of the party, feeling like I’d been gut-punched.

But I did. I was polite. I was friendly. I smiled, and I was excited for my baby as he climbed to the top of his new playset—with Aswan standing right behind him, ready to catch him if he fell—and zoomed around the yard on his new ride-on toy Sakkara’s family bought him. And whenhe ate too much cake and had a temper tantrum because he’d opened all his presents, I held him and comforted him while sending apologetic grimaces to the guests, as if this was the most normal day in the world.

As if I hadn’t just had my entirebeingshaken.

I loved Aswan. And… Well, he hadn’t saidI love you—he hadn’t needed to. He’d talked about his Mate, and he’d looked at me, andI’d known.

I needed to confirm. I needed to ask him if what we shared this weekend wasreal.

So of course the rest of the day dragged on, lasting several bajillion hours. I wanted to be present for the fun, I really did. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Aswan and the tortured look in his eyes when he’d said he’d found his Mate.

And he was respecting her decision to stay away.

I was the one who told him I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize the kids’ well-being. I was the one who told him what we’d shared this weekend wasonlyfor this weekend. Was this my fault?

Eventually the party finished. Eventually my over-stimulated three-year-old crashed hard—luckily, he waited until after I bathed him and brushed all the icing from his teeth. Eventually the last of the streamers were cleaned up, and Benny helped Aswan load the dishwasher, and Tova and I set the porch to rights again.

I kissed them both, read to Tova, and sent them off to bed, all the while thinking aboutsomething else.I should be exhausted. I should be ready for a hot bath and a glass of wine.

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