Page 7 of My Orc Nanny

Maybe I had.

When he lifted his gaze to mine once more, I saw somethingelsein his dark eyes…a softness I didn’t want to contemplate.

“I’m glad you approve, Ms. Woods,” he said softly. “I never want to make you uncomfortable.”

Too late for that buddy. But I wasn’t going to ever let him know about my response to him, because thelastthing I needed was to complicate anything.

“Um…” What had we been talking about? Oh yes, the plan. “Yes, I mean…um, yes. Let’s do that. The thing you said. We’ll be in the big room along Main Street, the one with all the windows, and the tellers won’t mind if you wander in and out, I’ll put in a good word…”

Okay. Okay, you can do this.I nodded twice, then took a deep breath and nodded again. “Okay, yeah.” I turned to the car to get Joshua. “And don’t forget to charge me for the thirty-seven brownies too.”

As I bent over the five-point harness, I thought I heard a small snort from behind me, but didn’t want to know what it meant.

Joshua whimpered as I lifted him, but he didn’t wake. That was a little alarming. I was frowning as I straightened with a small grunt. My little guy wasn’t quite so little anymore, was he?

“He really is sick,” I murmured.

When Aswan reached for him, I didn’t hesitate to pass Joshua over to him, which surprised me when I considered it later. Instead, it felt natural to watch my little guy being tucked up against that strong shoulder. Forcing myself not to admire Aswan’s muscles, I turned back to the car. “I managed to remember his diaper bag, thank goodness.”

Aswan hummed. “Is there a sippy cup in there? Juice or water?”

Wincing, I handed the bag to him when he reached with his free hand. “There’s a cup in there, but it’s not filled. I’ll get it?—”

“I can fill it with water inside,” he interrupted with a gentle smile. “And I’ll see if I can get him to wake up and drink a little too, okay?”

Okay. Yeah. Another deep breath. “Yeah,” I whispered. “Okay.”Yeah.

Yeah, I could do this.

Swallowing down my fears at the idea of giving up control like this, I followed Aswan to the stroller, where I tried not to be obvious as I hovered and watched him buckle mybaby in. He pulled the sippy cup from the bag and tucked the rest in the basket under Joshua’s butt.

“Oh!” I blurted. “Mr. BunBun!” I whirled and toddled—stupid heels—back to my car, and returned nearly breathless with the beloved floppy stuffie. “Here,” I panted, thrusting it toward Aswan. “Joshua takes him everywhere.”

With a solemn nod, the big orc gently tucked the rabbit up against my son’s side, and I tried not to melt.

“You must have a lot of experience with kids,” I guessed. “That five-point harness is a pain in the butt to figure out.” And I hadnormalsized fingers!

Instead of assuring me of his experience, Aswan nudged the locks off the stroller wheels and turned it—and himself, having to bend over almost comically to push it—toward the bank. “It’s ten minutes until ten, Ms. Woods.”

Oh! Oh, crap, yeah, I was still running behind, wasn’t I? “Come on,” I huffed as I hustled toward the front door. “I’ll introduce you!”

I was surprised by how quickly I settled into the meeting—intofocus. Mr. Morrison turned the whole thing over to me, of course, but I’d expected myself to be distracted. After all, my baby was in the hands of a virtual stranger, right?

But…it had felt okay to wave goodbye to Aswan, who dwarfed the tiny stroller and my sleeping son. He’d been screwing the cap back on the sippy cup—so delicate in those large, clawed hands—and I’d been surprised how natural it felt to trust him.

Was it because he’d taken charge when I’d needed it?

Was I making a mistake in trusting him?

The meeting went well, and it had been a comfort to be able to see Main Street so clearly. Aswan was just walking up and down the sidewalk outside, occasionally stopping to chat with someone he knew. Even from inside, I could see how protective his body language was, and that made me feel like maybe Ihadmade the right choice in trusting him.

By noon, the meeting was wrapping up. Contracts had been picked apart, discussed at length, and rebuilt into something that everyone was happy with. My boss had been right; I reallyhadneeded to be here to run this, since I knew the most about it.

“Thanks for coming, gentlemen,” I said with a tight smile as I offered my hand. “Eastshore is going to be better off with this new project.”

One of the reps from Butch Holdings shook my hand with an easy smile. “And we’re hoping to bring some jobs to the island too.”

Now that the meeting was wrapped up, I’ll admit I was a little distracted. I wanted to check on Joshua…and find a tissue for myself. So I nodded. “I know we’re all looking forward to it. If you’ll excuse me,” I offered half-heartedly as I darted for the ladies’ room and blew my nose prodigiously.

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